Being My Boss – Larry Smith

November 27th, 2006 • 2 comments To be filed

Traversing through the tangled web of media giants, Editor+Publisher & Entrepreneur Larry Smith added a page or two to his own story.

________________________________________________________________________________

We’ve sterotyped entrepreneurs. They aren’t always software geeks nor are they freak students that are catapulted to stardom for a wildfire invention. The founder of SMITH magazine wouldn’t fit anywhere. Not even a year old, SMITH magazine is about everyady stories -of ordinary people and extraordinary people, waiters and actors, unemployed folks and millionnaires. All kinds of people, all kinds of stories. Follow the story of Larry Smith, founding Editor and Editor-in-chief of SMITH magazine on the newest installment of Being My Boss.

Why SMITH?

SMITH has been in my head for years now. Back in 2002, I was working at Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine. It was like Wired meets Entertainment Weekly. That’s where I first witnessed the power of personal media. I saw how readers were really becoming a part of the story online and it struck me that people wanted to contribute to the internet. This was before blogs and user-generated media became the web-mantra. However, with the bubble burst, Yahoo! Internet Life went under and I lost my job. That’s when I wondered: what next?

Living in East Village and working at Yahoo! had put me in touch with some very interesting people from all walks of life. Around that time, reality TV was picking up steam and everything just sorta clicked. A magazine that celebrated story-telling just made sudden sense. I knew there was room for a reader-generated magazine.

So I went with my idea to a brilliant designer named Robert Priest (Former Art Director of Esquire, GQ, and US Weekly) and asked him if he’d be interested in working with me on my idea. Miraculously for me, he agreed. We put together a prototype and then knocked on every editor’s door in the New York media world. Graydon Carter, Isolde Motley, Eric Schrier, Don Welsh, Clay Felker, Kurt Anderson – it can be a tireless but fascinating game. I begged for face-time with editors. Here I was going to these big media companies, throwing in catchy phrases like citizen journalism and they looked at me like I was crazy. One editor even asked me, "What is a blog?" Granted, it was 2002 and blogs weren’t so widely popular but you’d expect a magazine editor to be aware of the next movement. Anyways, a couple people got it but no one wanted to greenlight my project. It was a little disheartening.

Even though people expressed interest in the idea, no one wanted to fund it and make it huge. I wanted to do a print and web version at the same time but it takes a lot of money to go print first. I was advised to start with the web version but I was too stubborn. In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t get a business partner because that would’ve meant losing my creative freedom with the magazine. Perhaps?

It’s funny if you think about it -I understood inherently in my bones that a great medium the web was for story-telling and I didn’t listen to my own advice. We all have very high standards. I didn’t want a web version: I wanted a print version first. When I couldn’t find investors, instead of quitting and giving up the idea, I adapted. I could have done it sooner though. This magazine should have launched in 2002.

You are a writer. Is your transition as an entrepreneur difficult?

Good question. I had worked on a bunch of startup magazines before, so I was aware of the grind. But years ago, I recieved a fantastic piece of advice from the editor of Esquire. He said, "Freelance writers are sales people -You are selling your piece whether you know it or not." And you know what? He’s right. Sub-consciously, I’ve always been a salesman. With your writing, you are competing for your reader’s time. You are selling -making a case. Saying READ ME- I’M WORTH YOUR TIME.

Taking my prototype to media companies for funding was like going to venture capitalists. So even though I call myself a writer or an editor, I’m very much an entrepreneur.

Why is your magazine called SMITH?

Because it is one of the most popular last names in America. We also launched it on Jan 6th -National Smith’s Day. One of those goofy holidays that exist. It was perfect!

What drives you to work everyday?

Yesterday I was at a party and I met an intriguing woman who works as a dominatrix. My immediate reaction was, "WOW- she must have a story!" And I asked her if she’s be interested in keeping a diary about her job on SMITH mag. And she said, you know what- maybe! I’m meeting her today to talk more about SMITH and hear her story. THIS is what motivates me. Every single day. People have amazing stories to share, only if you are willing to listen. I’d be sitting at a resutaurant and just chatting about what I do and the waiter will tell me, I have a story for you. And it’s just like that. Random people with amazing stories. Where else can I meet such people ?

Advise for apsiring entrepreneurs?

• Know your market. If you know and believe in your market, no matter how many times people say don’t do it, don’t listen to them. Do your homework right.
• Say yes to any opportunities: big or small. As a writer and an entrepreneur, I said yes to everything. Every bit of work that came my way and it paid off.
• Start small. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the original plan. I wanted to start bigger. I wanted a print magazine first but I realize now that small is beautiful.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I learned that 9 times out of 10 people are usually nice. I just went to people and said, hey- I’m working on this new magazine and could I speak with you about it? People are amazing! I went to the editors of ReadyMade magazine and they could’ve easily looked at me as a competitor. Instead, they just laid it all out for me. I wasn’t afraid to cold call anybody and it just amazed me how fantastic and helpful people can be. What’s the worst they can do? Say no!

Best thing about being your own boss?

I have a vision that I really believe in from my soul. And unless I am my own boss, no one will let it the vision come to reality. This is why I’m glad I didn’t get investors. SMITH mag could’ve turned into someone else’s vision otherwise. Your vision may not be correct, but you’ll never know unless you try it.

+++

And in case you were wondering, SMITH magazine is launching its first print version early next year. Small to big — not so bad after all! 

Read more »

Three-dimensional surfing

November 17th, 2006 • Social Media

   I love this idea! This is another service I can totally see myself using and enjoying. 3B , in a nutshell, is a virtual 3D tour of the internet. Download the applet, create an avatar (very Second Life like) and stroll around 3D cities, villages, stores and hundreds of other destinations. What I like most about this site is taht it seems to have incorporated social networking, virtual living, shopping and web-surfing into one neat package.

Happy surfing. Perhaps we’ll bump into each other in one of the 3B villages!

Another social networker…

November 17th, 2006 • Social Media

I’m so tired of these new social networking thingies popping up all over the web. Although I’ve gotta admit, Klostu, has an intriguing personality. It claims to be the mother of all communities — connecting all message boards and communities from the web.  Btw, looks like clean, rounded fonts and symbols is a huge trend these days.

From the site,

Klostu is a unique new platform which brings together existing disparate message board communities and their members into what is essentially a super social network – a network of social networks. Klostu provides members of boards (and even blogs) advanced profiles with a growing range of social tools and useful widgets. Klostu profiles appear within the boards and will move seamlessly from one board to another, wherever the user may travel on the boardscape.

My life in a comic-book

November 17th, 2006 • Social Media

Cheap paper, loud VROOMS, speech bubbles and flimsy covers — all remiscent of comics books. (Although the current Manga books are quite slick looking) But anyways, imagine photo-quality comics starring your favorite people and perhaps, even yourself! Now that will give DC Comics a run for their money, no? 

This has to be one of the coolest tech-inventions in recent months!  For $24.99, Comic-Life gives you the tools to create amazing and very real-looking comic strips out of your photographs. It includes the works: neon pull-outs, sound effects (blam!) and even thought bubbles.

You can even print out your self-created comic on photo paper to give it the ultimate polished edge. I guess I have an idea for my sister’s birthday gift…

Give us our daily bread

November 15th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

We watched SuperSize me and thought we knew it all. Our Daily Bread, a documentary film about cold industrial salt mines and slaughter houses reminds us just how much we (blissfully?) do not know. From it’s website,

"To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds – a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space for individualism."

Watch trailers here. (via)

Frozen Wine

November 14th, 2006 • To be filed

This is one sorbet that needs a 21+ ID to purchase and you probably won’t have much luck looking for it at ice-cream stoers. Wine Cellar Sorbets uses vintage wines from the California, Oregon and  New York region to create delicious, refreshing sorbets. The wine sorbets are currently available in over 40 locations in NY and NJ.

Green candy

November 14th, 2006 • 1 comment To be filed

We’d love to do the right thing, like use wind enegery or a eat organic food, only we can’t do it everyday because A) it’s not really convenient and B) it’s expensive! A reasoning we are only too familiar with.

Enter Ideal Bite- a new eco-friendly newsletter that addresses people like us who do care for the environment, but are a little clueless about implementing it. It rightfully deem’s itself a good source of advice for real people leading busy lives."

Sign up and check out their daily newsletter. I promise you won’t regret it.

Two new magazines

November 13th, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Smith this weekend. He recently founded Smith Mag, an interesting zine centered around teh idea "Everyone has a Story." He picked the name Smith because it is one of the most common last names in the country – I like this magazine. It’s refreshing particularly because it truly exercises the philosophy that anyone, read anyone has a good story to tell. Be it a pizza guy or a half-drunk lonely customer at a diner. A print version will be launched early 07.

One of my the first Editor’s I worked under, Doree Shafrir, is now an associate editor at Gawker and has founded her own magazine, The Crier. High-brow, literary and print — this magazine has piqued my interest. It’s also faintly remniscent of the New Yorker. The magazine describes itself as a small magazine for big ideas. Worth checking out.

(Another zine worth checking out, Found )

Update: Teen mags

November 13th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

I was speaking on the new media panel at the "Breaking into magazines," conference this weekend in Philadephia. Keynote speaker Keith Clinkscale of now defunct, Vangaurd Media, gave an imposing speech about the heyday of Black magazines in the 90s. When the floor opened for questions, I asked him about the movement in the teen magazines sector and he had a very interesting answer.

Clinkscales, a publishing veteran and current SVP of ESPN publications, thinks that the print will not die anytime soon although it will not exisit by itself alone. When I pressed further about the demise of major teen titles this year, he pointed out to a larger social trend that could be blamed for the demise of teen mags.

Who are our teen stars today? It’s Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff — and do any of them dress like teenagers? No. they all dress like grown women. Teenagers don’t want to be associated with the word, "teenager" anymore. These girls are growing fast — and they wouldn’t be caught dead reading Teen Vogue or Seventeen. They are reading InStyle and Lucky and Glamour. Teen titles have failed because they failed to respond to the changing market needs, not because teenage girls don’t read print anymore.

Interesting fodder for the mind.

More articles: Atoosa and her relationship with her readers

It’s the faith…brands are more about relationship than gimmicks

November 10th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising, Social Media

Atoosa Rubenstein’s (Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen magazine)recent resignation has caused quite a stir in the media industry. At age 26, she was the founding editor of CosmoGirl. After bringing the infant magazine to new heights (in advertising and revenue) Hearst moved her to reinvigorate the flailing Seventeen magazine. The first issue that was released under Atoosa’s editorial direction revived the magazine’s 5 year slump in sales and since then, Seventeen’s ad sales and circulation has dwarfed all other teen titles.

In my opinion, the reason Seventeen survived and ruled this multi-million dollar market was for two reasons 1) It’s historical association with teenage girls 2) Atoosa Rubenstein. Atoosa crafted the book to speak to the language of the audience it caters to. Atoosa of Iranian descent made sure Seventeen presented a diverse look and represented all skin colors and body-types. This distinction alone won many accolades. In another timely move, Atoosa did away with the monthly Editors Letter and chose to instead speak with her audiences via a MySpace blog. She struck a chord with these girls by often putting herself in the lien of fire by introducing a dialogue on religion in the magazine’s pages. She also endeared herself to her girls, (as she calls them) by including them in her personal moments, by sharing photographs from her vacation, photographs from when she was a not-so-pretty teenager and even photos from when she had put on weight. She also made the magazine incredibly price-friendly — because she understood teenage girls don’t buy $400 shoes and $1100 dresses. The success of Seventeen magazine, in my opinion, was largely because of the relationship Atoosa cultivated with her audience. Ofcourse but even magazines are a business and leaders often make bad decisions. In Atoosa’s case, the terrible Ms. Seventeen reality show, a la Trump’s Apprentice.

Irrespective of the hits and misses, Atoosa’s declaration to step down to start her own website for teens, youth consultancy and a book is a definitive nail in the coffin of teen magazines as we know it. It takes years to cultivate a real relationship with teenage girls — even if the Atoosa’s successor employs similar tactics, the teen girls will have moved on to digital zines leaving no time for the successor to forge a relationship with them. I think the first issue under the new editor’s leadership will speak to my claims.

With the close of Elle Girl and Teen People, this year has been somewhat tumultous and defining for the teen magazine industry. Both magazines have shifted online in an effort to speak with their audiences via a medium most comfortable to them. CondeNast is secretly working on it’s little teen empire. Atoosa is starting her own — and I think just because of the level of trust and the open relationship she shares with this fickle demographic, her website might just be the best. CondeNast, can do all they want, but unless they bring a real personality and a relationship to the mix, teenagers will view them as just another corporate site.

You could have it all — the jazziest site, expensive rewards, the works, but unless you take the time to know your customers and forge a relationship with them you’ll never earn their trust.

Honestly, sometimes I think people give too much importance to phrases and complex theroies on branding and marketing. I don’t think there’s a simpler science than marketing. You can give it as many fancy names as you want, but it comes down to really knowing your customers and pleasing them not your advertisers or your investors. Granted, this is a simplistic statement, but the essence of it cannot be diminished or argued upon. Building a relationship, that’s what its all about. And with the launch of Atoosa’s mega teen website and her youth consultancy, we’ll see just how right or wrong I am.

Being My Boss – Savvy, Smart and Seventeen

November 6th, 2006 • 1 comment To be filed

Weina Scott, had no idea that a birthday gift from her parents for her 13th birthday would lead her to become one of the youngest business owners ever. Weina, now 17, taught herself programming and html from a book her parents gifted her. Tuned into her online life, she started creating websites and programming them for fellow internet-users. By the time she was 15, Weina was comfortably generating her own pocket money.

Last July, with the help of an online friend, she became a co-founder of Switchpod, a podcast hosting website. Her partner did all the design, advertising and marketing, and Weina wrote the program and maintained the technical aspects of the site to keep it going.  The site gained momentum and word spread via grassroots marketing. Her partner posted about SwitchPod on every online forum and message board. It was when the site started pulling in paid users that other companies sat up and took notice.

"We recieved a few buyout offers before but they didn’t want to give us any control," says Weina, "and we weren’t interested in that." So when a major internet company offered from $200,000 for the site plus an integral part in the site’s future, Weina and her partner jumped at it. They made the sale this August.

"Life hasn’t changed much after the sale," says Weina. " I work 20 hours a week." The only difference is now, both Weina and her partner are paid a cool $40,000/year. Weina’s one advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is: If you are good at something, stick to it. Don’t give up.

Pink, loud and revolutionary

November 3rd, 2006 • Culture Briefings

If the 70’s were about bell bottom pants, the BeeGees, Saturday Night Fever and counter culture, this decade, will most certainly be associated with Sophia Coppola among other cultural icons. The reviews for Marie Antoinette have been mostly in the extremes. But by linking 17 century France to 1980’s pop culture, Coppola makes a statement. Thanks to her treatment of Marie Antoinette, history as it is viewed and understood, has just been given a new lens to be looked at. The sartorial excesses and dessert delights make for good eye-candy. However, does the blurry representation of other worldly concerns that plague Marie Antoinette’s story allude that we, 21st century nyloners care little about political warfare ? That our excesses have translated into pride?

The cultural impact of this decade is easily dismissed mostly because the unlikely icons that emerged have not translated yet into any substanial importance. Paris Hilton, voyeriusm,  I-pods, LOST and bloggers. I do not criticize Coppola’s interpreation of Marie Antoinette. I only voice out loud the ramifications, if any, this representation will have on the popular culture psyche. Merely, a ripple in the pool…

Relics of our decade

November 3rd, 2006 • Culture Briefings

Who wants to take a plastic L’LO home? My Scene Goes Hollywood: Lindsay Lohan and Limo (I’m not joking) Available at Amazon and Sears. Barbie’s retirement isn’t far off. The new generation of dolls and playtoys are begining to derive inspiration and income from creating 3-d lives of celebrities.

Any takers?

An informed rant

November 1st, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings, Social Media

I am very vary of new businesses that think they are the "it." Most are tweaks (albeit, sometimes very good tweaks) on already existing technologies and businesses. And a lot are total replicates. Esp. in the tech sector. Some 80% of tech. entrepreneurs I speak with and know are more interested in selling their creation to one of the big mommas namely Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and such. The payoff may no doubt by huge, but really, do we need another search engine for vidoes or yet another user-created community website?

I recieve about two invitations a day to join a variety of social networks. With features like poke and pinch,I think I’ll pass. The recent news about Pop Sugar Blog network recieving $5Million dollars in funding gives me a queasy feeling: the return of the bubble? I am yet to read major news about any of these social networks and VC-pumped blog networks bringing in any real source of revenue. (exceptions allowed)

We live in a world where people from elite institutes become famous for coining phrases and people achieve the guru status for building measly so-called communities. After flickr, I don’t remember the last time a new business idea or technology took my breath away. I think what most companies need is not a marketing guru or another great idea – they need a critic.  Someone who’s not afraid to call a spade, a spade.  And someone who, for heavens sake, can tell them that the world doesn’t need another social network, another gossip blog, oh and another rant.