You are hereHelp and answers to frequently asked questions / Advertiser help / Help and answers to frequently asked questions - Advertiser help
Help and answers to frequently asked questions - Advertiser help
This section contains common advertiser questions and our answers (click question to show answer).
Short answer: If your announcement is only text, then use the "News release announcement" category on our contact form. If your announcement includes images or other media, then use this link.
Long answer: If your product announcment includes images or other media (like video clips or audio samples) we prefer to receive your announcement as a single zipped file via this link.
Package your announcement and media up as a single zip. If you're looking for a free zip utility that runs on Windows, Macs, and Linux machines, check out Zipcreator.
Once your file is uploaded, we will both get a link to it via email. We'll go download your announcement content, review it, and get back to you regarding where and when we will feature your news!
We prefer to receive your ad copy submission electronically, since we're an all-electronic publication.
It's best if you package all your files up as a single zip or tar, since that creates one big file for you to send to us with all your text, images, video clips, audio clips, and so on. If you're looking for a free zip utility that runs on Windows, Macs, and Linux machines, check out Zipcreator.
Because of the attachment limits on emails, we have our own upload site. Please fill out the form like so:
1. Put your email address in the email field
2. Type a description of your upload, like "Full page ad from Jim's Hobbies"
3. Browse to your zipped file you want to upload
4. Select the /upload/files/submit_adcopy directory
5. Upload your file!
Once your file is uploaded, we will both get a link to it via email. We'll go download your ad copy, review it, and get back to you with a sample PDF page containing your ad so you can okay it!
Answer: Yes, we do not accept any of the following types of ads:
- Illegal products, services or anything of dubious legality
- Adults only products, or anything adults only or pornography-related
- Gambling products or anything gambling-related
- Ads with potentially offensive content or with annoying gratuitous animation
We do not accept ads for anything related to any of the above under any circumstances, and of course it's our judgement call as to whether or not the potential ad is one of our "do not accept" ad types.
Short answer: Our web site's been live for just over 18 months and we're seeing a base circulation of 20,000 - 30,000 per issue (it varies). Issue 1 has topped 45,000 as of this writing (January 2010). We've also had almost two million total page hits since we went live with this site.
Long answer: Word is traveling fast that we exist and that we're the first totally free model railroading magazine that's available over the internet. Issue 5's circulation, for example, is growing by 40% over issue 4's and is approaching 20,000 in the first month. As of this time a year later, we've had over 45,000 downloads of issue 1.
Our forever free to read business model shows a strong readership growth in back issues - a growth more like that of a book release than a magazine. And all those back issue ads keep getting clicks, sometimes at better rates than when the issue was new, if you can believe it!
We track click through rates, and we're seeing click throughs of around 3-5% as a base rate for a sponsoring advertiser. If you know anything about ad response rates, 1- 2% response is considered good, so numbers approaching 5% is one out of every 20 readers, which is simply amazing.
Each issue, the best new sponsoring ads that issue approach 10% clickthroughs. Our all time record one issue was a whopping 23% (but that's not typical)!
With your web site being only a single click away when you advertise with us, the road to instant gratification for modelers is short.
We also had one modeler report to us that his link in his posts here on the MRH web site have sent more modelers to his site than any other place he's ever posted a link, according to Google Analytics.
As another data point, a European publisher recently debuted a new prototype railroad news magazine (Railway Herald Worldwide) that's totally electronic and free to download. Reports are they're scrambling to get enough server horsepower to keep up with the interest in their totally free railroading publication!
As word gets out that we're free and that we're loaded with in-depth and compelling model railroading content, we expect strong growth for a long time to come. Our business model makes our potential circulation essentially unbounded.
Short answer: If you agree to place 6 months or more of half-page or larger ads in our bi-monthly magazine you get a 25% discount and free sponsoring advertiser mini-banner ads on our web site (and magazine dashboard*). You also get premium ad placement in the front third of the magazine at no extra charge. Download our advertiser's kit.
Long answer: By agreeing to place 6 month's worth of half-page or larger ads in Model Railroad Hobbyist, you become a sponsoring advertiser with us. Sponsoring advertisers get many benefits:
Being a sponsoring advertiser of our free rich media publication also generates a lot of good will for you with modelers. More than any of our other advertisers, it's our sponsoring advertisers who help make it possible for MRH magazine to be free to modelers. You can bet they'll love you for that!
Short answer: Our magazine is designed to be entertaining, interactive and read on the computer screen. That means our readers can go straight from your ad to your web site with one mouse click. With MRH magazine, the road to instant gratification is short! Download our advertiser's kit.
Long answer: Since we have deliberately designed MRH magazine to be read on a computer screen with interactive elements as a compelling part of the reader experience, ads placed with us have several advantages:
|
*Viral marketing: Word-of-mouth advertising that harnesses the network effect of the Internet and is capable of reaching a large number of people rapidly. Your target audience becomes the carrier, hence the term "viral". This marketing approach is based on the fact that people aren't likely to buy something just because they see an ad, but are far more likely to buy something because someone else told them about it. Viral marketing is popular because of the ease of execution, relative low-cost (compared to printed publications), more precise targeting, along with an often high and rapid response rate.
