Mark Fitzpatrick

I dig FAST COMPANY. It’s worthy of a little time each month. Always something I enjoy.

So when my subscription renewal was up, I hadn’t planned on just canceling it. BUT for “research” purposes, I decided to go for a little ride. All told it was a five month ride of Reminders to Renew, Final Chance to Renew at a Special Rate, Last Chance to Renew at this Low Rate, and finally a RUSH Last Chance.

Whew! That’s a lot of finals and lasts huh?

You probably already know this, but it’s important to remind ourselves how the publishing business works – in this case magazines. More than ever, they are reliant on ad revenue. The money made (or lost) from subscriptions is less important to an extent.

What is important is being able to show a Demographic Profile to potential advertisers that’s appealing. Think about it. Which would you rather have as an advertiser of a high tech device or luxury item?

A magazine offering you space with:

1. 500,000 subscribers with an average income of $40,000 – $50,000

OR

2. 300,000 subscribers with an average income of $100,000 – $150,000

Surely you’d want some more details than that. For example, if you were selling a product like gourmet steaks, it really wouldn’t matter if you had a demographic with income levels over $100,000. Yes, chances are they have the disposable income to buy your gourmet steaks. But what if they’re vegans? Game over. You’ve wasted an ad.

But this whole game of getting the “right” demographic of advertisers is why you may get these insanely low offers (should have saved a few) from magazines like Fortune or Forbes for 83% off the subscription price. They want you for your demographic profile and buying habits.

But let’s just look at the last two offers I got from FAST COMPANY.

Here’s Last Chance offer #1 for $13.97 for one full year:

It’s got some good ole’ Urgency, but here’s maybe the big takeaway from this post: Experience and just paying attention will help you get better deals in life.

And, NOT having to do something is a much better position of strength. I don’t have to subscribe. I want to get the magazine, but I don’t HAVE to have the magazine. I don’t want it bad enough. If you feel like you HAVE to have something or want it so bad, you’re going to panic a bit more, and pull the trigger on offers faster. Heck, you may not even wait for a second offer. But if you want the best deal (price, terms, or both) you’d better at least act like you don’t have to have it.

Watching Rocky II again, I remember Rocky and Adrian looking at a house. The realtor gives him a price, and while Adrian wanted to make the realtor work a little more, Rocky REALLY wanted the house. So he says, (insert Rocky voice) “Hey, dat sounds like a good price. Yo Adrian, I know a good deal when I see one.”

Now, let’s go on to the RUSH Last Chance offer, which came about a month later:

Holy cow!

One full year for $10 plus a 2nd subscription for FREE.

Now, digging into this a bit: FAST COMPANY throws an irri-Zistable offer out there to not only keep me, but add another subscriber who fits their demographic profile. And guess what, it worked.

I mean come on. It’s a fast, free gift to send to someone.

Now I don’t believe for a minute this would be their last offer, but I did end the experiment as I do believe their offer won’t get any better. Everyone has a bottom point.

What would I do differently? I would have made this offer sooner seems like it would make sense. But that’s just a statement. They’re not stupid. I’m sure they’ve tested the results.

So yes, in my case they wasted postage, paper, and time sending out the previous offer. BUT….

If on average, they get enough people to up their subscription at the $13.97 price, they’ve more than made up for the extra mailers to knuckleheads like me who drag out the process on purpose. But hey, I did this for research purposes for your benefit.

Let me pose this question:

“How can you use this information with your business or in just buying stuff for yourself?”

Share your thoughts.