My Two Cents

Ignore the nay sayer(s)!

While your end destination is of course the iPad/tablet or iPhone/Smartphone, there is still a lot you can learn and build from launching in print.

Still, we all like a good quality print magazine. Almost all Iranian women cherish the smell and feel of the thicker issues of VOGUE and Vanity Fair, and other fashion mags.

As long as that does not go away, I think you have a good chance.

What VOGUE has proven is the viability and success path of an emphasis on fashion. And Vanity Fair has combined fashion with a superior editorial that is standard breaking.

I think if you combined both VOGUE's strategy with Vanity Fair's, and successfully related it to the Modern-Iranian-American woman, you would have something unique and niche, that National advertisers would like to support.

You will need a demographic profile of your niche audience though, and this is critical to convincing advertisers and sponsors to place ads.

Iranian businesses, while tempting at first as safe-target advertisers and friends and moral support, don't have the necessary national US presence to benefit from being seen across the US. So your best friend's boutique in LA has absolutely no value, or the staying power in advertising in a mag that is seen in NY, and vice versa. But Benetton does. Same goes for Louis Vuitton, Lancome, Rolex, and of course Mercedes. Here are the top 10 fashion brands you will need to succeed:

1. Burberry
2. Kate Spade
3. Coach
3. Gucci
5. Dolce & Gabbana
5. Tory Burch
7. Ralph Lauren
8. Hugo Boss
9. Louis Vuitton
10. Michael Kors

Your offer? Exclusive access to the female audience of one of the most successful, educated, high income, brand conscious markets in the US.

During the first year of print, you would be wise to develop the digital editions (see top above) and prepare for the day when Print finally (if ever) dies.

Best of luck. I Love it!

To read more bahmani posts visit: //brucebahmani.blogspot.com/

Labor of love

The domain name, zanmagazine.com, is great!  The premier issue is impressive, the cover page is eye catching, the content is interesting, however, unfortunately paper printed magazines are a thing of the past, and to make the matter worse, the Iranian-American market is extreme small, "according to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 338,000 Americans tracing heritage to Iran."  And, worse yet, the giants in the paper magazine business are struggling to survive, and the economy is depressing.  Maybe the online version of the magazine would make a meager income, but I don't see how the paper magazine itself would make it.

I wish you the best, because I know this magazine is created by labor of love.

By the way, I am in the middle of reading your book and loving it so far.

Iranian-American women... mobaarak baasheh!

The magazine looks great and I wish the good, talented and professional people behind behind great success.