The most matriculating students typically hope for is one job fresh out of school, but recent grad Amanda Nachman quickly wound up with two: a full-time consulting gig and her labor of love, newly-launched College magazine. Created to arm college students with essential info on topics from picking a major to selecting a spring break destination, Nachman created a business plan and shepherded College into existence. With herself at the helm as editor-in-chief, she and a cast of volunteer contributors and similarly dedicated staffers helped her vision reach the page. She spoke with mediabistro.com about how she toggles between her day job at an Arlington, VA, consulting firm and the magazine she hopes to expand into new markets with every issue. Since many of us have those pet projects we wish we had more time for, we got her to tell us what devoting all your spare time to your dream media project really entails, and got her tips on doing it yourself.
When and how did you first come up with the idea for College Magazine?
The summer of my junior year in college I realized how much I loved working for magazines. I contributed to quite a few, including Terp, the University of Maryland’s Alumni publication. I remember thinking that it would be great if there were something like Terp but for undergrads. To my knowledge, there weren’t many magazines targeted specifically towards students. Being a college student myself, I knew everyone had tons of questions on their mind from choosing a major to choosing a spring break destination and so I thought of College Magazine, advice and shared experiences on college life issues written by students.
Also on Mediabistro
What else were you doing at the time, work-wise?
I was interning at Washington Spaces magazine, a luxury home design publication, and the University of Maryland Alumni Association. Both inspired me to join the magazine industry.
What was your work situation as you crafted plans and produced College Magazine‘s first issue?
I was finishing up my senior year of college and then, after graduation, I had a little over a month free to focus on the magazine before starting my full time job.
Describe the creation/ development of your business plan. What were its primary objectives, and if you received any assistance with it, who helped you and how exactly did they assist you in creating it?
I started the business plan as part of a class project for an entrepreneurial course at the University of Maryland. Two classmates helped to write the distribution and financial model sections. Overall, the business plan includes the goals for the magazine, advertising model, the media kit, plans for distribution and marketing, and our financial projections. We plan to grow the magazine’s circulation and distribution from a regional to a national level by expanding to more campuses. And as we increase the number of issues per year, we plan to increase the amount of content and advertising. The business plan also lists our ultimate goal, to provide scholarships to college students. As the magazine materialized, I further shaped the business plan with the help of on-campus advisors from the business school’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
What is your ‘day job,’ and what are its time constraints (i.e. how many hours/ days per week are you on the clock?)
I work full time for a large consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia.
Is your full-time employer aware of your work on College? If so, how do they feel about it? If not, why not, and how do you think they’d react? (Why exactly is it important to you that you keep your day job separate from the magazine? How does that separation aid you in both endeavors?)
I had a conversation with my employer and he was actually very impressed with the idea. I explained that I had started College Magazine and that I continue to work on it during non business hours. But overall, it’s important to me that I keep my day job and the magazine separate. The magazine and my day job fall into two different industries so it isn’t difficult to keep them apart from one another. Separating them allows me to organize my time and fully focus on the magazine after the workday ends.
How did you find time to produce College Magazine while working full time?
It’s difficult, I work evenings and weekends and practically every spare moment I have. On long drives I’ll make calls to advertisers, and before bed I’ll e-mail our media kit to businesses. Even on metro rides I take an article with me to edit. I’m passionate about the magazine so I make the time; it’s ultimately what I want to do with my life.
When did you work on it, and how did you get people to collaborate with you during those particular times?
On weekends I hold editorial meetings with our editors Matthew Castner and Maureen McHugh and other members of our editorial staff. During weeknights I meet with Janine Osif, our graphic designer, and every other week I meet with the ad sales team. We also have phone meetings and communicate through e-mail. And for organizing content we use our very own online workflow network, created by Chris Testa, our web coordinator. This network allows for uploading edited versions of articles and new photography. We are also able to assign articles to other team members to keep the flow of the editing process.
| I work evenings and weekends and practically every spare moment I have… I’m passionate about the magazine so I make the time; it’s ultimately what I want to do with my life. |
Your staff is volunteer-based. How were you able to get them to work for free? What incentives did you offer?
It’s actually not entirely volunteer-based. Some team members are compensated by a combination of equity shares in the business and commission on advertising sales. For writers and photographers, the incentive lies in exposure and the opportunity to gain clips for their portfolios.
Do you intend to compensate them at any point?
In the future, the plan is to compensate the core team and to keep with our business plan, content will continue to be generated by students on a volunteer basis.
What’s next for College Magazine? Are you at work on a second issue? Is it with all the same staffers you used first time around? How does producing this issue compare to producing the previous issue — are any aspects easier or more difficult?
We hope to launch our web site and newsletter in the very near future while working on increasing the number of issues per year. Currently, we’re creating our second issue due for distribution February 18th with the same staffers plus some additional members since we’ve grown from the first issue. We have learned a lot from the first issue, so the second time has been easier in some respects. But now more expectations and pressures exist from advertisers to provide a return on their advertising dollars. There is also the pressure to expand distribution and grow the magazine’s readership.
Ultimately, what is your top professional goal? Do you aim to remain on the career path your day job has you on, or do you intend to make College or other magazine work your full-time vocation?
Currently, I’m dedicated and committed to my full time job. My passion lies with the magazine as well as publishing; eventually, that’s where I see myself.
Tips on balancing full-time work with an all-encompassing media project:
1) Don’t fly solo.
“Have a strong support team in place,” Nachman says. “Find talent in others that will compliment your talents and delegate work accordingly.”
2) Have a plan.
It’s important to set objectives and try to meet them. “Establish a business plan to fall back on with realistic deadlines that you’ll stick to,” says Nachman.
3) Open your mind.
“Be open to other’s ideas because you can’t always have all the answers,” Nachman says.
4) Know where you stand.
Nachman advises,”Have knowledge of and passion for the industry you are in so that your business becomes a positive experience in your life.”
[Rebecca L. Fox is mediabistro.com’s managing editor.]
Topics:
Mediabistro Archive
