We’re not sure what we were looking forward to most: the arrival of spring or the April/May issue of MyBusiness magazine. Both came on the scene recently as the magazine we produce for the 600,000 small-business members of NFIB reached readers this week. The cover story depicts an unlikely partnership: small business and the government. MyBusiness readers usually want the government to stay as far away as possible from their small businesses. But this story shows the benefits of working closely with Uncle Sam by scoring federal contracts.
The issue also looks at how the Internet has changed small business over the last decade. Can you remember life without e-mail? We sure can’t. The MyBusiness Manual covers the many ways outsourcing can be a boon for busy small-business owners. We also talked to a guy who will have your customers begging to be put on hold when they call your office. And of course, there’s the regular commentary from our favorite columnist, Harvey King.

According to new research conducted by Roper Public Affairs and commissioned by the Custom Publishing Council (of which Hammock Publishing is a founding member), 80% of Americans (the general adult population) is familiar with custom publishing and at least two-thirds of American adults read them.

The survey was conducted among 1,004 American adults to measure awareness of custom publishing magazines and newsletters. The survey was fielded from March 4 to March 6, 2005. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3 percentage points, and will be higher for subgroups.

Here are some highlights of the research:

Eight in 10 Americans have at least some awareness of custom publishing.

When asked how familiar they are with seeing or receiving custom publishing materials, eight in 10 Americans (81%) say they say they have at least some awareness of custom publishing[1]Over one in four say they are very aware of them (27%) and four in 10 are somewhat aware of these materials (40%).

Two in three Americans look through custom publishing materials at least occasionally.

Two in three Americans (66%) say they pick up custom publishing materials and, at a minimum, flip through them at least occasionally. An additional 27% does so rarely and only 7% say they never look through custom publishing materials.

While strong majorities of both genders do, more women than men look through custom publishing materials.

Women are more likely than men to say they look through custom publishing materials at least occasionally, however strong majorities of both say they do so (70% vs. 62%, respectively).

From Rex:

As some of the Nashville hammock folk traveled to Austin for the South by Southwest Interactive Festival over the weekend, we felt any such trip would not be complete without stopping by the exact spot where Austin-hammoratian Summer Huggins hangs out. So, here are Laura Creekmore and I with Summer. (Photo by Summer’s husband, Cole.) Cole and Summer have also been more than kind in taking us from incredible eating establishment-to-establishment.

From Rex:
It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I love magazines. Recently, the folks at Media Life asked me, “Okay, so why do you love magazines so much?” They asked me some other questions, also. You can find all of their questions and my answers on their website where they posted it today.