www.TalkStoryMagazine.com
Talk Story Magazine Inc.
Post Office Box 1289
Pearl City, HI 96782
ph: (808) 672-0800
fax: (808) 672-6877
talkstor
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Article from Honolulu Star-Bulletin-5/18/06
Click here for the original article Kailua Town will get its own Talk Story advertorial magazine by Erika Engle
THE COMPANY that brought Talk Story Magazine to mailboxes around Oahu will debut Kailua Town magazine next week.
Talk Story Magazine Inc. will mail out the new Kailua-centric advertorial publication on Monday. It mirrors Talk Story's format of ads placed unabashedly alongside stories about the businesses doing the advertising.
Kailua Town Magazine is being published as Talk Story celebrates its one-millionth mailing. Each issue is mailed free to 200,000 homes.
Publisher Mike Fuller is no Woodward or Bernstein, as he told TheBuzz in 2003.
"I don't try to hide the fact that it is paid advertising."
"This isn't hard-hitting investigative journalism," he said at the time.
His business model has changed since the column nearly three years ago.
Talk Story is now an Oahu-wide publication, whereas it had been five magazines, published by zone, four times a year for Pearl City/Aiea; Windward Oahu; Kapolei/Ewa Beach; Mililani; and East Honolulu.
"We started (the consolidation) with the winter 2004 issue," he said. "We knew when we went islandwide we had to focus on building on that particular product and not do the zones anymore."
Rather than four times a year, Talk Story now has three press runs a year and is mailed out in March, July and November.
A year and a half into the new business model, the company was ready to try something familiar, with a new name: A zone publication for Kailua.
"We want the people in the community to know, when they receive it, that 'it is just for my community, right here,'" he said. "That is one of the reasons why we did the Kailua Town magazine."
It will be published twice a year, in May and September, and mailed to 15,000 Kailua households.
Some extra copies are distributed by the businesses that request issues to distribute, but those not on the mailing list can also view the entire publication online.
"We put the full content online at no extra charge (to advertisers)," he said. Kailua Town will also be online. Both offer links to clients' Web sites.
The previous, zoned-out version of Talk Story magazine offered advertising discounts for placement in multiple editions and there issome crossover advertising between the Oahu-wide Talk Story and Kailua Town magazine.
Big City Diner, with four locations, is in both publications. The ad graphics are similar, but some of the text and the coupons are different. The stories are also different. The Kailua Town story about Big City Diner's Kailua eatery emphasizes its patio, which makes that location unique, Fuller said.
While Big City hasn't purchased advertising in each issue, "they've been with us since the early days," Fuller said.
On the other side of the coin, "a lot of the businesses in Kailua are not particularly prospects for the island-wide (edition)," Fuller said.
Venues for advertising are branching out from traditional print and broadcast media to the Internet and now even into video games -- so Fuller has many foes to fight for clients' ad dollars.
He feels he has a unique niche.
Newspapers are read and recycled, which is the nature of a newspaper, but his digest-sized magazines are colorful, slick and glossy -- they are "filled with interesting stories about local businesses, they're a quick read and you walk away with (new) information," he said.
He constantly hears positive feedback about increased customer traffic once one of his magazines hits mailboxes. It is what he enjoys the most about what he does, especially when he hears such tales from new advertisers who hear from new customers drawn in by the magazine.
"It's almost as if the customers get to know the business owners." The magazine's paid stories "are creating a comfort level (for customers) so they're willing to go and visit that company for its service or product," Fuller said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.comArticle from Honolulu Star-Bulletin-12/25/03
Click here for the original article
'Advertorial" is a dirty word in a newsroom, but it's the buttered side of the bread for Mike Fuller and his wife Mericia Palma-Fuller.Old-time communications concept is behind a new magazine by Erika Engle
Their Talk Story magazine, featuring local businesses and the people who run them, is a glossy, four-color, digest-sized publication that is direct-mailed free to homes around Oahu four times per year. It is all advertorial, meaning if a business buys an ad, it will be featured in a story.
"I don't try to hide the fact that it is paid advertising," Fuller said. "This isn't hard-hitting investigative journalism."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A few generations ago, people knew the butchers and bakers and candlestick makers.
"People are too busy now. You don't know who's making the pizza, or who's the jeweler down the street, so our goal is to bring those stories right to the community," Fuller said. "That's why I call it Talk Story magazine, because that's what I do all day long."
One of his clients left corporate America to make pizza, leaving a high-paying job to pursue a dream.
"If you can read a story and see something in there that reminds you, 'I've got an auntie like that, or an uncle,' it gives you that connection to support these local businesses," Fuller said.
The Fullers established the company a year ago and put out the first Talk Story in March, for the Pearl City/Aiea region. There are now five editions following steady expansion to Windward Oahu, Kapolei/Ewa Beach, Mililani and now East Honolulu. Mike is the publisher and sales rep, Mericia serves as editor. Talk Story employs six part-time graphic designers, writers and a photographer.
The next move is perhaps into Honolulu, with some additional hires.
The Fullers moved here two years ago from Texas, knowing after honeymooning here that Hawaii was where they wanted to raise their children.
For the first year he served as the Hawaii advertising representative for a mainland company, but now he's just like one of his clients, competing against big players.
The Winter issues, released Dec. 10, were mailed to 125,000 homes. The basic ad rate is $400, but there is a "multiple area discount" for ads in more than one regional Talk Story. And there is an additional charge for cover placement.
Hawaii MusicWorks in Pearl City is a charter advertiser. "We've had a really good experience," said co-owner Mark Santos.
The company teaches traditional music lessons but also has a "rock school" focusing on the music the kids like and the performance thereof.
"Having the ability to have an ad with some kind of commentary ... helps to educate the customer a lot about us. It helps to sell our product."
Oahu Airport Shuttle operations manager Jeffrey Patrick is another charter advertiser.
The response to Oahu Airport Shuttle's ads and coverage has been "tremendous," he said.
"It captures people's attention and stays at the top of their mind more than a regular ad."
Fuller has "taken a good idea and improved it greatly."
"I've told (Fuller) to his face, 'I hope your kids are getting enough food because your prices are too low,' " he said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.com
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Talk Story Magazine Inc.
Post Office Box 1289
Pearl City, HI 96782
ph: (808) 672-0800
fax: (808) 672-6877
talkstor
