Avia Collinder, Business Writer

Despite the earth tremors by which media in general are currently affected, and the ill-starred fate of those who invest in magazine ventures in Jamaica, publishing appears to be an industry where the optimistic and risk-taking entrepreneur comes to play.

So, notwithstanding the contraction in media locally and internationally, two investors have opted to make their debut.

New to the market are Wealth Magazine, launched in March by Leighton Davis and Garth Walker of Creative Media; and Your Money, an online magazine or 'eZine', launched in September 2008 by business graduate Tyrone Wilson for those who, he says, are "serious about wealth".

Other local magazines in this genre are Business Suite, the Jamaica Business Journal, and Investors Choice. Attempts by Sunday Business to get status reports from all three failed, but the newer magazine owners were quite eager to advertise their optimism.

Internationally, several news magazines and newspapers have gone out of business, with others turning to publication online only in a bid to cut expenses. Locally, some media houses have made staff redundant and rationalised operations because of falling advertising revenues.

Regardless, 5,000 copies of Wealth magazine - a full-colour, full-gloss, 50-page edition - came off the press in March, with a shelf price of $500 plus tax.

The cost to launch the first issue, managing editor Leighton Davis said, was "in the millions", but 80 per cent of the quarterly magazine will be given away free to corporate heads and other targeted readers to ensure that Wealth reaches the people demanded by their - so far impressive - list of advertisers.

Targeting market

Tyrone Wilson's eZine (www.your moneyezine.com) is five to eight pages of financial information produced weekly. It targets both consumers and managers. It is completely free to its list of subscribers, which currently numbers 25,000. No hard copies are printed.

The subscriber list for Your Money includes individuals on Wall Street, New York, in London, England, and the wider Caribbean. Some 97 per cent of his audience, Wilson states, are Jamaican.

Wilson is a 2008 business graduate of the University of the West Indies who says he never entertained the thought of working for anyone but himself.

"I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur," he said.

"I left the UWI with a business plan."

Wilson took his plan for the magazine to Christopher Williams, managing director of NCB Capital Markets Limited, who has since provided both advertising and mentoring.

Although others have not been responsive to his knock, Wilson says he is breaking even and optimistic about getting revenue from overseas sources for the magazine, which now has an international online audience.

Garth Walker, who co-manages Wealth Magazine with Leighton Davis and is also chairman of Adam & Eve Day Spa, believes that his magazine represents what a business-oriented audience needs to hear in an economic slump.

"Our mandate is to engage in form and uplift readers in print. We are providing essential insight and understanding with compre-hensive coverage," he said.

But what of those who had the same lofty objectives, but failed?

"A lot of people have tried many things. It is the way it is executed which makes the dif-ference," Walker said.

Leighton Davis says he drew from the experience with a previous maga-zine called High Society in executing the new project.

"With High Society, we met a challenge with distribution in terms of convincing the advertisers that it was reaching the audience they wanted. Now, with Wealth, 80 per cent will be distributed free to senior management in corporate and business entities, with 20 per cent being placed on the shelves."

The decision to do Wealth came from the recognition that there were very few business magazines in print and available in pharmacies or other outlets, Davis said.

Wealth, he states, was carefully conceptualised for a specific niche.

"We have created a platform to highlight young entrepreneurs and a tool kit with information that will help them in their current business," he said.

Advertising and sponsorship is the revenue stream which is expected to cover almost all operational costs. But additionally, the new brand is being expanded to include radio, television and online.

"We are currently building a website, which will provide information for Jamaicans overseas. We are also cutting a deal to produce a TV show to be aired on a station I prefer not to name," said Davis.

"We are going to our advertisers with a multifaceted package. Anybody on business who wants to reach entrepreneurs will be able to do so through Wealth," Davis said.

avia.ustanny@gleanerjm.com