Local Dulwich E-Magazine

[Basketcase]

Hi all,

I've been on the forum loads but have only just registered!

I live on Barry Road and get loads of leaflets, menus, magazines etc that come through my door.

I had an idea to start an online monthly mag - with local news, features, gossip, events etc and also with all the latest special offers from our local shops and businesses... perhaps with 2 for 1 vouchers ec.

obviously this would be eco-friendly and perhaps I could have all the restaurant menus in there - save them wasting all that paper!

I was just wondering whether people would actually read it (sign up would be free) and if so, what you would like to see in there.

Cheers!

[Sue]

We already have the ED forum and SE22 magazine, plus various other websites I think, so although in theory this is a good idea I wonder whether it wouldn't be an overload of information?

[Basketcase]

Cheers Sue, I thought that myself... I'm just wondering how many people actaully read SE22 mag etc or bin it along with all the other free post?

I know I get fed up with constantly stepping over all the free post, whereas an online mag would be like an extension of the local websites that keep people occupied!

Also, with vouchers that people could print off for local restaurants etc... it would be a good way of saving money while shopping locally!

[Sue]

I read SE22 every month, but I don't know whether others do - but if they don't, would they look at a website?

Don't want to put you off, but a website is a lot of work and keeping it updated is a nightmare :)

The vouchers are a good idea, though!

[sazzle]

I like your idea especially about menus etc. Would be really useful to have all the takeaway menus on line i keep losing them!

If a new website is lots of work maybe you might be allowed to add links on this site?

[Basketcase]

Cheers Sazzle!

It wasn't a website as such I was thinkng about, more a magazine sent as a pdf that peole could scroll through... wouldn't have the technical no how or funds for a website!!

[Sue]

You said an "online monthly mag" - if it was a pdf, you would have to email it to people. That's not quite the same as being online, as they would have to download it.

That wouldn't be very convenient for being able to access menus etc I think?

And sorry, but I suspect many people would just delete it, in the same way as you step over your junk mail that comes through the letter box.

I really don't want to be negative but I think maybe you need to think this through a bit more before you spend a lot of time on it?

[lindylou]

WOGosh sue, you sure as hell know all about east dulwich and what goes on and what we need here. I am totally entjhralled. Please may I beg to ask you how long you have lived here. Obviously a lot of years for you are so knowledgeable and so may we all beg your pardon for not being as knowledgable asd you are. Are you thinking of running for east dulwich mayor? Come back big bad woolf all is forgiven.

forgiven.

[Sue]

Lindylou Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> WOGosh sue, you sure as hell know all about east

> dulwich and what goes on and what we need here. I

> am totally entjhralled. Please may I beg to ask

> you how long you have lived here. Obviously a lot

> of years for you are so knowledgeable and so may

> we all beg your pardon for not being as

> knowledgable asd you are. Are you thinking of

> running for east dulwich mayor? Come back big bad

> woolf all is forgiven.

xxxxxx

I've lived in East Dulwich for almost twenty years.

Excuse me for having dared to venture an opinion.

:-$

[KalamityKel]

Any particular reason for that unnecessary throwing toy out of buggy lou?

I quite agree with Sue. There are already many different kinds of news/forum type thingys that represent the Dulwich area.

The SE22 magazine can often be a little outdated by the time it is received through the letter box and the EDF is a little too into the future at the times for gossip. Perhaps an in between?

With so many ways of distributing local information and in different forms one would have to be careful what is real and what is a little distorted.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I'm with Sue and Kel on this

Welcome to the forum basketcase (you kids and your crazy names!)

A few years back I had similar thoughts as I didn't think Living South or SE22 quite hit the spot, but the forum came along and pretty much covered most local angles.

As far as menus go,a couple of online operations have both menus and online ordering services - true they don't cover every restauarant but there aren't many missing

http://hungryhouse.co.uk/search/SE22/All

www.just-eat.co.uk

They have full menus, user reviews (hmmmm) and online ordering

As for the PDF idea, I think Sue is right. Many people will use it and find it useful but many more won't, or at least not enough to justify the efforts you put in. Of course we could be wrong and you could be on to a winner, but as you are soliciting advice etc..

The skills to setup a website are far less than you might think - if you redeploy some of your efforts into a few evenings with a "for beginners" type book, you might be able to set up a site which corals all of the resources for the area into one spot. I can't see it being a money-maker tho...

[lorraineliyanage]

There is a great site online where you send them your take-aways menus, they scan them, and put them up online as

JPEGs:

http://menulover.co.uk/

[paulino]

... plus I don't think for one minute that this would reduce the amount of junk menus that come through the letterbox anyway. the restaurants wouldn't cease the littering - they would be bombarding us from more angles :'(

[Moos]

Has anyone got one of those 'no leaflets please' stickers, and if so does it work?

[lorraineliyanage]

I've got one on my letterbox but it doesn't work at all, Moos!

[Moos]

Shucks.

[Sandperson]

I got one (from a Lambeth library) and get almost no leaflets or menus now! Happy days.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I had one, it was torn off after about a week.

[Basketcase]

Cheers everyone all comments appreciated!

It's just an idea - I was just thinking, people could print off what they needed form it (if anything) and it might be a good way of letting people know about the current, sales, offers, promotions etc.. without printing anything that could be wasted.

Sue - The idea was to email it to people - and you would need to be online to open the email obviously, so it is an more of an "online magazine" than offline!:))

Sean - Cheers for the welcome! Basketcase takes me back to my uni days - ?1 a pint at Bad Bobs in Covent Garden - Greenday blasting out.... not so much of a kid anymore...think it's even closed now!!

Yeah, I think some people might find it useful and read it, others won't, but if you could unrequest it, it would save any wasted emails... I'm just thinking of what people might want to receive, but wouldn't want to print another monthly mag as I'm sure there'd be a fair bit of wastage!

[sophiesofa]

how will you make any money for all the time and effort you'll have to put in, from the take aways themselves? I think you will find it will be a lot of effort for little reward. You might also having problems emailing anything over 5MB and pdfs with lots of images in are big files (i'm a graphic designer so have experienced the pdf mail out problem on many occassions). I think any local business who would be interested would have been sensible enough to have posted (and kept up to date) their meus through this forum anyway. Good luck if you do do it (but I don't think you should sorry).

[Brendan]

Most Email newsletters are just an html formatted email with links to the various articles and ads which are web based.

Nobody tries to send out attachments as they just get blocked by email filters.

[Inthepink]

Have you thought about the time and cost element of your website idea? In my experience - I used to run the "posh" free magazine in Dulwich - you will need to make it a full time job updating, selling and running the site. I started as a website before becoming printed.

Your revenues will be key to justifying your efforts. The biggest ad revenues locally are from restaurants and estate agents, but they are mostly notoriously bad payers. Other small businesses have only small budgets, and are mostly unskilled in graphics and marketing. You will have to do any design or online work for them, free of charge.

Most restaurants use their own low-paid staff to walk round with their flyers, so it is an incredibly cheap way to advertise. Their flyers are the most expensive cost. But in my experience, the success rate is very low, whilst the irritation factor is very high. Customers largely know where they want to eat, and their budget often dictates. So your listings might be wide of the mark too - menus are not usually the main factor in getting bums onto restaurant seats. Also, restaurants are quick to cut back on spend in rocky economic times.

Even if you do get support, your advertisers will do everything to not pay you. My time was largely spent chasing debt in, unsuccessfully. It is what finally took me out of business. Living South has the same ongoing problem, irrespective of the credit crunch and its negative impact of any adv/marketing spend, with debt running into high figures. The group is apparently owed millions in invoices. I know your costs will be lower online, but you will still need to be financially viable.

The only successful local advertising vehicle I came across was the Time and Leisure group, who have a fairly popular website supporting their local titles. I won't comment on SE22, for various reasons. T and L cover other suburbs of South London, eg Wimbledon. They have a large team of people in Merton Abbey Mills keeping everything going, including a very heavy handed accounts dept.

So I would personally steer well clear of your idea for many reasons. It sounds like a ticket to grief! But good luck if you do try.

[Inthepink]

P.S. Have you seen what Southwark News have online for food and drink?

Have a look at www.southwarknews.co.uk/food