Barbados Holidays: A World Heritage Tourism Destination →

Print on Demand (POD) with Magcloud

Print On Demand

Order Quality Printed Magazine.... CLICK HERE (pay shipping and print costs)

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What It Is

This service makes it possible for almost anyone to be a publisher. It’s a professional service now used by businesses, artists, photographers and writers. The technology permits you to print a single, high quality product at a reasonable price. It also allows digital delivery via iPad or almost any device. Even leading publishing companies, like “Life Magazine”, are using this service to deliver archived material.

The Company

Magcloud is a HP company that has been around for a few years. Travelersinsights started with them in 2009 when we published Dominica Insights. Since then they have come a long way. Back in 2009, shipping was limited to America, Canada and the USA. Today they ship anywhere. Shipping is not cheap but it is not more expensive than Fedex direct or other major carriers; and it is very handy.

Printing & Costs

With Magcloud you can produce your magazine using several different systems including Apple Pages, Cock, Adobe and others. The online system lets you upload from your computer and they provide the templates to follow in formatting the document. The cost to print is 20 cents US per page and 15% off if you order 20 or more magazines at one time. Now that is a very low cost for short runs of 50 or so mags. But if you need 1,000 it’s not the right place to buy.

When it comes to printing short run magazines, Magcloud is very effective. It is not effective for large quantities.

Good for Travel

We use Magcloud as you see but we also work with local printers if we need longer runs. For travel, Magcloud POD is a great solution. As a hotel, you can arrange to have your mags shipped directly to agents or to trade shows in small numbers. You don’t have to fly to World Travel Market, for example, with your cases full of print. Just arrange to get them shipped to your hotel, and collect them on your arrival.

I did exactly that and I stayed at Customs House Hotel which is right beside the WTM exhibition hall. My magazines and brochures were waiting at the desk and I took what I needed across to the WTM on a daily basis. POD is the smart way to market travel.

Sales and Shipping

The company also allows you to mark up the product or give it out at cost. You can pay in advance and let users order for free. You can also make a digital version available at no cost, or charge a dollar or two for the download. In this case HP will keep a % for handling the transaction.

Here is what a publication will look like on their site. The image below is text which I grabbed from the site and pasted here. If I change the details on Magcloud it will automatically update this page. Click on the red button below to see the World Heritage Tourism Magazine and get a free copy of the digital PDF. see example >>>

Marketing

Magcloud does not do marketing for you. They do have a community of publishers and people who read, but I have not found that they generate any significant traffic. You do have to build your own business and readership. They do offer several buttons that allow you to post a notice to your social media profiles such as Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest and Google +. This is very helpful.

To market your publication, you will need to do your own press releases, write blogs and articles, and promote them along with the Magcloud pages using RSS, social bookmarks and backlinks. Creating a video, publishing and promoting it will make a big difference.

Help With Marketing

For help and suggestions on Marketing click here >>>

Example of magazine profile on Magcloud

This is reproduced here from the actual profile of World Heritage Tourism Magazine as it appears on Magcloud

World Heritage Tourism - vol 1, issue 1 by Travelersinsights.com

By Ian Clayton in Travelers Insights

24 pages, published 9/24/2012

World Heritage Tourism covers heritage hotels, heritage holidays and heritage travel. We select destinations from the UNESCO World Heritage List that meet TravelersInsights criteria for World Heritage Tourism designation. We FOCUS on tourism destinations that are UNESCO Heritage Sites and are also exciting and rewarding places to visit for an adventure holiday for families, singles and couples. This issue features Barbados…