They're cash-strapped, can spend little on marketing and need to pick the plums from among 300 leads in order to make the two sales that will eventually result. As niche marketers know, a sharp focus on competitors' disenfranchised customers can open doors to rewarding ventures. The response was uniformly negative, says Reardon. So The RTC Group turned to independent publishing consultants for production advice, recruited an editor and advisory board, and rolled out RTC magazine on its own. New subscribers are currently being added at the monthly rate of 42 percent.
Subscriptions feed on attendance and attendance on subscriptions.
Few publishers have a direct refresh mechanism this powerful. The RTC Group's success in branching out beyond trade shows has multiplied. In addition to the extra profit center created by RTC, the company has added list rentals, article reprint services, multimanagement and meeting planning to its roster of offerings. Plans to enter new market segments are on the drawing board. Competitors have tried to emulate our formula and failed.