How My Magazine Lost $40,000 a Year But Made Millions

“He who controls the media controls the mind!” — Jim Morrison

By the time I launched my first issue in 1992, several attempts had already been made to publish a martial arts business magazine. While the content was solid, these ventures relied on the traditional magazine model — selling advertising. Unfortunately, beyond a handful of major suppliers, there simply weren’t enough vendors in the industry to sustain a magazine purely on ad revenue.

Even though my magazine ran for five years with the backing of a few committed advertisers, it never turned a net profit from ad sales. But what it accomplished was far more valuable than ad revenue alone ever could be.

For starters, publishing a magazine for an industry of roughly 15,000 schools wasn’t as costly as one might assume — about $18,000 per issue. Advertising covered about 80% of that, allowing me to enter the magazine business with minimal financial risk. Advertisers paid upfront, essentially financing my venture.

Yes, I lost about $4,000 per issue, but the upside was enormous. Instant credibility. Overnight, I became my own Randolph Hearst. I controlled the…