Folio:'s 1991 circulation salary survey

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Dec 1, 1991

Three hundred forty-four of the 74 1,046 circulation professionals who received questionaires responded to FOLIO:'s seventh annual circulation salary survey, resulting in an overall remote of 33 percent. Three hundred fourteen responses (30 percent) contained sufficient information to be used for tabulation. The survey was conthrough two mailing efforts in May. Particwere asked to supply data reflecting 1991 earnings. If exact figures were unavailable, they were permitted to estimate.

In some cases, respondents did not give an exact bonus figure, but gave an expected range instead. Here the mean was used for tabulation.

Fifty-one percent of the mailing was sent to circuladirectors and 49 percent to circulation managers. Each category was evenly divided between consumer and business magazines. Finally, approximately two-thirds of the sample in each category was drawn from publications with circulations under 100,000, while about one-third came from those with ciruclations of mon than 100,000.

Pressure. Pressure from escalating postal rates. Pressure due to tighter budgets. Pressure to cut costs without reducing good circulation. Pressure to make up for advertising shortfalls. Pressure to find alternative sources in the face of shrinking response rates. To find buyers-not bodies. To boost returns from direct mail. To switch from a data-centered management mindset to a marketing-centered management structure. To promote growth by ....

Increased pressure was this year's circulation salary survey's dominant theme-the harried word coming down to FOLIO: from circulation professionals all across the nation.

But are publishing companies stoking the motivational fires by offering circulation professionals monetary incentives to work harder in the face of these pressures? FOLIO:'s seventh annual circulation salary survey provides the answers with a complete rundown of salaries and total compensation for circulation directors and managers. Some key findings:

On average, circulation directors and circulation managers on consumer magazines make 28 percent and 20 percent more in salary, respectively, than their counterparts on business titles.

* Overall, male circulation directors earn 25 percent more in salary than their female colleagues; in general, male circulation managers do better, pulling down 35 percent more than their female peers.

* Those with management responsibilities are rewarded. Circulation direCtors with more than five employees garner three-quarters more in salary than those with none or one. Managers with more than two employees make 16 percent more than those with none or one.

* Experience pays-or does high pay result in longevity? Directors with more than 10 years in the business make, on average, 40 percent more in salary than their less experienced peers.

* Circulation directors who report receiving bonuses receive 11 percent of their total compensation from these bonuses. Managers who are awarded bonuses earn 10 percent of their total compensation from bonus incentives.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]