Over the years with the Business Journal

New Mexico Business Journal, Nov, 1996 by George Hackler

Twenty years ago boomers discovered free enterprise, and people rushed to start their own businesses. The need for business information grew geometrically. Publishers, hoping to line their pockets, rushed to fill the information vacuum. Most didn't survive.

Lack of capital killed a lot of publications, and bad management took its toll. But those are not the only reasons publishers bite the dust. It's not easy to run a volatile magazine, or any small business, but it's not brain surgery. In the publishing trade, the most important ingredient is not money or talent, it's readers. In other words, you're not going to make it no matter what without first finding readers. On the other hand, it's hard to kill a "book" people read. If they get the information they want from it, then it's possible to survive - even prosper - with little capital and even less management skill. Look at me.

True to form, the New Mexico Business Journal's early years weren't smooth. Twenty years ago there were no independent, statewide magazines in New Mexico, except Chuck Stocks' Stockman. In 1976, Stocks started a tabloid tided, The New Mexico Real Estate and Business Review. He took on three partners, who bought Stocks out, and proceeded to turn the tabloid into a four-color magazine they called the New Mexico Business Journal. The three men, Mick Landrith, Art Christensen and Harold Morgan, found themselves with a runaway winner. The audience was there, they were pumping out information their audience wanted, and business people all over the state embraced it. Because people were reading it, the ads worked, and the bucks rolled in. For the first time, the state's business community had a voice.

Now, the same old story. As savvy and flush as these guys were, they went broke. They went broke because, like a majority of small business owners who find success, they wanted more. The Golden Goose that got them there wasn't where the action was anymore. The excitement was in the new title they were creating and the avalanche of bucks that were sure to follow. Their focus shifted to expansion, and they went into overdrive. They created another magazine, a slick statewide consumer book called Viva! that was ahead of its time. Beautifully produced and written, it was to be even bigger than NMBJ because the potential audience was larger.

Mirror of the State

But remember The First Rule of Publishing: If people don't read it, you're dead. Viva! didn't fly. New Mexico wasn't ready for its own Texas Monthly-like magazine. The state wasn't socially coagulated enough, it wasn't sophisticated enough, it wasn't rich enough. The magazine died. I bought what was left of the NMBJ, down to 32 pages. I wasn't taking over a loser. The NMBJ was a proven money maker. People read it. And because people read it, advertisers would still buy space in it. The business community still needed a voice.

It sounds simple to say, "Watch your bottom line," but if you run a business, you know getting to profit can be a tricky and dangerous thing, even for a cash cow. It's subtle. You get distracted, forget your mission. You quit paying attention to the core business. Those damn little parentheses start popping up on the wrong side of your P&L. Next thing you know, you're losing big money and, if you don't stop the snowball, you'll find yourself hurtling into a brick wall.

My obsession with profit was really a fear that I would crash against that brick wall and people would say, "Well, how about that? A business magazine that goes out of business." But, in spite of the fact I made almost every mistake, literally in the book, in spite of myself, the NMBJ consistently made above average profits. Thanks to readers who wouldn't let it die.

Yeasty Publishing Climate

Today, for publishers, the state has reached critical mass. The publishing climate is yeasty and competitive. Twenty years ago there were a handful of serious private publications, now there are so many new local tides crowding the news racks it's hard to keep score. There are more support businesses, more competition, more jobs, more information, more opportunities than ever. Lots of new voices. Some, like The Weekly Alibi, or Crosswinds, are finding readers and advertisers. Last I looked, Albuquerque Woman had found its niche. Even that indolent old gorilla, the Albuquerque Journal, has gotten into the game, aping both the NMBJ (with a business tabloid every Monday) and Albuquerque Woman (with Sage, a Saturday insert for women).

But a lot of ground was plowed to get to this point. When Bob and Myra Cochnar took over two years ago, they inherited not just a magazine, but a pioneer in New Mexico's publishing history. Twenty years ago New Mexico Magazine ruled the roost. It had the muscle - a blank check from the Legislature - to compete openly in the private marketplace. The NMBJ challenged this government competition from the state, and that led to numerous articles on how government competition was hurting businesses. Today, New Mexico Magazine still runs advertising, but their focus is where it should be - the promotion of tourism - instead of selling ads.