Episode Transcript

Jake Braun:

Welcome to Kickin’ it with Kapok, a podcast about business stories and marketing advice. I’m Jake.

Mirela Setkic:

And I’m Mirela.

Jake Braun:

This is episode 23, “How Traditional and Digital Advertising Can Work Together.” To help us with our discussion today, we’re joined by Ashley Sica from Green Bench Monthly. Green Bench Monthly is a local full-color magazine here in St Pete. It has a circulation of 16,000 homes and businesses and features stories about local residents, businesses, the city, and more. Where should we go from there Mirela?

Mirela Setkic:

Well I guess here at Kapok Marketing we help people with digital marketing and we always come across different groups of businesses I guess. There's a group of businesses that believe that digital marketing is not important, then there's also a group of people who believe that traditional marketing is dead, and like, print ads and all that stuff are dead, and then we always tell people actually they're both kind of very alive and very important, and we always suggest that people do a mix, and so do you come across people who are like that too?

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely! I think there was this whole trend you know, late 90's, early 2000's you know, computers kind of took the world by storm and everybody was looking at that going why would we ever need paper again? This is fantastic! And to a certain degree, yes! Digital is fantastic and it definitely has it's purpose and it can compliment print in a lot of ways, but last year Nielsen released a reports saying that more than two thirds of the population still read some form of print publication, so print isn't dying. It's not what everybody anticipated, so we definitely have a lot of people who still turn to print and I think it's a nice relief from digital. Sometimes starting at the screen all day, it's nice to pick up something that's not moving, something that you can you know, hold on to and you can share. There is something nice and something to be said for that static publication.

Mirela Setkic:

I agree. I'm a huge book person and everyone's like oh you're so crazy you're not like, reading this stuff on your Kindle or-- I'm like, I don't know, I can't.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah to each their own! And sometimes there is a place for a Kindle. I mean, I read on my tablet too. Airplanes, that's nice. There's definitely, there's a nice mix. They compliment each other.

Mirela Setkic:

I'm definitely more of a person, yeah obviously I don't under a rock, I go online and I do have digital moments, but when I need to unwind, I definitely like to feel something and flip the pages and look at the pictures, which brings me to the next point of, I guess let's talk about, a little bit about Green Bench Monthly and what is it, and anything you can share about the magazine?

Ashley Sica:

Sure! We're a community magazine. We publish hyper local content, so we focus on the North East St Pete area. We direct mail to over 15,500 homes in zipcodes 33701, 04 and 13, so that's the bulk of our readership. We also offer subscriptions and we drop off extra copies at local businesses, so there's also an opportunity to get it if you live outside the area.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay, so who reads magazines, and who reads your magazine? What is that quintessential person?

Ashley Sica:

For us it's really about values. It's about people who value the community, are interested in local business, you know I think everybody reads a magazine for different reasons, so for us it's really about St Pete. It's about people who love where they live, they want to get to know their neighbors. We have a column called 'People of St Pete', everybody loves it. It's a chance to get to know, kind of behind the scenes, we feature everybody from you know, trolley drivers to directors of history museums, so it's really kind of up close and personal picture of the people that are living and working in St Pete and I think our readers really enjoy that and value it.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, I definitely get that feel from your magazine and you actually brought in a copy which I guess comes out today.

Ashley Sica:

It does!

Mirela Setkic:

Which is kind of a big deal and before I even actually knew you, this was one of my favorite magazines, and I don't even know how I came across it. I think it was at my previous job when we were in the BBNT building, it somehow ended up in our mail box and I thought well this is kind of cute.

Ashley Sica:

Aw.

Mirela Setkic:

It feels very local.

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely.

Mirela Setkic:

And very yeah, not like super uppity and very like down to earth.

Ashley Sica:

We are very local, yes. Grounded local content is what we feature, so it's what's near and dear to our hearts.

Mirela Setkic:

Well this is, it's definitely one of my favorites. So who is the quintessential business or person who would advertise in your magazine?

Ashley Sica:

Primarily local business. If you flip through the pages you'll see it's everybody from local services, we have a cleaning service, an air conditioning services to you know, spas, facials, we have coffee shops, really just local businesses. We do open up space for other advertisers. We don't limit it, but typically what we attract is local businesses. People who are targeting to North East St Pete area.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay, yeah. So as a local magazine, do you also consider yourself a small business?

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely!

Mirela Setkic:

What are your challenges as a small business? How do you keep this thing going? What are the ups and downs, and the good and the bad?

Ashley Sica:

I think sometimes it's just kind of keeping up with the response. We started working for a group of community magazines out of college, my husband and I did, so we've been in publishing for a while now. When we moved out to St Pete, we saw a need for a community magazine like this. There just wasn't anything in the area that was really putting out the type of content that we would like to see, so for us, you know, we were just hoping to you know, have a few readers and have enough to you know, get some local businesses to advertise to support and you know, keep us going. Since we started publishing the response has been overwhelming. This definitely was something that St Pete needed and we're so grateful that residents and businesses are open and receive the publication each month, so for us, I think it's just kind of figuring out what content to run when timing wise. We're a monthly publication, so it's important that you know, we're keeping things
relevant and fresh and you feel like you're getting something new each month that you haven't see before, and yeah, it definitely keeps us on our toes.

Mirela Setkic:

And I think you guys do a really good job with keeping it fresh and relevant. Every time I get an issue, I learn something new.

Ashley Sica:

That's awesome.

Mirela Setkic:

And then I always like, steal it and then I use it on conversations with my friends.

Ashley Sica:

Please, please do.

Mirela Setkic:

And my friends always think that I'm like, this connected person who's in the know.

Ashley Sica:

That's perfect.

Mirela Setkic:

But I really just read your magazine and which kinda of reminds me, not long ago I went to a marketing conference in Boston and there was this keynote speaker who talked about stories and how stories are peoples currency for having conversations and I feel like your magazine is kind of like that.

Ashley Sica:

Aw thank you.

Mirela Setkic:

Even when you guys did a story about us as a marketing agency back in the day, a few months ago, maybe it has been like a year.

Ashley Sica:

I think it was almost a year.

Jake Braun:

Almost.

Ashley Sica:

You guys are due for another one.

Mirela Setkic:

What is going on? The response that we got was amazing. Like people were calling us and just saying you know, I read the story, I think that you guys are a great match for us, and I'm like, oh my God, like us? How did you hear about us? And it was your magazine.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah those stories are great. It really gives people an opportunity to get to know you on a level that they wouldn't otherwise from you know, maybe just seeing an ad on Facebook, or hearing a bit on the radio, we run you know, full feature stories about the businesses that advertise with us, so it's a great opportunity for our readers to you know, get to know more about your business, why you do what you do, you know, meet your team. We have photographers that go out and take photos, so it's really kind of a documentary style process and you know, I think there's a lot to be said for that. People like to establish that connection before they make that first call or inquire you know. It kind of does a lot of the sales work for you.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, it was amazing. I definitely was shocked. I thought like, well no one's gonna care to read about us, like who are we? No one!

Jake Braun:

It was really interesting the people who contacted us. We had an inventor, some other small business owners, they were saying they read the magazine all the time and they just found us in there and called us and it was crazy.

Ashley Sica:

We have, St Pete, has so many interesting people. I really love talking to our readers and getting that kind of feedback. So we have a lot of talented people that live out here, so it's fun.

Mirela Setkic:

It's definitely crazy and in a good way, not in a bad way. But yeah, it's definitely one of my favorite magazines here locally, so I think you do a great job.

Ashley Sica:

Aw thanks. We love you guys.

Mirela Setkic:

So maybe we should talk a little bit about your website too. You guys have a pretty nice website. Is it that same content that's in the magazine that's on the website, or what do you guys use the website for?

Ashley Sica:

Some of it is. So it's definitely important that our advertisers are able to share stories, and not just our advertisers, we run other content too, so we feature a lot of non-profits, a lot of community stories. We just ran a story about Pinellas composting-- Pinellas County Composting Alliance. And so it's important to us that people can share that content online too. We only have so many copies that we print each month and we definitely don't wanna limited it to just that circulation. So the website serves a couple of purposes. That would be one of them. It's also a place for people to come out and find more information about advertising, circulation, demographics, and then we have another side to it which you guys are working with us on. Our business resources page, which is a place for businesses to come and find specials and promotions that are put out by businesses that advertise with us. We found a need for that after hearing so much feedback
about business owners reading the other business features and really looking for services that cater to their business, so we figured we would start another section on the website that was dedicated solely to that.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah its, I guess everyone needs a community, so I think people forget that businesses are people too and recently--

Ashley Sica:

They're your neighbors.

Mirela Setkic:

I know! It's so crazy because you think like, oh it's a business, it's like this faceless thing and like, whatever.

Ashley Sica:

This big corporate giant, yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

Exactly and recently I was at Creative Mornings and they had some, and I don't remember this guy's name, so hopefully people don't think I'm an A hole, but he was talking about how business owners are often very lonely and because, it's just you and you feel like oh my God I'm sitting in this box and I don't know, like I don't have anyone to talk to, and that's probably why they've come to you and said you know, we want like, hear more.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah I think so. That connection is really important and I think there's something to be said for getting to know people, or knowing what's offered in your neighborhood, or your community. You know, St Pete is very close knit, so rather than just going online and doing some you know, random search pulling up anything, you know, you have this one source that you can kind of trust that you can turn to, so yes, community is definitely very important, and feeling supported in that way is a vital part to business too.

Jake Braun:

To touch on what you were saying that corporations are people. In St Pete they really are very small, it's very local, there's a lot of one person, two people small businesses, so it really is just a person a lot of the time.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, I agree. It can get a little bit lonely.

Ashley Sica:

Yes. Especially long days, pressed time.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh my gosh! It's like, I wanna sell everything and run away. I don't have those moments anymore, but in the beginning I did.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah, it can be tough. It's really tough to you know, get your name out there and get the ball rolling.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, and it seems so much easier just to sell everything and become like, an Instagram like, whatever person.

Ashley Sica:

I know, it does look like a good life doesn't it?

Mirela Setkic:

Like, why am I not in Dubai?

Ashley Sica:

Ah St Pete, St Pete is beautiful though. I constantly remind myself that people vacation here and that this is you know, it looks like a post card sometimes. I have to pinch myself that this is home, so it's beautiful.

Mirela Setkic:

I think we sometimes take it for granted. At least I do, because I've lived here for so long and it's just St Pete. I know St Pete when is was just little old St Pete and like, nothing was happening.

Ashley Sica:

It's not that anymore.

Mirela Setkic:

I know and then I forget. I walk outside, it's like oh St Pete is kind of like.

Ashley Sica:

It's a big deal now.

Mirela Setkic:

But yeah, it can get lonely as a business person, so I think it's nice that you've launched something where businesses can share with each other and that's something that we tried to do with our blog posts on website. We try to offer as much information that people can use. Maybe someone can not afford to hire a marketing agency, but maybe they will find one of our blog posts and it will help them.

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely. You guys do such a great job. I know I've learned so much just from the posts coming through about digital marketing and just tips, even outside of that, it's really a wealth of knowledge and resources, so I appreciate it.

Mirela Setkic:

Thank you Jake, it's working. You know sometimes blogging can be like, oh my God, like.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah!

Mirela Setkic:

And you know about deadlines and all that so, like oh my God, I gotta--

Ashley Sica:

It's my life.

Mirela Setkic:

I know, sometimes I'm just like, not feeling it. Like, I'd rather go to like, Kahwa and drink coffee than like write this blog post.

Ashley Sica:

You should do that. You gotta step away sometimes and just you know, check out. We do that. Sometimes you'll find us during press time out walking at Vinoy or,

Mirela Setkic:

Really?

Ashley Sica:

We'll take the dogs to the park. Yeah, you just gotta step away and tune out for a little bit otherwise I think you get kind of caught in this you know, hamster wheel of trying to you know, just churn it out to put it out and for us, you know, it's really important that you keep the quality up and that you know, and sometimes the answers come to you too. You know, you'll step away and it's like Oh! That's what I was looking for, so it's nice to take time for that space.

Mirela Setkic:

You're right, so I'll be running away to Kahwa--

Ashley Sica:

Yeah, do that.

Mirela Setkic:

Every time I have a blog post, I'll be like peace out guys.

Ashley Sica:

I've gotta go!

Mirela Setkic:

I gotta go!

Ashley Sica:

I'm clearing my mind.

Jake Braun:

I'm just always up til midnight every Sunday 'cause I have a blog post that's due at eight AM on Monday.

Mirela Setkic:

This is something that I have tried to get Jake to change this thing. I just want him to move the blog post to another day outside of Monday.

Jake Braun:

It's not about the day. If it was Tuesday, I'd be up until midnight on Monday doing it, so it's just, I don't know.

Mirela Setkic:

Jake comes in on Monday morning and like, the blog post is due at ten o'clock and it's nine and he's all angry and like, I gotta get-- I'm like, just move it to another day! Like, it's bad enough that it's Monday, like now it's like your blog post Monday.

Ashley Sica:

Way to start the week Jake.

Jake Braun:

Yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

It's like Monday from hell. Just like, move it.

Jake Braun:

I'll consider it.

Ashley Sica:

Maybe one day. We'll be rooting for you in the meantime.

Jake Braun:

Thank you.

Mirela Setkic:

It's almost like, why are you punishing yourself, but I do understand that if it's moved another day--

Ashley Sica:

Yeah, it's deadlines too. It's just, you know, you gotta get it done, so for us, we're on the same, you gotta keep on schedule, so you know, we do take breaks and go to the park, but that said, we'll stay up late 'cause stuffs gotta get done, so I think it's finding that balance somewhere in between.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, so how do you guys deal with you know, good enough and on time, and perfect and late, like how do you? Do you have those struggles too?

Ashley Sica:

Oh my goodness. Yes! I don't know, at some point, you just gotta say that this is okay and you gotta walk away, so it's not, there's stuff that I find every issue after we go to press that I would have done differently, that you know, wasn't lined up, it wasn't you know, there's something about layout, but I guess that kind of stuff you just kind of safe in the back of your mind for next issue and you just keep doing it better, so you know, if anything, mistakes are bound to happen. You just have to commit to doing it better next time.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, just--

Ashley Sica:

I don't, yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

Turn it in! We struggle with that too, oh my gosh, and Jake is always like the voice of reason, like okay guys like, there's a deadline.

Ashley Sica:

This is getting a little bit much.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, and we're all like, but we have other options! Like, no, put them away.

Jake Braun:

I'm a strong proponent of good and on time.

Ashley Sica:

Yes, that's healthy, that's good.

Mirela Setkic:

I am, I don't know, I always think there's more.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah but I think it's that balance, so Tony and I are kind the same way where Tony is probably the more good and on time, and I'm more of a you know, let's tear it apart and do it again until it's perfect. And there's nothing saying that tearing it apart and doing it again is even perfect, or gonna make it that much better.

Mirela Setkic:

It's just different.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah! Sometimes it's just different and so, but I think having that personality combo is really what drives creativity and balance. You know it keeps you pushing forward, but then there's always that one person who's going okay we can be done now. So that's kind of a really healthy, healthy balance to have.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true.

Ashley Sica:

It works for us.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true. Yeah, I guess you have a point Jake.

Jake Braun:

But I think the balance is what you need though. I think that makes sense.

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely, because you know, you can't have too much of just the, you know, always being on time you know. There also takes another person saying hey could we do this differently?

Mirela Setkic:

True.

Ashley Sica:

So I think it's the driving force and then also the throttle you know.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true, good point. I never though about it that way. Maybe I did, but maybe not recently. So I guess we should talk about something more serious and which is, how do you market yourself, and how do you keep your readers interested and coming back for more and how do you get more readers and things like that?

Ashley Sica:

We're really lucky in the sense that we direct mail every single month to 15,500 homes, so you know, that's our biggest marketing tool is that, we're in your mail box every month, so you know, even if you're not an avid reader, you have to make a decision whether you're gonna pick it up or you know, hopefully recycle it, or pass it to a neighbor. You know we have a lot of people who will actually call us for extra copies 'cause they you know, want to share with the neighbor or they ended up giving it away to you know, I had a lady call the other day, she shares it will her sister in Clearwater 'cause her sister's really interested in what's going on in St Pete and they don't have anything like this in Clearwater, so you know, I had another lady call me saying that she had received a copy and the center spread was torn out, so you know, people will you know, take the magazine, take what they need from it and then pass it along and share it, so we real
ly have been lucky in terms of marketing. You know, our biggest marketing is actually our readers sharing it with friends, with family, with business owners, so you know, I feel like we kind of you know, hit the jackpot on that and in terms of how we get people to continue reading it, I think it's just up to us to continue putting out content that people are interested in and that reflects the community, so that's really our biggest goal is that you know, we want people to look at this magazine and say hey, this is a great reflection of St Pete, it's inclusive, it features local business and you know, I can take away a little piece of history from it and you know, if people can say that, I consider my job well done.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, I would agree with that, and also I guess it makes it easier to sell ads in your magazine. I'm assuming that businesses just call you.

Ashley Sica:

Our readers are our biggest sales people.

Mirela Setkic:

That's the best kind of sales.

Ashley Sica:

Oh yes, I love it, yeah, please. Keep doing that yeah. We, although I will say, we recently brought on a sales person, Eileen, she's been working with us for a few months now and she is fantastic. She used to do sales, membership sales for the St Pete Chamber, so--

Mirela Setkic:

Oh wow!

Ashley Sica:

Yeah and she has experience with her own publications, so she's been a great addition to our team, so you know, I think it takes a multifaceted approach. There's definitely a few ways that sales come in and our readers are a big part of that.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, I mean that's kind of a big deal, so you have one more person on your, you've added more people to your team.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah!

Mirela Setkic:

And she probably knows people who know people, who know people.

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely! She definitely knows a lot more people than I do.

Mirela Setkic:

That's awesome.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah, she's very well connected in St Pete.

Mirela Setkic:

That's really really awesome. Well congratulations.

Ashley Sica:

Thank you.

Mirela Setkic:

That's kind of a big deal.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah, we're excited. Team's growing.

Mirela Setkic:

That's good, that's always good. It definitely becomes more and more real as you get more people on your team--

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely.

Mirela Setkic:

And more amazing, at least for me, I like to have a lot of people around me. I just don't like working by myself. It's just lonely.

Ashley Sica:

I like finding a balance of the two. For me, I do when we're working on writing or something like that, the last thing I want is a bunch of people around me, so I usually have my headphones on, my laptop open and you know, I'm either sitting in my loft or out at a park, you know, that I kinda wanna tune out, but for me, I'm involved in a lot of neighborhood organizations and I'm taking the CONA leadership course this year and yeah, Council Of Neighborhood Association, so that's kind of the social aspect, but yeah, in terms of actually like laying out the magazine, writing, that we kinda--

Mirela Setkic:

You kinda have to have your quiet moment.

Ashley Sica:

Yeah exactly, you have to focus.

Mirela Setkic:

That makes sense. If you have too many people it's too loud.

Ashley Sica:

Absolutely. But no, when we first started the magazine we were anticipating you know, having just a few writers and one editor and you know, really keeping our team small and it's been the opposite of that. We actually collaborate with a lot of, a lot more people than we originally anticipated, so it's fun. I really enjoy cross promoting and all the different people we've had the opportunity to meet, it's really special.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, it's impressive. I think it's awesome and also impressive to do all this.

Ashley Sica:

Thanks.

Mirela Setkic:

You know, I used to think, like oh my God some huge like, fancy organization is behind this magazine, I did, I'm like--

Ashley Sica:

Sorry.

Mirela Setkic:

No it's good! It's really good. It's pretty legit and like, polished and not a hot mess . It's like a publication I like.

Ashley Sica:

Thanks.

Mirela Setkic:

So it's very impressive.

Ashley Sica:

Thank you.

Mirela Setkic:

Is there anything else we wanna discuss Jake?

Jake Braun:

I think we've covered most of it. Is there anything else we should have asked you about that we haven't? Or anything else you wanna talk about?

Ashley Sica:

I don't think so. Other than the fact that this magazine really wouldn't work without a community like St Pete. We really feel lucky to live here and publish here and we're grateful for our neighbors and all the local businesses and organizations we have, it's really, that is the biggest driver of our content and biggest reflection of our community.

Jake Braun:

And if there's anyone out there that maybe isn't getting the magazine right now, and they're interested, or they're interested in advertising, you know, how should they get in contact with you?

Ashley Sica:

They can visit our website Green Bench Monthly There's a button to click ”Get My Copy”, we have a couple of ways you can sign up digital subscriptions, we offer mailed subscriptions, and then you can also pick up a copy from local businesses.

Jake Braun:

Alright, sounds good. Thank you for joining us today.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, thank you Ashley.

Jake Braun:

Thanks you guys. Thanks for having me.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Jake Braun:

And with that, it’s been a great 23rd episode. We’d like to again thank Ashley Sica for joining us today. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or comments about anything we talked about today or marketing in general. KickinItWithKapok.com, or on social media. We're on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as Kapok Marketing.
This has been Kickin’ it with Kapok brought to you by Kapok Marketing. Thanks for listening. We’ll have something just as great for you next time.