Well, nice that someone saw the advert!
The magazine is called ImagiNAILtion. The price IS $25 per issue, and it's published 4 times a year. Not cheap, but it would be wrong to compare it with anything else you have seen. The reason for the price is :
a) nearly no adverts. It's an
educational and product neutral magazine - we have rejected design articles that have photographs showing product names or logo's. We feel adverts within the content is not appropriate. There are only three advert pages (inside front/back and back cover) and while we currently fill them with adverts for our products - we will accept adverts from any manufacturer (pretty please!)
b) we include a DVD with two additional designs.
Have you looked at the price of other DVD's? Most fall in the range of $20 to £35 plus shipping for between 4 to 6 designs.
We are not aiming to sell to everyone. If like Scratch we sold 16,000 copies an issue then surely the price would come down - but our magazine is specifically targeted at nail techs who want to learn nail art from masters - people who are recognized as true experts in one or more nail art categories - typically competition winners. That's not to say that all designs are complex, we grade the designs in three categories, beginner, medium and advanced. So we have something for everyone and as a person develops their skills they can move to the next level. What is important though is that the correct techniques are shown! Iryna hand picks all the designs we receive and decides to include them or not - as an international nail and nail art judge, and an internationally respected nail artist she is exceptionally qualified to select the best material.
Each issue has 10 step by step designs plus the DVD. Knowledge that in a lot of cases you won't get unless you learn Russian and then manage to find and attend one of the best schools in Russia or Ukraine. You could also compare it to a nail art book. Most of these on Amazon cost between $60 to $120 and frankly, I have yet to see a good one. That is what I would define as expensive!
With all due respects, one of the problems in the UK is that you guys rarely see nail art that is produced by someone who has been educated correctly. So you have no comparison to draw on - so I totally understand the first impression that this is expensive. But to put this into context, at the last two shows we did in Russia and Ukraine we signed up more than 800 subscribers at each show - and that was for the English version! These guys, who earn a lot less that techs in the West do see and appreciate the value AND their nail magazines typically have 20 nail art designs per issue! Needless to say, we saw the potential and at the InterCHARM show in Ukraine next week we will launch our Russian version.
Imagine that - selling Russian knowledge back to the Russians!
An for the nervous types, we do offer a low-cost electronic version that you can read on your PC (but not print), for less than $10. :lol:
BTW, from next month you will also be able to purchase our magazine on the NAILS magazine webshop.
The magazine is a non-profit exercise - as and when we are able the prices will come down. We had two main objectives when we created this:
1. Provide knowledge from experts to a wider audience at an affordable price. Most nail techs can't afford education - especially when they also have to pay for flights and hotel to visit a school. Also, in many countries good nail art schools simply don't exist. Now anyone can receive knowledge by post (we sell to 16 countries right now).
2. Help to promote experts internationally. There is so much talent out there and most of it locked behind language barriers. So our magazine helps expert nail artists get a wider recognition. Hopefully it also inspires others to improve their skills and be included in our magazine in the future!
Just as a final thought - if most nail techs added up how much they spend on nail art material per year it probably approaches several hundred pounds. Isn't that a bit like buying a car and trying to teach yourself to drive? ;-)
Hugs to all!
Bob xx
