By Garrett Rudolph
The August issue of Marijuana Venture marked the six-month anniversary for our fledgling trade publication. However, it’s only been the past three or four months that we’ve been mailing to all state-licensed marijuana businesses in Colorado and Oregon, so I don’t feel like we’ve been properly introduced.
As we continue to expand our readership, advertising base, page count and the scope of our coverage of the cannabis industry outside of Washington, now seems like a perfect time to recap our story and lay out our vision for the future.
We launched Marijuana Venture in March with an eight-page black-and-white newsletter. It wasn’t even stapled together. Just two sheets of paper, folded in half and mailed to about 4,000 business owners. We really had no way of guessing how fast — or even if — it would gain traction, but we believed the legal marijuana industry was in desperate need of a highly targeted cannabis business magazine.
That assumption proved to be completely accurate.
There were already dozens of weed magazines directed at the consumer — some of which are very well done — but none that did a great job of speaking to the business owners. So that was the approach we took. We were going to be blatantly and intentionally different than the “stoner” magazines.
The growth rate has been fantastic to witness. We’ve been able to organically increase our page count every month, going to 20 pages our second issue, then 36, 48, 64, 84 and now 100 in September! Every step of the way, we’ve made sure to improve the quality of our paper and printing, as well as refining the style and substance of our stories.
Looking back now, I’m extremely amazed and grateful for those early businesses that took a chance on advertising with us — 75 percent of them still advertise with us today, proving that we’ve created something that has value for both our readers and our advertisers.
We started spreading our readership to include state-licensed marijuana businesses in Colorado and Oregon in June. Although we’ve generally steered clear of the medical industry for a handful of reasons, we believe Oregon voters are likely to approve Measure 91 in November that would pave the way for legalization similar to the system in place in Washington.
Turning our attention to the future, we plan to keep using the same formula that has proven successful so far. We’ll continue to grow and continue to refine our process. Every month we discover there are more important stories to cover than we could ever fit into a single magazine. As a writer and an editor, it’s a great problem to have.
Ultimately, we want Marijuana Venture to be the national go-to for the best information on running a legal marijuana business. We want our readers to become wildly successful in whatever aspect of the industry they’ve chosen to pursue. It’s true the industry has the potential to create hundreds of instant millionaires. But on the other hand, excessive tax rates, over-regulation, under-funded business models and miles of red tape are going to force many businesses to close their doors. Eventually — and this could take several years — the industry will be highly competitive, not significantly different than bars and restaurants or the alcohol industry. The difference between success and failure could hinge on how well you understand taxes and accounting strategies, how efficient your grow operation is, or how well-designed your retail store is.
To that end, our readers are the most important aspect of what we do.
I’m not an expert in horticulture or retail. I’m not an expert in marijuana or how to run a business.
That’s why we’ve enlisted experts in their fields to contribute to the magazine, and we want to report on this industry from an unbiased, scientific perspective. At times it might shake up the conventional wisdom of the industry, but our purpose is the long-term success of those pioneers that are taking great risks in this emerging space.
And we’re always looking for more people that are willing to contribute stories, photos, opinions, letters to the editor,
If you have a question, comment or complaint about a story, shoot me an email at Editor@MarijuanaVenture.com. It’s also an opportunity for business owners to get involved. Email us photos of your plants, your products or your operation and staff members. Tell us what stories you’ve enjoyed or which ones you’ve hated. Suggest topics for us to cover in the future. Submit a question for our team of attorneys, or for an upcoming “Ask the Expert” section on cultivation. Contact us to change or update your subscription information. Or just drop us a line to introduce yourselves.
And don’t forget that email and our print edition aren’t the only ways to stay connected to Marijuana Venture and the latest hot topics in the cannabis world. Check out our Facebook page, follow MJVenture on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website, www.marijuanaventure.com.