Afloat is still the one

  According to latest audit figures, Afloat is still Australia’s favourite boating magazine.
  Despite the economic slowdown, our national circulation has had a substantial increase over the past eighteen months. Distribution is up eight percent from 27,838 to 29,989. Bugger! Just a cricket team short of 30,000.
  While there is a lot of uncertainty and the marina industry is suffering, what is certain is that Afloat has grown significantly in distribution. We have the highest circulation of any monthly boating magazine in Australia and we continue to grow … like we’ve been doing every month for 19 years.
  Four years after launching in 1989, our distribution was 13,500; in 1998 it was 17,608 and in 2003, 21,985.
  Our magazine does some things no other medium can match – not television, not radio, not the internet.
  Through the loyalty of our following, Afloat has garnered a community.
  What builds that community? Well, you, our readers for a start, who have in common a sense of what Afloat is about, what it considers important, interesting, entertaining and thoughtprovoking. A shared sense of the water, the country, even the world. That’s about telling stories – stories of human interest, history, events and businesses. And it seems to work judging from the wonderful interaction we have with you in our Letters section.
  For advertisers, Afloat gives real value for money – we reach the most people for the least amount of money.
  The astuteness of those advertisers, who realise Afloat is a potentially lucrative bridge to a highly desirable group of consumers, provides an indicator to the success of Afloat and further testimony to the loyalty of our readers – if you’re not already among them, we hope you’ll join the additional 20,000-plus who visit our website www.afloat.com. au monthly to become part of the Afloat online community.
  Checkout our Discussion Forum, comprehensive Classifieds and Boats-for-Sale advertising, an extensive Marine Directory, National Weather as well as previous issues of Afloat (archived, so far, back to 2001).
  Subscribe to our Afloat Newsletter – a free service, where you can see what is in Afloat before it hits the stands, just go to our website and click on ‘Join our Mailing List’. If you run a marine-related business or have a marine product or service to sell, take a new look at Afloat online to bring our community to your business.
  At our office nearly every phone call and letter starts with “I just love Afloat!”
  A client rang the other day wanting to sell his motor boat.
  He also has a 60ft sail boat and was cruising up the coast to Queensland earlier in the year. He was amazed at all the places Afloat went. He told us “You ain’t cruising unless you’ve got Afloat on board” as he and the other cruisers did.
  I doubt if any other magazine gets that. Our readers feel a real affinity with Afloat – it’s your magazine, we merely provide the vessel … and it’s priceless.

 Robin Copeland