• You will hear a radio interview. The interviewer is talking to a young businessman called Alex Baker, who publishes a successf

F: ’I publish my own magazine, and it’s very successful’ How many people, at just twenty- eight, can say that? Well, we have here a young businessman who can -- he is Alex Baker, who published the magazine Every Day. Welcome, Alex.
M: Hello.
F: Alex, did you think this magazine would be so successful so quickly? I mean, two years ago, it was just an idea. Eighteen months ago, you still hadn’t found anyone to provide the finance, but this week you’re celebrating its first anniversary.
M: No one is more surprised than me.
F: Two years ago, you weren’t even working in the media, were you?
M: I had no experience of publishing or journalism at all.  I was actually an accountant, working for a large holiday company. One day, I was reading a magazine about modern life and stress and I just said to my friends, hey, I could do better than this.
F: So what did you do then?
M: Well, 1 spent eight months knocking on the doors of just about every big London-based publishing company hoping to find one who would discuss the project. Finally, a friend, the managing director of a big insurance company, suggested I see Tony Rogerson, who’s the editor of the magazine City Life.  He liked my ideas for the new magazine, said they were exciting, and we started to meet regularly to develop and plan its publication.
F: He wasn’t worried about the competition?
M: Oh, no. My magazine has a completely different subject from his -- we do both have the same sort of caree-minded readers, but they buy our magazines for completely different reasons: mine gives readers advice and help on how to look after themselves, how to keep fit. Of course, this sometimes includes ideas about what to do at the weekend, but his magazine is bought specifically by readers who want to know where to go and what to do in their free time -- dates, places, costs, recommendations.
F: And who do you have working for you? Do you ask your friends to write for the magazine?
M: Actually, I love my family and friends but the people I need, and any business needs -- to be successful, are those who really know what they’re doing, with the qualifications, training, experience, the lot -- not necessarily well-known people, just the ones who are good at the job.
F: Indeed. Does the magazine now make enough money from advertising to keep going without too much outside investment?
M: Of course not, though our advertising income is excellent. Our first copy alone brought in over twenty thousand pounds, but we’re still considered a risk by the the banks so we’re lucky that we have several people willing to invest in us on a personal basis. Shall I tell you how many copies of the magazine we sold last month?
F: Forty, fifty thousand?
M: About seventy-five thousand. I’m really pleased sales have increased so rapidly. Apart from one month when they dropped slightly, sales have grown until they reached the seventy-five thousand mark three months ago, where they’ve stayed.
F: And how do you see the magazine?
M: I’m keen to see it read by more people, of course, but that doesn’t mean I want to make any great changes. It looks good now, it feels right. I’m getting all the publicity I need. All I’ve got to work on is getting it out to more places so that it is more widely available. At the moment, it’s basically only available in London. I want to make sure everyone can buy it. F: Well, good luck with that, Alex.
M: Thank you.