Publisher's health magazine is a perfect fit
For publisher and editor Katie McGregor, a growing awareness among Hong Kong residents that healthier lifestyle practices are the key to a long life and happiness has provided a niche market for one of the city's newest free bilingual monthly magazines - Fit! HK.
'I've always been passionate about publishing,' said Ms McGregor. 'I made my first adolescent attempts at writing at 11 years of age with a play that I made all the kids in the neighbourhood perform.'
'Fit! HK is my third venture into publishing and something I can get excited about,' said Ms McGregor. 'It is my baby, but the subject is also something that I find very interesting and exciting. It's a perfect situation where I am doing a job I know very well - producing magazines - about a brilliant, fun subject.'
Recognising the niche gap in the publishing market and a growing health, wellness and fitness industry in Hong Kong - plus a personal interest in fitness which coincided with her 40th birthday last year - she thought, 'why not?'
'What I also didn't realise prior to the launch of Fit! HK was that there is so much to do in Hong Kong and I came to realise that there was no dedicated publication that covered this topic here.'
While many people may complain there is nothing to do but shop and dine in the city, Ms McGregor is not one of them.
'There is so much in the way of sports activities and so many other things to do that are a lot more accessible than people think,' she said. 'I was very fortunate to already be in a business partnership, so last summer I pitched to my business partner that I take a semi-sabbatical and launch this magazine.'
Her pitch also promised that she would at least try to cover external costs related to publishing the magazine - printing, freelancers and translation - with advertising sales from the outset.
'I have managed to do that, by and large,' she said. 'The biggest cost is my time and that of my assistant, Vanisha Khem, who writes, sells and works on distribution for the magazine. We do it all, but it's fun and interesting. Luckily, our design and layout costs are hidden as we get them done in-house and try and use down time for that.'
With a circulation of 20,000 copies per edition, Ms McGregor said she was looking to increase this figure - as well as advertising revenues.
'The magazine is now becoming known to people and they look for each edition,' said Ms McGregor. 'This demand and recognition will also impact positively as far as securing further advertising is concerned, so I continue to be encouraged and positive as to the magazine's future.
'Our added advantage is that we have editorial content which we endeavour to make interesting, stimulating and motivating to readers, plus we also provide all the useful details of why, where, how much and here's the telephone number.'
For Ms McGregor, the downside of launching this increasingly popular fitness publication has been time - or rather a lack of it.
'I have so many ideas of the things I'd like to do, but since we can only afford the two of us on the project, we have to take things a step at a time.'
