62 subscribers get deal of a lifetime

But there was a group of people that believed in the concept of a newspaper focused on local business – and 62 of them continue to reap the benefits of the promotion.

It was a bit of a risk. At the time, nobody knew the paper would last to celebrate its 25th anniversary. A few speculated on which was a better bet: their own lifespan or that of a fledgling publication.

“I thought for a hundred dollars, I’m going to take a chance, and I’m glad I did,” said lifetime subscriber Harold Garrison. “Generally, I trust people, and I just thought that if somebody was willing to start a paper and give a lifetime subscription – you know, that’s a good buy.”

Garrison, who now owns Garrison’s Convenience Store on West Division, was in the food brokerage business as owner of Premiere Marketing at the time he subscribed. He still does consulting work, and he estimated that he’s changed his address (and moved his subscription) five or six times.

Phyllis Miller, real estate agent at Murney Associates, has been in the real estate business for 38 years. “I really thought the paper was a wonderful idea. They were having a little trouble getting off the ground, they needed my help, and I really enjoy it today,” she said. Now, she said, her subscription gets passed around the office.

Circulation Manager Diana Weber said copies of SBJ get passed around a lot. While there are 4,800 paid subscribers, SBJ has a pass-around circulation of 15,000.

In tallying subscribers, Weber can’t count the 62 lifetime subscribers because of the rules of SBJ’s circulation auditing firm. “You have to get at least 50 percent of your retail price to count that for our auditing firm,” Weber said.

The audit, performed by Verified Audit, is required for membership in the Alliance of Area Business Publications.

Most publications are audited twice a year – once by an independent auditing firm; once by the U.S. Postal Service. Those numbers are printed and registered, and those are the numbers that advertisers often look at, Weber said.

So, the lifetime subscription promotion was “not very profitable for us,” Weber said. “But it has established loyalty in those people.”

And the lifetime subscribers say that SBJ helps with their businesses. “I probably send out five to 15 letters per week, from articles I’ve read in the Business Journal, congratulating my clients on something I’ve read that they’ve done in there,” said State Farm Insurance agent Mike Breeding.

“With regard to business, you almost always find out in the Business Journal,” he said.

Jackie Barger has also sent out notes and e-mails to friends he’s read about in SBJ – especially when he moved away from the community from 1992 to 2003.

“The Business Journal was a phenomenal lifeline for me,” he said. “I mean, it was almost like I never left.”

When Barger became a lifetime subscriber, he was fresh out of college and working in the advertising business.

“I was so poor, I think I even asked them if I could make payments … I wasn’t even supposed to do that, but they kind of let that slide and I paid for it over four months, and I’ve been reaping the benefits ever since,” he said.

“Jackie Barger always tells me what a good deal he has and how stupid we were for offering this,” Weber said.

Barger is now manager of membership at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. He had moved back to the area to take a position as director of development at the Springfield Symphony.

“In that job, a primary focus was maintaining contact with businesses and business leaders, and I knew all the names. I knew who everybody was,” Barger said.