Who wants to win a prize?

[our_town_magazine]

Hello all!

Have you received your copy of 'Our Town Wick & Thurso' through the door yet?

If you have, you'll see that we have a great competition page in the magazine.

Write to us an tell us why you love your town in no more than 50 words and we'll enter you into our prize draw for a £75 Co-op hamper, 2 bottles of Highland Park whisky and a Christmas DVD.

Go on, give it a go.

Email me at : jenny@ourtownmag.co.uk

Good luck

[beetlecrusher]

If its coming via the postie then you have to be joking :lol: Haven't seen hide nor hair of him for about 4 days

[changilass]

Postie has been here every day but still no magazine.

I suggest you check first with your delivery suppliers before posting on here, it doesn't make you look good to not know if they have been delivered .

[brandy]

nope no magazine here either

[rs 2k]

If its coming via the postie then you have to be joking :lol: Haven't seen hide nor hair of him for about 4 days

Same here, haven't had post since sat

[Moonboots]

yea i got the mag yesterday

[onecalledk]

it appears to be delivered to Dunnet, but am in Castletown and no mag yet .....

[beth210486]

We have recieved it, we are up at hill of forss.

[Droopy]

I hate to appear negative but we've recieved it, and at the risk of running down a new business...we wont be holding our breath for issue 2. We were led to believe it was going to be full of local good news stories, when in reality all we got was cover to cover adverts with a (small) page about an Caithness organisation that is constantly at pains to promote itself.

It seems nothing more than a glossy advertising brochure...end off. Id imagine that all the businesses that were persuaded to advertise in the first issue may not be so keen to again once they see where thier money has gone...?

If the owners are reading this, please treat this as constructive critisism. But to be honest Id be shocked if this publication is around this time next year.....but if im proved wrong I'll be very happy for the people concerned with the running of it, as Im sure they've put a lot of time and money into it. However the reality is first impressions last, and in business even more so...

[jumbledrainbow]

Id like to say well done to the magazine!

I bought an advert in the magazine and would like to say thanks for the service, I also saw a copy of ones they produce elsewhere before I purchased and knew it would be mostly adverts so I won't be complaining.

It's only it's first issue up here and I'm pretty sure it's going to get more stories in it as the adverts pay for the printing, and they see it as a valid business for them. I think it's a great beginning, and great that they have chosen Caithness as one of the places they wanted to do it in, can't wait to get my copy :D 'go away snow' lol I also think it's nice to see the choices for business's out there, lots of good locally made products available around this area and this is an easy way to see what's on offer!

Well done 'our town mag' from me anyway!!

[Kevin Milkins]

I got my copy a few days ago and have to say it's one of very few that I have taken the time to read through.:Razz

The layout and presentation is brilliant and if I had subscribed to an advertising slot then I would be delighted with the result.

Well done and good luck to making a regular feature.

[Fran]

I am in wick but have not received the magazine but would like to.

[our_town_magazine]

I hate to appear negative but we've recieved it, and at the risk of running down a new business...we wont be holding our breath for issue 2. We were led to believe it was going to be full of local good news stories, when in reality all we got was cover to cover adverts with a (small) page about an Caithness organisation that is constantly at pains to promote itself.

It seems nothing more than a glossy advertising brochure...end off. Id imagine that all the businesses that were persuaded to advertise in the first issue may not be so keen to again once they see where thier money has gone...?

If the owners are reading this, please treat this as constructive critisism. But to be honest Id be shocked if this publication is around this time next year.....but if im proved wrong I'll be very happy for the people concerned with the running of it, as Im sure they've put a lot of time and money into it. However the reality is first impressions last, and in business even more so...

Hello Droopy,
Thanks for your comments. I always appreciate constructive criticism.
If I could address your points, perhaps this will explain the concept of the magazine.
All the advertisers knew what the publication would be like before they chose to place an advertisement because I took a copy of 'Our Town Tain & Seaboard' and 'Our Town Alness & Invergordon' which have very similar formats.

In terms of editorial content, there are 10 editorial pages to 22 pages of adverts which is a 70:30 ratio and pretty normal for this type of publication.
There are articles on Christmas shopping, a What's On Guide, a Community News section, an Eating Out section and a competition page.
The purpose of the magazine is to offer information on local businesses and services, it's not meant to be 'Homes & Gardens'.

Our Town Wick & Thurso was launched to provide the business community in Caithness with an alternative way to reach their customers because current outlets just don't offer the coverage and I believe the local newspaper has the most expensive advertising rates in the North of Scotland.

To summarise, the response I have had from advertisers in Ross-shire has been fantastic. They love it, wouldn't be without it and even fight over the last available spaces in the magazines. The public talk about it and in fact one of our editorial pieces in the Wick & Thurso issue has raised much interest, so people are engaged and reading the publication.

It's my aim to provide cost effective advertising that works well, offer free high-quality ad design and actually deliver the product into people's homes and businesses.

I'm very pleased with the product as a whole. In fact it's probably my favourite issue from the portfolio so far.

PS: Why not pop it in to your local doctors/ dentists etc so other people can benefit from the information. I'm sure that would be appreciated.

Best wishes,
Jenny McCann
Publisher

[our_town_magazine]

Postie has been here every day but still no magazine.

I suggest you check first with your delivery suppliers before posting on here, it doesn't make you look good to not know if they have been delivered .

Hello,
Royal Mail usually deliver the magazine over a period of 5 days, however because of the snow, I just wanted to make sure it was getting there. All the Royal Mail delivery office can tell me is that it is being delivered now but obviously not give me specifics of exactly where and when.

[our_town_magazine]

Id like to say well done to the magazine!

I bought an advert in the magazine and would like to say thanks for the service, I also saw a copy of ones they produce elsewhere before I purchased and knew it would be mostly adverts so I won't be complaining.

It's only it's first issue up here and I'm pretty sure it's going to get more stories in it as the adverts pay for the printing, and they see it as a valid business for them. I think it's a great beginning, and great that they have chosen Caithness as one of the places they wanted to do it in, can't wait to get my copy :D 'go away snow' lol I also think it's nice to see the choices for business's out there, lots of good locally made products available around this area and this is an easy way to see what's on offer!

Well done 'our town mag' from me anyway!!

Thank you so much. Your positive feedback makes all the hard work worthwhile.

[our_town_magazine]

I got my copy a few days ago and have to say it's one of very few that I have taken the time to read through.:Razz

The layout and presentation is brilliant and if I had subscribed to an advertising slot then I would be delighted with the result.

Well done and good luck to making a regular feature.

Hi,
Thankyou!
Issue 2 out on February 14th.

Jenny McCann
Publisher

[Droopy]

Does any one know.......what has happened to the 2nd issue of this magazine?

[Claireabelle]

Does any one know.......what has happened to the 2nd issue of this magazine?

I received mine midweek (Thurso)

[dragonfly]

caithness life was delivered mid week but I haven't seen Our Town since the 1st edition

[Niall Fernie]

I did receive a Caithness Life (and well done to those getting free content, if there was any).

I've yet to see a single issue of "Our Town", perhaps it's a postcode lottery and saying that I wish they would give up (the postcode lottery that is).

Junk mail = blue bin material.

Possibly I've just not been quickest to the letterbox at it's been binned on my behalf ? :)

[Alien Adrenaline Reflex]

"I love my town more than I hate your town" thats less than 50 words, do i wina prize?

[Claireabelle]

caithness life was delivered mid week but I haven't seen Our Town since the 1st edition

Ah, you are right enough Dragonfly, it was Caithness Life... Just checked the title... oooops! This means I never even received a 1st edition of Our Town.

[thejudd]

I have never received either a copy of caithness life or our town

[Mr Z]

From what I have heard they have given up on Caithness and only producing copies in Invergorden, Tain areas.

[samf1971]

I wonder if anyone won the prize offered at Christmas and the ads that are produced in the magazine?

[our_town_magazine]

Hi there,

Just to clarify a few points:

We have decided not to publish any further editions of Our Town in Caithness. I found that a few businesses in Caithness were delighted to have the potential of a bespoke community magazine but the vast majority were happier to stick with traditional offerings from the newspapers.

The magazine was supposed to produce an alternative offering to the newspapers in Caithness and I thought this opportunity would have been gratefully seized upon. After all, I hear that the local press in Caithness charge the most for advertising (per capita) of any newspaper in the North of Scotland.

We're a small family firm who worked hard to produce Our Town. I'm disappointed that it's been called junk mail after all our hard work and enterprise. We certainly would have welcomed support and dialogue from local councillers and business leaders.

All prizes were distributed out as promised of course. Please email jenny@ourtownmag.co.uk for the names of winners although these have all been published on Facebook and in our Ross-shire titles.

Best of luck to all the businesses who did support Our Town. Although it was a project which did not get off the ground as I would have hoped, I met some interesting people and enjoyed my time in Caithness.

Best wishes,

Jenny

[chordie]

I'm disappointed that it's been called junk mail after all our hard work and enterprise. We certainly would have welcomed support and dialogue from local councillers and business leaders.

Anything that comes through your letterbox unaddressed and unsolicited is indeed...JUNK MAIL. And you well know it - that's your business. Exactly the same as NOSN's junk mail equivalent which has darkened our doors.

Why on earth should you expect "councillers" (nice spelling!) to support a junk mail enterprise ?

[Chrisf1961]

Can't see who the winner was, just someone winning the Alness £75 co-op voucher and another for £75 morrisons - also wasn't there a 2nd/3rd prize.

Hope anyone who took out a 3 month ad subscription got a refund