Is the Horticulture printed publication industry in deep trouble?

Take me back just ten years and I would not have been referring to the internet for industry news.

No, ten years ago I would have been happy to sit in my van, cup of steaming hot tea from the flask and a haslet and pickle sandwich, reading Horticulture Week.

If I wanted to advertise for a managerial position I too would turn to Hort Week, in the hope of casting my net far and wide to attract the right candidate.

Oh how times have changed and I really feel that decline may have set in for established printed magazines such as Hortweek, The Landscaper magazine, and Greenkeeper International - these three I would call the premier magazine of choice for their respective industries.

Even their respective website statistics are not making good reading.

For Greenkeeper International they boast 9000 readers a month. The Landscaper Magazine does not publicize how many magazines they sell but their website says that just over 3000 visited in Jan 07. I cannot get stats for Hortweek.

This leads me to wonder what you can expect as an advertiser?
Rates for Greenkeeper International tells me that an advertiser can pay as much as £2000 for an advert on the home page with a varying rate for insertions into the magazine.

The Landscaper Magazine are charging as much as £1176 for a home page banner for 12 months and a whopping £4650 per 12 months in Hortweek magazine.

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