Press On

Ten years ago, Chris Dreith, owner of The Home Improvements Group, in Woodland, Calif., couldn’t find a local publication in which to advertise. As a member of the SEN Design Group (a kitchen and bath industry buying group), she was introduced to the nationally distributed Signature Kitchens & Baths magazine. “I think I’ve gotten a job [from] every spread I’ve ever [placed in Signature], and I’ve been doing it at least 10 years,” says Dreith, whose company does design/build remodeling.

Think National, Work Local

Signature Kitchens & Baths, which publishes projects from any designer or builder (you don’t have to be a SEN member) as long as the project is attractive and the photography professional, is basically an advertising vehicle. Sold for $14.95 at bookstores and newsstands, the magazine is a four-color glossy with some editorial as well as submitted projects accompanied by staff-written advertorial. Each issue contains a buyer’s guide. A two-page spread is a $2,595 investment, and featured remodelers receive 160 copies of the publication.

Another, similar publication, is Home & Remodeling Trends. Also sold at bookstores, the full-color magazine is structured like a book with a table of contents and chapters. Advertorial is staff written and photographed. Although nationally distributed, clients pay a local or regional rate of $3,100 per page. Stories are repurposed online and get a unique URL; featured remodelers receive 20 copies. The magazine also will create e-brochures or printed brochures for clients.

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So how can a national publication work for you?

Credit: David Sharpe

Remodeler Chris Dreith uses Signature Kitchens & Baths in several ways. The magazine functions as an extension of her showroom for clients to get ideas. “Each spread is actually someone’s home rather than a photo that promotes a particular product,” she says. “Clients start to learn the terminology of K&B remodeling … and it [also] helps me get to know what they don’t like.”

Dreith leaves copies of SK&B in doctors’ waiting rooms, salons, and high-end fitness studios. She even left a copy in a local bookstore, which displayed it with a sign noting that a local designer was featured on page “x.”

Other remodelers have used publication of their work inSK&B as a way to goad architects into working with them or as an entry into putting on remodeling seminars.

Brad Cruickshank, of Cruickshank Remodeling, in Atlanta, is often featured in Home & Remodeling Trends and says he gets “a really good response from the custom booklets Trends puts together.” He delivers them to prospects before the initial meeting and finds that clients are passing them on to their neighbors