Good, better, best

If I want to buy a car from Toyota, I can choose from a Corolla, Camry or Lexus. If I go on vacation, I can book a Fairfield Inn, Courtyard by Marriott or JW Marriott, all from the same hotel operator. But if I'm an advertiser and want to buy space from a magazine publisher, I have only one choice.
B2B publishers don't offer a good-better-best option. They could. Magazine publishers force advertisers to buy their entire circulation. That's like Macy's making me buy one of everything in its men's department when all I want are socks and underwear.
I've been in publishing long enough to know that some advertisers can't afford even the smallest page rate. It's not like they don't believe in advertising, they just can't afford what the magazine is offering. So they turn to the cheapest publication in the competitive set. If that's not you, you are missing out on revenue.
Publishers have two assets—their circulation and their editorial content. They need to exploit both.
I propose that publishers create a "good" product that complements their "better" flagship publication. The good product comes with less circulation and ad rates are priced accordingly. This is similar to a demographic or regional ad but not the same. Publishers select the names in the circulation file according to criteria that make the most sense in their marketplace. The editorial is different, too. It is not original content, but rather material re-purposed from the "better" product.
In the "good" magazine, advertisers don't earn frequency bonuses or agency discounts. Nor do they receive terms; they pre-pay by credit card, thus, there is no problem with collections. There are no preferred ad positions. Editorial content is basic—new products and calendar listings--which has been created already for the flagship. Publishers run a tight 75/25 ratio.
What will happen with this "good" product is that companies get in the habit of advertising—with you, not your low-priced competitors. When their business increases, they can step up to your flagship, better publication (which charges higher revenues) to reach a wider audience of potential customers. But if they stick with the good publication, you still earn revenue from them. And that's not a bad deal.
Jim Carper