After three years of increasing success in the Huntsville market, Who’s Who Inc. has launch a Nashville version of its biannual magazine.

The first issue, which came out in late November, has a press run of 25,000 copies. Of that, 15,000 go to high-end residential ZIP codes and the rest to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for distribution in newcomers’ and relocation packages. Doug Dittamore, vice president of operations, says the idea is to reach a core group of readers who will respond to the publication’s advertising base.

"We target areas where the head of the household makes at least $150,000," Dittamore says, "We’re hitting Belle Meade, Franklin, Bellvue, those areas."

The first Nashville issue had 32 pages, compared to the Huntsville launch of only 22, a response Dittamore and Who’s Who CEO Daniel Stephens say they find encouraging.

"Huntsville has grown to 72 pages and now we believe there’s potential for Nashville to reach that size," Dittamore says. "We’re hoping to at least double our page count for the May issue."

Nashville was chosen after the two looked at other markets, including Chattanooga and Atlanta, because of its size and mix of businesses. While growth is the idea, the publications are not likely to ever be much larger than 76 pages because that would interfere with the bulk-mail delivery system now in place. For further distribution, stories now are posted on the company’s Web site, which recorded more than 31,000 hits in December, Stephens says.

Although Nashville doesn’t lack for media outlets, Stephens says he thinks Who’s Who will catch on because it offers its advertisers the chance to be featured editorially, something he pursued as a furniture store owner in Huntsville – to no avail.

"We couldn’t get the local paper to do an article on us, even though we were pretty unique," he says. Not wanting to buy an ad, he began the publication to advertise himself. And he says the results were immediate and significant.

"The first week, the magazine came out we sold $15,000 worth of merchandise, and the next week about $10,000," he says. "All I cared about was breaking even on the deal, but it really worked."

About 15,000 copies of a new magazine will be mailed next month to Nashville homes with head-of-household incomes of $150,000 and up. The biannual publication Who’s Who in Nashville will feature ads from local business and "advertorial" articles about those same advertisers.

Doug Dittamore, vice president of operations for the magazine, said he wants Who’s Who content to include the "right business" – leaders in their categories. "You can only say so much in an advertisement," Dittamore said. "We give business an opportunity to tell their stories though a feature article."

"The magazine offers advertising space and editorial coverage to its advertisers, who pay rates up to $5,000," Dittamore said. "Full-page advertisers are then subjects of feature stories inside the publication."

The company’s business model has worked in Huntsville, AL, where Who’s Who in Huntsville has been profitable, according to Dittamore, who declined to comment on printing costs or specific financials.

On the top of my list of much-appreciated town criers is a local company called Who’s Who in Huntsville Magazine Inc., owned by Daniel Stephens. While this small but growing business also provides occasional spreads in a full-color print magazine version, it’s the monthly e-mail updates I most enjoy. OK, there may be those of you who consider this type of communication to be spam.

So please note, you can always opt-out of the list (or in other, request not receive the information if your name has accidentally been included on the mailing list).

There is not enough newspaper space to cover all the information this publication has disseminated in the past week; nonetheless, I thought it was a terrific information resource to share. Not only is it an ideal way to discover what other local business are up to (think competitors, or even potential customers), it’s also an easy, effective and so-cost way to send out a message from your own business.

Each month, a reminder e-mail is sent to those businesses and individuals on the magazine’s mailing list, offering owners the opportunity to submit a blurb detailing any recent company news. How much easier can it get to obtain a little publicity or learn the ins and outs of other local businesses?