Every day, somewhere in the world, someone decides to pick up a needle and become a tattoo artist. And each week, one of them opens their own tattoo studio. Can you imagine the growth and expansion this means for the industry?
Over 210 million searches for tattoo designs are made on Google every month. Last year, the tattoo industry generated more than 31 billion dollars. And 26% of the world's population has at least one tattoo! These numbers have been steadily increasing over the past decade and show no signs of slowing down.
Given this surge, the question is not if you should stand out in the industry, but how to stand out in a sea of talent and creativity.
A Question We Often Get
And the answer is: GTM has always been the best option, and that was my first response. Our magazine does not charge artists for advertising. Other magazines charge up to €750 for a feature in a single country. If that same magazine is published in four more countries, multiply that amount by four—and we do not charge for advertising. This is the economic reason that sets us apart from other magazines because we live off the sales of our magazines, not from ads. That’s why we don’t accept advertisements, so we don’t lose sight of what makes Global Tattoo Magazine unique. This is why we are different!
The Next Big Question
“How many magazines do you print?” That should be the least of your concerns. It’s not about how many magazines are printed; it’s about how many are sold. It’s like asking a tattoo artist how many designs they’ve drawn. The answer might be 1,000 designs, but how many of them were actually tattooed?
That’s an almost impossible question to answer in general terms, speaking statistically. We can tell you how many magazines were sold from each edition. Sales vary, and not every issue sells the same amount, unless there are subscriptions. But you also have to add additional sales, such as those from kiosks.
Adaptation is Key
Several tattoo magazines disappeared during the pandemic, but the pandemic wasn’t to blame. They would have vanished anyway. I know this because we worked with the same distributors. It happened because they didn’t adapt to new times! Thinking that we wouldn’t disappear just because we are GTM would be foolish—Blockbuster disappeared! So did GMC! I could name many big companies that vanished because they didn’t evolve.
The mistake, in my opinion, is continuing to offer the same thing to a small group of people—tattoo artists—and trying to live off them, when we can reach a broader group: tattoo enthusiasts (A QUARTER OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION HAS AT LEAST ONE TATTOO). Then I asked myself, why not take it a step further? Why not encourage the rest of the world’s population to get tattooed? And that’s exactly what we’re working on! This is why we’re different.
Evolving with the Market
During the pandemic, people who used to shop in physical stores switched to online shopping. And a large portion of these people were (and still are) buying on Amazon. That’s why we changed our distribution to Amazon, to our own website, and to Apple and Google stores. We’re also in physical stores, but it’s not the best option, because everyone has a phone in their hand, and we show up on their screens. Many people pass by stores selling magazines and books daily, but they don’t even notice them because they’re looking at their phones. This is why we’re different.
And as an artist, I recommend never stopping your evolution. My mission has remained the same after 29 years dedicated to the tattoo world: help artists grow. I’m Federico, founder and director of Global Tattoo Magazine and other publications, and I want to share something revolutionary in terms of marketing. We’re starting a new, more ambitious stage with Tattooed, a magazine that combines offline and online marketing to connect you with new clients and set you apart from the rest.
A New Project for Tattoo Artists
We’re kicking off this project with 60 artists, who have already been selected. (If you’re interested in being one of them, we have a waiting list. Just reply to this email.)
Remember, action speaks louder than words. Keep growing.
Best regards,
Federico
CEO GTM