#12: In Conversation with Christina Lewellen, about Reimagining Your Magazine into the Association’s No. 1 Marketing Tool

Today’s guest is Christina Lewellen, MBA, CAE, who has been the executive director of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) since 2019. Christina, who lives in Virginia, is a seasoned association executive who brings a data-driven framework to business planning and strategy. She received an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives.

ATLIS’ magazine, Access Points, won awards from AM&P Network and ASAE after Christina and her team reimagined the magazine. It went from what was, frankly, more of a stuffy academic journal, into a glossy, highly readable, redesigned magazine — but with an intention to use it as their association’s No. 1 marketing tool. The magazine is sent to both members and anyone else who wants it, as a vehicle to recruit new members to the young association.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• How Christina and her team re-envisioned ATLIS’s print magazine, Access Points, to use it as their No. 1 marketing vehicle, starting in 2021. 
• Why they now send the magazine for free to anyone: members, non-members, member prospects. 
• How they worked with an outside partner to redesign and reimagine the magazine. 
• How having a marketing goal and non-member readers affects the content. 
• The magazine is an investment, not a money maker directly, but the return on investment is an increase in membership and participating in ATLIS events. 
• As a small staff, how Christina considers what projects to outsource. 
• What a strong relationship with an outside partner looks like. 
• Advice for associations who might want to consider this approach with their publication. 
• Why long-form and deep dives in magazines are still important — not everything can be short blurbs and soundbites, especially for our specialized audiences. 
• Why flipbooks aren’t the answer for digital magazines. 
• Access Point’s four “buckets,” which establish the content, align with the association’s existing overall four areas of content. 

Resources:

• Christina on LinkedIn
• ATLIS website
• Christina on Twitter

Check out Melanie’s other podcast for freelancers, consultants and solo business owners: Deliberate Freelancer (free on any podcast app).