Letter From AFM: We're Listening

Every good business listens to their customers. Success demands that companies have a good handle on the opinions, the needs and the desires of the clientele they serve. The media business is no exception. “Know your Audience” is rule number one for anyone in publishing.

At AFM, we’ve been listening very closely to our readers for 20 years. Whether it’s hearing from the hundreds of coaches who have contributed articles over the years, getting face-to-face with coaches at conventions or during video shoots or simply exchanging correspondence, we greatly value the input we receive from the coaching community. It shapes everything we do.

Perhaps the greatest sources of feedback we have are the subscriber surveys we conduct every year. Hundreds of readers share information about themselves and their programs – giving us a clear picture of the characteristics of our audience. Most important to us are the comments we receive when we ask, “What would you like to see in American Football Monthly that we don’t currently offer?” Those remarks are the real key to us improving AFM and better serving your needs.

Naturally, we appreciate all the “Don’t change a thing!” and “You’re doing a great job!” and “Great read!” type of comments. It’s gratifying to know that so many of you enjoy our product.

But after we pat ourselves on the back, we take an in-depth look at your suggestions and try to address them in future issues. While it’s not always possible to fulfill every specific request – apologies to the coach who asked for Packers season tickets with his subscription – we try to react to your suggestions whenever we can.

For instance, we thought the subscriber who suggested we delve into what makes state champions successful had a great idea. So in addition to our annual state champions issue in July, we will now be including more articles featuring state champion coaches addressing common topics, starting with this month’s “Five on the Line” cover story. The idea for a 5-man front article, by the way, came from another survey – the one we conduct every year of state champion coaches.

Those of you who requested more profiles of coaching greats will enjoy our look at 400-win club member Corky Rogers of Florida. For readers who want to see more contributions from college coaches, in this issue we have four. Those asking for more about nutrition can get solid advice from FSU’s Registered Dietician in “Fueling Champions.” Many of you suggested linking online video that illustrates plays or drills referenced in our articles. We’ll start doing that next month.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for the next survey to give us your suggestions on how to improve AFM. You can email us anytime or post on our Facebook or Twitter pages. Either way, when you tell us what you think, we’ll be listening.


John Gallup
Editor & Publisher