Required reading
Boston Business Journal - by Jill Lerner Journal Staff
FRANKLIN--Tim Sullivan was peddling school fund-raising services in 1996, when he conceived of the idea for PTOtoday magazine.
As a sales representative for a company that matches parent groups with retailers, Sullivan attended as many as six parent meetings per week. There was no easier way to reach his audience, since most Massachusetts parent-teacher groups are independent parent-teacher organizations rather than Parent Teacher Associations. The latter group is linked by a national organization. The former are independent and, therefore, far-flung.
"The neat thing I would find out, and the really striking thing, was they all had the same issues and concerns, and for the most part, they weren't sharing solutions because there was no mechanism to do so," remembered Sullivan, 31.
So, Sullivan struck on the idea of creating a venue by which such groups could share ideas with each other, and importantly, could themselves become the targets of ideas from school-related advertisers.
Although his friends jokingly deride the venture as a "business around bake sales," Sullivan is quick to point out that parent-teacher groups are, in fact, a big business. By his estimate, the field does actually involve a lot of cake--about $4 billion worth, when one considers the amount raised by parents and pumped back into the system to buy items and services for the benefit of students.
And PTOs are a big factor in those sales locally, according to Sullivan, who says fewer than 10 percent of parent groups in Massachusetts are affiliated with the nationally organized PTA. The remainder are independent PTOs. Nationally, he claims, fewer than 25 percent of parent groups are affiliated with the PTA.
The magazine, founded in May 1999, has accordingly proven lucrative, according to Sullivan. Produced five times yearly from Sullivan's home in Franklin, PTOtoday became profitable in October, and last year generated around $200,000 in revenue, said its founder.
While the magazine is free, interest from paying advertisers has proven so substantial that this past fall Sullivan increased the publication's press run from 4,000 copies distributed regionally to 80,000 copies, now sent free to every K-8 school in the country. All with only one other full-time staffer, two part-time hands and a growing stable of free-lance writers and photographers.
"Maybe it was a vacuum we were filling more than a credit to us," said Sullivan modestly. "We kind of have the tiger by the tail because these groups love to share ideas and they never had a chance before."
Sullivan knows of what he speaks and writes.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in government in 1991, Sullivan took off for New York City to teach high school students in the Bronx. His intention was to stay one year and then head to law school. Four years later, he was still in the classroom.
By 1996, however, by then married, Sullivan and his wife decided to move closer to family and head back to their roots in Massachusetts.
Sullivan took a job with A+America, a Littleton-based company that matches parent groups with retailers for fund raising, and started hitting the area's school cafeterias to talk with such groups. The business opportunity took shape before his eyes.
"I realized I could help these groups and create business opportunities for marketers," he said.
Sullivan initially planned to launch PTOtoday in 1998, but held off on account of cold feet. With another year to research, he eventually took the leap in May 1999.
Although Sullivan wrote the entire 28-page first edition--and even took many of the photographs with a roll of film that had also been used to capture a family birthday party--the pressures were reasonable.
"The nice part (was), it was a flexible deadline, because if it didn't arrive on time, no one was going to call us because they didn't know it was coming," Sullivan recalled.
He sent the inaugural issue to 4,000 schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The response was so positive that today he sends the magazine--which is almost entirely funded by advertising revenue--all across the nation.
Jane Feroli, specialist for parent involvement for the Brockton Public Schools, counts herself among the magazine's fans. She even uses it for discussion topics during her weekly parent liaison meetings.
"I find it to be a great resource," said Feroli, who worked as classroom teacher for 15 years.
Today, the pressures are bit more intense for the publisher of a now-national magazine. The March edition will be the biggest issue to date, with 52 pages and 15 full pages of advertisements. And, on Feb. 28, PTOtoday will host the first of what Sullivan hopes will be a series of PTO conferences in different states. The PTO Show 2001 takes place at the Radisson Hotel in Marlborough and costs $40 for a full day, including a keynote address by Mac Bledsoe of the Drew Bledsoe Foundation.
Sullivan still loves linking parent groups with industry representatives, but says he would like more time to devote to that original "strength." He'd also like to spend less energy on the nuts and bolts of magazine production.
When the size of his staff catches up with the popularity of his magazine, perhaps the entrepreneur won't have to stay up until 3 a.m. writing copy, as he did on a recent night.
"That can't continue too long or my 1-year-old and 2-year-old will forget my name," he joked.
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