The strategy behind Brass Media's business plan began to pique the interest of potential investors. Bryan had come up with the idea of presenting financial information to young adults by using the same type of format and style as Cosmopolitan, ESPN, and RollingStone. He did not want his magazine to be thought of as another dry, boring financial publication and knew that finding a way to balance money information with entertainment value would be an integral part of the magazine's success.
Compelling articles, such as, "Does My Wallet Look Fat in these Pants?" and "Put a Little Hollywood in Your Portfolio" add an edge that appeals to young adults. Bryan and his staff try to present money information in ways that their audience can understand and identify with. The publisher's note in the magazine describes Brass's goal as: "To provide direct, intelligent, and entertaining content to young adults about the money side of life." The Brass motto? "Young Today, Rich Tomorrow."
Beyond the content and style of the magazine, what really separates Brass from the competition is its method of distribution. Bryan began to search for investors by presenting his business plan to various credit unions around the country. As of now, he has 10 credit unions willing to distribute Brasscu (the CU tagged on to the end of Brass identifies it as being the credit union edition). This is how it works: Credit unions buy the magazine in bulk and then send it out to all their customers. Each credit union has the option to customize the magazine by placing its own ad pages and logo on the cover.
The main advantage to working with credit unions is that it saves Bryan the hassle of having to go after individual subscriptions. Bryan had 31,000 paid subscriptions before the first issue was even launched because he was able to get 10 credit unions to invest in his publication. In effect, Bryan has only 10 accounts to manage, instead of 31,000. "It is really nice because I only have to deal with a few accounts," he said. "The credit unions are responsible for their own customers, so we don't have to deal with individual customers." In the future, Brian hopes to expand his company and publish a Bank edition called Brassbank.
Ultimately, his goal is to simply have a magazine called Brass that can be sold on newsstands. By not being affiliated with a particular bank or credit union, Bryan will have full creative authority. "I want to be able to publish whatever I want, use whatever language I want, and have control over the direction that my magazine takes," Bryan said. At this point there are limits to what he can publish. All the content has to be suitable for and approved by the credit unions. However, Bryan realizes that at this point, he has to give up a little bit of control to get the magazine on its feet.
Right now Brian is focused on BrassCU, but he says he keeps his eye on this ultimate goal. "I am a college student with a dream," he said, "and this is it."