With decreasing budgets, increasing print costs, and the growth of digital readers, the days of print publications are numbered. Last year we watched one of our favorite magazines, Gourmet, close its doors and watched a publication we helped launch, Security Executive, stop publication. With digital readers such as the Kindle, Nook and now Apple’s recently announced iPad, closing the door is no longer the only option for magazines. Wired magazine recently announced its interactive magazine in response to increased readership online, on mobile devices and the iPad.

Wired focused on three key areas when developing their digital version:

1. Design: Rather than looking to the web development team for the design of the digital version, Wired used its print designers. They approach the design as a storytelling and move the design beyond ink on paper.

2. Advertising: As Wired’s creative director points out, people think of Wired as an authority and the editorial is an important part of the publication. An interactive publication provides opportunity to incorporate additional features in the advertising. The video below showcases some of the opportunities.

3. Brand: Wired readers have a relationship with the brands in the publication, and as Scott Dadich, Wired’s creative director, points out, ”we have a great website, we have a great print magazine, and this is just adding one more avenue of communicating and connecting with the brand of Wired.”

It’s no surprise that ad revenues are down for publications. A Publishers Information Bureau report finds that the total number of ad pages is down 28% for the first half of 2009  — which accounts for an overall decrease in ad dollars of 21%. But, that loss varies greatly. For Country Home magazine, their ad dollars are down over 73%. For W magazine, 41%. Us Weekly, a mere 4%.

But, it’s not all bad news. In fact some publications ad pages (and dollars) are up — way up. A recent NewsWeek article showcased twelve well-known magazines, and what they’re doing to attract advertisers. Here are the two that we think did it best:

Before

After

Fitness Magazine redesigned the magazine creating a look more appealing to a younger audience. Included in the redesign is the addition of editorial on food and an increase in editorial on beauty. This new editorial opened the door for advertisers who previously did not fit in with Fitness magazine’s audience and content. Additionally, Fitness added one additional issue — in January — when resolutions and fitness are top of mind for New Year resolution makers. Combined, these changes resulted in an 18.4% increase in ad pages.

When looking for ad space, the cover is often the last place publishers look. Not in the case of Scholastic Parent  & Child. They added a subtle, yet profitable, ad block at the bottom of the cover. The cover ad is sold out for the entire year. Additionally, they created integrated packages for their advertisers — print advertisers can easily bundle web based ads into their ad buy.

A complete redesign may not be in your future (or budget), but adding new editorial and thinking creatively about available ad space are both great ways to make an immediate impact on ad sales.