Hero Profile
Mike Tolen, Founder & Principal Consultant, Tolen Consulting Services
Media Superpower: Turning fundamental data and user behavior insights into big gains for print publishers’ marketing and circulation.
Origin Story
Three years ago, Mike made a defining career move: he left his employer to launch Tolen Consulting Services — a one-man consultancy rooted in marketing, circulation, and fulfillment optimization. “I did have the opportunity to leave the company I was employed at and become self-employed,” Mike recalled. “Not having any support and having to be fully self-sufficient was, you know, a bit scary.” Yet discipline and tying effort directly to outcomes helped him find comfort and success in his solo venture. “It’s the effort you put into it is what you reap,” he said — and that philosophy now informs every client engagement.
10 Things You Need to Know About The Financialization of Circulation Services
Media infrastructure is changing quietly, not through headlines but through ownership, pricing models, and incentives. Circulation, fulfillment, and data systems now operate under financial logic that many publishers did not design and do not control. Understanding these shifts is essential to protecting margins, service quality, and long term stability.
1. Ownership has changed. Circulation, fulfillment, and data platforms are increasingly owned by investors rather than operators who grew up serving publishers.
2. Incentives are shifting. Many service providers now optimize for growth, efficiency, and valuation instead of publisher health and flexibility.
3. Consolidation reduces attention. As providers scale, smaller publishers often receive less personalized service and slower response times.
4. Fixed pricing hides risk. Flat platform fees can raise cost per subscriber when circulation is refined or reduced.
5. Smart strategy can cost more. Publishers who clean lists or focus audiences may be penalized financially under modern pricing models.
6. Database migrations are fragile. System conversions introduce errors, mismatches, and operational stress that publishers must absorb.
7. Payment changes hit revenue. Recurring credit card failures after processor changes can suppress income for months.
8. Risk moves downstream. Publishers often carry the financial impact of operational changes they did not choose.
9. VC timelines differ from publisher needs. Investors seek speed and exits while publishers depend on stability and trust.
10. The danger is gradual. Costs rise slowly, service erodes quietly, and discomfort feels normal until the damage is real.
Lessons & Strategies
Mike serves three client types — full-service marketing and circulation, operational consulting, and specialized magazine acquisition support — but his approach is unified by rigorous data testing and clarity of response design. “If you talk to any circulation marketing person, they will say the same thing; you know, it’s a ton of data, a ton of number crunching,” he explained. A/B testing and metrics aren’t optional: they’re the compass for decision-making. LinkedIn
1) Start with Fundamentals to Unlock Big Wins
Mike’s work is rarely flashy — it’s practical. At one nonprofit, simply redesigning a proxy notice to be more visible and easier to return boosted responses from about 1,000 to 30,000. “We just made it easier for the consumer to A, see it, and B, send it back in,” he said. Another client saw retention mail campaign performance jump from ~$2–3 per mailed effort to ~$12–12 by applying best practices and reducing friction like requiring stamps.
2) Know When to Rethink Vendors and Costs
After years of consolidation in fulfillment services, many publishers are stuck with rising costs, less attentive service, and painful database conversions. Mike warns about hidden risks — for example, a 20–25% drop in recurring credit card revenue when migrating tokenized card data between processors, which can take up to a year to recover. “If you change your credit card merchant … you take at least a 20, if not 25 percent hit on your credit card success rates,” he said. Publishers should monitor cost per subscriber trends and keep options open even if converting vendors is difficult.
3) Adapt Across Niches with Demographic Insight
Mike’s “media superpower” is adaptability — applying circulation expertise across verticals from automotive to quilting without being a subject expert in the topic. “A lot of it is understanding the basic demographics,” he said. Understanding how different audiences behave drives effective targeting and messaging. Lin
What He’d Tell Other Publishers: Start with basics, monitor your numbers relentlessly, and don’t assume the status quo is best — even if switching partners hurts in the short run.
Collaborate
Get in contact or collaborate with Mike Tolen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-tolen-8621912/
Learn More: https://2024bridge.eventscribe.net/fsPopup.asp?PresenterId=1795004&mode=presenterinfo
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*I use AI in the production/refinement of some written content. See my boundaries for ethical AI usage in the content I create: https://datajoe.substack.com/p/ai-policy
