Pros
Everything seems legit, at first. There was nothing bad, at first.
Cons
BVM rolls out the information (to new publishers) in a way that hides information. Specifically, they say that their private magazines are for small neighborhoods, and that is true about the sample magazines. However, when you see a non-sample magazine, the cover is very very misleading. It says "Exclusively serving citya, cityb, cityc, largeneighborhood1, largeneighborhood2, etc." This is a huge area, over 10 square miles. This is totally against the business model. The business model is small neighborhood magazines, mailed to just that neighborhood's homes. The sample magazines are all like that, the ones they show you in training. When I saw this other magazine, it was shocking after the training. Dave Durand says, repeatedly, "bend your experience to the business model", yet, they are doing the opposite, in practice. The sad part is I asked the CEO directly about this and he gave me the authoritarian response, basically "mind your own business". It is doubtful people realize what is happening until after they sell a lot of ads for this company and get it "to print", so it is very scammy for them to do this. The concept of the company seems so good, manipulation like this seems unnecessary, except for greed. And then there are the religious references by Dave, to his religion, dropped during training, probably to build trust. I was taken in by how legitimate the company appears, only to find out later that they are manipulative, they are doing things that are 180 degrees different than what they say in training. It is doubtful that a "neighborhood" magazine that has all these cities listed will be read by that neighborhood. I doubt the magazine is getting read because it appears not to be a private magazine, which is the excuse for not showing the magazine when selling ads. When a potential ad buyer wants to see the ad, they can't because its a private magazine for the neighbors. However, the magazine's cover says it serves over 10 square miles, so it could not possibly be a private, neighborhood magazine. This blaring inconsistency is one the CEO, Dave Durand is fine with, I asked him directly and he basically said, "mind your own business". They asked us to protect the culture. When I hear that, I hear "protect the mission statement, the business model." What BVM means is "protect us". When I hear "bend your experience to the model", which business model? The stated one or the one that is 180 degrees different (the hidden aspects of their business practices). Perhaps I do not understand the advertising industry. Perhaps this is what it takes for make money. But I doubt it. The company could do very well by doing what they say they do. Perhaps this is greed, on top of a sound, less profitable business model. Why not have an honest, profitable business instead of putting on the layer of greed? Deception seems unnecessary if you have a good business model.
