Pubdate: Wed, 27 Mar 2013
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2013 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Jenn Abelson

MEDICAL MARIJUANA JOURNAL EXPANDS WITH INDUSTRY

Publisher Carves Out a Niche Offering Reliable Information About the 
Growing Business of Selling Marijuana Legally

Rhode Island entrepreneur Anne Holland is on a high - not that kind 
of high - after a sold-out conference for her latest venture, Medical 
Marijuana Business Daily, and the launch of the cannabis industry's 
first factbook.

Over the years, Holland has earned millions of dollars starting niche 
business publications, but her most recent - and perhaps riskiest - 
enterprise is making waves across the country.

Since launching two years ago, MMJ Business Daily has provided a 
stream of free online dispatches to cannabis industry professionals, 
including dispensary owners, lawyers, investors, and vendors, 
tracking everything from federal raids to the November approval of a 
medical marijuana program in Massachusetts.

MMJ Business Daily is part of an industry effort to give legitimacy 
to a field with an obvious image problem as it moves mainstream. The 
company, with seven employees spread across Providence, Boston, 
Denver, and North Carolina, has ramped up its offerings by rolling 
out a series of "best practices" business e-books, hosting financial 
seminars, and producing annual trade shows that attract serious 
investors in suits. A mobile version of the website will be launched 
shortly, and a print magazine is planned for the summer.

"We realized there was nothing but lifestyle press and evangelists 
who are trying to change the politics. There really wasn't anyone 
reporting on the business end of it," Holland said of the medical 
marijuana industry. "We found there was a huge need to provide 
numbers business people could trust."

Holland, who founded various firms, including Marketing-Sherpa (a 
publisher of research for marketing professionals in corporate 
America) knew she was taking a chance in 2011 when she launched MMJ 
Business Daily. Within weeks of publication, the federal government 
shut down hundreds of dispensaries in widespread raids in California, 
Michigan, and other states, and the industry looked as if it could 
collapse at any moment. While 18 states have legalized medical 
marijuana and another 11 have pending legislation to do the same, the 
drug remains outlawed at the federal level.

Instead of retreating, Holland decided to dig deeper into her 
personal savings - a six-figure investment, she said - to keep the 
venture afloat and pay a full-time editor and publisher in Denver.

"It was terrifying," Holland said. "We couldn't cut back because we 
were already bare bones."

MMJ Business Daily pushed through 2012 as the industry appeared to 
pick up steam. Days after the November election, when a medical 
marijuana program was approved in Massachusetts and recreational use 
was legalized in Colorado and Washington, the company hosted the 
National Marijuana Business Conference in Denver, the only national 
trade show for professionals. The event drew about 450 people from 27 
states. A recent "Cannabis Investors and Entrepreneurs" seminar the 
publication sponsored in New York City also sold out with more than 
100 participants.

It's easy to understand the interest - US marijuana sales, estimated 
at roughly $1.2 billion in 2012, are projected to reach up to $1.5 
billion in 2013 and potentially double to $3 billion by 2014, 
according to new research released by the company in its Marijuana 
Business Factbook 2013.

"A lot of people don't take the industry seriously," said Chris 
Walsh, the editor of MMJ Business Daily who previously worked at an 
English-language daily newspaper in Korea, the Colorado Springs 
Gazette, and the Rocky Mountain News. "But this is a real business, 
and it's not a bunch of stoners. There's banking, the investment 
world, software."

The company's regional seminar in New York took place at a loft in 
SoHo and featured speakers such as Jessica Billingsley, cofounder of 
MJ Freeway Software Solutions, a top dispensary software firm that 
provides point of sale, inventory, sales, and patient validation 
products; and Troy Dayton, chief executive of ArcView Group, a 
network of about 50 angel investors that partner with cannabis companies.

"I was blown away by the level of serious interest among investors 
and entrepreneurs," said Dayton, who runs a "Shark Tank"-like event 
in Seattle where marijuana entrepreneurs give short business pitches 
to investors.

Dayton said he receives at least five unsolicited pitches daily, up 
from one a week in October. He credits the deluge to the changing 
marijuana industry landscape along with advertising in MMJ Business 
Daily. He said the publication fills a critical need to provide news 
and data to professionals.

"We are still striving to be treated like any other industry," Dayton said.

In recent months, Walsh - who said he does not smoke marijuana - has 
become the go-to guy for industry news, profiled by Dow Jones 
Newswires as a top business journalist in the cannabis business and 
frequently quoted in the media, including MarketWatch, The Seattle 
Times, and The Boston Globe. After speaking at the company's seminar 
in New York earlier this month, he took a train to Boston to make a 
presentation at a symposium hosted by the National Cannabis Industry 
Association.

In between media requests, seminar presentations, and daily online 
dispatches, Walsh has been working with his publisher, Cassandra 
Farrington, on the Marijuana Business Factbook being released this 
week. At $129, the thick 180-page publication includes 69 tables and 
charts and 21 state-by-state profiles. The factbook scored 21 
sponsors - far more than expected - and plans are underway to launch 
a magazine in the summer that will feature longer, exclusive articles 
for business owners in the industry, according to Holland. A second 
national trade show is scheduled for Seattle in November and the firm 
expects to double the number of exhibitors.

Despite the market domination and national recognition, MMJ Business 
Daily still hasn't turned a profit. Over the past six months, traffic 
has increased 43 percent to 76,000 monthly page views, but that's a 
modest count compared with other business sites. The company expects 
to break even in 2013 and hopes to make money by next year. Holland 
blames the slow revenue growth mostly on the price sensitivity of the 
marijuana industry.

"You can only charge a fraction of the prices you'd get for similar 
products in a more established market or in corporate America. This 
is still not a market traditional publishers and trade shows can make 
a quick buck in," she said. "However, we have lots of experience in 
watching the bottom line and building a publishing brand through 
high-quality editorial. And we are committed to the long haul."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom