Where it all started

My name is Debbie Corney. I trained as a foreign language teacher and taught to students aged 9-18 when I was just 22 years old myself. I have always enjoyed talking to people and helping wherever I could.

The baby

I got married in 1997 to Stephen. When our son was born 6 years later, I ‘retired’ from teaching. Having been busy all my life, I wanted ‘something to do’. Working from home was a great option, with a toddler now in tow. A friend suggested that I look online at “MyMag”. As a result, I decided with my love of talking to people that helping good tradespeople was a positive and rewarding ‘thing to do’. That all began in 2005. The rest is history, as the saying goes. Because now…

The magazines

We are the biggest, family-run local advertising business in Dorset and Hampshire. We produce 17 different magazine titles with 100,000 individual magazines delivered door to door every month! This all started with The West Moors Directory. Pushing Hayden around in his pram, I got talking to the local business owners. The idea of a local directory that enabled residents to quickly and easily find local businesses, services and events appealed to many of them. In fact many of the businesses that appeared in the very first edition of the magazine are still advertising in the directory today.

Expansion

The success of this publication led to the launch of The Ferndown & West Parley Directory later the same year. This enabled local businesses to advertise to a slightly wider audience, but with the same local feel.

Resenting Bad News

Towards the end of 2008, I was listening to the radio in the car and got fed up of hearing all the “bad news”. As an antidote to this, The People’s Paper Bournemouth was launched. This magazine only contained good news about local people: successes, dedication, achievements, going that extra mile!  One highlight was being contacted by the BBC on the run up to the 2010 general election to take part in a live broadcast from the Pier Approach in Bournemouth.

My husband joined me!

Stephen, my husband, joined the team at the beginning of 2009. That is when things really started to take off! In April 2009 we acquired The Southbourne Link which had been established for over four years. It covers the Southbourne, Hengistbury and Tuckton areas of Bournemouth, Dorset. Many of the original advertisers are still in the magazine today. They know they get great business results from the magazines.

More expansion

Later the same year came the acquisition of The Lyndhurst Directory and The Brockenhurst Guide. This now enabled us to bring our cost effective advertising services to the heart of the New Forest, in Hampshire.

Even further expansion

The start of the next decade, 2010, saw further expansion with the acquisition of The Christchurch Directory, The Wareham District Directory and The Swanage Oracle. All three magazines had been in existence for many years and had built a great relationship with the local community.

Our latest expansion

In August 2019, we took on a further five magazines which were established in Hampshire. They are called “My Local Gazettes”. These Gazettes contain a good amount of local community data as well as great adverts of local tradespeople and services. The local residents, the Test Valley Borough Council and the Business Improvement Districts all support these magazines. They have added a huge string to our bow and forward our aim to help local businesses advertise to the local community.

Ability to help

We now have a portfolio of ten Dorset and seven Hampshire advertising magazines with a total of 100,000 copies distributed by Royal Mail and local people every month! We monitor the delivery personally; our Distribution Manager oversees this activity. Whether you are a sole trade plumber, electrician, gardener or have a huge company of 100 or more employees, we can promote your business to the local community. Our clients say our advertising rates are fantastic! We offer advert design for FREE if you need help with that. All you need to do is fill in the online booking form on the website. Then email your data with logo, photos and any colour preferences and we do the rest for you. Those businesses booking a three months advertising package will automatically get a FREE listing in our website’s advertiser directory.

Now with a team of eight staff, we are available for a friendly chat any day of the week Monday – Friday from 9am – 5pm. For more information please take a look at our many advertiser testimonials. There are also electronic copies of the magazines available to view on the website.

Our purpose

Our purpose here at Dorset, Purbeck and Hampshire Publications is to connect business owners and residents through quality print advertising. We now also offer a full advertising package, including not only printed adverts, but also Facebook adverts and website promotion.

For all your advertising needs, give Dorset Publications a call today on 01202 894397! We look forward to hearing from you.