LITCHFIELD/RIVERBEND – This August, “The Buzz Magazine” will mark 17 years with its 200th issue.
Owner Tara Simmons never set out to run a magazine. But in 2009, she and her husband Tony decided to take a shot and publish “The Buzz Magazine” to help local businesses. Nowadays, the magazine has grown exponentially, but that core mission remains.
“It’s clean, it’s positive, it’s uplifting, and people just love it,” Tara said. “We definitely, definitely had some help from up above getting it going, keeping it going, and being where we are today.”
“The Buzz Magazine” features advertisements for local businesses — sold by Tony — and articles written by Tara and a few other featured writers. Tara said Tony has “always been the brain behind it,” coming up with the magazine’s popular antique guide and holiday shopping guide over the years.
In fact, “The Buzz” was Tony’s idea. Before the magazine, Tara had a background in graphic design and marketing, and she worked with local businesses to run their marketing campaigns. The couple also owned a bar and grill in Litchfield, where they live.
But the 2008 recession forced the bar to close, and 75% of Tara’s clients canceled their campaigns within a few weeks of the market drop. With no jobs and small businesses all around them “dropping like flies,” Tony and Tara decided to take a chance and start “The Buzz” as a way to promote small businesses and the community.
That first issue cost $1,200 to print, and Tara closed her account to print it. But immediately, the magazine started to resonate with people.
“It took every penny that we had to get the first issue out,” Tara remembered. “But it just snowballed from there. It just kept getting bigger and better.”
Tara and Tony started by covering Macoupin and Montgomery Counties. Today, they cover 13 counties across the Metro East and up through Springfield. Their stories vary in topic, but the magazine’s focus has always been positivity.
“We’re different. We don’t compete with the newspapers,” Tara explained. “All we do is write positive, uplifting stories about people and businesses in the area. We don’t put in anything controversial. We don’t put anything political. We even have some advertisers that we’ve turned down because we’re like, yeah, no, we don’t want that type of business advertising in our magazine.”
And the community has responded to this mission. People love reading the stories and learning about the businesses in their backyards. These days, “The Buzz Magazine” partners with RiverBender.com; the two media companies often share stories.
Tara and Tony’s goal — to support small businesses and local community members — has never faltered. They started “The Buzz” as a way to help their friends, the small business owners who had come to their bar for lunch every day. They still want to help.
“They mattered to us. Their business mattered to us, and the communities in general mattered because we saw what was happening. All these stores that people loved are going out of business. What can we do to help our community?” Tara said. “We just had really close relationships with those people. And we just knew that it was important for small business to survive. I mean, imagine a world with only Walmart and Home Depot. That would suck.”
Looking to the future, Tara plans to take a step back in the coming years and share the duties of “The Buzz” with her granddaughter, who will eventually take on ownership of the magazine. Tara and Tony are excited to retire, but mostly proud of the legacy they’re leaving. As “The Buzz Magazine” celebrates its 200th issue, they can’t wait to keep going.
“I’ll still be involved. I’ll probably still write some stories. I’ll probably help her deliver and that type of thing,” Tara added. “Nobody wants the magazine to end.”
For more information about “The Buzz Magazine,” including where to pick up your free copy, visit their official website or their official Facebook page.
