Today we’d like to introduce you to Rivka Kirsch.
Hi Rivka, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Post-high school, I began the classic route for a career. I started taking classes at a local college and worked part-time as a medical office assistant. I got married during this time period. After having my first child, I wanted to find work opportunities that I could do from home while caring for my child. I began auditing doctor’s notes from home during the day, worked with special needs children at night, as well as teaching on the weekends. After a couple of years, my husband was accepted into medical school out of state. This is where the journey really begins. We moved to a new state, and I attempted to create multiple businesses from home. Over the span of a few years, I sold homemade pizza, candy platters, and had a small at-home playgroup, I learned many valuable lessons on the ins and outs of business.
When I completed the school year with my playgroup, an opportunity came up to work from home as a biller for a video deposition company. After about a year of working with this company, COVID hit, and I was put on furlough. At this same time, my husband accepted a residency position in Cleveland, and within a few months, during ‘peak COVID,’ we moved to Cleveland.
After our move, an opportunity came up for me to sell flooring (commercially and residentially) from home. Like all jobs that include sales, I began to market my products. I called and met with many contractors but needed to advertise my products in order to reach residential customers. Although many go the route of online advertising, I felt that print marketing would be more effective for the potential customers I was targeting as data shows that readers engage more with print content than digital. Personally, I found print marketing to be more effective than the hundreds of promotional emails I received each day and the hundreds of ads that I came across online.
I began searching for a print marketing avenue within the Greater Cleveland Jewish community that I am a part of here in University Heights. I felt that the readership would be more apt to engage with the businesses that were advertising if they felt the businesses had a similar set of values and standards. To my dismay, there was no print marketing avenue within the community! I decided this was a perfect opportunity to create what I was looking for – thus began the Cleveland Corner!
My idea was to create a monthly advertiser, but instead of just a classic ad book, I wanted to include pertinent, practical, and local community information. Additionally, I wanted to have a children’s section, recipes, articles, and other fun content to keep readers engaged and give them a reason to hold on to the issue all month long.
In November 2020, I called up hundreds of local businesses, created content, found a local printer, and put out the first issue of the Cleveland Corner in January 2021. I hired kids to hand-deliver magazines on their blocks. We distributed around 1,500 copies early on – all hand delivered!
My hunch was verified that many of the advertisers noticed immediate results and continue to advertise to this day. As the readership grew, we now mail out the Cleveland Corner to over 2,100 homes in the Greater Cleveland area as well as having a few hundred more available in local stores. Thankfully, we are now in our third year, and the magazine continues to grow!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Prior to starting my business, I had no marketing or publishing experience, so there was a steep learning curve when bringing the magazine to fruition. While this may be classified as a challenge, I think my first obstacle was hand-delivering the magazines. When it gets dark early, finding kids in the dead of the Cleveland winter to walk on ice and snow to deliver magazines was no easy feat. When I began mailing out the magazines, I hoped I eliminated the delivery obstacle; however, USPS was still suffering from the effects of COVID and was having tremendous postal delays. This made it very difficult to get the issues out on time. Next came the paper shortage. It became (and still is) quite a challenge to keep a high-quality paper while trying to keep pricing low.
Another big obstacle I come across – as I am sure every parent who runs their own business from home comes across – is working with kids in the background. The Cleveland Corner consists of myself and a graphic designer. With that being said, there are no vacations. When I had a baby, there were still deadlines to meet, phone calls to answer, and magazines to deliver. There are many times that I am speaking with advertisers and have kids asking for snacks in the background.
As you know, we’re big fans of Cleveland Corner. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
The Cleveland Corner is a niche monthly publication that is distributed to over 2,100 homes and businesses throughout the Greater Cleveland Jewish community. The publication is a fantastic means for advertising businesses that cater to the Jewish community. What sets this publication apart from others is that it includes pertinent and ever-changing practical community information and is known for its recipes, contests, and other fun and interesting content. It has become a resource for the community and an efficient way to communicate information to the Greater Cleveland Jewish community.
The Cleveland Corner also has a WhatsApp Blast group. This group is a one-stop shop for sales in the area as well as free events that are open to the public around the Greater Cleveland area. We also offer advertising options on the WhatsApp Blast group.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t necessarily believe in luck but rather that there is a reason for all successes and failures, even if the reason has failed to be recognized. I think the difficulties that I experienced throughout all the businesses that I have tried are difficulties that most people experience. With the Cleveland Corner, it was a matter of having an opportunity present itself, recognizing that opportunity, and throwing myself into it in full force even though everyone around me told me it would fail.
Believe in yourself, and don’t give up! Take on opportunities when they present themselves, even if you don’t know where they will lead.
Contact Info:
- Website: clecornermag.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/theclevelandcorner/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rivka-kirsch-412653210
