Lessiter family succeeds with steady growth and quirky diversification.

Newsletter publishers have had their historic success by building niche-information publishing businesses. Frank Lessiter of Lessiter Publications would appear to fit that basic mold, having published No-Till Farmer for nearly 30 years now.

However, while Lessiter is continuing to enjoy success during these difficult economic times and while the information they publish continues to be in what has to be called niche areas, the company has been becoming more and more diversified in its offerings and resembles less and less the "traditional" newsletter publisher.

Their newsletters are becoming combo newsletter and magazine operations, they are expanding operations in the magazine area, and they have two major international conferences that will draw 1,600 attendees this year.

But first, back to the beginnings. Since Michigan State didn't have an ag journalism school, Frank majored in dairy science but convinced his advisor to allow him to take all journalism courses for his senior electives. Then a career path (unique for a Lessiter since Frank was the first male in six generations to leave the family farm) through three years in PR, editing company publications, and ultimately to Reiman Publications. There he launched No-Till Farmer and eventually became executive vice president. Then, in 1981, he and his wife, Pam, acquired two titles and went out on their own.

Three divisions now

Today, Lessiter Publications consists of three divisions--agriculture, sports and equine (American Farriers Journal)--seven magazines, three newsletters, the two conferences, four websites, 30 books, and more than 125 special reports. Three of the magazines are controlled circulation, and the rest of the magazines and the newsletters are paid.

No-Till Farmer now publishes eight newsletters and four ad-supported magazine issues a year. The very successful Winning Hoops newsletter for basketball coaches (23 years old) has evolved to three newsletter issues and three magazine-format publications annually. A goodly number of the special reports, perhaps a majority, are aimed at basketball coaches, who are apparently total information junkies ("Six Sure-Fire Inbound Plays to Beat the Zone Trap" and the like).

Following on that line, Lessiter has just recently added the Real AAU Basketball magazine that circulates four times a year to 37,000 volunteer basketball coaches. Frank recently purchased a 78-year-old, l0x annually Coach and Athletic Director magazine from Scholastic (US publishers of Harry Potter) in New York City. (Hoops buffs will realize that predates Stanford's Hank Luisetti revolutionizing the game with his trademark running one-hander, forerunner of the jump shot.)

Lessiter's first edition of Coach and Athletic Director is planned for September, a blockbuster "Back to School" issue, according to associate publisher Michael Podell.

Still a family business

It's still a family business. Son Mike Lessiter is now running the company as president. He "grew up in the business" but took a 10-year sabbatical as editor and publisher of the world's largest foundry magazine "before coming home."

Counting the ways

Frank reports that through the years Lessiter has acquired nine magazines and newsletters, sold three publications (including Gridiron Strategies a year ago, intended as a companion title to Winning Hoops that somehow never quite clicked), launched three publications internally as well as the two conferences, one now in its 17th year.

"Our key to success," Frank says, "has been to never think that we know more than our readers."

Finding gems in adversity

Lessiter describes their recent acquisitions as "two magazines that were hit with enormous amounts of overhead and a lack of editorial and advertising sales efforts by major publishers. By delivering needed editorial and marketing care, we've made them work. We'll be looking for more of these gems as big publishers continue to reduce their number of titles."

The new titles have added an additional 16 issues to the 49 deadlines they already had and, as Frank puts it, "since January we've added five new staff positions and we're now writing 27 paychecks.

"For a number of years our company goal has been to launch a new project every year and not be willing to sit still."

Lessiter Publications Inc., P.O. Box 624, Brookfield, WI 53008, 262-782-4480, www.lesspub.com