One of the greatest benefits of being a blog writer and ‘community facilitator’ are the people you meet and relationships you develop. With these connections comes some pretty outstanding opportunities. Enter Andrew Snavely, founder and editor of Primer Magazine – The Weekly Magazine for Guys Who Want to be Better Men. Andrew came by the blog, liked what he saw, and a couple weeks later I’ve added my first contribution to Primer as a guest columnist.
In short – Primer caters to men within the twenty-something demographic. Think of it as the ‘transition’ between Maxim and GQ. I asked Andrew to give me the Readers Digest version on how Primer came to be and what market they target:
Primer launched May of ’08 and has been growing ever since. I’ve been really excited with the response it’s received and I look forward to taking it to new levels. I’m in my mid-20’s and the idea really came out of graduating college several years ago. When you’re in college, everyone has an answer to your questions and there are people set up to help you along your path to graduation. But as soon as you graduate you’re on your own. Alone, but expected to act as a functioning adult, and for guys as responsible men.
My other frustration as a long time reader of men’s magazines was feeling like no one was speaking to ME. As you may have read on the About page, Maxim is clearly for horny high school guys and GQ / Esquire is clearly for guys in their early 30’s who have established themselves and have money to drop on $400 shoes. While I do still enjoy reading those magazines, they’re not catered to me: mid-20’s post-college guy just getting started. Primer Magazine caters to men in this ‘transitional’ phase of life.
As online journalists – we’re always up for a new challenge. Writing for Primer allows me to connect with my male brethren in new an unique ways. If Life Without Pants is my day job, Primer is a Sunday afternoon football game at the local pub. Guys being guys – but growing and learning a lot from one another.
I encourage you all to head over to Primer Magazine’s website to check out my inaugural post – The Four Agreements: Toltec Wisdom and the Modern Man. As much as the magazine may be catered toward men – there is honestly something for everyone in this article on how to live a more fulfilling life. I’m extremely proud of this article and I’m thrilled to share it with all of you.
Just another side project in the life of Matt Cheuvront – and yet another reason I love the web, social media, and it’s ability to bring innovative thinkers together. I leave you with a snippet from my first (of many) articles for Primer, and I look forward to the discussion over there and back here. Cheers!
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…Since then, The Four Agreements has sat next to my bed, much like you would find a bible in a hotel room. In a way, it has become a ‘bible’ for the way I strive to live my life. I shouldn’t complain about where I’m at right now. I’m engaged, I’ve got a good job, a salary, and 401k with benefits. But for some reason, I’m not comfortable with being content – this isn’t where I want to be – I want more. So I’m going against what’s ‘right’ and what ‘makes sense’ — quitting my job, packing my bags, and moving to Chicago with my fiancé to start our life together. It’s scary, hell, it’s downright terrifying. There’s a lot of adversity in front of me, there are far more questions than there are answers, but through it all, I come back to these four ‘agreements’ that continue to serve as the foundation of my attitude toward life…