Secret Agent Magazine

[TrekGuide.com]

Calling all Secret Agent fans:

Secret Agent Magazine is a new online magazine devoted to news about secret agents -- from spies and government operatives to private eyes and bounty hunters -- as well as gadgets and weapons used by secret agents.

Recent news articles have covered secret agents on TV and on the big screen, including USA Network's "Burn Notice," NBC's "Chuck" and the Coen brothers' new spy comedy "Burn After Reading."

Upcoming news includes the new series "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Knight Rider" on NBC, as well as the new James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," and the new season of "24" on Fox.

There are also links to buy secret agent gadgets, from lockpicks and spy cameras to night-vision goggles and cell-phone jammers.

If anyone has any suggestions for secret agent-related articles (or if you want to contribute an essay or movie review or analysis of secret agents on TV or in books), let us know. Any ideas or contributions are appreciated for this new online resource for everything secret agent related.

-- The Man From S.A.M.
http://SecretAgentMagazine.com

 

[TrekGuide.com]

For videos about Secret Agents, gadgets, lockpicking, bulletproof clothes, and trailers for new Secret Agent movies, see SecretAgent.TV.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Egads, what a terrible, terrible site. It's just a list of links to places like FBI job listings and reviews on other sites of spy movies. And the design is vintage 1998.

Calling it a "magazine" is real stretch.

 

[TrekGuide.com]

Yes, I have a lot of links -- hopefully organized in a useful manner -- as well as a news page and other categories. There might be too many links on the front page. ...

I'm trying to make it the TrekToday.com of Secret Agent news, but it's a work in progress. Maybe I'll add some movie and TV reviews, or other categories.

Any specific suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Learn how to pick a lock without a key!

Step 1 - Buy the $400 lock-picking kit I've linked to on this site.

In my travels I've found that the first rule of being a secret agent is to advertise as much as possible.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Any specific suggestions would be appreciated.

- Produce some original content that's actually worth reading.
- Tone down the advertising. I realize that's about 99% of the site right now, but no one is going to go just to click on ads.
- Update the design to something that looks more current.
- Try to find something more compelling to talk about than just James Bond, Jason Bourne, Chuck and 24. The big spy franchises already have countless fan sites, official sites and forums, most of which have much more to offer than your site.
- If you want more readers, try actually buying an ad on the TrekBBS rather than just spamming the forum with links to your site.

 

[TrekGuide.com]

- Produce some original content that's actually worth reading.

Under the topic of Secret Agents, what kind of content would you, as a reader, want to see? Movie reviews? Interviews? How-to guides? Episode guides to older TV series?

- Tone down the advertising. I realize that's about 99% of the site right now, but no one is going to go just to click on ads.

Well, a lot of people come to the site looking for info on Secret Agent gadgets and tools, so I try to provide links to online stores that offer these items. Maybe I can do a better job of segregating the product links to a specific section of my Web site.

- Update the design to something that looks more current.

I think black text on a white background is easiest to read, but if you have some links to examples of "current" sites that you think I should model it after, let me know. But if you mean making it 100 percent Flash animation with no text, which takes forever to load and is not compatible with older browsers, then that is not what I am going for. Like I said, I am trying to make it the TrekToday.com of Secret Agent news.

- Try to find something more compelling to talk about than just James Bond, Jason Bourne, Chuck and 24. The big spy franchises already have countless fan sites, official sites and forums, most of which have much more to offer than your site.

Well, that's why I'm asking. What do you, as a reader, find "more compelling" in the Secret Agent genre than James Bond, Jason Bourne and "24"? I also include information on other new Secret Agent films, such as "The International," "Taken," and "XIII." Do you think I should include reviews of the films, in addition to the news items about them? Or more information about real-life Secret Agents and gadgets? What is compelling to you?