B2B publishing has quietly become one of the healthier parts of the industry. The trade press that once lived on display and recruitment advertising now earns more of its money from subscriptions, data, events and membership, and private equity has noticed.
The shift meant giving up some old habits. Controlled circulation made sense in print, but open websites gave away what the magazine kept for qualified readers, and the publishers doing best have taken back control of their audiences through registration and paywalls. The Lawyer moved from an advertising-led business to one where paid content brings in over 40 per cent of revenue.
Don’t delude yourself because the barriers to entry in publishing are now non-existent.
Amanda Barnes B2B media
Specialist knowledge is the defence. AI makes generic information close to worthless, so the value lies in proprietary data, tools readers rely on in their daily work and journalism only a specialist could produce, as Computer Weekly's Post Office investigation showed. Print hasn't vanished either. Some publishers now sell it alongside digital at the same price and let readers choose.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on B2B and trade media, from subscriptions and data products to events, print, consolidation and specialist journalism, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
We asked Amanda Barnes, chief executive of Faversham House, what does best practice publishing look like in B2B media? This is what she said…
Rory Brown has enjoyed great success in business media. Having last year sold AgriBriefing and now following new paths in the B2B space, he takes some time out to tell us what he has learned on his journey so far…
Print is certainly not dead, says Chairman Mark Allen. However, you need to offer readers choice and be neutral and agnostic about the outcome.
The Lawyer has been on quite a journey, successfully transitioning from a controlled circulation ad-driven model to a high value enterprise subs one. Andy Baker talks Meg Carter through the key stages and what they’ve learnt along the way.
In the first of our new ‘Digital Horizons’ series, Tom Lake, director of product and technology at Infopro Digital, looks at the tech opportunities and challenges facing his company and the wider B2B sector.
The future of B2B lies in serving your sector in three connected ways: information, intelligence and events.
John Barnes, chief digital officer, William Reed Business Media, tells Ciar Byrne about how the B2B media sector is managing the digital transformation journey.
Computer Weekly deserves much credit for its role in investigating the Horizon IT scandal. Dickon Ross looks at what lessons other B2B journalists can take from their work.
The general expectation is that the buying and selling of media brands is going to increase significantly in 2025. A number of companies have been quietly building up their war-chests during a wobbly 2024, reports Jim Bilton.
If you’re thinking of setting up a membership scheme, be prepared to play the long game because success doesn’t come overnight.
Advanced Photoshop has revealed the winners of an exclusive competition, in association with iStockphoto.com, which challenged digital artists from the Photoshop community to create one of four exclusive cover images.
Royal Mail has announced the creation of a new Strategic Mailing Partnership to drive developments and shape the future of the mailing house industry.
Last week saw another landmark for H Bauer’s Take a Break magazine: reaching 1.25 billion copy sales since its launch almost exactly 20 years ago.
Euromoney Institutional Investor has issued its Interim Management Statement for the period from October 1, 2009 to January 20, 2010:
Consultation takes many forms. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all, sometimes it’s occasional and sometimes it’s mere dressing for a decision already taken. But, more positively, in some companies it is an ongoing deeply ingrained process, where there
It’s said that many fortunes are made as economies move out of downturns. How can you benefit from the upswing expected this year? Mark Bishop offers ten tips on how to add value to media businesses by benefitting from economic recovery.
When it comes to data, it used to be the box of unprocessed registration cards or competition entries gathering dust under someone’s desk that kept publishers awake at night. Now, it’s that nagging feeling that their company simply has too many datab
Good riddance to 2009. What an abysmal twelve months that was! The new year is a time for predictions; some will be gloomy, some more upbeat. Karlene Lukovitz is determined to position herself in the latter camp ... for the time being at least.
US weekly titles saw a definite upturn in sales during the Obama election. With a General Election looming here, how will the UK market fare? What are the opportunities and challenges? And how will they cope with new media and wall-to-wall TV news? W
Big isn’t always best, but the larger publishers do tend to have more efficient workflows than smaller ones. Here, Chris Bunnett argues that, whatever your size, efficient workflows are a necessity and that all publishers can benefit from taking time
The problem with newsstand sales is that publishers have no direct contact with their readers. They don’t know who they are and, outside of the magazine itself, have no opportunity to sell to them. David Garratt and Charles Arthur argue that, by grad
Some titles make the business of making money look soooo easy! Everything they touch seems to turn to gold. Good Food magazine, with its legion of hugely successful spin-offs, is one such title. Publishing director Alfie Lewis explains its publishing
Angel Business Communications has announced a number of senior appointments.
A freshly redesigned Linux magazine hits the newsstand on 30 January.
IPC Connect publishing director Oswin Grady has announced the appointment of Karen Livermore as the new editor of its weekly lifestyle magazine, Woman.
