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Business 2.0 is weathering the crash of the new economy titans better than some. Time Inc.'s FORTUNE Group acquired the publication last month, and has since begun the arduous
task of marrying the book's content (and a sizable chunk of its former staff) with the assets of Time Inc. title, eCompany Now. A new magazine retaining the name Business 2.0 hit
newsstands last week with a guaranteed rate base of 550,000. Meanwhile, the brand's newly amalgamated Web site is up and running, its archives brimming with more than 35,000
articles from Business 2.0, eCompany Now and other Time Inc. properties such as Fortune, FSB: Fortune Small Business, Money and CNET.
Content/Contacts
There's a healthy dose of original content, with roughly two to four features updated daily. Web stories stem primarily from a roster of nine columnists, many of whom also
write for the magazine. Some columns read like op-ed commentary, although regular bits such as "e-Business Dispatch" and "Marketing Focus" follow a more objective "best practices"
format. As a bonus, all of the site's regular columns/features are available to readers as opt-in email newsletters, delivered weekly or biweekly. For a complete run-down of
columns, visit the site and click on "newsletters." The site's "Daily Insight" (on home page), also available as an opt-in e-letter, reaches 100,000 readers daily. Story ideas for
columnists can be pitched directly via email (each article has a "contact the author" function). General pitches should be directed to [email protected] or 415/293-4800.
Pitch Tips
Perhaps the best entry point for cracking into Business2.com is "What Works," a repository of e-business case studies, highlighting both successes and failures. (Recent stories
have focused on how Crayola.com engineered a 150% increase in page views, and how Novell saved metropolitan sewer district money with wireless apps.) The site includes a form
with explicit submission instructions. Editors screen entries and select the best of the bunch for posting. Plus, each month, an "editor's pick" entry gets reprinted in the
magazine. Online Editorial Director Joshua Macht, who previously headed up Web ventures for eCompany Now, Industry Standard and Inc., says sometimes case study submissions for
"What Works" end up being re-routed to reporting staff and developed into other stories.
Comments
Despite eCompany Now's status as the incumbent Time Inc. title, publishers opted to kill the name, instead maintaining Business 2.0 as the brand identifier for its newest
publishing venture. "The name eCompany was too constraining," says Macht, alluding to Time Inc.'s plans to reposition the book as a source of general business intelligence. "We're
not a techie magazine. It's not just, hey, here's a big feature about servers. We're more into how businesses work and how they're managed," he says. He bristles at comparisons to
Red Herring and Industry Standard, describing the latter two as "nichey" in their focus on VC funding. "We're a business magazine for up-and-coming executives dealing with a
business world that has drastically changed over the past few years. The Internet is only one thing driving that change."
In The Pipeline
The next order of business is "figuring out how to make [the site] less daunting, less overwhelming," says Macht. The redesign still needs some fine-tuning. And he's still on
the lookout for more columnists to round out the mix.
Not surprisingly, content is extremely timely with fast turnaround (the magazine operates with longer lead times). For a peek at the magazine's editorial calendar, click on
"About Us" on the home page, then click on "Press Room" at the top of the page. The upcoming November and December issues will feature a guide to tech and business academics,
relevant technologies and selling technology; the state of the trade.