Jan/Feb 1997

ARTICLE TOOLS

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As we progress through our sophomore year of publication, we are learning more about our readers. Last month I heard from a couple who were among our charter subscribers. "We've hardly had a chance to read the last several issues," they said. That didn't sound good. I wondered what was coming next. Their daughter, it turns out, who recently completed her first year of college, has discovered B&C. "As soon as she spots an issue, she just I it. We never see it again." So they were getting another subscription--for themselves.

Many of you who read B&C regularly are equally passionate about it. You've told us so, in letters and conversations that have been enormously encouraging. That's the good news. Along with this wonderful feedback, however, has come a less happy fact. We are learning that you who choose to subscribe are a rare breed. About 15,000 of you have signed up, and that's a terrific start for a thought publication. But to become viable for the long term, we need to move much closer to the 25,000 mark.

We are convinced that those additional subscribers are out there waiting to discover B&C. Almost every week we hear from new readers who, despite our best efforts to publicize the magazine, had never known of its existence until just now, when a friend or colleague put a copy in their hands. We need to reach more of those potential readers. But we simply cannot afford to send avalanches of direct mail to the usual lists. We find B&C readers in small pockets--too small to bother with in conventional marketing terms. That's expensive.

And that's where you come in. It takes time to build a publication like B&C. It takes help from many sources. We have carefully used major foundation monies and CTi investment to build our ...