How Inc. is growing readership and revenue

James Ledbetter is the editor of Inc. magazine, which last month announced that 2015 was its most profitable year in its history due to growth in advertising pages, a higher number of digital readers and circulation increases.

The 36-year-old magazine said it brought in $10 million in new advertising business during the year. In addition, it said that print revenue increased 10 percent and digital revenue increased 14 percent.

In addition, Inc. said that its paid circulation increased 1.4 percent and single copy sales rose 9 percent. Inc.com unique visitors rose 53 percent in 2015.

Ledbetter, who joined Inc. in early 2014 after being at Reuters, spoke with Talking Biz News by email about Inc. magazine and its operations. What follows is an edited transcript.

You’ve been at Inc. now for a bit more than two years. What attracted you to the position?

I saw a strong brand with a terrific magazine and an opportunity to grow its audience, visibility and relevance. And now that I’ve been here two years I’m honored to work with a dynamite team that makes it happen every day.

What has been the biggest change at the magazine in those two years?

I think we’re better at integrating the big entrepreneurial stories in the magazine with what is going on outside the magazine, whether that’s with a feature on autism in the workplace, or on whether highly valued tech startups mean we’re in a bubble; tapping into the runaway popularity of “Shark Tank”; or even finding ways to translate the great conversations that take place at Inc. events into magazine articles and vice-versa.

What would you still like to improve at Inc.?

There’s still so much opportunity to serve our audience better and in new ways. I think it’s still early innings in terms of our online innovation—we can do more and different types of video, for example. We’ve more than doubled the Web traffic since I got here but I think there’s still plenty more room to grow. And one of my goals for 2016 is to help Inc. expand into new platforms, like branded books and television.

The magazine has struck a deal with CNBC. How does that fit into your strategy?

CNBC is a valued partner in presenting a three-city tour called the iConic tour; this year we’re in Seattle, Denver and Boston. Those events help both outlets reach an audience and advertisers that would be harder to get on their own.

Does the Inc. site differ from the magazine in terms of content? How so?

The two biggest differences are size and scope. The typical issue of the magazine contains, depending on how you slice it up, something like 40 pieces of content. In a typical day on Inc.com, we publish something like 70 original pieces. Not coincidentally, the paid circulation of Inc. magazine is about 700,000, almost all within the United States. Inc.com reaches more than 13 million unique readers every month, a good portion of which are outside the United States.

The magazine tends to focus on privately held companies and their founders, and practical advice for running a company. Given the much larger volume and readership online, Inc.com has a much more expansive mandate: It covers some public companies, breaking news, trends in business, personal productivity tips—and of course video and interactive features that have no print analogue.

Who do you see as your biggest competitors?

In print we usually look at the other business magazines — Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, to a degree Wired. Online you compete with everyone — from the Wall Street Journal to Mashable to the BBC!

How do you feel Inc. stands out among those competitors?

No one takes as seriously as we do the need to serve the entrepreneur. Every day we look for ways to inform and inspire people who want to start something small and make it big. The unique combination of news, plus access, plus hands-on expert advice makes us the leader.

Why is this a growing field within business journalism?

Part of it is macroeconomic: Especially since the last recession, big public companies, while often very profitable, have become skittish about hiring. So a lot of the job creation and dynamism in the economy is coming from startups and small businesses. Part of it is microeconomic: Due to dramatic cost reductions in Website building and storage, online marketing, and payment processing, plus the availability of fast financing through online lenders and crowdsourcing, it has never been easier or cheaper to start a business than it is today.

And part of it is cultural: From “Shark Tank” on prime time network TV to Hollywood movies about Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, Americans are fascinated with the people who start companies, create the coolest products, and change the way we live our lives.

How does Inc.’s conference business tie into the editorial content?

I can think of at least three ways. One: The people who report and write for the magazine and Web site are constantly in touch with the most exciting business leaders and thinkers of our time, and thus represent a crucial recruiting ground for our conferences. Two: Covering the conferences on Inc.com, with articles as well as video, gives us terrific material that our readers love. Three: Come to our conferences and you will meet the most amazing and creative people—they are a dynamite source of stories for both print and online, and many even become Inc.com contributors.

The magazine launched an online video series last year with “The Profit” host. How is that going, and are there more such ventures in the future?

Our online video series “Ask Marcus Lemonis” was sort of like a condensed version of his show “The Profit”: Marcus would sit down with a business owner facing some serious challenges; ask some tough, penetrating questions; and offer smart, frank advice about how to move ahead. Viewers loved it.

As for podcasts, Inc. was a founding partner in the Panoply network in early 2015, and our weekly podcast Inc. Uncensored continues to be an informative and entertaining discussion of everything from how to fix Twitter to the future of asteroid mining. It’s been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and we get great feedback from listeners. We’ve had conversations about creating additional podcasts with Panoply, but no firm plans at the moment.