PR Interview: Get Featured in Barron’s Magazine

Contact information:
Eric J. Savitz
Blogger/Barron's Tech Trader Daily
West Coast Editor/Barron's
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily
1701 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
650-496-1334
eric(dot)savitz(at)barrons(dot)com

Background
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Savitz spent four years working for Dow Jones’ news wires. He joined Barron’s as a feature writer in New York in 1988. In 1995, he relocated to California as the Barron’s first reporter in the Silicon Valley, creating the Plugged In column. Savitz left Barron’s in 1998 to become Executive Editor of The Industry Standard. In 2001, he rejoined the magazine. Besides the blog, he writes the Tech Trader column in Barron's.

Circulation & readership
Barron’s had 253,259 paid and verified subscriptions, according to the ABC report for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006. The Web site gets more than 270,000 unique users each month, and Barron’s Online had 88,000 paying subscribers as of Q1 2007.

The print edition's typical readers are progressive investors who prefer to know the latest market activity. They are senior managers and institutional and individual investors. 91% are male, and the average age is 56. The average household income is $281,000, and the average household net worth is $3.3 million. 67.2% participate in charitable activities, and 46.7% participate in political activities. 48.8% hold top management positions.

The average age of Barron’s online readers is 45. 21% subscribe to the print edition. 42% work in the financial or banking industries.

Video, podcasts and blogs
Barron's Online is a paid subscription site, although many features are free, including:

Barron’s video launched in November 2006 and features daily reports from Barron’s editors and bloggers:
http://www.barrons.com/video

This Week in Barron’s is a podcast that publishes each Friday:
http://feeds.barrons.info/barrons/podcasts/thisweekinbarrons

The Tech Trader Daily blog launched in May 2006: http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily

Also, Barron’s weekday emails give insight into the magazine’s upcoming content.

The subscription part of the site offers the full content of the print edition, as well as exclusive, online-only columns. The Web site also presents online-only research, company indices, stock screeners and charts. Moreover, Barron’s Online boasts free, interactive features, such as the Tech Trader Daily blog, audio podcasts and daily video.

In addition to the print version, the online edition provides select editorial features, sharp commentary and investment suggestions. The Companies, Markets, Technology and Funds/Q&A sections integrate stories with charts, data and tools.

Current editorial coverage
To see what content will run when and to time your pitch, check out the magazine’s calendar:
http://www.barronsmag.com/advertising/2007_Barrons_Publishing_Calendar_041307.pdf

Barron's reviews the week’s financial markets proceedings and predicts the future industry moves. The magazine is published in two parts:

Market Week -- consists of the breakdown of the week's happenings regarding stocks, bonds options and commodities; analysis of overseas markets; a list of departments covering most active stocks, research reports, 13D filings and excerpts from market newsletters; statistics for stocks, bonds, short interest, mutual funds; and Market Lab.

Main section -- includes feature stories and columns that concentrate on future possibilities of specific companies, sectors or the economy. It presents examination of potential investments, market and demographic tendencies and economic and political events. The Special News Reports often appear as cover stories.

How to pitch Savitz
Because Barron’s provides very high-end coverage of the markets, “there’s not much opportunity for pitching,” says Barron's Representative Christine Mohan. “But there may be areas like the Tech Trader blog that might be more appropriate for a very targeted pitch.”

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing. It provides news, analysis and original reporting on events essential to investors in software, hardware, Internet and telecommunications. Criticisms, comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily(at)barrons(dot)com

Savitz’s suggestions:
#1. Email is the best medium “unless you want to tip me on some huge breaking news, like an acquisition or something like that. Then call.”
#2. Don’t waste your time if you are a private firm. Tech Trader generally focuses on public companies, both in print and on the blog.
#3. Barron’s doesn’t publish entire articles from companies, so “keep pitches short and to the point.”
#4. Never use attachments: “They slow me down and raise my blood pressure. Paste things into your email.”
#5. Don’t call to ask whether he received your email. “I get your email.”
#6. Don’t be insulted if Savitz doesn’t respond. “I do try to respond most of the time, but sometimes the volume is too high.”

How to contribute to Barron’s
They “run letters to the editor in the print Barron’s, and the Tech Trader Blog has a reader comments area for each blog post,” Mohan says.

Meet Barron’s editors
Barron's organizes four annual conferences that provide material to principal investors. You can look for editors at The Winner's Circle Conference and at The Art of Successful Investing conference.

Savitz likes to meet with executives, but he prefers to do routine meetings in his office as a time-saving device. "I often get out of the office for conferences and events, and will certainly travel for longer stories."