Welcome to the refreshed Springfield Business Journal.
Did you know you are holding (or reading online) the authority for local business news in our region? How do we know this?
SBJ sent 1,000 survey requests to readers and nearly 600 of our readers responded. When asked to rate all local publications as sources of business information on a scale of 1-10, 91 percent of respondents rated the SBJ as a 7-10, with 70 percent rating the SBJ as a 9 or 10. That’s conclusive evidence and why we are changing our tag line on the front page from “Serving Southwest Missouri” to “Regional Business Authority.”
For anyone who has worked with me, served on a board with me or even chatted with me about hobbies, it’s clear I like data. And I like fishing. But I love reading lake reports, watching tips and tricks on YouTube, organizing my tackle box and learning about fish behaviors.
Data tells the story and winnows opinion from fact. Data separates a warm fuzzy from candid reality. A strategy to meet an objective begins with the data. And, any great strategist will tell you that a data-driven decision making process can turn blind ambition into a calculated plan for success.
Within days of being named the chief revenue officer at SBJ in June, I attended focus groups, led internal brainstorming sessions and dove into the details. I also poured over a readership study completed by almost 600 of our readers asking nearly 30 in-depth questions. The data-driven, spreadsheet junkie in me was in heaven, but the story the data told me was unrivaled to anything I’ve witnessed in my career.
From a business perspective, have you ever experienced over 60 percent response rate to a complicated survey? The fact that so many readers took the time from their busy days to share feedback and tell us how they feel about the SBJ demonstrates how much they value our content. If you took time to give us feedback or participate in a focus group, thank you.
Why do I keep raving about this readership study? After 18 years of experience as a media executive, I’ve never seen such an overwhelming quantity of people willing to share their feedback. And think about the demographics of the audience giving us this feedback: Smart, educated and experienced local businesspeople who are passionate about business information. Nearly 80 percent of respondents have a college degree – and almost a third have a master’s degree or higher.
We have wise readers whose feedback is worth hearing.
When almost 600 people respond to a survey, they are willing to tell you a lot about themselves. Stats that shocked me: Almost 94 percent read the SBJ on a weekly basis; 86 percent of readers are in self-described decision-making roles at their companies; 64 percent prefer the print edition of SBJ; and our digital readership is multiplying. What’s so great about that? Your local business journal is a quiet, steady powerhouse in a growth industry. We are the regional business authority.
More important than capturing data is taking action from our readers’ feedback. Within three short months, I have witnessed the revitalization of a Springfield institution.
One of the most important realizations we’ve had over the past 90 days is this: The SBJ Publishing Inc. is a growth company.
SBJ circulation is up. The SBJ digital edition is growing. SBJ.net online readership is rising. SBJ social media engagement is up.
We are adding more pages each week. We are modernizing our look and printing process. We are offering more value to our readers and advertisers. And, we are just getting started. On the horizon will be improved digital offerings, more methods of sharing business content like
sbjLive.net, more social media and enhanced events.
Thank you to the business community that stands with us. Thank you for your feedback. We listened and we hope you continue to enjoy the results.
Springfield Business Journal Chief Revenue Officer Marty Goodnight can be reached at mgoodnight@sbj.net.
