San Francisco Business Times

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Publication analysis


About the publication

Title: San Francisco Business Times

ISSN: 0890-0337 (Print)1

Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/

Purpose, objective, or mission: San Francisco Business Times is a publication focused on the business community and business news in San Francisco and the Bay Area.2

Target audience: This publication is aimed at businesses, corporations, and executives in the San Francisco Bay Area. They tend to publish rankings and lists of prominent corporations, so are very popular with marketing personnel.

Publisher: American City Business Journals, Inc.3

Peer reviewed? No.

Type: Civilian publication; local business journal.

Medium: Print and online.

Content: San Francisco Business Times publishes articles on businesses and business news in the San Francisco Area. They also compile a book of lists (ranking companies in various sectors by size and prominence) which is heavily used by marketing professionals.4

Frequency of publication: Weekly.5

About the publication’s submission guidelines

Location of submission guidelines: http://www.bizjournals.com/about-us/help (Scroll down to “Do you accept press releases, news tips or story ideas?”)

Types of contributions accepted: “If it’s news about your company or a story tip, we want to hear it.”6

Submission and review process: You can fill out the form found on the Contact page, or use email, mail, fax, or telephone. “If you’re not certain of the person to contact, send it in care of the Editor. Please remember to include the name of a contact person and a business phone number.”7

Editorial tone: The San Francisco Business Times uses a traditional newspaper structure, leading with the most interesting information and following with more detail. The articles are generally short, punchy, and to the point.

Style guide used: Not listed.

Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors

LIS authors could contact the editors to pitch ideas for stories about how libraries benefit the business community. There could be potential to highlight special libraries or public libraries: for example, a case study on how a special library’s research and information services supported a company or a story about how public libraries support job skill development or entrepreneurship. In addition, any writer seeking better exposure in the business community may want to post comments on the site.

 

Audience analysis


About the publication’s readers

Publication circulation: 15,828 paid circulation, with 868,293 unique monthly visitors to the website.8

Audience location and language or cultural considerations: It is available nationwide through its website, but the target audience is Northern California, Bay Area. The cultural make-up of readership is as diverse as the city itself, but the newspaper does not go out of its way to cover cross-cultural issues, except as they relate to business opportunities.

Reader characteristics: Readers are educated: 85% are college graduates. 80% of readers influence purchasing decisions at their company, while 62% are top management.9. The average household income of SF Business Times is $373,700.10

The readers of the SF Business Times are generally people doing business in the Bay Area (or looking to expand into the Bay Area). The businesses they work in are a mix, judging from the news coverage in the paper itself. There are articles on restaurants, office space, new construction, major retailers, employers relocating, and profiles of major local employers, and businesses that serve all these demographics.

This paper is businesslike in tone and subject matter. The people reading it may have a cross-section of political leanings, personal beliefs, and values, etc, but they are not interested in exploring them in this format. Any commentary outside of introducing business resources should be kept to a minimum, as it may alienate the readership.

Knowledge of LIS subject matter: This audience is not knowledgeable about LIS subject matter, beyond what you would learn as part of a regular college education. Any library-oriented terminology should be explained. However, this would be a wonderful forum for marketing library resources to business people. People look to this newspaper for business opportunities, and new information resources would be a natural outgrowth of that.

Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors

The readers of the San Francisco Business Times are primarily interested in expanding their businesses; that is their motivation for reading this publication. Any writing that would help them with this goal would be well received. Authors should strive to write in a clear, businesslike tone, and to impart as much information as possible.

Last updated: September 28, 2020.


References

Show 10 footnotes

  1.  San Francisco Business Times, Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory, accessed March 27, 2018, http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/title/1522201530883/188323
  2. “San Francisco Business Times,” Bizjournals.com, accessed November 3, 2016, http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/
  3. “About Us,” Bizjournals.com, accessed November 3, 2016, http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/about-us/
  4. “San Francisco Business Times Book of Lists,” Bizjournals.com, accessed November 3, 2016,   http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/research/bol-marketing/
  5. “Subscribe Now,” Bizjournals.com, accessed November 3, 2016, https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/subscribe?iana=csnav&csrc=6310
  6. “Help,” Bizjournals.com, accessed September 28, 2020, http://www.bizjournals.com/about-us/help
  7. Help.”
  8. “Advertise,” Thebusinessjournals.com, accessed September 28, 2020, https://advertise.bizjournals.com/brands/sanfrancisco/
  9. “Print and Digital Subscriber Profile,” Bizjournalsmediakit.com, accessed September 27, 2018, https://advertise.bizjournals.com/audience/
  10. “Advertise.”
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