Since many of our clients are interested in being featured in Inc., I thought it would be helpful to take an in-depth look at the highly influential magazine, its readership and its current editorial calendar. Below is a brief summary of my research as of Aug. 31, 2021.
Q: How long has the publication been around?
The publication has been around for more than 40 years. According to Wikipedia, Inc. is “an American business media property founded in 1979 and based in New York City. It publishes six print issues annually, as well as daily online articles and videos. Inc. also produces several live and virtual events yearly.”
Q: Who is the publisher?
Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures. The company also publishes Fast Company.
Q: Who reads Inc.?
Readers of the magazine include entrepreneurs, founders, innovators and the influencers of start-up leaders and early stage companies. The magazine is especially well known for its annual rankings of the fastest-growing, privately held companies in the United States, called the “Inc. 500” and “Inc. 5000.”
For instance, in the September 2021 issue of Inc., Scott Omelianuk, editor in chief and his team, focused on the 2021 Inc. 5,000 and how they built the fastest-growing companies during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Q: How does the editorial team select the Inc. 5000?
According to Inc., “Companies on the 2021 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2017 to 2020. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of Dec. 31, 2020. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2020 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to three decimal places. There was one tie on this year’s Inc. 5000.”
Q: What is the process for contributing content to Inc.?
At the time of this blog post, Inc. is only accepting content from individuals who are committed to developing a column for the magazine. The process entails completing this proposal form on the publications’ website and includes questions on why you’ll make an excellent contributor, topic areas matching your area of interest and expertise, a sample article and how frequently you’ll commit to writing, among other things.
Q: Do they publish an editorial calendar?
The editorial calendar is published here. The 2021 line up of editorial coverage includes:
January / February (Digital): Best in Business
- March / April (Digital & Print): Inc. 5000 Regionals
- May / June (Digital & Print): Best Workplaces (Digital & Print)
- July / August (Digital): How I Did It
- September (Digital & Print): Inc. 5000
- October (Digital & Print): Female Founders
- November (Digital & Print): Best Led Companies
- Winter 2022 (Digital & Print): Best in Business
Q: How many readers do they have?
According to the information on their website, the magazine has a total print audience of 140,000 readers and a rate base of 450K. The media age is 45 for print. Seventy percent are male and 30 percent are female.
On the digital side, they have 27,600 monthly page views from 16.1 million monthly unique visitors. The media age is 41. And online 71 percent are male and 29 percent are female.