A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
or newspaper whose
target audience is people who work in a particular
trade or industry. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press.
Overview
Trade publications
keep industry members abreast of new developments. In this role, it functions similarly to how
academic journals or
scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research.
Content
Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...
s serve their audiences. Trade publications include
targeted advertising, which earns a
profit
Profit may refer to:
Business and law
* Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market
* Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit
* Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...
for the publication and
sales for the advertisers while also providing
sales engineering–type advice to the readers, that may inform
purchasing and
investment
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
decisions.
Trade magazines typically contain advertising content centered on the industry in question with little, if any, general-audience advertising. They may also contain industry-specific job notices.
For printed publications, some trade magazines operate on a
subscription business model
The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, an ...
known as
controlled circulation
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
, in which the subscription is free but is restricted only to subscribers determined to be
qualified leads.
See also
*
List of trade magazines
*
Professional magazine
References
*"Trade or Industry Magazines" i
Professional/Trade Journals Piedmont College.
*
Magazine genres
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