Content area
Full Text
When producers in Hollywood or New York need to know the buzz on the studio set, they check Variety or some other trade. When someone on Wall Street needs data and information, they don't check U.S.A Today; they read the financial pages of the Wall Street Journal.
Successful veterans of any industry often don't have time to sort through weather, the entertainment news and the police reports to find what they need. They understand the key to success is knowing where to find good information. That's often in trade publications.
"The trades" are as common a term in any industry as "percentages" and "price-earnings ratio." They are publications that are written for specific audience in a targeted industry. Some, like the Wall Street Journal and Variety, are dailies. Others are weeklies, monthlies or bi-monthlies.
While consumer magazines are geared to inform and entertain, trade publications are designed to educate their readers on the inside news of the industry. Nearly every city has some form of trade publication, some of the newest being regional business-to-business publications, much like TBW.
Within Michiana, there is a surprising number of national trades with local ties. Several are, maybe not so surprisingly, tied to the recreational vehicle and automotive industries, and one is tackling the fledgling home electronics industry.
Lisa Montgomery is...