Big changes are playing out at Irvine-based Entrepreneur Media Inc.
The company, which publishes Entrepreneur magazine, named a new editor-in-chief, Amy Cosper, as well as a new executive editor, Charlotte Jensen.
The changes come as Entrepreneur is reported to have struck a deal to sell to two private equity firms.
Earlier this month, ContentNext Media Inc.’s PaidContent.org Web site reported that Austin Ventures and an undisclosed Boston private equity firm are buying Entrepreneur Media for less than $200 million.
Cosper, who also is vice president, replaces longtime editorial director Rieva Lesonsky, who left in April to start her own marketing company.
Lesonsky held the title since 1987.
Cosper will oversee Entrepreneur magazine, which focuses on small businesses, and the company’s Web sites, Entrepreneur.com and WomenEntrepreneur.com.
She most recently was vice president of business development at WiesnerMedia LLC, which has several business trade publications.
Cosper, who starts July 1, comes on board at a “pivotal time,” said Neil Perlman, president and chief operating officer of Entrepreneur Media.
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Register bus stop ad: pushing for more Web visitors |
Entrepreneur magazine, which is 30 years old, is looking for ways to grow advertising and its online division.
“The focus will be on building valuable relationships that may have been overlooked,” Cosper said.
Advertising revenue for Entrepreneur was $94.5 million in 2007, flat from the prior year, while ad pages dropped 6.6%, according to a recent online report from trade publication Folio Magazine.
Average paid circulation of 609,765 was flat for the second half of 2007. Single copy sales, a small piece of overall circulation, were up 13% to 48,238, Folio said.
Entrepreneur has seen growth in online ad revenue, Perlman told Folio.
The publication continues to make staff changes.
It recently hired Charles Muselli, a former senior business development manager at Sony Corp.’s Connect online music store, as its new director of business development. He re-placed longtime executive Chuck Fuller.
Other changes: Executive editors Maria Valdez Haubrich and Karen Axelton recently resigned.
As for the reported sale of Entrepreneur Media, it is expected to wrap up in late July. News Corp.’s Dow Jones & Co., Gannett Co.’s USA Today and R.H. Donnelly Corp. were said to have been among the bidders.
Peter Shea bought a majority stake in Entrepreneur magazine in the late 1980s and is the sole owner as well as chairman and chief executive.
More Traffic
Santa Ana-based Orange County Register is trying to drive more people to its Web site through a marketing campaign.
The paper tapped Santa Ana-based DGWB Advertising and Communications to create the work, which includes Web banners, radio spots, bus shelter signs, e-mail blasts and ads in the Register and its community newspapers.
The paper, part of Irvine’s Freedom Communications Inc., hopes the move will get more people to use the site and draw more advertisers.
The campaign runs through the year.
It’s part of the Register’s bid to grow its online division amid a challenging time for newspapers.
Papers have been pressured by rising print costs and a slump in advertising that’s been made worse by the soft economy, which has hit home and real estate-related ads hardest.
The Register also recently beefed up its offering of e-mail newsletters and daily news alerts.
The service is growing in popularity with people who don’t typically read the newspaper but want to keep up with news through e-mail, according to a spokesman.
The alerts are free and e-mail contacts aren’t shared with outside companies, he said.
New topics added to e-mail alerts include OC in brief, which summarizes breaking, immigration, sports, restaurant and retail business news.
People can also get updates on deals being offered by advertisers.
Bits and Pieces:
Irvine-based Madison Alexander PR landed work from a few clients, including eSecurityToGo LLC in Irvine, Mighty Net Inc. in Canoga Park and Lieberman Software Corp. in Los Angeles San Juan Capistrano bicycle shop Buy My Bikes is encouraging people to buy a bike and beat the gas hike. On a recent weekend, the shop had signs up and down Camino Capistrano leading people to the store, which was offering discounts.
