The bimonthly magazine combines beautiful photography with freelance and reader-generated articles and departments. Bay Nature shares news and natural history with the local hiking, bird watching, amateur geology and natural history aficionado. Most of these readers are middleclass to upper middleclass, and though geographically constrained to this region are quite loyal with solid subscription renewal rates.Although the magazine offers an attractive web site that shares its non-advertising content, the look and feel of the hard copy communicates tangible delight. Like the best magazines, every page (including the advertisements) shares something that the avid Bay Area outdoors person can find genuinely fascinating.
A typical issue carries articles by readers and interested freelancers on topics such "Wheelchair Hikes Around the Bay Area," "Carquinez Breakthrough: Where Bay and Valley Meet," and "Speak of the Devil: The Unexpected Landscapes of Mount Diablo."
Among the regular departments are "Conservation in Action," "First Person," and "The Bay Nature Library," a review of recent books on local topics. Several other new departments recently created to enhance reader appeal are noted below.
Headquartered in Berkeley, Bay Nature magazine is structured as a nonprofit 501c3, which allows grants and donations to play a key role in the revenue structure of the operation. And because the magazine is not set up as a for-profit, Loeb has been able to build a web of relationships with regional open space districts and other governmental partners, as well as many other non-profits.
This strategy creates both a pipeline for quality content free to the magazine, and a funding source where the organizations pay for special sections. A recent example of this synergy is editorial content on drought resistant plants for use in home and business landscapes - content that was both authored and paid for by regional water agencies.
Although the relationships took years to build, this synergy is a core business asset of Bay Nature magazine.
The print run of a typical bimonthly issue is 8,500 to 10,000, of which 7,600 are earmarked for subscriptions and single copy sales. The recession of 2001 happened at a critical time after a two-year launch period, and caused a drop in subscription and single copy sales from 8,500 shortly after launch to a low of 6,700. Though it has recovered somewhat, Bay Nature is not back to its pre-recession level. Loeb credits the magazine’s fundraising efforts for serving as a cushion against a worse downturn.
A typical issue is 40 or 56 pages long, with 8 to 10 pages of paid advertising.
The paid staff of three full-time and four part-time employees at Bay Nature today is not much different than it was at launch in 2001, as most of the layout, writing and photo work are handled by freelancers. Because of this, a major job for Loeb is managing a far-flung constellation of what are in-effect temps.
In this sense, Bay Nature a classic "virtual" Silicon Valley business: Home office provides vision, intellectual property, funding and marketing, but it oversees production performed by outsiders.
Loeb sends out a "quarterly call" email to approximately 150 freelance photographers – telling them the topics to be featured in upcoming issues, which are planned approximately one year ahead. Approximately one third of the photographers are professionals, but two thirds are interested amateurs. The photographers typically license their work to the magazine for one "use," and copyrights revert to them afterwards. There are no photographers on the payroll.
Another critical (and time-consuming) responsibility Loeb bears is fundraising, given Bay Nature’s 501c3 status and reality that its 6,000 paid subscriptions and 1,600 retail single-copy sales are not enough to cover the cost of the operation.
But since the magazine is structured as a nonprofit it only has to cover its costs, not general profit to investors. A recent fundraising win was a grant from Dean Witter, which allowed the magazine to add the new departments "Families Afield" and "Signs of the Season," and to expand its "On the Trail" column as well as bring back its "Ask the Naturalist" column.
The outlook for Bay Nature is solid, given its acceptance by a very committed nature enthusiast community and its relationships with governmental and non-governmental organizations. If there is a risk to the health of Bay Nature, it is in the high percentage of overall revenue from grants, which creates a continuing pressure to seek new funding sources. Grants and donations account for 45% of revenue, while advertising, subscriptions and single copy sales account for 15%, 30% and 10% respectively.
On the other hand, fundraising could increase, as recent changes in Congress may generate more money for environmental organizations (Bay Nature is not overtly political, although it takes a "show, don’t tell" approach to advocacy).
Another factor on the plus side is Loeb’s sense that at the current time there are no serious local competitors, as California Wild has stopped publication.
Further out on the horizon is production of more Bay Nature TV episodes, beyond the five that have been made to date. These are short-length films covering Bay Area natural history topics, and are used as filler by KCRB-TV in Rohnert Park. KCSM-TV in San Mateo is discussing adding Bay Nature TV to their broadcast schedule.
The publishers will continue to develop more special insert sections like the recent profile of South Bay salt flats written and funded by the Nature Conservancy.
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A personal note to close: I was quite gratified to learn about the magazine, and bought a two-year subscription for the house. You can find out more about the magazine, including ordering, at http://www.baynature.com/. Their website itself is quite beautiful and evocative of its subject, and I know you will enjoy it.
