When RISMedia created the National Relocation & Real Estate Magazine in 1985, it aimed to connect and educate industry pros in the relocation niche.
“For a bargain $2.25, National Relocation & Real Estate, then a quarterly periodical, gave our readers a referral resource, with covers exploring novel roads, such as ‘Taking Relocation In-House – Good Idea?’ and, later, ‘Changing Industry Standards: Time for Accountability?’” writes RISMedia’s Suzanne De Vita.
“In 2005, the flagship magazine was officially rebranded as RISMedia’s Real Estate,” De Vita continues. “Today, Real Estate is the brokerage business’ foremost resource, with executive insights, interviews and national reporting, along with monthly must-reads including the cover story, Great Spaces, the National Association of REALTORS® Power Broker Roundtable, and, every year, RISMedia’s Power Broker Report, the industry’s longest-running ranking, and RISMedia’s Real Estate Newsmakers, celebrating the who’s-who making news in real estate.”
In other words, it’s cemented its spot in its industry by taking an accurate read on what information was needed by its key audience and delivering that in a big way.
“In the formative years, I saw the value of identifying and connecting real estate professionals, mainly brokerage owners of multi-office firms,” explains RISMedia’s John Featherston. “At the time, there weren’t many. Then there was the growing desire to connect these firms with third-party sources of new business. In this case, it started with corporate relocation and referrals; however, I believed the value would be much greater connecting local and regional real estate leaders with both third-party sources of new business and other real estate professionals. At first, a directory was the ‘connector’—then, in 1982-1983, we started with a limited magazine section of our annual directory, which ultimately evolved into our magazine in 1985.”
Over the years they’ve evolved, of course, staying laser-focused on what was needed in the industry, and making sure it continued to break new ground.
“I think the diversity and the willingness to push the envelope on design so accurately reflects how this industry emerged from the recession—by being creative, taking risks and thinking way outside the box,” notes RISMedia’s Maria Patterson.
They helped their audience understand dramatic industry swings like the 1987 recession, the online disruption in real estate at the dawn of the digital age, and the massive shakeup when the real estate bubble burst in 2008.
De Vita’s article offers a fascinating glimpse at the title through the years, and how they managed to stay ahead of the curve and become a major influencer in their market. Congratulations to them on 40 years of audience-first growth … and here’s to the next 40!