Published on: May 17, 2021
Last updated: December 10, 2025
Forbes reaches over 150 million people monthly, commands premium advertising rates, and remains one of the most influential voices in business media. How did a business magazine founded in 1917 stay relevant through massive industry disruption?
The answer lies in smart adaptation. Forbes didn’t abandon their print magazine—they evolved their entire publishing model to leverage print, digital, and programmatic revenue strategically.
Here is the core of Forbes’ current strategy: The Content Ecosystem.
Their web-native articles function as an acquisition channel. When you read a Forbes article online, you are often entering a sophisticated funnel. You might see a “BrandVoice” label (sponsored content), a product review with affiliate links (Forbes Vetted), or a magazine cover that leads to a digital subscription.
This guide explores how Forbes built their editorial standards and diversified revenue models, then shows you how to adapt their strategies using modern publishing tools and build your own digital magazine.
Whether you’re creating a niche publication for tech entrepreneurs or a comprehensive business magazine, you can replicate this ecosystem approach at your scale.
Bertie Charles Forbes had a natural talent for business reporting. After writing several financial articles and books, he launched his own publishing company. Forbes magazine was founded in 1917, just as the U.S. entered World War I and the global economy was shifting.
Originally named Doers and Doings, the magazine featured business leaders and freelance commentary. Over the years, the content evolved alongside the industries of innovation and advertising.
Forbes’ breakthrough came with their annual “Forbes 400” list of America’s richest people—a format so successful that “List Journalism” became a cornerstone of their editorial strategy. The Forbes 30 Under 30 now highlights young innovators across 20+ categories, generating millions of social shares annually.
The magazine expanded globally over time. Besides the lifestyle supplement Forbes Life, the brand now includes Forbes Asia, 27 local-language editions, and robust digital platforms featuring real-time news, podcasts, and video content.
Their most influential content franchises include:
Now that we understand Forbes’ foundation, let’s examine how their publishing model actually works today—and what independent publishers can learn from it, whether you’re passionate about the world of business finance, technology, and everything in between.
Forbes publishes web-native articles in a blog-style format optimized for search engines. But unlike the old days of a simple “paywall” where everyone got 5 free articles, Forbes now uses a dynamic, AI-driven model.
The system tracks your behavior behind the scenes. A casual reader might see standard ads. A heavy user researching specific topics will hit a registration wall. A reader looking for premium investment data or investigative journalism hits a hard paywall.
But subscriptions are only one slice of the pie. Forbes has mastered three specific revenue streams that allow them to monetize free readers, too:
You don’t need Forbes’ resources or century-long reputation to use this model.
The underlying strategy works at any scale: create accessible web content for discovery, then offer premium experiences worth paying for.
The challenge for independent publishers is creating that “premium magazine experience” that justifies a subscription without a massive budget.
This is where modern digital publishing tools change the game. You don’t need massive print runs or distribution networks to create professional business magazines anymore. Digital flipbooks let you produce magazine-quality content with interactive features, global distribution, and none of the printing costs.
Your hybrid approach might look like this:
Digital flipbooks solve a specific problem for independent publishers: how do you create a premium aesthetic without the logistical nightmare of physical print?
Consider two approaches for integrating flipbooks into your strategy:
Build your entire business magazine in Flipsnack, creating a professional digital publication with all the visual impact of print magazines plus interactive advantages print can’t match.
Some publishers benefit from offering multiple formats that serve different purposes.
This mirrors the Forbes business magazine approach but uses digital flipbooks as the primary vehicle. You get the acquisition benefits of web content while keeping production costs manageable.
Regardless of your distribution strategy, certain fundamentals determine whether your magazine succeeds or gets ignored. Forbes built their reputation on these core principles.
Forbes segments its audience (e.g., Under 30 vs. Wealth Management). Define your audience by asking: What specific business problems does my magazine solve for them? A magazine for startup founders requires a different tone than one for Fortune 500 CFOs.
Also, you need to know what you’re talking about and do it with confidence. For instance, a finance writer might need to explain concepts like contributed capital with clarity, since it shows how investor funding appears on a company’s balance sheet.
Let’s take a look at the most used topics in business publications:
Your cover is your most valuable marketing asset. In both print and digital formats, it determines whether someone clicks, subscribes, or keeps scrolling.
Content strategy separates forgettable magazines from influential ones.
Aim for confident, data-informed, and forward-looking. Avoid jargon. Your readers are busy professionals; respect their time with clear, concise insights that help them make decisions.
Professional design serves the content—it doesn’t overshadow it. Use a grid system to balance text, visuals, and white space.
Even if business magazines usually follow a standard Instagram grid format, this doesn’t mean that you can’t play around. Let your creativity flow and shake things up a little by adding different styles here and there.
Flipsnack offers pre-designed magazine templates with professional grid systems already built in—letting you focus on content while maintaining design consistency. Its Design Studio with a drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to adjust layouts for different article types without starting from scratch each time.
The table of contents functions as both navigation and preview. Use visual hierarchy and brief descriptions to entice readers to explore sections they hadn’t planned on reading.
Add a clickable table of contents from the Customize section to help readers navigate.
The editor’s note establishes a personal connection. Share your perspective on the issue’s themes. Keep it concise (under 400 words); it’s a teaser, not a manifesto.
Forbes’ red and black color scheme is iconic. Build a brand kit (fonts, colors, photo treatments) and stick to it.
Flipsnack’s Design Studio allows you to save brand colors, fonts, and design elements as reusable assets—ensuring every issue maintains visual consistency without manual work. You can create branded templates that your team can use repeatedly, streamlining production while maintaining quality.
This is where digital magazines can surpass print.
Flipsnack transforms static PDFs into interactive digital magazines where you can embed videos directly into pages, add clickable buttons and links, incorporate audio, and track reader engagement through built-in analytics. This means you can see which articles resonate most with your audience and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Over 60% of digital content is consumed on mobile. Ensure your flipbook platform supports responsive design so your beautiful layout doesn’t break on a smartphone.
Flipsnack’s flipbooks are inherently mobile-responsive. Readers on smartphones get an optimized experience with easy page turning via swipe gestures, while desktop readers enjoy the full layout. You design once, and the platform handles device-specific optimization automatically.
To make sure your magazine will display perfectly on each screen size, choose the Smart View from the Customize section. This option displays one page at a time on mobile devices and 2 pages on laptop screens or computers.
Creating excellent content is necessary but not sufficient. You need strategies for attracting readers and generating revenue.
Make your content discoverable through search engines. Structure articles with relevant keywords so people find you when searching for business insights. Use email newsletters to build direct relationships independent of algorithms.
Flipsnack’s sharing features eliminate distribution headaches. After you finish your magazine, you can simply share it on social media.
Business magazines typically generate revenue through multiple streams rather than relying on a single source.
Understanding what works requires monitoring key metrics.
Flipsnack’s built-in analytics dashboard shows you exactly how readers interact with your magazine: which pages they spend time on, where they drop off, and what actions they take. This helps you make data-informed decisions about future content, design, and distribution.
Review analytics monthly and look for patterns. If video-embedded articles consistently outperform text-only pieces, incorporate more video. If LinkedIn drives 70% of your qualified traffic, invest more energy there.
Building a business magazine inspired by Forbes’ standards doesn’t require their century-long history or massive resources. It requires clear strategy, commitment to quality, and smart use of modern tools.
Your launch roadmap:
Flipsnack provides the publishing infrastructure—professional templates, design tools, interactivity, analytics, and distribution—so you can focus on creating content your audience values.
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