• Forbes, Monday, April 6, 2009 9:30 AM

Steven Murphy is the first non-family member to be CEO of Rodale, the $750 million publisher. Under Murphy, the company finished last year with a 5% decrease in ad pages, compared with an industry average 12% loss.

How did they do it? To a large degree, Rodale uses nearly-free content as marketing for its paid content. The magazines, while they do cost a little money, mainly serve as marketing for the books. "Approximately 42% of our subscribers have bought something else from us in the past 12 months, says Murphy. Rather than a magazine or book company, he calls Rodale "a health wellness and well-being content company that has great brands."

Murphy calls his formula "editorial vibrancy." Each Rodale brand is in charge of sales and editorial across all formats. For instance, the editor-in-chief of Prevention is in charge of Prevention online, Prevention books and Prevention events.

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