Can you launch a digital B2B publishing brand with the slimmest of budgets, just one permanent member of staff and no office and build a substantial and influential audience, two major conference brands and an industry-wide awards event within 18 months? TheMediaBriefing.com (TMB) shows that indeed you can, earning a place on the Media Pioneer Awards shortlist.

Just a few years ago, the important relationships for UK publishers were those with Tesco, WH Smiths and Royal Mail, all powerful distribution channels and the gatekeepers to readers of printed magazines.

But now, publishers have to build working relationships with the new gatekeepers: Google, Apple and Amazon, who control access to a global audience on the web and on mobile devices.

Only a year since its launch, Autism Eye has become the UK’s only parent-led magazine offering in-depth, well-researched and useful information for those who care for children with autism. This distinctive-looking publication has a rapidly expanding UK and international readership, thanks to innovative digital subscriptions and extensive marketing, including the use of social media.  Autism Eye is the latest addition to the 2012 Media Pioneers shortlist.

The internet, iPads and smartphones have liberated information in new, and often unexpected, ways. Publishers now have the opportunity to sell highly tailored subscription services, slicing and dicing existing content for audiences that are defined by both traditional brand loyalties and by entirely new information demands.

To sell to these new audiences effectively, publishers need to know more about their customer base as a whole, across all brands and services as internal promotional channels are highly efficient, especially in niche markets.   Enter the new discipline of audience development.  Daniel Murphy of Abacusemedia, shares five ways to use it to drive your business.