I’ve always had the entrepreneurial bug so I love reading business magazines that both teach and inspire me. For the longest time I read Entrepreneur magazine, but after awhile it seemed like they were rehashing the same old stories over and over.

About a year or so ago, I picked up a copy of Inc. Magazine (the issue with Marcus Frind of PlentyofFish on the cover) and I’ve been hooked ever since. Inc. Magazine tends to highlight the smaller businesses and web start ups which holds my interests more. They also have stories that are so inspiring that it motivates me to keep going. Most of us will never experience the successes like those of Frind, but I kept that issue for months and months just to refer back to it when I needed that fire re-lit.

I was traveling back in January, so I was scoping out the magazines at the airport for something to read in flight. Nothing much of interest except an Entrepreneur that looked interesting. I thought to myself…could they have revamped their tired articles and gone in a different direction? Judging by the cover, it didn’t look like the same Entrepreneur I knew, so I gave it a shot.

While the articles appeared to be getting a little more interesting to me, I almost felt cheated by the cover hype which were the primary reasons I gave it another read. I feel like they kind of pulled the old supermarket tabloid trick of trying to make me believe some crazy celebrity love triangle cover story when in reality it was a bystanders thoughts instead.

Here’s three examples of how this issue of Entrepreneur is guilty of leading the reader (me) astray.

  • The “Blog Like a Rock Star” section (right side of cover) looked interesting since that’s what I enjoy doing, so I was expecting some tips on blogging better. The article is actually on ghost writers who write for people so they don’t have to write themselves.
  • The “Be the Next Facebook” print is centered about three quarters of the way down. I was thinking there might be some fascinating information on how to grow a social network of your own. Instead I got a spotlight piece of a site that runs a social network about food.
  • By now I’m sure you’re not expecting much from the “Find a Load of Cash” (bottom of cover) article either, and you shouldn’t. It’s a story about finding alternatives when creditors yank your available credit.

I gave Entrepreneur another shot and am still convinced it’s not for me. I think Entrepreneur has some value, but it’s just not my “regular read” type of magazine. I still prefer Inc. Magazine, but that’s just me.