In starting my own business, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, especially magazines. I’m a huge fan of Business 2.0, occasionally get good info out of Inc. and am an admirer of Forbes and Money. When I see a new magazine for small business owners on the rack, I’m always willing to make the $4.95 investment for a copy.

This is how I came to acquire a copy of “Your Business At Home” magazine, seemingly written specifically for me. On the cover, it promoted a feature they had written regarding the founders of AmeriPlan - sort of like an Amway for health insurance. Entrepreneur magazine frequently covers direct marketing and franchise companies as so many small business owners start out through such plans. Such turn-key businesses aren’t a bad idea for the person looking for a stepping stone between full time employment and independent business ownership. I have no problem with such business models.

I wasn’t interested in the AmeriPlan article, though. Instead, I was looking for columns, articles and other information that may provide some handy small business tips about marketing, sales, finance, etc. - the standard stuff. As I began flipping through the magazine, I noticed there were a number of references to AmeriPlan sprinkled throughout. As I read further, I realized that every article seemed to be espousing the benefits of working through AmeriPlan and doing direct marketing. I figured, hey, I must have picked up the “AmeriPlan Special Issue”. I looked at the cover again, but it didn’t give me any indication that this was the case.

So I checked the masthead inside the magazine and - sure enough - my suspicions were confirmed. Your Business At Home Magazine is not an independent business magazine for small-time operators. It’s pure propaganda for AmeriPlan - an advertisement touting the benefits of promoting their products and becoming part of their independent sales force. In no other place in the magazine does it explain this fact.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m OK with this. It’s a reasonably smart tactic to preach to the AmeriPlan faithful as well as woo new recruits. Corporate sponsorship of magazines like this are nothing new - Sunset was founded by Southern Pacific Railroad to promote the west in order to get more people to ride their trains, though it’s now completely independent. Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines have been producing their own in-flight magazines for years, but they given them away for free.

Had I known this magazine was just so much corporate schilling, I wouldn’t have dropped my $5.95 for it at Barnes and Noble (yes, it cost a little more than the average business magazine). Nothing on the cover indicates to me that this is what this magazine is, which leads me to believe that they intended to deceive me and any other small business owners looking for something interesting to read. I assumed I would be getting something valuable for my money, not a glossy 98-page advertisement for AmeriPlan.

So, if you see this magazine in your local bookstore and aren’t interested in the AmeriPlan direct marketing system, pass on it. I genuinely believe that marketing like this can be smart and effective, but it should be done in a forthright manner that does not leave your target audience feeling deceived. I feel that AmeriPlan intentionally deceived me by selling me their corporate marketing materials in the guise of a magazine for small business owners. If these are the kinds of business tactics they use to gain recruits, why on Earth would I want to be associated with them as a member?