Entrepreneur magazine on the block for a sweet $200 million, Mansueto Ventures not interested

By SDH Entrepreneur Media the parent company of Entrepreneur Magazine says that the title is on sale for $200 million, even though last week Entrepreneur Media Prexy Lou Pearlman denied the magazine was on sale, saying instead that he was looking for some cash to grow the business. Yeah! Bids are already reportedly pouring in but no word on who the bidders are. What some say would be the ideal new owner for Entrepreneur, Mansueto Ventures, say they are not interested in buying the magazine because they are already working on their own magazine geared towards Entrepreneurs. Well we think it would be a little easier to just buy Entrepreneur at a lower price of course and just slap a new name on it, no? Advertising revenue for Entrepreneur was $94.5 million in 2007—flat (down 0.1 percent) over the previous year, according to the most recent Publishers Information Bureau figures. Ad pages dropped 6.6 percent (to 1,238.74) last year. Entrepreneur’s total paid circulation average—609,765—was flat for the second half of 2007, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX. Its single copy sales average, which make up a fraction of the magazine’s circ, increased 13.1 percent to 48,238. Perlman, however, said the company is “bucking the trend in a down market,” citing growing online revenues. Entrepreneur Goes on the Block [Folio]

A new business magazine for entrepreneurs, ground breaking!

-SDH Mansueto Ventures is about to gamble big when it launches a new business magazine currently titled UPSTART sometime this year. This will be the second business magazine launch behind Conde Nast's Portfolio, at least that we know of. So are the kids at Mansueto off their rockers or do they have a shot at pulling up a chair for themselves at an already crowded table. How will Upstart differ from other magazines geared towards entrepreneurs? Should Mansueto just focus on building their digital business like Fastcompany.TV and perhaps roll out some web only products. Launching a new magazine in these times is kinda crazy unless you have Si Newhouse money behind it to keep it afloat long enough for it to pick up steam. It's only been about two years since Mansueto bought Inc. and FastCompany from the now defunct G&J Publishing. Taking on a new launch may take away critical resources needed to further build on the Inc and FastCompany brands. Lets see where this new title ends up a few months to a year after it launches. However, If the Mansueto offices are any indication, we don't think money is an issue at all.

Inc.com and Fastcompany.com are all giddy that you visit their sites

Fresh from the offices of Gordon & Leach comes this press release: Inc.com and FastCompany.com, two of the nation’s leading business websites, today announced the release of their first quarterly audited traffic numbers. The report, audited by ABCi, the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s online unit, analyzes one month’s traffic per quarter. For the fourth quarter of 2006, the audit looks at traffic numbers for October. FastCompany.com received 717,415 unique visitors and Inc.com received 674,257 unique visitors. ABCi confirmed that for FastCompany.com there were a total of 2,250,772 page views during October and 4,706,695 for Inc.com for the same period. Full press release after the click MORE... Inc.com, FastCompany.com Release Audited Traffic Numbers Figures are First to be Confirmed by ABCi NEW YORK, February 6, 2007 – Inc.com and FastCompany.com, two of the nation’s leading business websites, today announced the release of their first quarterly audited traffic numbers. The report, audited by ABCi, the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s online unit, analyzes one month’s traffic per quarter. For the fourth quarter of 2006, the audit looks at traffic numbers for October. FastCompany.com received 717,415 unique visitors and Inc.com received 674,257 unique visitors. ABCi confirmed that for FastCompany.com there were a total of 2,250,772 page views during October and 4,706,695 for Inc.com for the same period. FastCompany.com and Inc.com, both owned by Mansueto Ventures LLC, committed to releasing ABCi audited traffic numbers last year in response to calls for industry transparency made by brand marketers. The full results of the audit are posted on the advertising pages of each website. ABCi conducts census-based audits, which provide a more consistent portrayal of a website’s traffic than panel-based measurement systems. “Mansueto Ventures is committed to being proactive for audience measurement in the online publishing industry,” said Ed Sussman, senior vice president of online publishing at Mansueto Ventures. “Allowing an outside auditor direct access to our websites’ data, and releasing audited traffic numbers is what’s best for our business as well as the industry as a whole.” About Inc.com Inc.com, the daily resource for entrepreneurs, delivers how-to guides, advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multi-media to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses. Inc.com offers dynamic marketing solutions to help advertisers effectively reach Inc.com's audience of business leaders. Visit http://www.inc.com. About Fastcompany.com Fast Company.com covers the ideas, trends and visionaries that are sparking change and creating the future of business. Fast Company is ranked at or near first in virtually every business purchase decision maker category both online and in print. Now celebrating its 10th year anniversary, Fast Company is owned by Mansueto Ventures LLC. Visit http://www.fastcompany.com. # # #