by Janet Attard
It's surprisingly easy to get new business ideas from your competitors. How? By watching for newspaper and magazine articles about them.
Most businesses seek publicity, and trade publications and local media will often run stories about business accomplishments and new initiatives. Since good reporters are good at gathering information their readers crave, the resulting articles often include facts, figures and ideas you can put to use in your business.
To keep tabs on your competitors, subscribe to online news "alert" services such as Google Alerts, Windows Live Alerts and Yahoo Alerts. Subscribe to and read trade publications for your industry, and consider subscribing to business newspapers in your competitors' geographical locations.
More articles about keeping up with your competition:
Know Your Competition
Get In Touch With Your Competition
