How to Find and Use Industry News
Staying on top of what’s going on in your industry is an important part of being a successful and sustainable small business. Industry news provides insight into trends, new regulations or laws, new businesses (read: competition) and marketing ideas.
There are several ways to find industry news! One of the most obvious are trade publications, and we’ve listed several at the bottom of this article to help you get started. In addition to subscribing to various trade publications, you can join an association, attend networking or trade events, and receive updates in your email! Regardless of how you find your industry news, it’s important to make time to read it and digest it. Just having a magazine subscription doesn’t make you abreast of all the issues and trends in your industry.
Industry Resources
- Trade Organizations or Associations – Are you a member of your industry’s national association or local organization? While there may be a membership fee to be included in all aspects of the organization, there may be some areas or resources you can access for free. To find associations or organizations for your industry, do a quick search online! For example, “association of bakers” or “restaurant association” should get you off on the right foot!
- Trade Shows – Trade shows are a great way to network and preview the newest trends or products in your industry. Most big trade shows are put on by the associations within each industry, so check out the “events” section on your industry’s association’s website(s).
- Google Alerts –Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your queries. You can set up as many Google Alerts as you want, and you can receive the alerts (in your email) daily or weekly. Great for specific queries or industry niches! It’s also a great idea to set up a Google Alert for your business name, so you can see where/when you appear online!
- Alltop – The purpose of Alltop is to help you answer the question, “What’s happening?” in “all the topics” that interest you. If you want to know what’s happening in restaurants in San Diego, you can set a category on Alltop to monitor for these types of updates from news outlets, blogs or other websites.
Industry Publications
Restaurant:
Retail:
Spa Industry:
Coffee/Bakery
