From stories about successful entrepreneurs to consumer and technology trends, keeping up with business news beyond investment-watching can be inspiring and lead you to new ideas and opportunities to grow your business.

"In today's digital world of podcasts, blogs and YouTube videos, magazines still stand the test of time as great resources for small business owners," proclaims a blog by lending platform Fast Capital 360.

While the number of printed publications has declined in recent years, there are still plenty of options for business and industry news magazines.

According to one estimate — out of the J. Murrey Atkins Library at University of North Carolina at Charlotte— there are 5,000-plus magazines and periodical publishing businesses in the U.S.

Business Magazines 

It is certainly inspiring to read about other entrepreneurs and companies and their stories of successes and failures. However, business magazines are also a great conduit for information about local and national issues that could affect your business or how you run it.

They are excellent sources for news and perspectives on topics of concern to your community and region, such as proposed rules, regulations and ordinances, new commercial developments, local economies, and business leaders, as well as insights into customers and competitors.

In addition to Fortune, Forbes, and Inc., other national business- and entrepreneur-focused magazines include Wired, Entrepreneur, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fast Company, and HBR, a Harvard Business School-affiliated magazine with articles on strategy, innovation, and leadership.

Also, The Economist, technically a newspaper but published in a magazine format, covers international business news.

For local business news, search for area publications that offer features and news stories about companies and leaders in your town, city, or region. For example, you can find that type of local coverage — informative and accurate — in the weekly publications from the Charlotte-based American Cities Business Journals, which has 44 business journals across the U.S., and from Crain Communications, which operates 20 business publications.

Industry Magazines and Non-Business Publications

If you don't already, be sure to follow the latest news in your industry so you can keep up with the most relevant trends and topics in the industry you're a part of.

Reading industry magazines and similar publications gives you an inside track into what other companies are doing in your sector. From lessons learned to innovative processes and new technology, the information you find could be used to help you run your business more efficiently and competitively.

On its website, which is aimed at entrepreneurs, the SBA advises small business owners to follow industry news. "It can help them understand their market share and how it will impact their profits."

Small business owners can also find useful data and trends in business magazines that don't cover their industry per se but focus on a sector of import to just about every company and type, such as Ad Week.

Further, don't be too quick to discount the potential value of reading niche magazines whose focus is something other than business news.

Stories about people in different sectors and communities can prove insightful for several reasons. They could inspire an idea for a new product or service or provide fuel for a new marketing strategy.

For example, you could gather useful information from stories that indicate consumer trends, such as buying habits within a targeted customer demographic, in publications like Costco magazine or AARP The Magazine.