My day is incomplete without going through the commentaries section of my favorite paper. It is like a ritual that I have to perform to make my morning complete. Well, we all have our own rituals. Right?

Politicians skim through the front page, sports fanatics blitz through the sports section, the fashion conscious lot would be in the lifestyle section, and the businesspeople, of course, goes directly to their favorite section - the business section. Well, it is an understandable ritual. Isn't the business news exactly what businesspeople should be reading? Not really.

Business people should skip the business pages for a week or so and instead focus on the other sections, including inserts like advertising newsletters, flyers or even pamphlets. Chances are they would find something that they could learn from.

Surprisingly, the newspapers' business sections are the worst source of insight for those making tough decisions. Most of this section is devoted to the stock market, which is good for those who are actually into it; but it provides little help for entrepreneurs. The fall of the sub-prime market may be a concern for the economy but it has no value to your booklet printing business for example. In most cases, new information about the industry you belong to are known to you long before it is published in the dailies.

This does not mean that you should stop buying your favorite paper altogether. In fact, the rest of the paper is a rich resource of information. Believe it or not. The style section, hardly skimmed by hard-nosed businesspeople, is a source of cultural trends. For instance, you might observe in this section that the "in" thing has something to do with profound Far Eastern influence or Chinese Feng Shui. You might wonder what this has to do with you or your business (unless of course you are into relaxing Thai massages). Try to look at it this way. If you are in a restaurant or hotel business, you might want to ‘incorporate' this in your business. Last night as I was watching TV, I saw one beauty salon offering Feng Shui haircuts for $150. What the difference is with the haircut I get from my regular hairstylist is still a mystery though.

Meanwhile, the entertainment pages offer glimpses of what is the trend nowadays. Have you thought about what the reality show phenomenon means to your newsletter printing business? This means that people like spontaneity, almost sensational, trashy, and irresistible quirks that are part and parcel of being in show business. Try this approach in your own venture and maybe you can cash in on this trend.

Your favorite paper is indeed a rich source of inspiration. There are a lot of gold mines buried in it. You just have to know where to dig and how to bring this idea in your business.