Here's my usual take on Things which can be incorporated into Everyone else's ideas...

Works Great on Competitive Intelligence...

Competitive Intelligence - Get Smart!

(A few years back but some good points)
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/intelligence.html

Make sure you have a good understanding of Keyword research...

Here's a Free Keyword Research Guide and a good place to start...
http://learn.wordtracker.com/workspa...arch-guide.pdf

Learn to read Multiple news sites Using Niche keywords & phrases...

Keep your Eyes open for Trends, New Products, Fresh and re-worked business ideas etc. etc...

Great Mega news resource...
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Some Excellent mostly Free info and amazing Spy tools...
http://www.associateprograms.com/art...titor-research
http://googspy.com/
http://www.spyfu.com/

Once you've perfected the above Find & Use the Best Search tools and methods...
http://www.turboscout.com/
http://www.google.com/help/basics.html
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
http://www.google.com/alerts
http://www.google.com/sponsoredlinks

Phil