General Contractor Resources and Blogs to Help Grow Your Business

Stay at the Forefront: 11 Contractor Publications to Read Regularly

As a general contractor, your clients and customers may keep you busy with work year-round, but it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest industry news and trends that can affect the future of your business. 

To help save you some time, we went ahead and created a quick reference list of the best resources for professional contractor advice.

Contractor Magazines and Publications to Subscribe To

1. Contractor Magazine

The name says it all. As far as contractor magazines go, this is the top industry publication. Aimed at commercial and residential contractors, the magazine is a wide-ranging source for cutting-edge advice. The magazine covers trends in plumbing, green energy, remodeling projects, new tooling and management best practices. 

We Recommend Reading: Finding Success in Residential New Construction

2. Residential Contractor Magazine

This national magazine focuses on residential projects, custom remodeling and renovations. While there’s a focus on remodeling projects and advice, they also offer important legal and marketing strategies that are important for owners looking to grow their business.

We Recommend Reading: Generate Leads with Community Outreach

3. Modern Contractor Solutions

Subtitled “the equipment and business solution for concrete and general contractors”, this is where you should go for management, office and job site tips. Our favorite section is actually the homepage of the website, which rounds up the latest industry news and explains how it affects your business. 

We Recommend Reading: The "Breaking News" Section

4. Building Design + Construction

Looking for commercial-specific advice? BD+C focuses on non-residential construction for architects, engineers, contractors and developers working on large-scale projects. It’s the perfect spot to find design inspiration straight from industry-leading professionals. 

We Recommend Reading: Resilient design for waterfront buildings: a real estate win-win in vulnerable area

5. Green Home Builder

Whether you’ve already committed to sustainable building, or are just looking to offer green building options to your clients, you’ll find resources, products and helpful advice from this magazine. 

We Recommend Reading: Home Builders Are Turning to Natural Materials to Navigate Shortages

Online Contractor Blogs and Resources to Follow

6. Construction Dive

Think of this as a quick-hitting, yet comprehensive digital library. If you’re searching for the top trends, business insights and analysis across the entire construction field, add this to your reading list. Targeted to both residential and commercial contractors, you can either check in every week to read their top stories or subscribe to their newsletter so you never miss a beat. 

We Recommend Reading: The Dotted Line: How contractors can navigate local hiring requirements

7. BUILD Blog

This blog focuses on design and construction. Complete with discussions about modern design, the BUILD forum helps readers stay ahead of the latest trends in architecture and sustainability. 

We Recommend Reading: Defining a Construction Budget Cheat-Sheet

8. Pro Remodeler

Pro Remodeler is the online companion to Professional Remodeler magazine. While the magazine is subscription-based, their website features plenty of articles and resources for contractors to read for free. Don’t forget to check their Opinion section. Here, experts give their take on trends and offer up valuable business tips.

We Recommend Reading: 11 Handy Apps for Remodelers to Boost Efficiency

9. Contractor Talk

This online resource offers member-written blog posts, articles and helpful forums. Tailored specifically for contractors, members review products and tools while sharing their own articles and advice. 

10. Construction Informer

This website offers up news and information in order to encourage conversation among fellow professionals. If you have a story to share from your business, submit it to publish on the site as long as it follows their guest posting policy. 

We Recommend Reading: Approaches to Managing Job Site Inventory

11. Builder

Offers up the latest and greatest in home building news and analysis. If you can’t find time for reading articles between driving to multiple job sites, you can listen to their recorded talks and videos so you don’t miss important info.

We Recommend Reading: Smart Home Technology - The Smart Choice For Smart Building

Learn from These Resources and Grow Your Business

This list is extensive, but checking in on just one or two of these contractor resources at least once a week can spark new ideas that can help change and grow your business. Start with a few at a time and see which ones you like best. 

What are your go-to sources for information as a contractor? If we missed any publications you think should have made the list, let us know in the comments below!