Finding Local Business and Market Information

Research on Main Street: Using the Web to Find Local Business and Market Information

Sooner or later you're going to need reliable, localized, business information.

Ideally, you'd like it to be freely available and easy to find.

Until now there has been no targeted guide to this type of research.

Research on Main Street fills the gap. We now have a guide for finding business and market information at the local level that points to sources for researching people, companies, demographics, economics, and issues. Author Marcy Phelps has spoken widely on this topic and done her own fair share of local business and market research as owner of Phelps Research.

In this one-of-a-kind resource Phelps provides background, search strategies, and key sources to help readers find reliable local-level information on a budget. Phelps puts this research niche in context, coaching the reader to look at how a given geographic area relates to larger geographic areas, how it relates to nearby geographic areas, and how it relates to similar areas from other regions.

Learning this kind of strategic thinking alone justifies the cost of the book ($29.95 from Information Today). But wait. There's more.

After a general overview of the kinds of resources valuable to local area research and a reminder of how to discern quality information, the author moves into a detailed discussion of sources and strategies for finding demographic data, economic information, people, and ways to understand the issues that come to bear on a specific geographic region. Each chapter includes strategy tips. In addition, as Mary Ellen Bates points out in the Forward, Phelps offers short case studies throughout the book that help in "understanding when I could use these resources in my day-to-day work." Author Phelps has also called upon a number of experienced researchers to share their advice in Tips from the Pros. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that yours truly contributed one of those Tips.)

The final chapter provides guidance on when to turn to the fee based sources for information. "For local searchers, fee-based sources are often the fastest route to detailed information for small geographic areas." Here you'll find tips on how to pay (subscription, pay as you go, or other options), when to pay (calculating what your time is worth), and who to pay (listing key fee-based services.)

To get a sense of the valuable information offered in this 254 page book, try this one tip offered on page 26. To quickly find relevant information on local sites, try GovScan. Powered by Google, GovScan searches more than 5,000 city, town, county, and state government websites within all 50 United States. Now doesn't that just make you wonder what the other 253 pages contain?

Use LinkedIn to Build Relationships

Several readers have asked about social networking. What is it? How does it work? How can I use it?

This is the second in a series of articles on using social media.

LinkedIn, according to their website, "operates the world's largest professional network on the Internet with more than 100 million members" worldwide. Members include executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies and over one million LinkedIn Company Pages.

Individuals can leverage this network in at least three ways to identify prospects for collaboration or joint ventures, as well as likely clients and customers. Use Connections, Groups, and Answers. Using LinkedIn you can build a network of connections that expands "who you know." Remember the old saying "it's not what you know it's who you know"? With LinkedIn you can keep track of who you know, but also become aware of who "they" know. When you need a letter of introduction, a reference, or access to expertise, rely on your connections to put you in touch with the right people.

Join Groups. By joining groups you are immediately in the company of people having similar interests or expertise. Join groups that represent the people you would like to work with, the people you would like to work with you, or the people who know what you need to know. Joining a group expands your network. Visit the Groups Directory to browse or search for groups of interest. If that's overwhelming, click on Groups You May Like to view a filtered list.

LinkedIn Answers provides an interesting opportunity to demonstrate your expertise by answering questions, to seek advice by asking questions, or to identify experts who have answered someone else's questions. Remember, it's all about building a reputation and credibility which leads to trust. LinkedIn will generate a list of questions that have come from your network. That's a great place to begin answering questions as appropriate.

Leap in. Begin by inviting me to connect.