Small Business Sites that Work
(BizTech)
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While the Internet can be a great source of information, finding the right sites can be difficult.
By David Connell
If you look up "small business" on the Google search engine, it will yield just over 5 million websites. Of course, no one has time to look up even a fraction of these sites and culling through them would be a colossal waste of time. But, if you are an independent agent or advisor, chances are you also consider yourself a small business owner and these pages hold a gold mine of information to address problems you face everyday. With that in mind, we offer the following sites as places entrepreneurs can start looking for answers to their small business needs.
Magazines, news and reviews
Emerging Business
Magazine - www.ebmagz.com
Dedicated to the small-business owner, this magazine's site has articles on
everything from marketing strategies, to public speaking, to keeping computer
equipment running smoothly. The site also profiles other entrepreneurs, revealing
their secrets to success.
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Entrepreneur Magazine
- www.entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneur.com offers a wealth of articles on your small business needs.
Sections on money, management and home office-users may be of particular interest
to advisors and agents. The site has information on starting and maintaining
a Web presence and reviews of the gadgets you need to make your office run
more smoothly.
The Entrepreneurs'
Help Page - www.tannedfeet.com
This site was "created, and published by a group of young professionals,"
according to its "about us" page and is designed to distribute basic
information on legal, financial and management issues that effect small-business
owners. In addition to its own content, the site features articles from around
the Web and interviews with other small-business owners.
Inc.com - www.inc.com
Much more than a magazine, Inc.com provides small-business owners with free
tools for everything from starting a business, to marketing, to writing contracts.
It also provides advice columns and an updated list of events the magazine
holds for entrepreneurs. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the site is the
"guides" section, which compiles the very best articles and tools
from the magazine on topics like customer service and human resources.
SmallBizManager.com
- www.smallbizmanager.com
This site is chock full of reviews and recommendations of business services
and products. The site reviews software, hardware, banking, cell phones and
much more. It also has a "portal" function that lists websites for
trade shows, magazines and all your technology needs.
Small Business Computing
- www.smallbusinesscomputing.com
Dedicated wholly to the computer needs of small businesses this site provides
breaking technology news from Internetnews.com
and practical reviews on hardware and software. It also has sections on business
tools and e-marketing. There's even a section dedicated to your Webmaster!
ZDNet Product Reviews
- www.zdnet.com/products
One of the top tech sites on the 'Net, ZDNet provides succinct, comprehensive
and trustworthy reviews on software and hardware. The "Editor's Top Fives"
lists provide a handy shortcut and side-by-side comparison of most major small-business
needs.
Associations and government
Small Business Administration
- www.sba.gov
The SBA could be considered the mother of all small business websites. The
government-run organization lists information on everything from starting
a small business to obtaining disaster relief. It also offers an online classroom
for those looking to advance their entrepreneurial know-how.
Association of Small
Business Development Centers - www.asbdc-us.org
We're not encouraging you to join another trade association, but the ASBDC
has a wealth of information on running a small business. The site includes
links to several government and private organizations that may be useful,
as well as state ASBDC offices that can lend you a hand locally.
Department of Labor's
Small Business Handbook - www.dol.gov/asp/programs/handbook/main.htm
This is a site every small business owner should have bookmarked. The DOL's
handbook will give you the government's rules on workplace standards for wages,
safety and the latest on the Person's with Disabilities Act.
Next month we will look at more websites dedicated to small businesses, with a focus on resources, communities, portals and tools. These articles will then be posted together on advisortoday.com to give you a one-stop resource for small-business websites.
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