Specialized Online Business Resource: A Better Alternative to Search Engines

(ARA) – As a small business consultant, Terrie Wheeler, president of Professional Services Marketing Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., is always looking for new ways to explain and clarify the concepts her clients need to understand in order to be successful.

“We provide outsourced marketing planning and implementation to clients in the service industry,” she explains, “and while our clients are very good at what they do, they don’t always have the best of plans when it comes to running their businesses.” Among the concepts her company helps them understand, business and strategic planning, marketing and the importance of financial analysis as it relates to generating new business.

Wheeler, like many of her clients, used to rely on Web sites like Yahoo! and Google to locate business information, but a query would often bring back thousands or even millions of results. “Who has time to go through all of them to find what they need?” she asks. “Even if you find something that seems useful, how do you know it’s credible?”

Like no other time in history, accurate, timely and credible information is the key to making sound business decisions and ultimately achieving business success. That’s why smart business people are turning to specialized online resources like the nonprofit James J. Hill Reference Library, a trusted source of practical business information. The organization recently premiered BizToolkit (www.biztoolkit.org) and the Biz Info Library (www.bizinfolibrary.org). Both programs organize the business Internet and provide access to information, some of which is not available via search engines. Best of all, both programs are free.

They provide instant access to tools and resources for planning, marketing, managing and growing a business. Need a business plan? Download one from the Planning Your Business section. Looking for forms and templates? You’ll find them in the Managing Your Business section.

“As a small business owner, you’re expected to be an expert on everything from your product or service to human resources, marketing and finance,” says Harvey Mackay, a New York Times number one best selling business author, world-famous speaker and Biz Info Library content contributor. “The Biz Info Library and BizToolkit are the go-to resources for practical solutions and applicable strategies for individuals and organizations seeking to be winners in an ever-changing, always competitive marketplace.”

BizToolkit has thousands of great resources, all neatly organized and easy to find. And the Hill Library continually adds new resources, such as the Virtual Advisory Board where participants can ask business questions of and receive answers from business owners and experts from across the nation and around the world.

Those wanting an even higher level of business information service can become a BizToolkit Pro member at www.biztoolkit.org/pro. Members gain access to premium information resources, including additional downloadable plans, educational Podcasts and more.

When a Pro member needs help locating information, they just click the “Live Help” button and enter into an instant message chat session with a Hill information specialist. “I use this feature a lot,” says Wheeler. “It’s wonderful to have access to a highly experienced research librarian who can help you find exactly what you need.”

The specialist “takes hold” of the member’s browser and shows how to search and navigate the wealth of resources available in BizToolkit. An e-mail transcript of the interaction, with links to sites visited, is then sent to the member.

Also included in BizToolkit Pro is BizRewards, which allows members to receive discounts on popular small business products and services. Members even receive free one-year complimentary subscriptions to both “Inc.” and “Fast Company” magazines.

A collaborative effort of the Hill Library, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the Edward Lowe Foundation, — three of the nation’s top organizations devoted to small business success — the Biz Info Library eliminates frustrating online searches that produce thousands and sometimes millions of results. Users can quickly find relevant information by using a keyword search, an advanced search, or by browsing all articles in a particular category and subcategory.