Set Your Sites on Success

We’ve researched the best small-business websites to give you an easy portal to helpful information on running your business.

By Helen Thompson

Most independent advisors wear two hats: one, the insurance agent or financial advisor; two, the small-business owner with a shop to run. At Advisor Today, we aim to help you carry out both of these roles. If you’re in search of information on running your business, there are millions of sites that might offer you the information you need. But we’re after quality, not quantity, and we’ve done some of that searching for you. Here, newly updated for 2006, are places you can find answers to your small-business needs.

Should You Sign Up? Many of these websites offer newsletters that you can subscribe to. They are often filled with great information and can help you keep track of when sites get updated. But before signing up, be sure to read each company's privacy policy to make sure they won't release your email address to anyone else. Consider routing these subscriptions to a freemail address such as one provided by Yahoo!, Hotmail or Gmail, so that they don't clutter up your main email address. Or, just bookmark the site so you can return to it often without email reminders.

Magazines, news and reviews

Entrepreneur Magazine: Entrepreneur.com may be a little strong on the retail/food franchise content, but it can help you with a host of other issues every small-business owner faces, such as writing a business plan, understanding e-marketing and creating your home office.

The Entrepreneurs’ Help Page: This site is oriented toward young entrepreneurs looking to get started, but it also offers a well-organized link extravaganza to help veteran advisors with less web experience see what’s out there.

Inc.com: You need it? Inc.com has it. Just about any question you could possibly want answered is likely to be in Inc.com’s trove of articles, resources and tools. And if you’re not already subscribing to its periodic email newsletters, we highly recommend this site.

Small Biz Resource: This information-packed site covers many small-business basics with a huge resource area that includes everything from business law to marketing to staffing concerns.

ZDNet Product Reviews: Probably the definitive tech-review site for hardware and software, ZDNet can help you decide what tools will give you the edge you need to succeed.

Blog Biz Web-logs, or “blogs,” are a popular way to get information out these days. They can be written by an individual, a team of people, or by invisible staff members of a big corporation. Blogs are incredibly interactive, blending journalistic and conversational writing to cover a wide range of topics. Posts include links to sites with helpful information as well as original content, often written in the first person by other small-business owners. Blogs also allow you to add your comments and participate in discussions about hot topics. Entire communities are built around blogs, with subscription services such as Bloglines or Newsgator, making it easy for you to read fresh content every day. Here are our top blog picks for small businesses. Enjoy! Entrepreneurs at About.com About.com is a portal site, but Scott Allen is one About.com guide who’s discovered that a blog platform may be the best way to keep his area up-to-date. Engadget.com Toys for grown-ups! Really! These gadgets range from the truly extraordinary to the truly silly, but if you want to know what's hot (and not) in the do-everything gizmo world, from PDAs to laptops to mp3 players and more, this is the place to go. Fresh Inc. Written by Inc. editors and contributors, this aptly named blog may find its inhabitants chatting up work issues, the latest episode of The Apprentice, to MBA or not to MBA, how NOT to design your website, and so on. Small Business Book Review This site is updated monthly by David Grossman and Lynne Franklin and is supplemented by a monthly teleclass discussion and e-zine. Reviews include summaries and excerpts from motivational and business-advice books. Small Business Trends Edited by Anita Campbell, this blogsite examines developments in small business—such as trends in podcasting, weblogging, and online marketing. Google Blog Search Not a blog (although Google does have one), this search application from the heavy-hitter will help you find blog posts by content or discover what “bloggers” are talking about on the “blogosphere.” Now that you have the lingo and the tools, have fun exploring!

Resources, portals and communities

AllBusiness.com: I’m pretty sure there’s a link somewhere on this site for the kitchen sink, because everything else is here. Run by the former execs of About.com and Marketwatch.com, this site has the chops behind it to be your small-business home page. Really.

ChamberBiz.com: A network of state, local and the national chambers of commerce, ChamberBiz offers a portal to sites for managing your business, keeping up with regulations, researching, and buying and selling online.

Smallbizsearch.com: Developed in partnership between Entrepreneur magazine and Business.com, this search engine covers sites that are listed in the Business.com directory to help you find the information you need for your business.

Smallbusiness.com: Newly relaunched in 2006, Smallbusiness.com is now a “wiki”—a web community with user-contributed and edited content—and the content is strong. Of particular note are the guides and directories and a small-business specific search engine.

Associations and government

Department of Labor’s Office of Small Business: Of particular note are the links to the Small Business Resource Center, which will help you address compliance issues, and the “Related Sites” page, which will point you toward other helpful government resources.

NFIB Tools and Tips: The National Federation of Independent Business is an advocacy organization representing small and independent businesses at the state and federal levels. Its “Tools and Tips” pages are a valuable library of business-management information.

SBDCNet: If you’re not familiar with Small Business Development Centers, you may want to look into them. These centers are usually located or operated in conjunction with university business schools and allow you to leverage the university’s resources. Whether it’s business consulting, marketing help or tech solutions you need, the SBDC can often help you get that need filled, often at a very good price. Through SBDCNet, you can find your local SBDC and access the Small Business Information Center.

SCORE: An expert clearinghouse, Score.org is the website of the nonprofit association committed to educating entrepreneurs by matching them with some 10,500 volunteers willing to share their expertise. Best of all, this business-counseling service is free.

Small Business Administration: The Small Business Administration has a twofold purpose: one, to help small businesses get off the ground; two, to help small businesses recover from disasters. While much of the site is devoted to helping small businesses get government contracting work, it has a number of resources that may be helpful for you as well.

Tools

Bplans.com: The one-stop shop for forming a business plan, Bplans offers professional advice, examples of successful plans and software for writing a plan.

Buyer Zone: Want to shop around for the right price on your office equipment or business service vendors? Buyer Zone turns it around so that vendors shop for your business. You can receive multiple price quotes on important business purchases and access purchasing advice through the business-purchasing resource center.

Quicken.com Small Business: You know about Quicken’s popular financial software, but it has supplemented this tool with a website that offers insights and resources for starting, running and growing your business—as well as access to its software solutions.

SmartOnline.com: SmartOnline is a software-as-service product for start-ups and small-business owners. The site’s wide array of tools will help you write a business plan, conduct market research, and produce financial statements and legal forms. Subscriptions start at $29.95 per month or $49.95 for bundled plans. Some services cost extra.