Taking Care of Business Using the Internet

Chapter 23

Taking Care of Business Using the Internet

Whether you are starting up your own business or looking for the latest stock report, the Net has got something to offer. Business, advertising, and other free-market forces have in large part been responsible for the incredible recent growth of the Internet, so it should be no surprise that these elements play such an important role on the Net today.

This lesson will answer the following questions about business on the Internet:

• What information is out there for those running a business out of their home?
• Can I get up-to-date financial information on the Internet?
• What are some of the ways in which I can use non-Web sources of information for business?
• Are there resources to find employment on the Internet?

As with the other lessons in this section, there is far too much information on this topic to cover completely in a few short pages. However, this lesson should give you an excellent foundation for finding those business resources that exist on the Internet that are of interest to you.

The Entrepreneurial Internet

The fastest-growing sector of the business market is in small and home-based businesses. Some financial experts even estimate that it won't be long before businesses employing fewer than 50 people make up the majority of employers in the United States. Regardless of whether these predictions are true, entrepreneurs will continue to need and use information to help them realize their part of the American Dream.

This portion of the lesson is going to take you through some of the resources available from the perspective of my Aunt Rea Prenure. Aunt Rea has been trying to start her own small business for a long time. Let's see what's out there for her.

Getting Started

Rea has been keenly interested in craft items all of her life, and so, even though she isn't sure exactly what she's going to do with crafts, she wants to see what she can do. One of her many talents is in inventing and designing new craft patterns and tools to help others enjoy their own crafts. Whatever she does, she knows she wants to make these available to others, so she first needs to find out all she can about copyrights, inventions, and other legal issues.

The first place she goes is to DaVinci's Inventor Homepage at http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/invention (see Figure 23.1). Scrolling down the page reveals many interesting links.

To Do: Explore DaVinci's Inventor Homepage

1. Click the Inventor & Entrepreneur Associations & Organizations link to find out about many organizations that help inventors get started and keep going.

2. Click the Master List of Legal Resources in DaVinci's Workshop for information on patent law and related issues.

3. Click the Master List of Usenet Links in DaVinci's Workshop to find out about newsgroups for inventors such as alt.inventors, misc.int-property, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated.

Figure 23.1.

DaVinci's Inventor Homepage is a great place for the creative entrepreneur to start.

Next, she wants to find out about franchising opportunities, so she checks out the Franchise Opportunity Superstore at http://branch.com/franchise/franord.asp, where she can fill out an interactive form to receive franchise information.

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CAUTION: It's business owner beware as well as buyer beware on the Internet. Keep in mind that many sites dealing directly with "helping" businesses are also selling something. As with anything else, make sure you get multiple references on a source before pursuing it.

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She also visits FranInfo at http://www.frannet.com. At FranInfo, she can get a lot of information about franchises. One of the first things she does is click the Self Test #1 link to see if she actually is suited to franchise ownership (see Figure 23.2).

Figure 23.2.

Some people might need to find out if they're cut out to own a franchise.

Going to the Next Level

Now that Rea has some beginning information, she's ready to move on. She has heard that there is information on starting, financing, and expanding a business, as well as local small business resources available at the Small Business Administration (SBA) Home Page (http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov). She was right. She even checks out the link on Women In Business available at SBA online.

For even more information, she goes to the Dun & Bradstreet Small Business Services page at http://www.dbisna.com/dbis/sbs/hsbs.asp. There, she can get the basics on business management and other practical information for keeping her business going.

The Long Haul

Of course, Rea has guidemarked in her Web browser the sites she has already checked out because they have excellent information for continuing a business as well as starting one. However, there are a couple of stops she wants to make before she's finished.

Her first stop is to check out the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) page at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov. While browsing America's "favorite" branch of the government, she can download forms or get valuable information, including tax information for businesses, at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/bus_info/.

Finally, she wants a little free advertising, so she is going to list her business with the Home Based Business Yellow Pages.

To Do: List Your Company in Online Yellow Pages

1. Point your browser at http://www.tab.com/Home.Business/yp.asp.

2. Click the Submit Listing form link.

3. Fill out the form and click the Send Form button. You now are listed.

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Just A Minute: You might be wondering about creating a Web page for your business. Well, most small businesses serve a local community and so choose to go with a local Internet company on which to advertise their business. Even a local Web page is accessible worldwide, but local companies generally have more visibility and name recognition for those clients they serve.

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The Financial Market on the Web

In financial markets, seconds can mean money, so what better place is there to use the Internet? Wherever up-to-date market information is needed, the Internet certainly delivers. Get ready for a whirlwind tour of business that points you to some resources available for both beginners and experts.

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CAUTION: You might notice that none of the free Web sites listed in this section have up-to-the-minute stock figures during the trading day due to contractual considerations. However, after a market has closed, these sites are invaluable not just for listing closing numbers, but also for reporting on trends and other vital information.

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More Than Just the News

In addition to delivering great worldwide coverage of the news, Cable News Network (CNN) now delivers up-to-the-minute financial news right to your desktop with CNNfn--the Financial Network. For those of you, like me, who don't know a lot about business, let's start out simple.

To Do: Browse the Financial Network

1. Point your browser to http://cnnfn.com.

2. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the research it link.

3. Next, click the Reference Desk icon.

4. Click the Glossary of business terms.

5. Browse through the terms. For example, did you know that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the "measure of price changes in consumer goods and services used to identify periods of inflation or deflation"?

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Just A Minute: Those interested in business or any kind of finance might want to guidemark this business glossary. If you think the computer field is full of jargon, wait until you tackle finance and business!

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Many people who are interested in finance and business want to keep up with what's happening in all of the financial markets. CNNfn can help here, too. After returning to CNNfn's home page, click the Markets link and then click US Stock Markets. This will take you to a page that will look something like Figure 23.3.

Figure 23.3.

Bull or Bear? CNNfn tells you about gainers, losers, volumes, and other valuable information on all the major markets.

From the Markets page, notice also that there is information on world stock markets, currencies, commodities, and more. In fact, just in case you are interested in how the Internet is doing in finance, from the Markets page (at http://ccnfn.com/markets/) click tech stocks and then Internet (see Figure 23.4).

Figure 23.4.

Hmmm, looks like the Internet didn't do so well on the stock market today.

Before moving on, you should note just how much this Web site has to offer; you can do research, get the latest financial news, and look at resources related to your money. All this and more from CNNfn--a must-see Web site for the financially minded.

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Time Saver: You might want to use CNNfn as your primary source of information on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Although the Exchange does have a Web site at http://www.nyse.com, the site really doesn't have a lot to offer and isn't very up to date. On the day that I found NYSE's close for Tuesday on CNNfn, the Exchange's own Web site's numbers were more than a day behind.

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The Next Hundred Years

Nasdaq recently ran a series of commercials claiming that it's the "stock market for the next 100 years." If Web sites are any indication, the company's commercials might just be right. If you are interested in progressive, cutting-edge stocks such as Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Sun, Adobe, and Dell, Nasdaq is the place for you.

In addition to very current information, links to major companies' Web sites and more, Nasdaq's site offers a very comprehensive number of choices right from its front page (see Figure 23.5). Get multiple quotes, find out what stocks are most active, browse the Nasdaq Top 100 stocks, and more, all from the Nasdaq home page.

Figure 23.5.

Find out how the day's trading went, and a whole lot more, from Nasdaq's Web site.

The following is a short list of some of Nasdaq's more useful features as accessed from its home page:

• Trends and Stock History: Click the Full Quote button, and then enter the code of the desired stock (for example, MSFT is Microsoft) and click Enter. Next, scroll down, click the radio button that indicates how many months of history you want to get on the stock, and click Get Graph. You will be taken to a page of detailed information on the stock you choose.
• Click the Contact Nasdaq button, and then click the FAQ link to get some answers to a few questions that are frequently asked about Nasdaq.
• To get a trading code for any company, click the Company Look-Up button. Next, type in the name of the company and click Enter to view the results.

Visit Wall Street

If you are one of those people who must have the most current information, perhaps you should visit The Wall Street Journal's Web site. For a fee, you can gain access to its Interactive Edition, which will give you 24-hour-a-day updates on financial markets, along with other news.

To Do: Visit The Wall Street Journal site

1. Point your browser to http://www.wsj.com.

2. Click the Learn More link to find out more about the Interactive Edition.

3. Next, click the Quick Tour icon and follow each link to get a complete picture of what the Interactive Edition is all about (see Figure 23.6).

Figure 23.6.

The WSJ Interactive Edition certainly has a lot to offer.

It won't take long to realize that there really is nothing to The Wall Street Journal Web site unless you subscribe, because every area is restricted. It offers an e-mail link as well as a toll-free number on its front page to enable you to subscribe. As of the time of this writing, the subscription price was $49 a year.

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Time Saver: You might want to keep an eye out for special offers. For example, at the time of this writing, The Wall Street Journal was offering several months free for using the latest edition of Internet Explorer. These types of offers are common on the Internet.

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Get a Job

Who would ever think of looking for a job on the Internet? Well, you would, of course. Job searching and location services are popping up all over the Internet and offer yet another viable avenue of pursuit for those seeking employment.

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Just A Minute: Even though the types of job offerings on the Net are changing, you might find that there still are an awful lot of technical and computer-related jobs available on the Internet. However, this is already changing, and as more non-technical people get on the Net, it will change even more.

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Searching for the Search

Because there are so many resources for job locators out there, you might want to first spend some time with your good old Web search engine to build a list of guidemarks that suit your needs.

For example, an Excite search for employment +search produced over 100,000 hits, many of which led to actual job locator sites. Another page you will want to guidemark is

http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/
Companies/Career_and_Job_Search_ Services/
Resume_and_Job_Banks/Job_Banks/.

This Yahoo! directory has links to dozens of online resumé and job-location sites on the Internet. You'll want to spend some time to see which one best suits you. You'll look at a couple as test cases in the following section.

America's Job Bank

For the sites you are going to look at, assume that you are looking for a job as a freelance writer, a fairly common "supplemental" and primary job for many in the U.S. today (myself included).

To Do: Find a Job Online

1. Point your browser to http://www.ajb.dni.us/.

2. Click the Job Search Index link.

3. Next, click the Keyword Search option (although you can use any of the other options, as well).

4. Now type writer in the Keyword Phrase: field. You can also restrict your search by state if you want.

5. Click the View Jobs Now button to see your jobs displayed. You probably will also want to view the jobs in groups of 100 or more to reduce the amount of paging you will have to conduct.

6. You now can place an X in the boxes of those jobs in which you are interested and then click the View Jobs button. If you want, you can sort the resulting list of jobs by salary, state, city, and other criteria. A typical job listing will look something like Figure 23.7.

Figure 23.7.

This is a typical job listing with America's Job Bank.

7. When you've found a job in which you are interested, scroll down and click the How To Apply button to find out how to apply for the job.

JobBank USA

Now look for that same job at another site called JobBank USA.

To Do: Try Another Online Job Resource

1. Point your browser to http://www.jobbankusa.com/.

2. Click the Find A Job link.

3. Next, click the Search For Jobs link.

4. Now type writer in the Keyword: field. You can fill in any of the other fields you want, but only this one is required.

5. A list of all matching available jobs will be listed. Click one to view it (see Fig- ure 23.8). Contact information for each job is provided at the bottom of each job's page.

Figure 23.8.

JobBank doesn't have quite the selection of America's Job Bank, but there still are a few good-paying jobs here.

Job Potpourri

Many people would like to have a little help in how to go about finding a job. There is a definite need to brush up on important skills and techniques when you are looking for a job. There are, of course, sites out there to help with this, as well.

A very interesting as well as informative site is the Kaplan Career Center Web site at http://www.kaplan.com/career/. It offers interview simulation games, links, and an online Career Counselor and job search software.

From this page, click Links to get information on just about everything you'll need to know when getting a job. Use this page, as well as the Yahoo! job categories, to find places to submit your resumé, refine your techniques, and more. Break a leg!

Summary

This lesson showed you some of the resources available for business on the Internet. You first discovered all of the resources out there for those looking to start a business for themselves. In addition, you found out that there are many ways on the Net in which to find someone else to work for, as well.

You also know how people keep up with financial and business markets on the Internet by looking at Nasdaq, CNNfn, and other online market resources.

Workshop

The following workshop helps solidify the skills that you learned in this lesson.

Q&A

Q Is the Web the only place to get business information?

A No, but it certainly is the easiest. In arenas such as business, where current information is at a premium, however, the Web really is the best place to go. The best non-Web resources for business on the Internet is Usenet. Use your newsreader to search for biz, jobs, employ, and other keywords to find appropriate newsgroups.

Q I have a disability and am seeking employment. Is there anywhere for me?

A The business community is just starting to see the value of disabled workers. One site to which you might want to go is The Open Door Employment and Disability Network at http://www.mrs.mjc.state.mi.us/. This site is run by a Michigan state agency dedicated to helping persons with disabilities find employment. You might find some valuable information there.

Q I'm looking for temporary employment; how can I find it?

A Many temporary agencies are now online, as well. A few are Manpower at http://www.manpower.com, Adia at http://www.adia.com, and Olsten at http://www.olsten.com.

Quiz

Take the following quiz to see how much you've learned.

Questions

1. Which Web Site probably won't help a small business owner?

(a) Small Business Association On-Line

(b) IRS On-Line

(c) The Nasdaq Web Site

2. It is possible to get up-to-the-minute stock reports any time of the day.

(a) True

(b) False

3. Which job would you be least likely to find on the Internet?

(a) Electrical Engineer

(b) Technical Writer

(c) Housekeeper

Answers

1. (c)

2. (b) Contractual obligations prevent this.

3. (c) Maybe some day.

Activity

Choose a company in which you are interested and, using the resources covered in this lesson, develop a "portfolio" of the company, such as stock history, financial performance, general news, and anything else you can find.

Hint: It would be a good idea to pick a large, national company.