Spun Gold

Entrepreneur, April, 2001 by ROBERT McGARVEY

UNCLE SAM

The U.S. government wants your business to thrive--and it's launched a slew of Web sites with great information and tips. These are tops for entrepreneurs:

* FirstGov (www.firstgov.gov): The U.S. government's own portal, this site is a great starting point when hunting for any type of federal information.

* SBA (www.sba.gov): Log on here for details on the SBAs many programs of assistance for entrepreneurs.

* U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov): Find out whether you're first with that better mousetrap.

* U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm): This site lets you search the database of filings made by publicly held corporations, free of charge.

* IRS (www.irs.gov): Get obscure tax forms, advice, information from the tax collectors and more at this site.

* U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov): Consider this site a treasure chest of demographic and statistical info on the nation.

* Bureau of Lab or Statistics (www.bls.gov): Take a look at the labor market--or the economy as a whole--at this government department's site.

FREE FOR ALL

The Web remains the ultimate destination for scoring freebies, making these sites worth a look:

* ZDNet Downloads (www.zdnet.com/downloads/hotfiles/free50.html): Check this out for a regularly updated list of the Web's 50 best free downloads.

* Handango (www.handango.com): Log on here for freeware and shareware for handheld computers and PDAS.

* The Free Forum Network (www.freeforum.com): Go here for plenty of freebies in a multitude of categories.

* FreewebCentral (www.freewebcentral.com): Still more freebies, including magazines and books.

* CCH Business Owner's Toolkit (www.toolkit.cch.com): Free templates and forms from publisher CCH.

Robert McGarvey is Entrepreneur's "Web Smarts" columnist.

HIT THE ROAD

Online travel sites are the fastest way to make travel arrangements, and by using the Net, you can save money, too. These are the best of the bunch:

* OneTravel.com: Nothing glitzy here, but if you want to make fast travel bookings, this is your place. Don't miss the "fare beater" tool for great air deals.

* Cheap Tickets (www.cheaptickets.com): For the frugal, Cheap Tickets sells surplus airline seats and rooms ("distressed inventory") at keen prices.

* MapBlast! (www.mapblast.com): Fast and free. Print out MapBlast! maps and also get point-to-point, turn-by-turn driving directions.

* WebFlyer (www.webflyer.com): Are you a frequent-flier-miles junkie? WebFlyer offers tools for tracking points and fast notification of special rewards incentives.

* Help for World Travelers (www.kropla.com): Get answers to questions about electricity and telephone connections abroad.

COMPUTER RX

Plenty can (and too often will) go wrong with computers. But lots of help is available online for free. Check these sites before calling in a technician, and you lust may solve your problem at no expense.

*Tech Web (www.techweb.com): Find hundreds of well-arranged articles.

*AntiVirus Resource Centers (www.symantec.com/avcenter): If it's a legit virus, news will be reported here, fast. The site--launched by software developer Symantec--also monitors hoaxes. And if you do happen to catch a real virus, help is here for that, too.