The gift of SITES

Entrepreneur, May, 2000 by ROBERT McGARVEY

THE WEB IS GROWING, GROWING, GROWING -- AND THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER EDITION OF 100 WEB SITES FOR BETTER BUSINESS.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES LAST YEAR, COMPILING ENTREPRENEUR'S TOP 100 WEB SITES TURNED INTO QUITE A CHORE -- THERE JUST WEREN'T MANY FIRST RATE SITES. THIS YEAR, THE CHALLENGE WAS WINNOWING DOWN TO 100 (BUT WE DO INCLUDE SOME OF LAST YEAR'S FAVORITES HERE). WHETHER IT'S HELP WITH SURFING THE WEB OR SECURING FINANCIANG FOR YOUR BUSINESS, PLENTY OF SITES EXIST TO SERVE YOU TODAY MAKE TIME TO CHECK 'EM ALL OUT, BECAUSE THIS YEAR'S TOP PICKS WILL MAKE YOU MONEY, SAVE YOU TIME AND LET YOU RUN YOUR BUSINESS MORE EFFECTIVELY THEY ARE THAT GOOD SO BOOKMARK THESE SITES AND GET READY TO WATCH YOUR BUSINESS GROW, (SHAMELESS PLUG VISIT ENTREPRENEUR.COM FOR EVERYTHING YO NEED TO START AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS, INCLUDING MORE THAN 30 EXPERTS TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS).

FIND IT

With so much stuff on the Web, how do you find what you need, now, Cut to the chase and check out the best search tools on the Net.

* Google (www.google.com) Tied for best search engine, Google's name is funny, but it's a serious hunting tool. Don't miss the "cache" feature, where Google store pages on its servers. If a sue is down, the page may still be readable at Google.

* Fast Search & Transfer ASA (FAST) (www.alltheweb.com). The aim of this Norwegian company, the other first-place search engine is, well, to capture all the Web.

* Northern Light (www.northernlight.com). Some of the material is free, some will cost you, but this is fast, intelligent searching.

* Drogpile (www.dogpile.com). A meta-search tool, Dogpile Simultaneously puts your query to more than 10 search engines (from InfoSeek to Google). It's slick, fast and thorough.

* Electric Library (www.elibrary.com). This is still the best site for accessing magazine and newspaper archives, and a 30-day trail is free, thereafter it's $9.95 per month for all the articles you can download.

* WordlPages (www.worldpages.com). Need a phone number? Go here. There are even resources for finding numbers in drozens of foreign countries.

* Deja.com (www.deja.com) The Net is home to thousands of discussion forums. Are tbey talking about your business. Deja is the fast way to search these groups.

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

Get the goods on competitors, check backgrounds on new hires or buy credit reports on your customers--all by using the Web to locate what you need. Some f this info is free, but most of it costs. Either way, you'll need this info to grow your business, hire the right people and make sure you get paid.

* Know X.com (www.knowx.com). This savvy engine ferrets through public records and--for about $1 to $5 in most cases-0-will report on bankruptcies, liens, judgements and such against both individuals and businesses.

* Company Sleutch (www.companysleuth.com). Tell Company Sleuth the names of up to 10 public companies, and it will send you regular e-mail reports with breaking news about the targets. SEC filings, press releases and even rumors get covered in Company Sleuth's convenient filings, and the price is free.

* Hoover's (www.hoovers.com). The best content is available for a fee but there's ample free content to be found by anyone surfing in. Research competitors, track stock market performance and keep tabs on IPOs.

* Credit FYI (www.creditfyi.com). Just $14.95 buys you a credit report on a business, delivered in seconds, and much of the data comes from Experian (nee TRW Credit).

* Thomas Register (www.thomasregister.com). The premier sourcebook on U.S. and Canadian companies. Print edition and CD-ROM editions each cost $149, but viritually all of it is online--and free to read.

FREE FOR ALL

The Web remains the ultimate destination for scoring freebies.

* Xoom.com (http://xoom.com/home). Get unlimited, free space for building a Web site.

* ZDNet Downloads (www.zdnet.com/downloads/ hotfiles/free50.html). This is a regularly updated list of the Web's 50 best free downloads.

* Fifty Fabulous Freebies (http://home.cnet.com/ category/0-3805-7-309035.html). Here is another listing of free downloads, including home-page templates, magazines and travel info.

* FreewareWeb.com (www.freeareweb.com). You can download heaps of software here, all free.

* Handango (www.handango.com/home.shtml) offers freeware and shareware for handheld computers and personal digital assistants that you can try before you buy.

* Free Forum (www.freeforum.com). Find plenty of freebies here, in lots of categories including Web site creation guides, magazines and travel brochures.

* FreewebCentral (www.freewebcentral.com) provides free info from all over the Internet from stock quotes to driving directions.

* Office Depot's Office Toolkit (www.officedepot.com/officesolutions/ hot). With lots of forms and templates, everything from a start-up checklist to employee time sheets can be downloaded for free.

* Business Owners toolkit (www.toolkit.com). More templates and forms are available here to free from publisher CCH.