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We've come a long way from these early search days haven't we?
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Take a Look at a Sample Issue of Best of the Business Web
Happy New Year to You. And WELCOME to the January 2015 edition of The Information Advisor's BestBizWeb Enewsletter. Brought to you by The Information Advisor's Guide to Internet Research.
Here is our review of the best business research sites that we've come across this past month
SITE: RankandFiled
URL: http://rankandfiled.com
CATEGORY: Company Research
PURPOSE: A collection of tables, charts, and visualizations of key data culled from recent SEC document filings from public companies in the U.S.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: The creator of this site, which was launched in late 2013, is Maris Jensen, a former SEC Analyst. Her work to create this site has been chronicled in several articles in the business and financial press.
OUR VIEW: There is a tremendous amount of valuable data extracted and displayed on this wonderful site. You can browse by industry and exchange or search by company name, insider, broker-dealer, private issuer and then view crisp and clear tables and charts on financial, influence, ownership or other data sets. The site makes it simple to hover over a filing date and then instantly pull up the full filing. It’s updated near real time too, and free as an open source project. It’s one of the best SEC search systems we’ve come across in a long time! Consider this site if you need to pull key data out of recent SEC filings and view the data in easy to grasp tables and clear visualizations.
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Here is our review of the best business research sites that we've come across this past month
SITE: RankandFiled
URL: http://rankandfiled.com
CATEGORY: Company Research
PURPOSE: A collection of tables, charts, and visualizations of key data culled from recent SEC document filings from public companies in the U.S.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: The creator of this site, which was launched in late 2013, is Maris Jensen, a former SEC Analyst. Her work to create this site has been chronicled in several articles in the business and financial press.
OUR VIEW: There is a tremendous amount of valuable data extracted and displayed on this wonderful site. You can browse by industry and exchange or search by company name, insider, broker-dealer, private issuer and then view crisp and clear tables and charts on financial, influence, ownership or other data sets. The site makes it simple to hover over a filing date and then instantly pull up the full filing. It’s updated near real time too, and free as an open source project. It’s one of the best SEC search systems we’ve come across in a long time! Consider this site if you need to pull key data out of recent SEC filings and view the data in easy to grasp tables and clear visualizations.
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SITE: Donor ID Techniques
URL: http://majorgivingnow.org/expand/donor_id_techniques.html
CATEGORY: Prospect Research
PURPOSE: A collection of documents and advisories on sources and strategies for finding donors and other individuals who could contribute to non-profits, universities, and other institutions that need to identify prospects and donors.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: The site is a creation of a non-profit organization called the Major Giving Initiative, which is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
OUR VIEW: Although this site was created to assist public radio and television stations, its comprehensive scope and detailed strategies are valuable for anyone involved in doing prospect research and finding donors. Among the topics covered in the documents on this site are: “conducting formal prospect research,” “conducing peer research,” “collecting research information,” and “prospect approach presentation.” It also provides help with sourcing via a donor cultivation system, going beyond data sources, estimating potential gifts, includes a sample privacy letter and includes much more. Consider this site if you need to learn some basics about prospect research as well as find sources and strategies to enhance existing efforts.
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URL: http://majorgivingnow.org/expand/donor_id_techniques.html
CATEGORY: Prospect Research
PURPOSE: A collection of documents and advisories on sources and strategies for finding donors and other individuals who could contribute to non-profits, universities, and other institutions that need to identify prospects and donors.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: The site is a creation of a non-profit organization called the Major Giving Initiative, which is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
OUR VIEW: Although this site was created to assist public radio and television stations, its comprehensive scope and detailed strategies are valuable for anyone involved in doing prospect research and finding donors. Among the topics covered in the documents on this site are: “conducting formal prospect research,” “conducing peer research,” “collecting research information,” and “prospect approach presentation.” It also provides help with sourcing via a donor cultivation system, going beyond data sources, estimating potential gifts, includes a sample privacy letter and includes much more. Consider this site if you need to learn some basics about prospect research as well as find sources and strategies to enhance existing efforts.
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SITE: Demographics
URL: http://www.sbdcnet.org/industry-links/demographics-links
CATEGORY: Government Information/Demographic Data
PURPOSE: A listing and links to the most comprehensive sources from the federal government that provide demographic data.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: This site was created and is management by the SBDC National Information Clearinghouse, which is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
OUR VIEW. There’s tons of good demographic data available from the government, but it can be frustrating and time consuming to find the best sources. This site identifies and describes scores of the most useful ones—ranging from statistical clearinghouses, to Census pages, departmental reports from agencies like the Department of Labor and Transportation and others. If you browse the site you will find other very interesting offerings too, including a free competitive profile map of nearby businesses, free market research reports and more. Consider this site if you want to quickly zero in on some of the best statistical demographic sources and services available from the U.S. federal government.
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URL: http://www.sbdcnet.org/industry-links/demographics-links
CATEGORY: Government Information/Demographic Data
PURPOSE: A listing and links to the most comprehensive sources from the federal government that provide demographic data.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: This site was created and is management by the SBDC National Information Clearinghouse, which is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
OUR VIEW. There’s tons of good demographic data available from the government, but it can be frustrating and time consuming to find the best sources. This site identifies and describes scores of the most useful ones—ranging from statistical clearinghouses, to Census pages, departmental reports from agencies like the Department of Labor and Transportation and others. If you browse the site you will find other very interesting offerings too, including a free competitive profile map of nearby businesses, free market research reports and more. Consider this site if you want to quickly zero in on some of the best statistical demographic sources and services available from the U.S. federal government.
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SITE: TrustRadius
URL: https://www.trustradius.com/categories
CATEGORY: Software/Rating Site
PURPOSE: Provides verified user ratings on over 1,000 software products, including business research focused software such as social listening tools, data visualization software and various business intelligence products.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: TrustRadius was founded in June 2012 by Vinay Bhagat and Dave Hart. They had previously served as the CSO and CTO on Convio, a provider of SAAS solutions to nonprofits. The company is located in Austin, TX.
OUR VIEW: We are quite impressed with how this organization has been able to aggregate and authenticate so many thousands of substantive (reviews average 500 words), in-depth and useful business software user opinions on so many software products. The CEO told us that for authentication, every reviewer must provide his or her LinkedIn credentials, which is then checked for validity by the firm’s own algorithm, and evaluated by the company’s own researchers. It also poses key questions to reviewers, and takes other steps to ensure the reviews are valid. Consider this site if you are considering buying business research related—or other business software—and want to learn its pros, cons, and user opinions before making a purchase.
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URL: https://www.trustradius.com/categories
CATEGORY: Software/Rating Site
PURPOSE: Provides verified user ratings on over 1,000 software products, including business research focused software such as social listening tools, data visualization software and various business intelligence products.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: TrustRadius was founded in June 2012 by Vinay Bhagat and Dave Hart. They had previously served as the CSO and CTO on Convio, a provider of SAAS solutions to nonprofits. The company is located in Austin, TX.
OUR VIEW: We are quite impressed with how this organization has been able to aggregate and authenticate so many thousands of substantive (reviews average 500 words), in-depth and useful business software user opinions on so many software products. The CEO told us that for authentication, every reviewer must provide his or her LinkedIn credentials, which is then checked for validity by the firm’s own algorithm, and evaluated by the company’s own researchers. It also poses key questions to reviewers, and takes other steps to ensure the reviews are valid. Consider this site if you are considering buying business research related—or other business software—and want to learn its pros, cons, and user opinions before making a purchase.
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SITE: Visualizing Data
URL: http://visualizingdata.com
CATEGORY: Big Data/Data Visualizations/Weblog
PURPOSE: A collection of the best sites, examples, news and reports on the topic of data visualization.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: This blog was launched in February 2010 and is the creation of Andy Kirk, a U.K.-based consultant, and trainer in data visualization. He is also the author of Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process. (Packt Publishing, 2012)
OUR VIEW: Data visualization is a very hot topic these days, and there is no shortage online of advisories, analysis, and reports on how to create an effective visualization of data. In fact there is so much good information that it can be frustrating to zero in on the best. That’s what we like so much about this site: it does a great job of finding the most valuable sites—and illustrates them in an extremely visually compelling matter.
Check, for example, the October 2014 issue of its monthly digest of the best of data visualization: http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2014/12/best-visualisation-web-october-2014/ and the 6 month summary at: http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2014/12/10-significant-visualisation-developments-july-december-2014/. Consider this site if you want to find some of the best examples, advisories, news and reports on data visualization.
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URL: http://visualizingdata.com
CATEGORY: Big Data/Data Visualizations/Weblog
PURPOSE: A collection of the best sites, examples, news and reports on the topic of data visualization.
FEE/FREE: FREE
SOURCE CHECK: This blog was launched in February 2010 and is the creation of Andy Kirk, a U.K.-based consultant, and trainer in data visualization. He is also the author of Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process. (Packt Publishing, 2012)
OUR VIEW: Data visualization is a very hot topic these days, and there is no shortage online of advisories, analysis, and reports on how to create an effective visualization of data. In fact there is so much good information that it can be frustrating to zero in on the best. That’s what we like so much about this site: it does a great job of finding the most valuable sites—and illustrates them in an extremely visually compelling matter.
Check, for example, the October 2014 issue of its monthly digest of the best of data visualization: http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2014/12/best-visualisation-web-october-2014/ and the 6 month summary at: http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2014/12/10-significant-visualisation-developments-july-december-2014/. Consider this site if you want to find some of the best examples, advisories, news and reports on data visualization.
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SUBMIT YOUR FAVORITE SITE!
We are particularly interested in hearing about any sites you'd like to nominate. If we use your submission, your name will be entered in our monthly drawing for a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate. Please send comments to Editor Robert Berkman (robertberkman@gmail.com).
We are particularly interested in hearing about any sites you'd like to nominate. If we use your submission, your name will be entered in our monthly drawing for a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate. Please send comments to Editor Robert Berkman (robertberkman@gmail.com).