ResearchNOTES 2012

ResearchN OTES
_______________________________________________________________________

My Top Tips for Web Searching: 2012

Marcy Phelps
PhelpsResearch.com


Author:
Marcy Phelps
Marcy Phelps is the founder and
principal at Phelps Research,
where she provides insights for
better business decisions.

Marcy frequently speaks and
writes about topics related to
business research, and she is the
author of the highly-acclaimed
book, Research on Main Street:
Using the Web to Find Local
Business and Market Information.

Follow her on Twitter
@marcyphelps!

PhelpsResearch.com


Table of Contents
January 2012: Turning information into insights ........................................................................ 1

February 2012: What's new in local? .......................................................................................... 2

March 2012: Navigating the maze of U.S. government resources ............................................... 3

April 2012: Quick cures for writer's block................................................................................... 4

May 2012: Private-company information .................................................................................... 5

June 2012: Book lover's special edition ...................................................................................... 7

July 2012: Ready-to-use information graphics ........................................................................... 8

August 2012: Questions about products ..................................................................................... 9

September 2012: Keeping up with the candidates and issues .................................................. 10

October 2012: U.S. government resources - an update ............................................................ 11

November 2012: Tips for using LinkedIn for learning ............................................................... 12

December 2012: Tips for using Twitter for learning ................................................................. 13

PhelpsResearch.com


January 2012: Turning information into insights

There's more to research than just finding information. The next step is making sense of what you've
found and determining what it means to you and your organization. In this issue of ResearchNOTES, I'd
like to share some of my top tips for turning information into insights:

Charts, tables, and graphs turn boring numbers into meaningful information. These representations
make it easy to spot patterns and connections in the data. Use the Chart Wizard feature in Microsoft
Word to simplify the process. I also like to create templates, and just add the numbers when needed.

Create a matrix to facilitate comparisons. I use these when comparing my clients' products and services
to those of their competitors, because they help with identifying gaps in the marketplace and key
differentiators. Let me know if you'd like a copy of my template.

Put it in PowerPoint. This format encourages brevity, and it's a great way to distill the information and
highlight key points. Be sure to include the answers to your original research questions and any relevant
new insights.

You can read more quick tips for turning information into insights at my blog, MarcyPhelps.com.

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February 2012: What's new in local?

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since the publication of my book, Research on Main
Street: Using the Web to Find Local Business and Market Information. Since I'm always on the lookout
for new sources of local-level business information, this issue of ResearchNOTES spotlights some of my
latest finds for learning about places:

For local demographics, I frequently recommend American FactFinder. Now, a newly-remodeled
American FactFinder simplifies the process of drilling down to the county, city, town, and even ZIP Code
level. Just click the Geographies filter on the left side of the page, and you'll see links to the data
available for your selected area.

From the Urban Institute, MetroTrends provides a handy snapshot of the state of metropolitan
economies. Look for charts and tables, expert commentary, and downloadable datasets covering such
topics as crime, arts and culture indicators, well-being of children, and much more.

Finally, not a new site - but new to me - Eurostat: Regions and Cities offers one-stop-shopping for
European subnational statistics. Try this site for local demographics, economic accounts, agriculture
data, living conditions, and other topics.

Let me know if you have recently come across a new site for finding local business information. I'd love
to include it in the update of Research on Main Street.

PhelpsResearch.com
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March 2012: Navigating the maze of U.S. government
resources

The U.S. government is one of the largest publishers of free information on just about any topic. But
with all those resources from so many agencies, it's difficult to find exactly what you need. In this issue
of ResearchNOTES, I share some of my favorite tools for navigating U.S. government resources:

Try the USA.gov search engine at search.USA.gov. I like to use this site's image search when I want to
find free photos to use in my reports and presentations.

From ADA.gov to WomensHistoryMonth.gov, there's a subject-related site just for you. Visit U.S.
Government Portals and browse this extensive and up-to-date list, created and maintained by librarian
Robert Teeter.

Many libraries offer online guides to government resources. My favorites include one from the Federal
Documents Task Force at Vanderbilt University and another from the Best Information on the Net
collection from St. Ambrose University Library.

What tools do you use to search U.S. government resources? Let me know.

PhelpsResearch.com
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April 2012: Quick cures for writer's block

Blogs, articles, whitepapers, and other content are great tools for branding and marketing.
Unfortunately, writer's block often gets in the way of creativity, and your monthly newsletter can turn
into a quarterly publication. To help you come up with new ideas for creating relevant and useful
content, this month's ResearchNOTES focuses on three quick cures for writer's block:

Writer, editor, and fellow Business Marketing Association member Rita Braun has compiled an excellent
list of blog post ideas. I keep this list handy to review when I've been staring at a blank document for
much too long. I especially like Rita's advice on lightening it up every now and then.

Over at Copyblogger, they've created an infographic, 22 Ways to Create Compelling Content. It includes
my favorite method for finding my muse: Take a walk. I always come up with good ideas while on a
walk, and the dogs love it!

For inspiration try Mind Mapping, a visual representation of ideas and concepts. What is Mind Mapping?
(and How to Get Started Immediately), from Litemind.com, offers a nice explanation of this simple
technique - and some great tips for creating your first mind map.

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May 2012: Private-company information

Privately-held companies - companies that do not offer shares to the public - don't need to disclose
much beyond their names, addresses and officers, so researching them can be quite a challenge.
Generally, any available information needs to be pieced together from a variety of sources, so this
month's issue of ResearchNOTES focuses on some starting points for finding private-company
information...

Before we get started, though, always remember two very important rules for researching private
companies. First, lower your expectations. You're never going to gather as much as you would for a
public company - or as quickly. Second, take whatever information you gather with a grain of salt.
You're only going to find what the company wants to tell you, or what other people think they know
about the company.

Read more…

Share this!

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Private company information (more)

I always like to start with the obvious - the company's own website. While the types, quality, and
amount of info you find will vary greatly from company to company, look for information about locations
and facilities, products and services, pricing and pricing models, job openings, partnerships, and any
other accessible information relevant to your needs. A systematic approach saves time and will help you
catch every detail. I learned a great tip from Amelia Kassel about using Adobe Acrobat Pro to download
the company website, making it easy to search by keyword.

Search local news for the region in which the company is headquartered, since local companies get lots
of coverage in newspapers, magazines, television and radio news stories, and even journalists' blogs. In
addition to scanning for answers to your questions, look for leads to sources, including local journalists,
business leaders, and other experts. Go to Google News and enter the company name and location in
your search, or try ABYZ News Links, a directory of global news sources.

More and more, I'm incorporating social media into my company research. Mining Facebook pages and
LinkedIn profiles often provides valuable insights into a company's products and services, current and
past employees, and connections. Use tools like TweetDeck, HootSuite, and Addictomatic to monitor
conversations about your target company and their executives.

Finally, when you really need to dig deep, a fee-based resource may be your only option. For example,
Hoover's provides self-reported sales figures, employee numbers, key personnel, ownership structure,
facility size, and much more. PrivCo company profiles include financials and business metrics in useful
charts and graphs, and insights into ownership, major sources of revenue, major costs, VC/funding
activity, and other hard-to-find information.

What's your favorite source for private-company information?

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June 2012: Book lover's special edition

I've started packing for my summer vacation, which once again involves sun, surf, and a fully-loaded
Kindle. Also keeping with tradition, this issue of ResearchNotes highlights a few of my favorite sites for
book lovers:

At Goodreads, an online community for bibliophiles, members share their lists of books they want to
read by August at the 2012 Summer Reading List page. With free registration, you can create your own
book lists and share recommendations.

Librarian Grove Person shares his 2012 collection of summer reading lists on Pinterest. He's included a
nice variety of lists, from Scholastic.com's Keep Your Kids Reading All Summer to NPR's Summer
Cookbooks.

From Libraries Unlimited, the Reader's Advisor blog offers Summer Books 2012. Look for book lists of all
types, including science fiction, graphic novels, and summer reads for entrepreneurs.

Enjoy – and please let me know your book recommendations!

Share this!

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July 2012: Ready-to-use information graphics

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Displaying data in a visual format adds impact and brings clarity where words and spreadsheets often
fail. Charts, graphs, and maps make it easy to identify patterns, trends, and clusters and transform the
numbers into insights. Rather than create my own graphics for my research reports, I often save time
by heading to sources that do the work for me. In this issue of ResearchNOTES, I share a few of my
favorite sites for data in ready-to-use visual formats:

Eurostat provides options for customizing and downloading European economic, demographic, and other
data in graphs and maps. After selecting a data set, follow links at the top of the page for non-tabular
formats.

The Data section of The World Bank's website contains global statistics in map and graph formats. The
By Country and Indicators sections include the most options for and the easiest route to visual formats.

American FactFinder offers mapped U.S. demographic data from the Decennial Census, American
Community Survey, and other Census Bureau products. From the Table Results page, click the Create a
Map button.

And keep an eye on The Data Visualization Gallery from the U.S. Census Bureau. Part of an effort to
increase the use of visualization in making Census data available to the public, this site will eventually
expand its coverage.

You can find more sources of ready-to-use information graphics at MarcyPhelps.com. Do you have any
to add to the list?

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August 2012: Questions about products
In my research business, clients frequently ask questions about products - their own and their competitors'. It's
a hot topic in our competitive business environment, and this issue of ResearchNOTES offers tips for answering
some of those product-related questions:

Where can I find manufacturers and distributors of certain products?
ThomasNet has always been my go-to place for this type of information, and some new features have really
made the search easier. Find suppliers, source products, and read product news with this free resource.

Where can I find product manuals (spec sheets, marketing collateral, etc.)?
I usually start with Google searching. Combine your keywords with filetype:pdf, since these types of document
are generally in PDF format. You can also use the filetype feature on Google's advanced search page. If the web
doesn't bring the results you need, try calling the company directly. But remember to alway consider how
confidential you want to keep this inquiry before contacting competitor companies.

What countries might make good markets for our product?
I just learned this creative tip from research expert Mary Ellen Bates: In Google, run a search for your product
type or category (e.g., hand sanitizer). On the left side of the results page, click "show search tools," and then
click "Translated foreign pages." This narrows the results of the search to just pages that have been translated
into English (or any other selected language). At the top of the results page is a breakdown of the most-
translated languages, which provides insights about the countries in which there's a lot of buzz about and
possible interest in this product.

How can we monitor what customers are saying about our or our competitors' products?
Customers use social media to talk about products, and you can listen to the conversations using a few
specialized tools. For many of my clients, I run Twitter searches with HootSuite and set up Google alerts that
help keep them in the loop. Read about these and other tools for monitoring brands at MarcyPhelps.com

PhelpsResearch.com
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September 2012: Keeping up with the candidates and
issues

It's that time of year in the U.S. when we have to put up with mud-slinging political ads that tell us
nothing about where the candidates stand on the issues - or what they plan to do about them. To help
you become an informed voter, ResearchNOTES features some of my favorite go-to sites for real
insights during this election season:

Project Vote Smart, a political research organization, covers candidate biographies, voting records, issue
positions, speeches, and campaign finance information. It even includes a Political Courage Test, which
"measures each candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on key issues."

Brought to you by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, FactCheck.org monitors the "factual accuracy of
what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and
news releases." Look for articles, FAQs, and the Viral Spiral section - a list of their most asked-about
false or misleading viral rumors, with brief summaries of the facts and links to the full articles.

OpenSecrets.org describes itself as "the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics
and its effect on elections and public policy." Check this site for financial information about the
candidates, politcal parties, lobbyists, and more.

Get informed - and vote!

BTW – Read my latest article in ONLINE magazine, Visualization Tools for Turning Information Into
Insights, for tips on working with charts, graphs, diagrams, and maps.

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October 2012: U.S. government resources - an update

It's always a challenge to keep up with current sources of information from and about the U.S.
government. In an effort to streamline and update their online resources, the government definitely
giveth, and it taketh away. This month in ResearchNOTES, read about two new sites from the federal
government, and one that's going away:

Still in beta, Congress.gov will eventually replace THOMAS for information about legislation, the
legislative process, and members of Congress. New features allow you to quickly search all content
across all available years, narrow and refine search results, and identify bill progress or status - and it's
mobile-friendly. Congress.gov is still a work-in-progress, but it's worth a look.

The Federal Register, published daily by the U.S. government, includes proposed rules, final rules, public
notices, and Presidential actions. A new site, FederalRegister.gov, offers an easy way to read, search,
browse, and subscribe to the article collection, dating to 1994. Much different than the older, less
interactive site from the Government Printing Office.

Say good-bye to FedStats, a portal to statistical information from more than 100 federal agencies.
Unfortunately, the site is no longer being updated, so it may not include the most current resources. As
an alternative, try the Data and Statistics page at USA.gov.

Read the latest posts on MarcyPhelps.com:

Going social with data viz
Knowledge in 140 characters
Market research on a budget

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November 2012: Tips for using LinkedIn for learning

While many of us use the social web for communicating with family, friends, colleagues, and customers,
it's also a great tool for professional development. The trick is cutting through the clutter and finding
those valuable links to content-rich articles, white papers, and other resources shared by the experts.
This month in ResearchNOTES, I'll cover some of my top tips for using LinkedIn for learning:

Note: You will need a LinkedIn account to use these features.

LinkedIn Groups provide a forum for discussion on just about any topic. Search for groups by keyword,
or take a chance with the Groups You May Like link under the Groups drop-down menu. You can then
monitor the conversations on the Your Groups page or by email notifications, which are available
through each group's Settings link. Also useful is the Top Influencers This Week listing on the right side
of a group's Discussions page.

LinkedIn Today - found under the News menu - gathers articles shared by your connections and others
on LinkedIn and Twitter. Customize your Front Page by selecting the industries and sources you want to
follow. You can also save articles of interest to read later.

Your LinkedIn connections are your greatest source of knowledge. Did you know that by creating tags
for your connections you can sort by area of expertise? Also try limiting your list of connections to
certain industries, companies, or locations to find experts within your network. Identify possible new
contacts through the advanced people search feature.

Next month in ResearchNOTES - My top tips for using Twitter for learning

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December 2012: Tips for using Twitter for learning

Now that we've stopped talking about what we're having for lunch and started posting meaningful
content, social media has become a a valuable forum for professional development. Last month in
ResearchNOTES, I covered some of my top tips for using LinkedIn for learning. This month, read how I
harness the knowledge lurking in those Twitter updates:

Explore Twitter Lists, groups of Twitter users organized by other users. Once you create a list, you can
follow the tweets from the people on that list. I like to subscribe to the lists created by the people I
follow to find out what's important them.

Try the #Discover link at the top of your Twitter page. In this section, Twitter gathers new sources of
information to follow, including tweets from people you follow and those they follow; favorites,
retweets, and follows made by the people you follow; tools for finding friends; and more - all in one
place. It's a great way to expand your horizons.

Use a Twitter management tool such as Hootsuite or TweetDeck to organize the influx of tweets. This
makes it easy to keep up with your lists or follow the activities of selected hash tags without becoming
overwhelmed. I find it especially useful for keeping conference-related tweets in one place.

How do you use Twitter for learning?

Happy New Year - and may all your wishes come true in 2013!

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Subscribe to ResearchNOTES, a monthly email bulletin with
my favorite tips and sites for web searching.

Read about turning information into insights at
MarcyPhelps.com.

Marcy Phelps can be reached at
+1 303.239.0657
mphelps@phelpsresearch.com
www.PhelpsResearch.com
Connect with Marcy:

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ResearchNOTES 2012

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