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Knowledge Is Power The Search for Accurate Information on the Competition

These days, when it comes to seeking out information, most people turn to their computers to do the work for them. “Surfing the Net” has become a routine way of gathering necessary data, facts, and other such knowledge. Need directions to your Aunt Susie’s friend’s garage sale? Head to mapquest.com and you’re likely to find a customized map, tailored to your specifications. Can’t remember what macerate means? Dictionary.com will remind you. In fact, these days, people use the Internet to search for answers to nearly any and every imaginable query, including information on business competition.

But how sure are you that the information you are obtaining via the World Wide Web is as accurate as it could be? What exactly do you sacrifice in the name of convenience? I, for example, have been steered astray on more than one occasion by the almighty Map Quest. And, although Dictionary.com is helpful, it certainly isn’t able to replace the vast resources available at your local library. Speaking of local libraries, even they have taken content online. AccessMyLibrary (www.AccessMyLibrary.com) is a site from Thomson Gale featuring free access to over 15 million articles from leading as well as trade/interest specific publications and journals.

Powerful and accurate online resources do exist, though they are often buried beneath a virtual layer of illegitimate websites and flashing advertisements informing you that you are, in fact, the winner of a new pink Motorola RAZR phone. Lucky you.

However, if you are searching for information on your company’s competitors, chances are you’d like that information to be as accurate and as easy to obtain as possible, a feat that is likely far more difficult than it should be. However, sites like ECNext’s Goliath (www.goliath.ecnext.com) simplify this task by providing you with clear, accurate company profiles, industry information and market reports as well as business news, resources, leads and more. Essentially, the site does your homework for you.

I probably don’t need to remind you that this sort of information can be imperative to the success of your business. According to Steve Strauss, Business Expert for Microsoft Small Business Center, “if you want to succeed in business, doing your homework is critical. Knowing what the competition does right (and wrong), what they charge for their products or services, and where they seem to be headed can give your business a significant boost.”

Dawn Rosenberg McKay, writer for Career Planning at about.com, agrees: “It’s important to keep up with business news about the industry in which you’re working or are considering working. It’s good business practice to be well informed about your clients’ industries as well. It will help you stay ahead of the competition.”

The accuracy and depth of this information is often the key to a successful business. Being aware of your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses is an invaluable learning tool. In the opinion of Warren Struhl, writer for Inc.com, “the more information you have, the better position you will be in to propel your business forward. So don’t become the entrepreneur that says, ‘If I only knew that before I started.’ Stay informed and you’ll be building a platform for success.”

Essentially, using the Internet to gain pertinent information can be an effective process, but it can just as easily yield inaccurate and out-of-date information. Valuable corporate information is out there and ripe for the picking. You just have to know where to look.

Sources:

Rosenberg McKay, Dawn. Keeping up with Business News is Good for Your Career. 29 August 2006. From: careerplanning.about.com/od/companyresearch/a/business_news.htm

Strauss, Steve. Ask the Expert. 29 August 2006. From: microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/expert/strauss120105.mspx

Struhl, Warren. Doing Your Homework. 30 August 2006. From: inc.com/resources/startup/articles/20050701/homework.html

Laura Watkins is a contributing business writer for http://goliath.ecnext.com. Goliath is one of the Internet’s largest collections of business research, news and information.

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Don’t Let the Internet Over Stimulate Your Mind

It seems we have to become aware of a new problem that is starting to invade our modern, industrial society, that being the problem of over stimulation. The Internet is an excellent tool but we have to remember that the mind is the most valuable tool imaginable. Some would argue that spirit or soul is of equal or more importance, I am not disagreeing with these people. The point that I am attempting to put forward for discussion is that although the Internet is an excellent new medium that can affect nearly all aspects of life in a positive way, like all things in existence it too has a shadow side. Over stimulation of the mind is a huge cloud in the blue sky of consciousness.

Have you ever sat at your desk searching through the Web for News information, then checking your emails with their accompanying attachments and links, and then doing general searches for random information? If you receive newsletters, or subscribe to blogs, you read these daily as well. The human mind is powerful, and scientists say that we only use an average of 10 % of it, but doesn’t that entail that we should be careful not to overload its present information processing capabilities?

I’ve read that in one New York Times newspaper there is more information to digest than one would have had to process in a whole lifetime of the Shakespearean era. With the advent of the Internet we have more access to knowledge and opinion than ever previously. We have to be cautious my friends. I personally have had to come to the realization that my spiritual, mental, physical and emotional health is of more importance than all other things in life. If I work too hard, or try to read too much, my mind starts to weigh down with all the thoughts that are produced with each and every tidbit of communication that I take in. After a while I sometimes feel like there is a giant cloud inside my mind and I no longer feel confident to do the daily activities that are required of me as a committed team player of our society.

So what’s the solution? Well, like all things in life solutions are often more simple than we could ever have hoped for. We just have to keep our eyes open to grasp the answers that are presented to us as opportunities everyday. Make a note when you are feeling bogged down and tired and think about how much information you have tried to compute in that moment. Give yourself time limits and a designated number of searches and downloads for a day. You can learn to take more breaks and find anecdotal means to sift through the information, or even block out all the stimuli in that break period.

Gardening, meditation, stretches, breathing exercises, tai chi, yoga, cooking, sports, music…all of these are options to undertake when you want to get away from the noise of too many ‘voices’.

The Internet is an awesome idea that has come to fruition. Like all tools and mediums of interaction it must be used mindfully, with care for the user as first priority. You would never use a power saw without gloves, boots, and ear and eye protection. You could lose a finger…you’ve heard the horror stories. Well the Internet hasn’t really been around long enough for too many stories to be circulating, and I think its negative effects could be more subtle than my example, but the case at hand is that we must be very careful how we interact with the world around us.

If we are all walking the streets with giant nebulous nimbus clouds in our minds, there is bound to be trouble.

Jesse S. Somer is an Internet writer who believes that the best ways to surf the Web are on the tiny ripples of a placid clear lake. http://www.m6.net

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