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Type of information	Source	Website
U.S. Government	Census Bureau	www.census.gov
	Federal Statistics Online	www.fedstats.gov
	American Fact Finder	www.factfinder.census.gov
	2007 Economic Census	www.census.gov/econ/census07
	Government Printing Office (access to all federal documents and regulations)	www.gpoaccess.gov
	Louisiana State University’s links to federal agencies	www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/index.html
Canadian Government	Statistics Canada	www.statcan.gc.ca
	Canadian Census	www.12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm
U.S. Census Bureau state and local information	County Business PatternsQuick Facts	www.census.gov/econ/cbp http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd
	Link to State Data Centers	www.census.gov/sdc
State/Local/Regional information	Each state government has a website	www.state.[two-letter state code].use.g., www.state.ca.us for California www.state.md.us for Maryland
	Library of Congress links to state and local government sites	www.loc.gov/rr/news/stategov/stategov.html
	Links to state and local government sites (this is a private company)	www.statelocalgov.net
	Small Business Development Centers	www.asbdc-us.org (click on “Resources”)
S.E.C. Annual reports	S.E.C. Edgar database	www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Company information	Hoover’s	www.Hoovers.com
	Dun & Bradstreet	www.dnb.com
Supplier information	ThomasNet	www.ThomasNet.com
	eBay Business and Industrial	http://businessebay.com
	Yahoo! business-to-business	http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business
	Tradekey B2B directory	www.tradekey.com
	B2B Yellow Pages	www.b2byellowpages.com
Trade associations and trade shows	Center for Association LeadershipTSNN—Trade Show News Network	www.asaecenter.org www.tsnn.com

The key to finding industry-specific information is to be patient and diligent. You’ll have to go to many sites and look around. When you find a site of interest—let’s say an industry association site—follow links from that site (look for links saying things like “Related Links”).

Another key is to visit websites of industries or associations you plan to market to. For instance, as a dog groomer, you might look for any local dog-owner websites or local petstore websites. They may give you ideas for marketing opportunities as well as help you learn more about your local market. Sometimes, you can buy membership lists, giving you a built-in database of sales leads.

Look for established market research companies in your field. In technology, for instance, some of the major market research companies are IDC, Gartner, and Forrester. If you’re in the fashion industry, that would be the NPD Group. To find market research in your industry, do a search using your favorite search engine by using the name of the industry plus “market research.”

Don’t forget to check for news stories about topics related to your industry. You can look at general and specific media sites and use their search and archive capabilities.

You’ll find lots of information online, but I’m also a big believer in the real world. Follow your online information hunt with real-world activities, particularly attending trade shows. Get out there and talk to people, including suppliers, potential customers, even competitors. Who knows? Perhaps other dog groomers will give you a leg up on your research, and you’ll find that business isn’t such a dog-eat-dog world after all.