Business resources: 6-2-07

Why list a bunch of websites for and about businesses? Because they are for and about businesses! Hopefully, they will be of use to someone's business. I cannot think of any better reason for passing along information.

Searching the federal government at USASearch.gov. Once upon a time, federal information was hard to find. Here is a site that uses what looks like a version of the Google search engine for finding federal information. Why include it? Two reasons for including this: 1) too many federal actions affect business and now you can go directly to the source to find out what you want to know about the federal government, and 2) there are business opportunities with the federal government and why should Indiana business not have access to that kind of information?

California Small Business Blog says it is "designed for small business owners to provide insight into legal aspects, as well as other aspects, of their business." I say it has a great style presenting some useful information and ideas for small businesses - even those outside of California.

Public relations has come from the clouds to any size of business. Doing PR right is a difficult thing. The Bad Pitch Blog might give you some ideas of how not to do things for your business.

Workforce Development: what the Internet types call a portal. The website for the Workplace Development magazine. Good for employment news with more of a bent towards employers. News includes reporting on trends, legislation and forums to get new ideas and feedback on old ones. You can sign up for a weekly newsletter sent via e-mail. I have been doing this for years and it has been useful.

Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge. I hesitate putting this website on this list. Another you can get via e-mail for free and I do that. Sometimes the headlines lead to a quick delete and other times not. The articles are from research done at the Harvard Business School and the emphasis can be towards the policy side or the larger business side of things. However, the articles are spot on when they hit an interest of mine. Thankfully, it is not written for academics. The following is from the article Creating a Positive Professional Image:

As HBS professor Laura Morgan Roberts sees it, if you aren't managing your own professional image, others are.

"People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace," she says. "It is only wise to add your voice in framing others' theories about who you are and what you can accomplish."

There are plenty of books telling you how to "dress for success" and control your body language. But keeping on top of your personal traits is only part of the story of managing your professional image, says Roberts. You also belong to a social identity group—African American male, working mother—that brings its own stereotyping from the people you work with, especially in today's diverse workplaces. You can put on a suit and cut your hair to improve your appearance, but how do you manage something like skin color?

I will have more next Saturday.