"Marketing is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and/or services. The key word in this marketing definition is 'process'; marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services... But essentially marketing involves everything you do to get your potential customers and your product or service together." Source: About.com: Small Business Canada

Links | Books | eBooks | Databases

Suggested Links

Marketing

Marketing Terms
Search an extensive collection for the meaning and use of Internet marketing terms

PaintedCows.com
Contains extensive links to useful marketing and advertising sites. Updated frequently.

Pricing Right
Helpful hints on how to price your product. From the Real Small Business Web site--"practical advice and solutions for today's small business."

Wilson Web
Devoted to Web marketing. Includes some worthwhile free sources and links to other useful sites.

goWholesale
This comprehensive site to wholesale information may be used in addition to the library database, ReferenceUSA.
Check out the recent article about the site in Business Wire: goWholesale Re-launches its Business-to-Business Community Portal.

National Do Not Call Registry
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) amended the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to give consumers a choice about whether they want to receive most telemarketing calls. As of October 1, 2003, it is illegal for most telemarketers or sellers to call a number listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.

Market & Industry Research

Bizminer
Industry analysis and marketing plan research.

BizStats.com
Every statistic for small business covered by industry, market size, profitability, debt to equity ratios and much more.

Long-Term Socio-Economic Forecasts by County
Biennial socio-economic forecasts, with history and long-term projections, for all counties in California. Includes statistics on wage and salary job creation, population growth, migration, industrial production, and other factors. From the California Department of Transportation.

MelissaData
Free online lookups: area codes in a radius, carrier routes radius, home sales by zip, nearest mailing house, zip, city & phone, zip demographic, zip codes in a county, zip distance, zips in a radius.

Market & Industry Research - Census

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
The NAICS code, developed in cooperation with Canada and Mexico, is the classification system used to statistically track our economy. NAICS replaces the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
Allows the user to search the 1987 version of the SIC manual by keyword to access descriptive information for a specified 2,3,4-digit SIC and to examine the manual structure. From the U.S. Department of Labor.

Current Industrial Reports
Monthly, quarterly, and annual measures of industrial activity helpful for market analysis, forecasting, and decision-making in the private sector.

Census Scopes
Provides simple-to-use charts, maps and graphs for demographic information from the University of Michigan’s Social Science Data Analysis network.

U.S. Census Bureau
The gateway to the 2000 census for facts on people and businesses.

U.S. Census Bureau Maps and Cartographic Resources

Organizations & Associations

American Marketing Association

Direct Marketing Association

Marketing Research Association

Manufacturers' Agents National Association
Online directory for locating a representative for your product.

National Mail Order Association

TeamCalifornia Regional Marketing Groups
A network of economic development professionals actively involved in business attraction, retention, expansion and job creation efforts throughout the state.

Small Business Development Center National Information Clearinghouse (SBDCNET)
Provides sources of information for various industries.

Other Links

County Business Patterns
Annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets.

Contra Costa County - Economic Census 2002
Selected Statistics by Economic Sector, Sub-Sector, and Industry Group. (Table 4)

Books to Check Out

	Successful Marketing Plan: a disciplined and comprehensive approach Roman G. Hiebing, Jr. and Scott W. Cooper Hiebing and Cooper outline methods for developing objectives, strategies, and tactics to create a marketing plan that delivers the bottom line.
	Market Planning Guide: creating a plan to successfully market your business, product, or service David H. Bangs, Jr. In order to create the best plan, people who run businesses must answer a few key questions: Who is my customer?How can I reach them?What does my customer need?How can I best meet those needs?
	Big Business Marketing for Small Business Budgets Jeanette Maw McMurtry Shows small business owners how to make the most of their limited marketing dollars by capturing the lifetime loyalty of their most valuable customers.
	Market Research in Practice : a guide to the basics Paul Hague, Nick Hague, and Carol-Ann Morgan Describes and explains the various tools and techniques available to market researchers and, through real-life case studies, the basics of market research are made straightforward and accessible.
	Marketing Research that won't Break the Bank : a practical guide to getting the information you need Alan R. Andreasen The tools and techniques presented will help managers gain an in-depth understanding of their target market, competitors, and environment without stretching the organization's budget.
	The 5 paths to persuasion: the art of selling Robert B. Miller The specific nature of an idea or business opportunity is, of course, important, but more crucial is how and in what manner it is presented to the potential signer-on. By thoroughly studying the type of decision maker to be propositioned, the presenter can, in effect, get into his or her head and customize the idea to the mindset.
	Marketing without advertising Michael Phillips Teaches small business owners practical strategies to encourage customers to spread the good word about your business, attract new customers and gain their trust, turn dissatisfied customers into loyal supporters, etc.

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Reference Books

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eBooks

Available at the Library or remotely with a valid Contra Costa County Library card.

netLibrary netLibrary eBooks are digital full-text versions of books such as reference works, scholarly monographs, literature and fiction, and 3,407 publicly-accessible titles. Here is a sampling of the collection: Value-based Marketing for Bottom-line Success: 5 Steps to Creating Customer Value Nicholas J. DeBonis, Eric W. Balinski, and Phil Allen Proactive Selling: Control the Process--Win the Sale William Miller Essential Technical Analysis: Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends Leigh Stevens Harvard Business Review on Marketing

Business Connection Databases
Available at the Library or remotely with a valid Contra Costa County Library card.

Standard & Poor's - NetAdvantage Industry Surveys review 51 industries in the U.S. that have a large effect on our economy: banking, biotechnology, capital goods, etc. The Sub Industry Review covers smaller segments.

ReferenceUSA Use ReferenceUSA to locate your customers and your competition or to create mailing lists for a specific geographic location. ReferenceUSA reports New Businesses filing DBA’s weekly. International Businesses covers United States and foreign public and private companies.

Business and Company Resource Center Full-text articles from magazines, trade publications, and business newswires. It's searchable by company name, key word, "SIC" or "NAICS" code or name of publication. How to search this resource

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