How in the world do you find just the right person to contact in the kinds of companies you want to work for or sell to? And how do you research your competition if you want to open a small business? Reference USA to the rescue! This is KCLS' most frequently used database and has been for more than five years now. It is THE goldmine for connecting with companies, getting names and info for sales leads and generating mailing lists. The library has paid your subscription to this valuable database for you!
The initial screens can seem intimidating - you'll see that you can choose from a number of options and searches. As with a lot of things on the computer, let's ignore most of it and just concentrate on what we need. Today we'll walk through a common question librarians get asked about. Say you're a salesman (or looking for a job!) and want to identify mom-and-pop hair salons in the Bellevue, WA area. You need to target a specific industry, business size and geography and the Yellow Pages just doesn't give you enough tools to do this - but take heart! It's easy with Reference USA.
First click on U.S. Businesses. Then let's choose "guided search." Type in your yellow page heading - in this case, let's try "hair salons." The wisdom of the computer corrects our search term to "beauty salons" and then we're ready for the next step! Click "next" to take you to the next screen, which will prompt you for the size of businesses you want to search for.
Because you want to target smaller salons and not the large chains, you select the categories of "number of empoloyees" of 1-4, 5-9, and 10-20 and click next.
The next screen prompts you for a geographic area. Most people want their searches by zip code. Look to the left and you'll see you can click on "zip" and fill in up to 10 zip codes to search. Resist the urge to build a huge search!! Reference USA limits the number of records you can download, so a result pool of 50 or under is good. Let's say you put in 98007 and 98006 to target the Eastgate area.
Skip the "other selections" area - just click next. Many people think they want the CEO of a company but choosing a category here actually hurts your search results. Leave it blank. You'll have a chance to see who the big-wigs are in the next couple of steps.
Click on "View Results" to see your list. You can then click on each company name and it will reveal further information about the company including contact names, if any. These are the critical people you'll want to connect with when approaching the company.
Exporting Results
Most users want to take their results with them - a print out, an email, a saved file on their flash drive.It's easy, don't worry.
To print:
- Select the businesses you want to include. You can select an entire page by clicking on the 'All' link above the checkboxes (know, though, that this may interfere with the export-per-search-results limit).
- Click on 'Print' (one of three blue buttons above your search results).
- Print...
To save and/or email:
- Select the businesses you want to include. You can select an entire page by clicking on the 'All' link above the checkboxes (know, though, that this may interfere with the export-per-search-results limit).
- Click on 'Download' (one of three blue buttons above your search results).
- Select your export preferences (comma separated is fine for spreadsheets).
- Click on 'Save' - to your flash drive or the P drive.
- Optional: email: open your webmail service and attach the file to an email.
What if you see the download limit message?
You may see this when you try to print or download:
If you see this yet want to export more of your search results, you are going to need to start a new ReferenceUSA session. This means unchecking all of your selections and then selecting new ones. And if this doesn't work (because it does not always), closing down the web browser and starting fresh. This, you may have guessed, is where ReferenceUSA finds many of its individual customers - the download limit can be very frustrating when you need a larger list. Many people come into the library simply to double their limit, from 25 to 50.
What else can it do?
Take a look at the ReferenceUSA homepage for the 'How Others Use ReferenceUSA' page. Read the screens, experiment with searches, and enjoy your new pathway for connecting with companies!
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