| 101 Best
Business Sites Don't surf in the dark. This guide to the best business sites helps keep you on the path to profitability. --by Nick Soave, Chitra Vemuri and Rita Wallace Business Management Information 1. American Arbitration Association (www.adr.org) The AAA has been offering businesses alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services for more than 70 years. Its Web site offers membership information, selected articles from its publications, an ADR law section that includes the text of the Federal Arbitration Act and a directory of regional offices. 2. Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) BBB Online isn't just for consumers. Here's some of the stuff you'll find at the site: guidelines for ethical advertising practices, information about scams and schemes aimed at businesses, tips for merchants accepting personal checks and advice on applying for its online privacy seal for your site. 3. BizMove.com (www.bizmove.com) BizMove calls itself the Small Business Knowledge Base. It has hundreds of pages of practical information on topics such as personnel audits, cash flow management, marketing plans and reducing costs-and that's just the tip of this informational iceberg. Click on the Free Stuff button to check out the Small Business Directory for newsgroups and dozens of other useful links. 4. BizPlus (www.bizplus.com) This site says it's the Internet Small-Business Center-and that's not just bragging. You'll find a ton of links for small-business information, ranging from picking a name for your company to creating business plans to securing trademarks. BizPlus also offers Web hosting and site creation services. 5. Dun & Bradstreet (www.dnb.com) Get the lowdown on more than 50 million businesses in 200 countries worldwide. D&B offers information on 1,500 data elements, including a company's history, financial performance, payment history and market position. (Most services are fee-based.) There's also advice on topics such as database marketing, collections and receivables. 6. EntreWorld (www.entreworld.org) Presented by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, EntreWorld bills itself as an online information resource for entrepreneurs. It claims to provide a solution to information overload on the Web by grouping information by stages of business development: Starting Your Business, Growing Your Business and Supporting Entrepreneurship. Among its resources are a glossary of more than 400 business terms; a calendar of seminars, conferences and events you can search by location; and links to other Web sites for entrepreneurs. 7. Human Resource Professional's Gateway to the Internet (www.hrisolutions.com) This site offers a collection of links to HR-related sites such as the Academy of Human Resource Development, the AFL-CIO's LaborWeb, the American Compensation Association, the American Society for Training & Development and the Americans with Disabilities Act Document Center. You'll also find links to HR-related listservs. 8. Kiplinger.com (www.kiplinger.com) This well-rounded Web site keeps a watchful eye on the stock market and keeps you up to date on the latest business news. You'll also find business forecasts, tax information, chat forums, online magazines and subscription information. 9. Microsoft Smallbiz (www.microsoft.com/smallbiz) Smallbiz offers a wealth of information for small-business owners, including technology guides for getting your work done, feature stories on sharpening your organizational skills, directories of small-business resources, and hardware and software buyers' guides. 10. National Association for the Self-Employed (www.nase.org) With 320,000 members, the NASE claims to be the largest association of its kind, offering small businesses "a powerful voice in Washington, D.C." Its online area offers information about membership benefits, the latest small-business issues being discussed on Capitol Hill and the online version of its publication, Self-Employed America. 11. Quicken.com Small Business (www.quicken.com/small_business) Find business tax information at Quicken's small-business page, or peruse the Industry Library with its newspaper and magazine articles for more than 20 industry types. Download a business plan template, an employee time sheet and other business forms, or join one of the forums to swap war stories with other business veterans. 12. SCORE (www.score.org) A resource partner with the Small Business Administration, the Service Corps of Retired Executives is a nonprofit association of more than 12,000 retired executives that offers free counseling to small businesses. The site includes how-to information, links to sites with business information and a map to help you find a local SCORE chapter. You can also get business advice via e-mail. Just select from a list of skills to find an appropriate counselor. 13. U.S. Chamber of Commerce (www.uschamber.org) The world's largest business federation, the chamber represents nearly 3 million companies, 3,000 state and local chambers, 775 business associations and 85 American Chambers of Commerce abroad. At its site you'll find legislative updates, Y2K information, and tons of resources for small businesses on topics such as debt collection and membership information. 14. Yahoo Business (www.yahoo.com/business)
Here's a great launchpad to countless business-related sites. They're organized into 40
major topics that include business schools, economic indicators, finance and investment,
taxes, trade and transportation-and each link leads to more. You'll also find news,
shopping, classifieds and message boards. Calendars 15. AnyDay.com (www.anyday.com) This online PIM lets you access your calendar from anywhere, and share your schedule with colleagues or anyone else on the Internet. You can even synchronize with leading PIMs and handheld computers. Other features include contact management, reminders and task management. 16. HotDiary (www.hotdiary.com) HotDiary is another online PIM that lets you share contacts and calendars with your co-workers or clients. You can store addresses, calendar appointments, reminders and memos, and set up public or private chat sessions. Synchronization with the 3Com PalmPilot, Outlook, Lotus Notes and Netscape Messenger is promised for future versions. 17. Jump (www.jump.com) Jump offers free e-mail, scheduling, contact management, and personal and workgroup task management. It also lets you share schedules with others and view customized content such as local weather. The site offers many of the functions you'd expect to find in a PC-based PIM. If you're already using a PIM, Jump's Intellisynch lets you synchronize data between its service and your PIM. 18. ScheduleOnline (www.scheduleonline.com) Jintek's ScheduleOnline is a free calendar and group scheduling site that lets you maintain your personal calendar and schedule meetings from its secure servers. You send meeting invitations via e-mail through the site. ScheduleOnline checks for conflicts with attendees' schedules and offers alternative times and resources. Attendees confirm their participation on the Web site, and can schedule reminder e-mails. 19. Visto Briefcase (www.visto.com) This group calendaring site lets you send and receive e-mail, share your calendar and files, and upload and download files from any machine. You get 15MB of storage space and use of the Briefcase Assistant, a savvy synchronization app that uses Puma's Intellisync software. 20. Web Address Book (www.webaddressbook.com) This online PIM offers an address book, a calendar with e-mail notification of appointments, a bookmark manager, a company manager for info about companies you work with and a notepad. You can include pictures in your address book and import information from Outlook and Access, as well as delimited text files. 21. When.com (www.when.com) Use When.com's online calendar to maintain your appointments and other important dates. You can also track events such as Webcasts and trade shows by choosing from When.com's lists of events or adding your own. The calendar supports recurring appointments and has a "Save & Add Another" feature for entering multiple appointments quickly. Computers and Office Supplies 22. 1-800-Batteries (www.1800Batteries.com) If you have a battery-powered device, you can find replacement batteries here. Order batteries for cell phones, handheld devices, notebook PCs and more. 1-800-Batteries stocks some hard-to-find batteries, and also sells related equipment such as AC adapters, auto and in-flight adapters, and docking units. 23. BT Office Products International (www.btopi.com) In addition to a range of office products, furniture and supplies, this full-service distributor features ergonomic and socially responsible products. You search by category, manufacturer, model or keyword. Product descriptions are detailed and include photos, and all items are cross-referenced to the appropriate pages in the BT catalog. 24. BidFind (www.bidfind.com) Search more than 170 auction sites for the products you want to buy. You can pick one of the dozens of product categories, or use a keyword search to find what you need. The search returns all the products up for auction within the category, along with current bidding information. A click on the desired item delivers you to the auction site. 25. BizRate.com (www.bizrate.com) Take the jitters out of shopping online. Type in the name of the online merchant you're considering and BizRate will tell you how past customers rate the site. Merchants get an overall rating; detailed ratings are also offered in 10 categories, including selection, ease of ordering, price, on-time delivery and customer support. 26. Bottomdollar.com (www.bottomdollar.com) Billing itself as "The Shopping Search Engine," Bottomdollar lets you search for office products available online. The results are shown in a listing you can sort by site or price. Click on the Details button to go to the offering site, read more about the product and buy it. 27. CompareNet (www.compare.net) Drop in on CompareNet before you start shopping for computer hardware or software. The extensive search criteria include price, features, manufacturer and model number. You get detailed specs, buying tips, feature comparison tables, recommendations and technology primers. When you're ready to buy, click on Where to Buy It to find out where the item you want is sold. 28. Furniture ReSolutions International (www.tradein.com) This is the place to buy or sell used office furniture. The site offers a rent-to-buy option, and can help your company relocate by buying your existing furniture and supplying furniture for your new site. New products are also available. 29. Great American Office Online (http://www.gaos.com) You can order discount office supplies and products quickly by entering a quantity directly in the search results list. The number of items in your shopping cart and their total cost are always displayed; at any time, you can remove items, change quantities or quickly add an item by catalog or model number. 30. Home Office Mall 31. iPrint.com (www.iPrint.com) Take care of your business's printing needs at iPrint.com, where you can buy a variety of business stationery products such as business cards, labels, forms, letterhead, stamps-even promotional products such as T-shirts and golf balls. You design your stationery online using customizable templates. You can even add your company logo or other graphics. 32. Lycos Auction Search (www.lycos.com/auctions) Lycos's Auction Search lets you drill down through preset categories or search for office products and other items. Auction Search's My Auctions feature lets you set up your auction watcher to track the bidding on particular items. Deal Watch alerts you when products you're interested in become available. 33. The Mobile Office Outfitter (www.mobilegear.com) This site offers a full line of mobile office products, including desks, workstations and organizers for use in cars, notebook batteries and accessories, and cell phone supplies. Pictures are included with most of the product descriptions. 34. NECX Office & Personal Technology Center (www.necx.com) You can search for computer and office system products by model, manufacturer, category or part number, and search results are shown in a chart. Information about the product's availability is offered. Prices are competitive with other online stores and typically less than retail. 35. NetMarket (www.netmarket.com) NetMarket claims to offer 800,000 brand-name products at discount prices. Select from the category list, search for a product or use Haggle Zone to do some real-time bargaining with NetMarket's merchants for items in selected categories. 36. Office Depot (www.officedepot.com) At this site, you can search the large inventory of office products, purchase them with a credit card or COD, and get free next-day delivery for orders over $50. As you shop, you can see the current total price of your purchases and shipping charges in a banner at the top of the page. Create Custom Shopping Lists for products you order regularly and use Order Tracking/History to view previous purchases. 37. OfficeMax.com (www.officemax.com) OfficeMax.com sells office products for small and medium-sized businesses. As with other shopping sites, information on the number of items you've selected and their total cost is always in view. You can track your orders and create Express Order Templates for regularly ordered products. You can also subscribe to the MaxMail newsletter, which offers new product and promotional announcements. 38. OnlineOfficeSupplies.com (www.onlineofficesupplies.com) Convenience is the watchword here. The search feature is quick and easy, and as you add items to your shopping cart, a running total is displayed. You can view your shopping cart contents and remove products or adjust the quantity ordered. 39. Staples.com (www.staples.com) The online version of the office supply superstore is as awesome as the brick-and-mortar model. Everything about this site is easy-and fast. Search for a product, then view details accompanied by a picture before putting the item into your shopping cart. The Online Office Manager lets you save repetitive order lists, personalize menus and get e-mail reminders when it's time to restock supplies. Directories 40. AnyWho (www.anywho.com) Brought to you by AT&T Labs' Internet Directory Group, AnyWho lets you tab your way through people, business, reverse lookup (you key in the phone number) and Web site searches. If you want customers to find you, add your listing to the directory. Its mapping and driving directions feature ensures they'll not only find you on the Web but in your town as well. 41. Big Yellow (www.bigyellow.com) Think of it as yellow pages on steroids. Let your fingers do the walking through 17 million business listings and 100 million residential listings to unearth postal addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. A section called BizGuide offers information and advice on technology, home-office issues and more. 42. Excite Education (www.excite.com/education/reference 43. Go2Net (www.go2net.com) Use Go2Net's MetaCrawler to search for information using some of the Web's top search sites, such as Excite, Infoseek and Lycos. This one-stop search shop can be a great time saver. 44. ISPs.com (www.isps.com) Looking for an ISP? Search CMPnet's database of more than 4,000 ISPs by price, area code and name. You can also search for national and toll-free ISPs, find out how to choose an ISP and rate your own ISP. 45. PlanetClick (www.planetclick.com) This Web site rating service rates in two channels, or categories. The Business & Finance channel lists several hundred sites further sorted into more than a hundred sub-categories. Sites are rated on a scale of one to 10, and are accompanied by a confidence rating. 46. Switchboard (www.switchboard.com) Need a copy shop near your client's office? Switchboard can tell you where to go. You can also track down e-mail and postal addresses for long-lost colleagues and map a route to their door. Search tools help you scour the Web and steer you to scads of business-related sites. 47. WhoWhere (www. whowhere.com) WhoWhere lets you search for lots of things-e-mail addresses, phone numbers, home pages, toll-free numbers, even ancestors. Clicking on Yellow Pages brings up a map of the United States. Once you click on a state you can choose to search by category or business name. 48. WorldPages (www.worldpages.com) WorldPages incorporates 112 million U.S. and Canadian white and yellow pages listings, 9 million e-mail addresses, 30 million URLs and links to more than 200 worldwide directories. Its mapping feature lets you enter any address in the United States and see a map for that location. You can even integrate the directory service into your own site and add or edit your listing. 49. Free Email Address Directory (www.emailaddresses.com/free_email.htm) This site lists more than 500 free e-mail services, categorized by type-Web-based, POP and e-mail forwarding. It also offers FAQs, an e-mail directory and information on how to set up your own free e-mail service. 50. MSN Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) Because Hotmail is Web based, you can access your e-mail wherever you go, and you don't need any special software. You can even check your company e-mail from Hotmail, provided your corporate POP server resides outside the company firewall. You can sign up for news and information services, such as MSNBC and InfoBeat. You even get a spell checker, a dictionary and a thesaurus. 51. Net@ddress (www.netaddress.co) Another Web-based free-mail service, Net@ddress offers a great combination of features and ease of use. We particularly liked its generous 5MB of storage and the way it can import/export information from popular PIMs. Premium service includes pager and fax notification, extra storage ($5 annually per MB) and virus protection. Government Information 52. Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) There's a mother lode of practical information here, including the Business Guidance section, with scores of downloadable business publications on topics ranging from advertising to e-commerce to telemarketing. The directory of regional offices will steer you to the nearest Better Business Bureau, Public Utilities Commissions, state consumer affairs and other agencies' offices. 53. FedWorld (www.fedworld.gov) John Q. Public meets Uncle Sam at FedWorld. You'll find a wealth of government and business information-everything from government standards to 17,000 trade-related documents and up-to-date analyses of major U.S. industries. Browse databases, download forms, purchase reports and link to scores of other related sites. 54. GovCon (www.govcon.com) GovCon is a free service for businesses interested in obtaining government contracts. Once you register you'll have access to The Commerce Business Daily; bidding, teaming and employment opportunities; searchable government regulations; electronic newsletters; an interactive advertiser yellow pages; and notification of upcoming seminars and trade shows on government contracting issues. 55. Internal Revenue Service (www.irs.gov) Get the lowdown on current Federal tax regulations and other tax information at the Internal Revenue Service's Web site, where you can also download tax forms and instructions. Its Small Business Corner offers advice on starting and operating your own business. 56. Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) The two most useful areas at this site are Thomas, where you search for information about legislation, and the Copyright Office, where information about copyright law is available. 57. National Technical Information Service (www.ntis.gov/business) Through the National Technical Information Service home page, you can search more than 370,000 (20,000 business-related) titles produced by U.S. government agencies and nonprofit agencies since 1990. This free search is limited to author, title or agency identification information. You have to subscribe to get full descriptive summaries. 58. NonProfit Gateway (www.nonprofit.gov) As its name implies, this site is intended for use by nonprofit organizations. It offers links at Cabinet departments to information that is of special interest to nonprofits. Other links will fetch information about grants, volunteering and budgeting issues, and Master Search lets you perform keyword searches on 530,000 government Web pages. 59. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (www.osha.gov) OSHA's pages provide a wealth of information related to the agency's workplace safety standards and regulations. You can search for OSHA regulatory rules, and delve into a number of other databases that include information such as recordkeeping guidelines, speeches and congressional testimony. 60. U.S. Business Advisor (www.business.gov) Billed as the one-stop electronic link to government for business, the U.S. Business Advisor is a collection of links to other government agencies. Topics include doing business with the government, international trade, finance, labor and employment, general business, and laws and regulations. 61. U.S. Department of Commerce (www.doc.gov) The depth and breadth of information at this site seems overwhelming, but it's an incredible tool if you know what you're looking for. It's got links to the DOC's 14 bureaus, including the Patent and Trademark Office, the Bureau of Export Administration, the Census Bureau, the International Trade Administration and the Technology Administration. 62. U.S. Small Business Administration (www.sbaonline.sba.gov) No matter what stage your business is at, you'll find a wealth of information here on starting, running and expanding. Get step-by-step information on launching a business, find out about SBA loan programs, take an online course or register your business in Pro-Net for government contracting opportunities. News 63. CNN Interactive (www.cnn.com) News sites don't get more thorough than this. You'll find up-to-the-minute coverage of the latest news events, complete with audio, video, and tons of links to related stories and background material. CNN Remote delivers news updates to your Desktop every five minutes. A Customize feature helps you choose the news you want to see by letting you build your own profile or selecting a Quickstart profile. 64. Forbes Digital Tool (www.forbes.com) Read up on the latest business news, then check out the Starting Your Own Business articles in The Small-Business Center for ideas and advice. The site's Small-Business Forum discussion areas give you a chance to learn from-and teach-your peers. 65. Fortune.com (www.fortune.com) In addition to comprehensive business coverage, the online version of Fortune offers Fortune & Your Company, a section geared to small businesses. You'll find articles on taxes, marketing, management, technology, financing a business and more. 66. Inc. Online (www.inc.com) The online version of this popular entrepreneurial magazine regularly offers articles of interest to small-business owners. The Virtual Consultant has searchable databases with information such as businesses up for sale, company profiles and demographics. There are also worksheets you can use to determine the cost of growth, long-term financial goals and other key business calculations. 67. NewsEdge (www.newsedge.com) This site integrates news and information from more than 1,000 independent sources and delivers them right to your Desktop. Specifically designed for businesses, NewsEdge offers both ad-supported and subscription services-such as real-time scrolling news, e-mail alerts, stock quotes and more-that you can customize for your specific needs and interests. 68. NewsHub (www.newshub.com) Every 15 minutes, NewsHub delivers headlines from leading news sources and offers links to the full stories. Scan a summary of all the latest happenings or choose from eight channels, including technical, financial and science. Create a custom start page with the publications of your choice, or search for specific information. 69. Newstation.com (newstation.com) Newstation doesn't just link to U.S. and international papers, but also to sports, weather and entertainment sites. Other links include political, legal, business and reference sites. You can also reach shopping, directories and Internet e-mail from this site. 70. TotalNEWS (www.totalnews.com) You'll find links to hundreds of news sites at TotalNEWS. News organizations such as CNN, NPR and the Big Three networks are a click away. Categories and subcategories include Business, Finance, Sci-Tech, World, National, Marketing and Advertising, and more. Reference 71. Internet Public Library Ready Reference Collection (www.ipl.org/ref/RR) Among the categories in this extensive collection of resources are Reference (almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias and the like); Arts & Humanities; Business & Economics; Computers & Internet; Education; Health & Medical Sciences; Law, Government & Political Science; and Sciences & Technology. Browse within these categories or search alphabetically by title. 72. PC Webopaedia (www.webopaedia.com) Stay on top of computer technology by bookmarking this online encyclopedia and search engine. Enter a search term by keyword or category, browse through the top 15 categories or check out the term of the day. 73. Whatis.com (www.whatis.com) Billing itself as a knowledge exploration tool about information technology, Whatis.com contains more than 2,000 individual encyclopedic definitions/topics and a number of quick-reference pages. The topics contain about 10,000 hyperlinked cross references between definitions and topics, and links to other sites for further information. You'll appreciate the special sections, which include How the Internet Works, Creating a Web Site and The Speed of ..., which demystifies data-rate terminology. Services 74. Broadcast.com (www.broadcast.com) Beyond this site's consumer facade are some extraordinary services for large and small companies. The Business Services section provides corporations with a wide range of Internet video broadcasting options, while the SimpleNet subsidiary offers quick and painless solutions-from Web hosting services to e-commerce-for bringing your small business online. 75. eBoz (www.eboz.com/index.shtml) Learn how to design, build and market an e-commerce Web site. This site is a Web directory, search engine, information library and interactive forum all rolled into one. You'll find articles, links to other useful sites, expert advice, tips and a community for discussions and advice. 76. E-Stamp.com (www.estamp.com) Can't get to the post office? At E-Stamp.com you can buy postage without leaving your desk. Just connect to the Internet using E-Stamp's software, enter an address, and the software automatically verifies the address, calculates the correct postage, and prints a stamp onto an envelope, label or document. At press time the software was in beta, but you could sign up to be a beta tester and receive $25 in free postage. 77. Faxaway (www.faxaway.com) Send faxes over the Internet from any Windows application. You're billed for the time it takes to send the fax. Billing is done in 6-second increments; within the United States, the rate is 11 cents per minute. Faxaway offers special services for corporate customers, such as e-mail to fax, a Web-based fax-back you can integrate into your Web site or intranet and broadcast fax service. 78. Internet News Bureau (www.newsbureau.com) Get the word out to the media like a real pro. This fee-based service will write professional press releases for you-or tell you how to do it yourself-then distribute them to 1,300 journalists who subscribe to receive Web-related news tips. You can also target journalists tracking specific industries. 79. NetMechanic (www.netmechanic.com) NetMechanic sells software to aid in Web site creation, but the company's site also offers some free services for sites with 200 or fewer pages. For example, you can test your site to make sure popular browsers support its HTML coding, spell check your site, test how fast your site's pages load, check for broken links and more-all for free. 80. Yahoo Store (www.store.yahoo.com) Build an online store in just minutes? That's the claim and it's true. This point-and-click Erector Set for the virtual economy sure beats messing around with bricks and mortar. An easy tutorial will get you set up, while Yahoo's extensive tracking and processing services will help you analyze traffic and manage your online business. Shipping81. Airborne Express (www.airborne.com) At the Airborne Express site, you can track packages to their destination and pinpoint the nearest drop-off point anywhere in the United States. FAQs explain how to open an account, determine rates and order supplies. A nice bonus: how-to information such as shipping do's and don'ts to ensure packages arrive unscathed. 82. DHL Worldwide Express (www.dhl-usa.com) DHL matches its rivals with package tracking, a rate calculator, a drop-box locator and similar services. You can download DHL Connect shipping software, scope out international shipping services and handle tasks such as account setup and billing inquiries. 83. FedEx (www.fedex.com) FedEx offers the usual shipping services, including package tracking, a drop-off locator and a rate calculator. In addition, downloadable eBusiness tools help you automate and streamline shipping and tracking tasks, and an eBusiness advisor uses your personal profile to recommend the best solutions. 84. U.S. Postal Service (www.usps.com) Here's a one-stop shop for just about anything mail-related. You can buy stamps and shipping supplies, check rates, even track Priority Mail and Parcel Post packages. Also available: zip code lookup, downloadable forms and a mailbag of similar goodies. 85. United Parcel Service (www.ups.com) Let your mouse do the heavy lifting at the UPS site. Schedule pickups, calculate shipping charges, track deliveries, order supplies, locate a nearby drop-off point and more. While you're in the neighborhood, you can download shipping software and get information on claims and guarantees. Storage/Backup 86. @Backup (www.atbackup.com) Using your Internet connection, @Backup performs automatic and on-demand backups of up to 100MB of data for $99 a year. Just download the software, and the rest is done for you. Your files are encrypted and stored off-site in two security vaults, and you can back up and restore files from any Internet connection.87. FreeDrive (http://www.freedrive.com) Running out of hard drive space? FreeDrive gives you up to 20MB of storage you can access from any browser. Security is limited to password protection, but for $4.95 per month you can add secure encryption via SSL. 88. Internet FileZone (www.atrieva.com) Store up to 10MB of files you can access from any PC using a Web browser. Your password-protected data is compressed, encrypted and stored off-site on what the company says is a disaster-proof server. The files are backed up daily and stored on RAID 5 drive arrays. If the free storage space isn't enough, upgrade to Internet FileZone Plus, which gives you up to 1GB. Fees start at $2.99 per month for 25MB. Trade Show Planning/Information 89. EventSource (eventsource.com) If you're planning a meeting or convention, EventSource should be your first destination. Search for sites by name, location, type or capacity. Review floor plans, meeting spaces and pictures, get stats on destinations and send requests to check availability. Key in a city and the destination guide gives you all the stats, including total guest rooms, capacity of the meeting space at a particular site, area hotels, maps, restaurants and attractions. 90. Trade Show Central (www.tscentral.com) Looking for a seminar on anything from accounting to zoology? Start here. Trade Show Central has a comprehensive listing of conferences, seminars, trade shows and convention centers worldwide. Search for a specific event or topic and register online. The site even lets you make travel arrangements. 91. Trade Show News Network (www.tsnn.com) Want a quick way to stay abreast of the trade shows in your industry? TSNN lets you search for trade shows by industry, name of show or location. If you're a trade show producer, exhibitor or supplier you can post a free listing. Travel 92. Biztravel.com (www.biztravel.com) This site factors in your preferences when you book a flight, hotel or rental car, and creates an itinerary that earns you the most frequent-flyer miles. It also keeps track of the mileage in your accounts. An hour before your departure, the site pages you with flight, gate and weather information at your destination. And you can drag and drop your itinerary into your calendar software. 93. Business Tools Travel Section (www.netpad.com/tools/travel.html) This site puts all the travel links you need in one place, including sites that let you shop for the lowest airfare, compare hotel rates and purchase tickets. You'll also find links to hotels and car rental agencies, a currency converter, State Department travel warnings, weather forecasts, subway maps and MapQuest, a mapping site. 94. MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) Lost? MapQuest will steer you in the right direction, taking you from door to door and city to city. You can also view, print and buy maps from around the world, get details on more than 20,000 Mobil Travel Guide-rated hotels and restaurants, pick up information on your destination city and its attractions, and view a five-day weather forecast. You can then create an itinerary for your trip. 95. Preview Travel Business Travel Center (business.previewtravel.com) To the usual reservations, travel news, weather and currency converters, Business Travel adds links to airlines' and rental car companies' frequent-traveler reward enrollment areas, and online retailers for travel-related merchandise. You can also create a personalized Fodor's travel guide to take with you on your trip. 96. TheTrip.com (www.thetrip.com) Tired of waiting at the airport for a client or customer? This site lets you track the actual progress and expected arrival of any domestic flight. It even shows the plane's speed, altitude and compass heading. If you're the one en route, TheTrip.com can automatically notify up to three people by e-mail about your flight arrival. You also get the usual-reservations, destination guides, a currency converter and maps. 97. Travelocity.com (www.travelocity.com) Through the SABRE system, Travelocity.com offers schedules for more than 700 airlines; reservations and tickets for more than 400 airlines; and reservations and purchase capabilities for more than 34,000 hotels and 50 car rental companies. It automatically searches for the three lowest-priced itinerary options based on your criteria. You can get travel discounts through its Travel Information Software Systems, and you can select your seat by viewing online seat maps. Virtual Offices 98. AppsOnline (www.appsonline.com) Don't buy that app-rent it at AppsOnline. The service offers business applications you can use online, including collaboration, sales automation, e-commerce and legal programs. You can rent Lotus Instant Teamroom, for instance, to set up a workspace where you can store documents, track projects and create discussion groups. Pricing for Teamroom is $14.95 per month for an owner account, and $14.95 for each additional user. 99. HotOffice (www.hotoffice.com) HotOffice offers a full suite of collaborative tools. In its newest edition, the package enhances its document sharing facility and adds e-mail, calendaring, to-do lists, conferencing, business information resources and more. The monthly per-user charge, which includes 20MB of online storage space, is $12.95. 100. Involv Free Web Teaming (www.involv.net) "Free" is the operative word for this service, which lets you set up an interactive Web site for your work group. Grant access rights to teams and post files for sharing, keep track of tasks, and use the discussion area and voting features to hash out your business issues. 101. MagicalDesk (www.magicaldesk.com) MagicalDesk provides six online apps (e-mail, calendar, to-do list, address book, bookmarks, and file storage and management) along with 5MB of storage space. Integration among applications is easy: Convert e-mail messages into to-do items or Internet bookmarks.
Additional research by Heide Balaban.
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