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Writing 30 (Maharaj)

Introduction to Professional Writing

Business & News Databases

Find industry news, trends, and forecasts using these search tools.

Business Source Complete

  • includes business news, company profiles, & market research
  • search strategies
    • Search for a business, industry, or by a NAICS code
    • Limit by Source Types, such as SWOT analysis, Industry profiles, market research reports (e.g. information from MarketWatch and Consumer Behavior), and product reviews
    • Other search terms to consider:
      • datamonitor (a business information company which produce industry analyses)
      • trends, overview, innovation*, technolog*, environment*, marketing, accounting, law, legal, "public relations", statistics, etc.
        • The * truncation symbol picks up different words endings

Factiva Access

  • a global news sources, business focus
  • search strategies
    • In the subject search, select "Editor's choice -- Industry Trends/analysis" OR "Earning projections", etc.
    • Add other terms
    • Select a region if applicable
    • Use the date limiter
    • In "More Options", you can choose to:
      • search for your terms in Headline & Lead Paragraph
      • sort results by Relevance rather than Date
    • Run your search
      • Example: "rental cars" OR zip OR "car sharing" AND "Earnings Projections" (subject)
         

Newsbank: Access World News

  • worldwide news coverage
  • Search strategies
    • You can select variois groups, such as Major Metro Titles, America's News Magazines etc.
    • Use the date limiter

Google

  • Search for words which describe the industry you have selected. 
  • Add other terms such as trend, innovation, technology, environment, ethics, sustainability, legislation etc. 
  • Join similar terms together with OR
  • Join disimilar terms together with a + (this is similar to using AND in library databases)
  • Use a ~ before a term to pick up similar terms
  • Use both the main results page and the News section

Business Statistics

Gain info on potential customers, consumer markets

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Segment the population for targeting customers

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Know unemployment rates, loans granted and more

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Dig deeper into employment trends for your market

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Pay your employees fair rates based on earnings data

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Keep money by mastering exchange and interest rates

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Understand demand, costs and consumer spending

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Track indicators of sales and market performance

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"

Use a wealth of federal agency data on industries

From the Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis"