The Internet can be an invaluable tool to ferret information about your competition and market trends. A great starting point is to visit the web sites of your key competitors. By posting information on the Internet to woo and inform potential customers and investors, companies expose themselves to you, the savvy competitor, who has access to that same information. Press releases, annual reports and other information pertaining to new products and executive appointments are for the taking. You might even find sensitive information -- posted by an eager web designer -- that was not intended for mass consumption. Or, the designer was unaware the software package's default assumption is that all files sharing a desk-top folder with web-files are intended for Internet publication. One example that comes to mind is a PowerPoint file entitled “Our North American Strategy” that was posted briefly on the web site of an international company.

Check with your local public library to see what resources are available on-line. For the price of library card, your local public library may provide local residents access to rich databases such as, Canadian Business & Current Affairs, ABI-Inform and Electronic Library – available elsewhere by subscription for hundreds or thousands of dollars per annum.

Give some thought to your Internet search. If you are not getting a lot of hits, then think of other possible keywords that might better describe your topic. Do not accept information that you uncover at face value; the author might be misinformed or might have intended to misinform others. If you find something of interest, then look for other sites to triangulate the information – bear in mind that the original author might own more than one web site.

Competitactics' web site includes links to business-related web sites to fast track your search.

An Internet search is just the starting point of a competitive intelligence investigation. Competitactics® can assist you in the design of your competitive intelligence investigation.

Copyright © 2002 Competitactics®. All rights reserved.
Revised: 06/06/06

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