JAMES J HILL CENTER GUIDE TO USING A-TO-Z DATABASES

Transcription

1 JAMES J HILL CENTER GUIDE TO USING A-TO-Z DATABASES 80 West Fourth Street Saint Paul, MN PH: (651) info@jjhill.org Guide to Using AtoZ Databases is a proprietary product of the James J. Hill Center. Updated December Copyright All rights are reserved.

2 AtoZ Databases How to useatoz Databases for company lists, lists of individuals, company research, and job hunting. Building Company Prospect Lists How to use AtoZ Databases to build lists of companies for sales and marketing purposes or to search for competitors or potential employers. About AtoZ Databases contains thirty million records for domestic companies. AtoZ company profiles include company contact information, executive names, annual sales estimates, historic revenue data, competitors, corporate family trees, industry classification codes, and current job postings. Getting Started Access the database through the Database List page. Click the Get Started link next to 30 Million Businesses and Executives.

3 Start Your Search Search parameters appear on the left-hand side of the page. Select a general location in which you d like to search for businesses by clicking the heading you feel most appropriate under Geography. If you are looking to choose specific cities, first select a State from the drop-down menu that appears in the center of the screen, then go through the cities list and select the ones you want by clicking on them. Locations you ve selected will appear in the box on the right. To unselect a location, simply click it again. To define a business type, you may either conduct a keyword search, or use either SIC or NAICS industry codes to help identify wanted industries. o To do a keyword search, check the box next to Keyword/Business Type, and type your keyword in the search box at the center of the page. Depending on the number of your search results, you may need to generalize, clarify, or paraphrase your search keywords. Then browse the business type list that comes up and click on the ones that fit your search criteria.

4 o If you are more familiar with using either SIC or NAICS industry code, check the category accordingly, and enter the industry code as instructed. You may either click the blue NAICS Codes link in the center of the screen to browse the industry code list, and add as many codes as you want, or you could try Googling with either NAICS code + your industry name or SIC code + your industry name to find out the accurate code to use. You may limit the business size by putting a range on either the employee size or annual revenue. Select a category accordingly, then select size(s) from the provided list. If the database doesn t break employee size/annual revenue down as you d like, click Advanced Options and type in the numbers yourself.

5 After you re done setting search parameters, close any search filter boxes you decide not to use, then click Update Count on the right side of the page to see how many results your search has generated. Broaden or narrow your search results by altering your search filters. If you are satisfied with the search count, hit the green Search button to view the search results page. Click on a business name to view the more detailed business profile.

6 To go back to the search results list after viewing a detailed business profile, click the Results tab on the top. Save Your Search Results You can save up to 1,000 search results at a time in AtoZ Databases. To save your search results, check the box next to the name of each business you d like to save. If you d like to save all 25 records on a page, click the box to the left of the Business Name heading. To download the next page of results, go to the next page by clicking on the arrow and select all of the records by checking

7 the same box. Repeat this step until you ve selected all of the records you want to save. You may select up to 40 pages at a time. When you are done selecting business records, click Download, type in the file name, select Excel as the format, switch to Details View instead of Results View, and click Continue. If you d prefer to your results to yourself, click instead of Download and follow the same instructions. Continue Searching Click Revise Search if you are unsatisfied with the search results and want to make edits. Click New Search if you are ready to compile a new business list. Click the Home tab if you want to try other search engines in this database.

8 Building Lists of Individuals How to use the AtoZ Databases to build lists of individuals for sales and marketing purposes. About AtoZ Databases contains 220 million resident profiles. Researchers can search for residents by geography, age, income, home value, and hobbies. Getting Started Click the Get Started link next to 220 Million Residents. Start Your Search Select the search parameters you need from the left column, then complete your search criteria using the boxes at the center of the page, and click Search to view the results.

9 Save what you find You can save up to 1,000 search results at a time in AtoZ Databases. To save your search results, check the box next to First Name, allowing you to select all 25 records on the current page. Go to the next page and select all of the records by checking the same box, repeat until you ve selected all of the records you want to save. You can select up to 40 pages at a time. When you are done selecting individual records, click Download, type in the file name, select Excel as the format, switch to Details View, and click Continue. If you prefer to your records, click instead of Download and follow the same instructions.

10 Researching Individual Companies Using AtoZ Databases, you can easily look up individual companies and access their profiles for information. Start Your Search Type the name of the business you are interested in into the box under Business Name. Check the box next to Headquarters if you want headquarters only. If you know where the business is located, type in a city name or select a state. If you re not sure where the business is located, it s okay to leave geography blank. Click Search.

11 Save What You Find To save a company profile, check the box next to the company name and click Download. Name the document you are going to save, select Excel as the format, switch to Details View, and click Continue. If you prefer to your record, click instead of Download and follow the same instructions.

12 Job Hunting AtoZ Databases is powered by the Indeed search engine, so you are able to search for jobs in this database in the same way you might search for jobs at indeed.com. The difference is, after you find the ideal job postings, you can also use the A to Z database to do company research to prepare for your application. Start Your Search In the Find a Job box, type your search keyword in the first box, set the geography by either city, state, or zip code, choose a job type from the drop-down menu, and click Search.

13 Save What You Find To view details about the job posting, click the job title in blue. You will be brought to a webpage on Indeed containing information about the job. To save these records, check the box next to Job Titles to select all records on a page, then click the button, type in your address, and press Send . We recommend ing one page to yourself at a time. You will receive a PDF document containing the job records.

14 Questions? Consult with a Business Librarian / / info@jjhill.org