Staying up to date on the latest technologies and information is a critical strategy for businesses large and small, but few leaders know the extensive number of resources available to them free of charge with a library card.
Frederick County Public Libraries (FCPL) has changed dramatically in the past few years to adapt to the changing needs of the community. No longer a place to just check out books, the library offers many electronic resources which can be particularly useful for local business owners. Here are just three of the services business owners can use to become better managers, advance their marketing efforts, and stay up-to-date on the latest services.
Photo Credit: Roman Samborskyi
Business Classes from the Comfort of Your Couch with Lynda.com
Looking to improve your leadership skills or learn how to use the latest software? Look no further than Lynda.com, an online resource for library card holders that opens the doors to over 7,600 e-courses taught by industry professionals. Courses range from business and technology to creative software tutorials.
Lynda.com also presents its courses in multiple formats, from the bite-size tutorials that are done in 5 minutes or less to full educational classes that give viewers a deep dive into a particular topic. This resource is also constantly updating, with 50-60 new videos released each week.
Their most-watched courses include topics like: Excel 2016 Essential Training, Project Management Foundations, Strategic Thinking, Body Language for Leaders, SEO Foundations, and Photoshop One-on-One.
Photo Credit: Jakkapan Jabjainai
ReferenceUSA – Your Secret Marketing Weapon
Looking for an edge on your competition? ReferenceUSA is a comprehensive data provider that offers accurate and updated business and consumer data in multiple formats. This site can pull consumer data by zip code, city, neighborhood, or radius, giving you the publicly-accessible information that can power your marketing campaigns for new business.
ReferenceUSA can also help local start-ups as they create their business plans by offering a historical database of businesses going back to 1997. This feature allows users to create individualized charts, graphs, and heat maps to visualize industry trends as they forecast their own development opportunities within a specific city or neighborhood.
Photo Credit: Amenic181
Everything You Never Knew About Business Plans in Ebook Format
Are you staying on top of the latest trends in your field? Or are you writing your first business plan and not sure where to begin? Frederick County Public Libraries’ collection of Business Ebooks from Gale are a one-stop shop for keeping your business on the cutting edge. The business ebooks include encyclopedias of industries which are released for American, emerging, small business, and global markets. These tomes are then broken down by field and subcategory, allowing users to specify the exact industry they are looking for, such as “Outdoor Power Equipment Stores” or “Used Merchandise Stores.”
If you are just starting your own business then the “Business Plans Handbook,” which is released several times a year, provides working examples from successful businesses across the nation as well as plans in all major industries. This guide can help give direction and necessary information you need to know before approaching banks or investors.
With all of these great tools for local business owners, there has never been a better time to be a library card holder. This list merely scratches the surface of what Frederick County Public Libraries offers all card holders and, with regular programming at all nine of our branches throughout Frederick County, you are sure to find even more resources that can help your business thrive. Locate your nearest branch or find out more by visiting www.fcpl.org.
About the author: Teresa Vorce evaluates and selects both electronic and print materials for Frederick County Public Libraries. She has 24 years of experience working in this capacity for FCPL. Teresa has seen firsthand the positive impact that FCPL’s digital collections and electronic resources has on individuals and the community.
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