I was sipping my morning "wake-cup" of coffee over the SundaySan Francisco Chronicle this weekend when I came across anarticle by staff writer John Batteiger referencing web sitesuseful to small busin... I was sipping my morning "wake-cup" of coffee over the SundaySan Francisco Chronicle this weekend when I came across anarticle by staff writer John Batteiger referencing web sitesuseful to small business. Great, I thought, I'd love more ofthose valuable resources. Silly me.Although I think this is an example of a reporter not doinghis research and glossing over an important subject, I can'teven begin to comprehend the absurd references provided bythat reporter! The SBA, the FTC, the Yahoo Small BusinessInformation section, which although they each have some smallpart to play in helping the little guy, don't provide a greatresource for small business information beyond their ownmeager references to other web sites.I've faced this oddity for three years now while trying togain links across the web for the WebSite101 Small BusinessEcommerce Tutorial I provide online. Nobody wants to listento those of us that practice what we preach each day and godaily to maintain the house payments and bills by earing ourliving online. Everyone wants to hear what the Monsters haveto say about being a little guy! David doesn't want to BEGoliath, David Wants To SLAY Goliath! Hello! Anyone home?I dashed off a letter to that reporter which I've includedbelow and realized that my own readers could benefit fromhearing this stuff as well. So I've attached my note tothat reporter below.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*John,(You'll note that I've sent copies of this letter to each ofthe sites I referenced here, who I'm sure will have thoughtsof their own to contribute.)I'm fascinated at how folks consistently look to Goliaths tolearn how to be an effective David! When I saw your articletoday at:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/14/BU222086.DTL I thought I might see some links to things such as http://www.freeagentnation.com a book by Daniel H. Pink(he relies on praise from the big boys in his reviews butdid confide to me that he'd consider quotes from little guyslike me.) My raves about his book are online at:http://www.WebSite101.com/arch/archive100.htmlThe Chronicle is quoted on *his* site in an article by yourcolleague George Raine, but you don't return the favor?http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/02/BU147439.DTL&type=businessCome on John, if you were about to go out on your own, wouldyou rely on the sources you quote in your story and wade deeplythrough the mire of that bureaucratic gobbledygook to get tothe occassional gem? How about sources like http://www.workz.com where I am proud to be a columnist intheir guest expert section on Small Business Ecommerce at:http://www.workz.com/content/1679.aspHow about true home business based sites like http://www.ahbbo.com (short for "A Home Based Business Online"run by Elena Fawkner).How about truly valuable stuff for independent professionals atsites like http://www.learningfountain.comrun by Paul Siegel where valuable community among freelancershelps all become better business owners?One of your listed sources is http://ecommerce.About.comWhere I used to have a link to my website until they began therequirements of the new http://lunanetwork.about.com/ whichrequires that linked sites cross promote About.com and thatpartners must serve a minimum of 150,000 pageviews a monthfrom their own sites. Now you must be a Goliath to be listedby Goliaths.The same happened at the former small business section ofabout.com where the entire category was dropped and mergedwith the ecommerce section, which then dropped all of theDavids from their Goliath-only links list!Now we see all over the web how Goliaths are courting businessfrom Davids as they suddenly realize that we make up almost50% of the US economy. Oh really? What a surprise! Bigbusiness falters after absorbing all of each other's money,then begins luring smaller fish when they've eaten all thebig ones. I did a piece on that as well at:http://website101.com/arch/archive96.htmlI have a much better list. Here's a few additional sites foryou to review so you can gain a true understanding of what thelittle guy truly needs to survive as a small business.http://www.ideacafe.comhttp://www.guru.comhttp://www.elance.comhttp://www.allbusiness.comhttp://www.website101.com I'm not too proud to list my own site. Article Tags: Small Business Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com