Transcript Slide 1

How to use Reference USA
A Guide To Creating Your Own
Targeted Company Database
By
Tom Jackson
Business Development
972.740.7367
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/thomasjacksonjr
(5-2010)
Reference USA
NOTE
Reference USA is a database of over 14 million US companies, both
private and public.
Keep in mind:
-Participation in the database is voluntary and not all companies do
post their information.
-Some companies will be listed but not have their revenues posted
-Some companies will have only their corporate office/location listed
but not all subsidiaries – others will have every local sales office
The US Census Dept. maintains the data that is the database for
Reference USA.
Reference USA
- Quick Start to finding more companies
like those your know
Reference USA – Getting Started
Find a local library that has Reference USA (most do) and verfiy
that they support remote on-line access to the databases.
You only need a Texas Drivers license to get a card – do not
need to live in the town where the library is located.
Start by clicking on the US Business (circled in Red)
Targeted Accounts – Quick Start
(YOUR former employer’s
name here)
The fastest way to find your INDUSTRY’s NAICS/SIC codes to start your
TARGET LIST is to search on a current/potential client or employers name.
This search will provide you with the NAICS information on that company. A
search on this NAICS information will result in a TARGETED list of your
former company’s COMPETITORS.
Targeted Accounts – Quick Start
Select your company’s name from list. You may see the name listed
more than once. You typically want to select the main office location
to get the greatest amount of information.
Targeted Accounts – Quick Start
With your employer’s
NAICS / SIC code
number(s). Your can
now enter these
number(s) to get a list of
ALL companies in that
industry subset – this
includes competitors!!
SIC
NAICS
Targeted Accounts – Quick Start
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Go back main menu:
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2)
3)
4)
5)
Click on Custom Search
Click on Business Type
Click on
Keyword/SIC/NAICS
Click on Search All
NAICS (or SIC if using
SIC codes)
Enter NAICS code
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Targeted Accounts – Quick Start
Click on View Results to see a complete listing of Targeted Companies.
Now you can go back and use the various filters to size the listing to
something more manageable.
You can also download from this page – however you may only be able
to download 10 or 15 companies at a time. Depends on library
Reference USA
- Tips for using additional features
Reference USA – Tips
The above is the main Reference USA screen. From here, click on the
Custom Search for more advanced options. Or just use the ‘quick search’
field to search on company name or any of the other basic fields.
Reference USA – Tips
From the Custom Search page you can select the Geographic Region (I prefer
MSA) and the Business Type (I prefer Major Industry Groups to get to the NAICS
codes). Then select which Industry by NAICS code you want to export. Click
on Update Count to refresh the data set. You can also filter on number of
employees and revenue by selecting Business Size.
Reference USA – Tips
This is the search results page with a listing of all companies that meet
your search criteria. From here you can either click on the company name
to see more detail or export the companies you selected (download)
Reference USA – Tips
From this page you can download your file (I prefer .csv and Custom for
more detail).
Reference USA
- Detail on the custom search fields
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
From the main screen
click on ‘US
Businesses’.
On the next screen
click on ‘Custom
Search’
Reference USA
NOTE
Reference USA is a database of over 14 million US companies, both
private and public.
Keep in mind:
-Participation in the database is voluntary and not all companies do
post their information.
-Some companies will be listed but not have their revenues posted
-Some companies will have only their corporate office/location listed
but not all subsidiaries – others will have every local sales office
The US Census Dept. maintains the data that is the database for
Reference USA.
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
Main Custom Search Page
When doing a search make
sure to click on ‘Update Count’
to see how many total
companies are being returned.
These nine parameters are the key fields to filter
your search results on. By using any number of
these filters you can narrow your results to a
targeted focused group.
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Company Name’ and/or ‘Brands and Products’
Can filter on just what the names imply. Can use separately or together
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Executives’
These three fields can
be used separately or
together.
Note: The amount of
executive information is
fairly limited. Therefore
the results on these
searches may yield only
few companies.
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
One of the most powerful
search fields is ‘Business Type’.
Keywords:
Lets you search by keywords (ie
Oil, PC, Software, Physicians).
From the list you can choose
which to add to your selected
filter.
You can also type in your NAICS
or SIC codes here to search on
those companies.
Major Industry Group:
This search lets you choose
whole industry NAICS groups
for maximum coverage. You
can also click through the
hierarchical structure of each
industry classification.
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
One of the most
powerful search fields
is ‘Geography’.
Can set filters for any
number of
geographical or
regional qualifiers.
The ‘Metro Area’ is a
very useful one to
focus in on a large
metropolitan area
from any state(s).
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Phone’
Can filter on just what
the names imply. Can
use separately or
together
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
One of the most powerful
search fields is ‘Business
Size’.
Number of Employees:
Lets you narrow your
search to specific company
size or sizes (ie can pick 1-4
and 20-49).
Sales Volumes:
Lets you target specific
company sales.
Note: Dollar amounts are
from most recent public
information.
Note:
‘Show more options’
Lets you set your own
custom Boolean search
parameters.
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Ownership’
Can filter on just what
the names imply.
One of the fields is
Private or Public
Companies.
Can use separately or
together
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Financial Data’
Not actual dollar
amounts (these are
found in ‘Business Size’)
Can filter on specific
financial metrics –
similar to Hoovers
Reference USA – Custom Search Fields
‘Special Selects’
This is the ‘Misc’ of the filters. A number of less common, yet valuable
search parameters
How to use the NAICS Hierarchy
Filters
(region, industry, sub-industry, revenues, public, private, etc)
All Industries
All Companies
All States
Your Industries
Your Companies
Your Locations
(14+million of companies)
(10,100,? companies)
Level 2
(20 base industries)
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
(competitors & suppliers)
(competitors)
Where Can I get the DFW COMPANY DATABASE and the PRESENTATION?
Tom Jackson
972-740-7367
[email protected]
www.thomasjackson.info
Click on this link to
go to the
DOWNLOAD page
****All I ask in return is that you “Link-In” to me****