I'll be hosting a library table at the Small Business Tax Assistance Day this Saturday, March 12 @ 9am.  Come learn about small business tax updates and attend informative workshops. IRS agents and tax professionals will be available to answer questions. This event is free and located at Work2Future- 1290 Parkmoor Avenue.  See you there!

Reference USA is an online business directory. Yes, that sounds kind of boring but it's actually a very useful resource. So, what can Reference USA do for you?

• Say you are interested in opening up a donut shop in San José but want to find out if the market is already saturated. Reference USA can tell you how many donut shops or any type of business, there are in Santa Clara County or specified geographic location 
• Maybe you are building a sales lead list and need contact names for businesses with sales over $1 million, you can find out owner and executive names for a particular company and limit your search within a certain sales range
• Search a particular company and find its nearby competitors
• Find subsidiaries of a company
• Find out which businesses have 1-4 employees in the 408 area code

These are just a few of the searches that Reference USA can do. Reference USA is not just a simple directory with names and addresses, it's great tool for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and sales and marketing folks. Plus, you can access Reference USA for free, from home or work with a valid SJPL library card.

Yes, it's that special time of year again. No, not Valentine's Day or the first day of Spring but tax time. If you're a small business owner or started your small business last year, you have business taxes to file. Business taxes may seem overwhelming but there are resources to help.

The IRS online has a site dedicated to small business owners, you can find out what forms you need to file and what deductions are available for small business owners.

Of course we have books that can help as well:

Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes by Stephen Fishman

Tax Savvy for Small Business by Frederick W. Daily

In addition, don't miss Small Business Tax Assistance Days coming in March at Work2Future. Come learn about tax updates and resources, and tax pros will be available to answer your questions. This event is free, put on by Business Owner Space and its partners such as San José Public Library!

I will be teaching a class at the Entrepreneur Center, Tuesday, Feb. 8. It's free and you can find out about all the great resources the library has to offer to help small business. Sign- up online. Plus, it's a good opportunity to check out what the Entrepreneur Center has to offer as well.

Plunkett Research Online offers industry statistics, trends, and in-depth company profiles. This resource is great for job seekers researching potential employers and biz folks. This resource also has a Build-a-Report feature which allows you to create a customized PDF report. Plunkett Research Online is easy to use and truly chock full of useful information. Take a look, all you need to access this resource online for free is your valid SJPL library card number and PIN.

Congratulations! You got your business plan together, secured financing, and opened up shop. Now what?   You need to market the daylights out of your business. The days of advertising your business in the yellow pages and hoping customers come in are gone.  Don't get me wrong, the yellow pages are still an option but now there a lot more options. If you are still in the dark about social media and other ways to market your business give these books a look:

30-Minute Social Media Marketing by Susan Gunelius

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott

Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan

The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella