et Vawnr's WHOS Web Helps Small Business Gain Competitive Advantage (NAPSA)—Experts say that despite dot-com dips in the economy, the Internet continues to be an invaluable tool for small businesses. Statistics show that more small businesses are using the Internet to their advantage than ever before. In fact, in the year 2000, small businesses that reported using the Internet regularly grew 46 percent faster than those that did not, according to the American City Business Journal. Many say this is due to services such as www.score.org, a small business resource. For 37 years, the non-profit organization comprised of seasoned business executives, has given small businesses free business advice that may have otherwise been too costly to afford. The group offers an array of online, small business “how to” articles, dealing with topics such as insurance, marketing and planning. In addition, the service provides free E-mail Counseling—said to be one of the site’s most useful features. The counseling is available to any visitor who visits the site. Users search list of the association’s 800 seasoned business executives by keyword and pose a question to the expert of their choice. Free e-mail counseling is avail- able that can help small businessesturn big profits. Within 48 hours, the advisor will respond to the question and continue communications until the question is completely answered or the problem is solved. Sites of this type can make valuable advice available to businesses of all sizes, instead of only large firms that can hire consultants. “Small businesses change with business trends,” says W. Kenneth Yancey, Jr., CEO of the organization. “SCORE offers resources that are authored by industry experts and that can help a small business grow.” For more information, visit www.score.org or call 1-800-6340245.
