Go Figure Census Bureau statistics give entrepreneurs a marketing edge.

Every 10 years the country gets caught up in a frenzy ofnumbers. States, cities, and organizations jockey to make sure alltheir constituents are noted during the deci-annual U.S. census.And politicians bluster and spout about equality and districtlines.

But once all the heads are counted and the population number isdetermined, what can be done with all the facts, figures, andstatistics the Census Bureau has laboriously collected?

Homebased business owners will find that the answer to thisquestion is . . . quite a lot. We dove headfirst into the Census Bureau to find out exactly how thisnumber-crunching behemoth can help your small business.

One of the quickest and most obvious ways to find out what'savailable is to visit the Census' Web site at http://www.census.gov. (Why don'tyou join our tour? We'll wait while you log on.) JohnKavaliunas, assistant chief of marketing services and conductor ofour tour of the site, starts us off on the Just For Fun page. MapStats is the centerpiece of Just For Fun; Kavaliunas describes itas "a quick and easy way to find out the demographics andother characteristics of your area."

Considering our area happens to be California, let's clickon Map Stats, which yields a map of the United States. Now click onCalifornia to behold an enlarged view of the state. Click onSouthern California to call forth its counties; let's select,say, Orange.

You've got a couple of options here: You can click on Map,1990 STF1A or STF3A Tables, USA Counties General Profile, or CountyBusiness Patterns Economic Profile. Kavaliunas' personalpreference? "I would look at USA Counties GeneralProfile," he suggests. "You get a quick profile for thearea. It includes information not only from the Census but fromother Census Bureau programs, such as the Bureau of EconomicAnalysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as datasources such as the National Center for HealthStatistics."

What we got was a thumbnail sketch of Orange County, includingdata such as population, births, deaths and educational level. Nowit's up to you to match these general statistics with yourspecific needs. For example, if you run a service targetingseniors, it's important to note that about 10 percent of thepopulation are social security recipients; if you own a retailstore, pay particular attention to statistics like per capitaretail spending and personal income levels.

Next, let's return to the page titled Orange County,California, and click on County Business Patterns. This sectionfeatures facts such as the number of employees, annual payroll andtotal number of establishments in a particular SIC Code. The datais divided by industry, and then further divided into businesssizes. "An entrepreneur could use these statistics to see whatcompetition is in the area," says Kavaliunas.

If you need to know specific characteristics of a population,backtrack to the Orange County page and click on STF3A Tables. Hereyou get a long list of data, ranging from race and family type tothe time residents leave for work. Check off the information youwant, hit the Submit button, and you can download theinformation.

What you now have is a customized collection of data to use foryour marketing plan. "If you choose Place of Work, forexample, you can find out what the daytime population is [in yourbusiness's area]," Kavaliunas says.

Changing The Subject

Another way you can search the site is by using Subjects A to Z,found at the Census home page. "This gives the major topics onwhich we collect information," says Kavaliunas. "Butremember, most of the statistics are at the nationallevel."

For example, searching under the Statistical Abstract,you'll find really good national data. This page includesbirths, deaths, fertility rates, consumer price index numbers,patents issued, bankruptcies filed, partnerships by industry, etc.An area that provides more localized information is the state datacenters.

Also under Subjects A to Z, you can access Tiger MappingServices under the letter T, which allows you to create acustomized map of an area in which you're interested. Visitingthis page requires a lot of patience, as it's agraphics-intensive application and one of the busiest sites on thehome page. If you click on New Location, you'll arrive at U.S.Gazetteer, where you can explore an area by city or ZIP code.

Census Shopping Network

The final stop of our tour is at CenStore and CenStats on thehome page. CenStore lists all the Census Bureau and GovernmentPrinting Office products available for purchase.

CenStat is an online service that provides access to the morepopular census data files in greater detail, for subscription ratesof either $40 quarterly or $125 annually. What do you get for yourmoney? Kavaliunas says this service offers International Data infour-digit, rather than one-digit, Standard International TradeClassification codes; 1,000 data items as opposed to 100 or so inthe U.S. county profile; and a census tract locator providingdetailed neighborhood statistics.

In January, the Census Bureau introduced a CD-ROM, Landview III,that functions similarly to the Tiger Map Service. The full U.S.version is $549; a combination of states costs $99. These productscan be purchased through the Census Bureau's Web site.

Numbers Game

Innkeeper Uses Census To Help Fine-Tune Her MarketingEfforts.

In many ways, Sharon Tabor typifies the corporate refugee. The39-year-old North Carolina resident left a retail management jobtwo years ago to run her own business because she was "tiredof the corporate rat race."

Tabor bought a bed-and-breakfast in Asheville, North Carolina.Although she had zero experience running an inn, when she found theAcorn Cottage Bed and Breakfast, with its 1920s-style architectureand prime location, she knew it was exactly what she'd beenlooking for.

Currently, Tabor does most of her marketing through guide booksand via the Internet. When we asked her how she thought the CensusBureau could help her business, she confessed that she had beencompletely unaware of the service. "If I had known it wasthere," she says, "I would have looked at it."

After this revelation, Tabor decided to use the Bureau to helpher pinpoint the regions where she should spend her futuremarketing dollars. "The visitors who typically come to abed-and-breakfast are 40 to 45 years old, have an annual incomeover $40,000 and are college-educated. They're mostly coupleson a weekend getaway," Tabor says. "Right now, Idon't know where people who fit this profile arelocated."

Tabor researched Omaha, Nebraska. She chose income underSubjects A to Z, hit "1990 Census Lookup" and then"STF3C-part 1," then checked the information she needed.The data table she created included age, education, occupation andmedian household and per capita incomes for 1989. This helped Tabordiscover exactly why she doesn't have many customers in Omaha.The largest population numbers were in the 25- to 44-year-old agegroup, and most people were not college graduates. While there weremany professional specialty occupations, the largest industry byfar was administrative support occupations (i.e., clerical jobs).The median household income of $30,000 was also below that of hertypical customer.

Tabor's conclusion? "These statistics are a good guidefor determining what region to advertise in," she says. Andthat's the beauty of using the Census Bureau--you get targetedmarket research at the best price in the world.

Going Global

The Census' Web page is a good resource for people lookingto expand internationally. From the home page, your path begins atthe Current Economic Indicators, then goes to Business,International Trade, and Country by one-digit SITC (StandardInternational Trade Classification) commodity trade data.

There you'll find the country you're researching. Onceyou choose what year's data you'd like to review, you canobtain total amounts of commodities that the United States importsfrom and exports to the country. "This section may indicate toentrepreneurs what countries to consider as possible exportdestinations," says John Kavaliunas, assistant chief ofmarketing services for the Census Bureau.

Contact Sources

Acorn Cottage Bed and Breakfast, http://www.bbonline.com/nc/acorncottage