You'll also find plenty of good research at the Australia Mini Portal ( http://fita.org/countries/australia.html ), a feature of the FITA Web site. The Australia Mini Portal has an overview of Australia, with facts about the language, currency, climate, etc., plus more specific information about the economy, markets, taxes, labor market indicators, and tips on doing business in Australia.

Click on "Useful Links" and you'll find a variety of sources for market research, trade leads, business directories, logistics, government contacts, travel, financing, and lots more.

The Australia Mini Portal is one of many research gateways at the FITA site. To find Mini Portals for other regions or countries, just click on "Country Profiles" from within a Mini Portal, or at the FITA home page ( http://www.fita.org).

The following associations are FITA member associations. Their sites offer more resources about doing business with Australia:

• Australia America Association
• Australians in Film
• Australians in LA

• ImportGenius (http://www.importgenius.com) has a blazing fast search engine that produces results in an easy to read format. You simply type in your search term and indicate what category (product, consignee, consignee address, shipper, shipper address, US port, foreign port, bill of lading, carrier code, vessel name) you want to search, then put in a date range, and you'll get a list of all shipments meeting those criteria. You can also add columns to the list, such as Gross Weight and Quantity, if you want more information about the shipment. If you see a shipment that looks interesting, you can click on a little magnifying glass icon and see details such as the container number, the shipper's address and phone number, and more. Information like this can be used as competitive intelligence, to find out what your competitors are importing and when. That's just one use, however -- stock analysts have also found shipping data valuable because it allows them to see the links between a company's imports and its revenues. You could also get historical data about what your biggest customers are importing and when, so you can anticipate their needs and make your sales presentation at the right time. ImportGenius has a monthly fee starting at US $99 for access to this information. It's certainly worth a look to see if this kind of information will be an asset to your competitive intelligence and sales efforts.
  
  
• TradeMining (http://www.trademining.com) has a clean and simple interface, and its Express Search option allows you to search by date range, U.S. importer & arrival port, foreign supplier, port of lading, commodity, country of origin, and the U.S. state where the importer is located. You can click on a bill of lading number in the search results to see the complete bill of lading for that shipment. TradeMining lets you download your results into Excel, PDF, or comma- delimited formats. The Express Search option is priced competitively: a three month subscription costs $600, and this allows you unlimited searches. You can also pay $50 for one-time searches with up to 500 records in the results. For more advanced users there is the Professional Search option, which allows more customization of reports and more search results.
  
  
• Zepol's TradeIQ™ (http://www.zepol.com) has simple graphics with helpful "IQ" balloons that contain tips on how to search better. You can do a keyword search or "drill down" by clicking on a category and selecting more specific search parameters. The categories include vessel, container, port, company, consignee, shipper, bill of lading number, carrier, arrival date, and commodity or product. You can really zero in on a specific company's shipping activity by searching these categories. You can vary the period searched, get historical trends, download bills of lading to PDF or HTML format, and export to Excel. The searches are fast, and the interface is easy to use, especially with the IQ balloons. Zepol does not publish its pricing information, but a representative told me it is comparable to PIERS and Datamyne. Subscriptions range from three to twelve months, or longer. All subscriptions include unlimited searches by company or product, regardless of business line; unlimited bill of lading downloads; complete access to historical data from January 2003 to one week ago; and no restrictions on trade routes or product classification. Trade IQ™ has dedicated phone and online support, and in-depth industry-specific training.
  
  
• There's an art to getting the most out of these trade databases, and if you don't know what you're doing you'll waste time and money. One advantage The Datamyne (http://www.thedatamyne.com) has is that their account executives work one-on-one with clients in online training sessions, and even come out to your site once a year for an in-person visit, just to make sure you're getting the most from your subscription. The Datamyne has data from 42 countries and is adding more all the time. The level of detail in the shipping records varies by country, but in many cases you can get details like: product type & price; net & gross weights; freight value & insurance; taxes charged; and brand & model details. The data is updated every two days, so it is very current. You can create reports very easily, by dragging and dropping different categories on your search screen. Like the other services, you can download reports in various formats. The Datamyne has various pricing plans, depending on your needs, but the basic subscription plan starts at $550 per month. There are many options available, however, depending on the content you're looking for and the number of records. )

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