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Include your name and contact information at the top of your cover letter. Try to find out who is responsible for interviewing/hiring someone for the position to which you’re applying and address your letter to that individual. Sometimes this information can be found on a company website or on a business information site like Manta.com. Providing someone’s name will get your cover letter (and resume) further along than the standard: “To Whom It May Concern.” It also shows that you’ve done some research — at least enough to know who’s who at the company.

In the opening paragraph of your cover letter be sure to clarify what it is you are writing about. Are you writing to see if that have any open positions? Are you writing in regards to a specific position? If you saw an online posting, provide the name of the site and the date it was accessed as well as the position title and any additional information that makes it clear who you are and the sort of position in which you are interested.

Research the company that will be interviewing you. Knowing the company’s background, competitors, and other information will make it easier for you to ask intelligent questions of the interviewer as well as give you insight into whether or not you are interested in working for a particular company. Manta.com offers a simple registration process that grants access to millions of free company profiles.

Modify your resume with the position description is mind. Research the company (use a site like Manta.com — which provides access to millions of free company profiles — to help you). Carefully review the details of the position and list your relevant experience accordingly. If needed, rewrite your skill descriptions to target the needs of the position/company. And remember, in the world of interviewing, you’re only as qualified as your resume says you are.

Whenever you buy business information from a commercial provider, always make sure the business information publisher will let you see a sample report before buying. Any of the leading publishers of business information, including Manta, will let you see a sample report before buying. The sample is almost always of a fictitious company with no real information, but it gives a good idea of what’s included when you download a real supplier report, or any of Manta’s other tiered information offerings.

Which business information provider hosts information on the smallest businesses? There’s no clear answer. But this much is clear: With subscriptions to four leading business information publishers, Manta is a solid business resource for small business information. Manta has millions of small businesses in its online databases. You’d be surprised how many small businesses are in the Manta database. Check it out for yourself.

When a private company goes public, there’s good and bad news for anyone attempting to get business intelligence out of the company. The good news is that once a company goes public, it will be required by the federal government to publicly release financial information on a quarterly and annual basis. The bad news is that after announcing plans to go public and before the IPO, businesses enter a mandated “quiet period” when they are not allowed to release information. Manta is backed by industry information experts like D&B and Current Analysis, who know how to get the most possible information out of private companies, and then follow them through the IPO process, with professional reporting and analysis.

All United States companies that are publicly traded put out annual reports for their stockholders. These annual reports can be useful — and they’re free. But they are far from complete sources of business information. With an online database of millions of company profiles, backed by four leading publishers of business information, Manta is a complete and trusted source of business information on United States companies and international businesses.

It’s one thing to find a good business information provider for private company research. It’s another to try and find that company’s information once you choose a provider. Remember, all commercial business information providers are not created equal, and some providers will have more information available than others. With information from four leading publishers of business information, Manta makes it very easy to do a company search online. Search by name, industry, location or business information publisher, making it easy to find the company you want to research.

Why use Manta for the business information you need to create market research reports? After all, there are hundreds of other providers of business information out there. But here’s a tip: There are few services out there that offer the depth and breadth of information that Manta has across multiple industries for as low a cost. Remember, Manta uses four leading publishers of business information, covering millions of companies in thousands of industries. And Manta only charges users for what they actually download. It’s a combination that few other providers can match.