the information you need.     Webonomics: Nine Essential Principles for Growing Your Business on the World Wide Web, by Evan I. Schwartz (Bantam Doubleday Dell). Written by a contributing editor to Wired magazine, this book offers insights into how businesses can use the Web to achieve success.           a. Business-Oriented Websites     As mentioned above, there is a huge number of business websites. Particularly with the explosion of e-commerce, business has become one of the most popular online subjects. To find these sites, a good bet is to use a search engine such as Yahoo!, HotBot, Lycos or Excite (see "Search Engines," below, for addresses). When you enter the terms youre interested in, such as "business plan," "contracts" or "incorporating," the search engine will retrieve the websites that contain those keywords, and hopefully the information you want.     Another way to find business sites is to keep your eyes open when reading business publications or watching business TV shows. Magazines and TV programs often provide Web addresses of sites that contain information relevant to the article or show.     Finally, once youve found a site, be sure to check whether it has any link pages. Websites often provide a list of links to sites that they assume readers may want to visit. In effect, your homework has already been done for you-the creators of the site have found other worthwhile sites and are sharing their knowledge with you. This is one of the best ways to find other related sites. Search Engines     Much of the navigating process online consists of searching the Web for certain words or phrases. Below is a list of the most popular search engines online:       b. Conferences and Newsgroups     In addition to the information presented in various websites, there are lots of opportunities for businesspeople to interact on the Web, and many wont cost you a cent. Some websites offer chat rooms where you can communicate "real time" with others who are present, basically by typing in a question or comment which will appear to everyone else in the chat room instantaneously. Any replies will also appear to all participants as soon as they are submitted. Other sites maintain bulletin boards, sometimes called conferences, where users submit questions or comments which appear on the board for others to see. If another user wants to reply to a given post, she submits a response, which also gets posted. In this way, some topics generate long "conversations" among users, which are often called "threads." By reading and joining in these threads, you can learn from other people who have similar interests and perhaps more experience than you in a particular area. Of course, its up to you to decide if other posters really know what theyre talking about.     To find sites that offer chat rooms or conferences, youll simply have to look around. Visit business-related sites and look for these interactive options. Or try using a search engine to find an interactive site that is focused on business issues. A particularly informational conference site is The Well (Whole Earth Lectronic Link), which has ongoing conferences on hundreds of topics, including small business. While many conferences are free, there is a small monthly fee to join The Well. Its address is www.well.com.