I haven’t had much time to write lately, and for that I apologize. After tomorrow life will become less hectic and the blog should go back to normal. That being said, today I want to talk about a few basic techniques you can use to do research on someone or a company that you want to ask to sponsor you (as mentioned in how to get quality sponsors), or just find out more about them. Below are four things you can do to find out more about anyone online:

1. Check out their website or blog for an about page: Most companies have an about page floating around somewhere. I have one located here. It contains just some basic facts, but many people and companies post a TON of information on these pages that you can read at your leisure and use to learn more about the company.
2. Google their name: This phrase is generic for almost any search engine. Just type in the name of the company or the person that you want to learn more about and see what you can see.
3. Follow their social media aggregation streams: To learn more about the person, what they like, and what they do follow some of their social media profiles. The best one to follow is their Twitter. These give a load of information about their business, hobbies or generally what they are up to.
4. Ask a friend: Finally, ask around. Someone you know may know something. That being said, don’t always trust hearsay. Once you’ve heard something from a friend, you may want to check out the validity of it using one of the first two methods described.

Hope those help on the way to find out more about people. If you do your research properly you’d be amazed about the easy of getting sponsors, partners or contacts on for contests or other online ventures.