New specialty search engine dispenses how-to advice

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer

Founded by Rhode Island entrepreneur Ted Ives, FindHow Corp. has assembled an index spanning nearly about 30,000 Web pages with written, photographic and video instructions on a wide variety topics ranging from prosaic tasks like tying a tie to more exotic missions like inviting the Queen of England to a Super Bowl party.

Relying on a team of human editors, FindHow has sifted the information to discrete categories like "food and drink," "careers and work" and "wild and wacky" and emphasizes tips from well-established government and business sources. Ives also is trying to market FindHow as a "family-friendly" site in hopes of attracting a loyal following among librarians and students.

Ives believes FindHow's more organized format and emphasis on brands will help separate it from the horde of other Web sites that provide how-to information. The competition includes specialty services like eHow, Helpfulvideo, WonderHowTo, as well as all-purpose destinations like Internet search leader Google Inc. and its video-sharing subsidiary YouTube.

FindHow is starting out with about a $300,000 investment from Ives and a handful of other backers.

This content was originally posted on http://mootblogger.com/ © 2008 If you are not reading this text from the above site, you are reading a splog