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WITH THE PROLIFERATION OF 24-HOUR TELEVISION and radio news stations, industry-specific online news services, and speciality newspapers, magazines, and newsletters, you'd think that society's need to know is being pretty well satisfied. Believe it or not, there are still plenty of specialized information voids that many large companies are either ill equipped or unable to fill. Here's a look at how three enterprising information brokers collect top dollar for the data they disseminate.

Susan M. Detwiler, S.M. Detwiler & Associates Dewiler, 40, a health-care industry information broker, is in the right business at the right time. Health care is expected to be one of the hottest markets for entrepreneurial growth. The new regulations and pending policies are not only confusing to consumers but also to manufacturers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies who are scrambling for the latest data regarding the future of our nation's health-care system as well.

Dewiler worker for nine years as a market researcher in the medical equipment field before deciding to launch her business in 1985. "My department lacked funding so I had to become adept at finding existing information," she recalls. "I enjoyed the hunt. But I left because I realized that what I really like to do wasn't going to get me ahead in the company."

To help convey a sense of professionalism, she initially rented office space in Warsaw, Indiana, but when her family relocated to Fort Wayne, Detwiler brought her business home. "My assistant works on administrative tasks in the downstairs office and I do most of the actual research upstairs," she says.

Her clients range from health-care providers to manufacturers interested in acquisitions to attorneys involved in litigation and in need of information about specific equipment. "Our goal is to make health-care information accessible," she says. Although all the data Detwilder uses is available to the public, some material may not be published. "The work is time consuming. That's why people come to me. I know whom to call and what to ask for."

Many of Detwiler's contacts and resources go into her annual Detwiler Directory of Medical Market Sources, a compilation of government agencies, private firms, publishers, and associations that provides facts about the health-care field. "Instead of focusing on medical question, it addresses the industry of health care," she says. "For example, it provides information on where to find manufacturers, research firms, providers, statistics, and forecasts." Each entry includes the type of information and/or service that's offered. The 1994 edition, her third directory, lists 1,250 sources and 3,500 publications and was named one of American Demographics magazine's Best 100 Sources of Marketing Information. The book costs $200, and Detwiler says that purchasers include medical librarians, strategic planning and market research managers, and medical writers.

Detwiler's 1993 revenues were in the range of $150,000 to $200,000. As more companies compete for better positioning in what seems t be a constantly changing industry, Dewiler forecasts more profit in the years to come.

Neal Workman, SeaFax In 1985 Workman, 39, started a collection agency for the local seafood market in his Portland, Maine, home. But soon after realizing the lack of available information on the financial standings of both local and national companies and a general uncertainty about what was happening in the seafood industry, he began to expand his services to include financial, communications, andmarketing information. "Seafood is very pricey and perishable. It's important for my clients, people who sell mostly to large food-buying entities like grocery and restaurant chains, to have up-to-the-minute information about present and prospective buyers, competitors, and the market's financial climate so they can stay ahead of the game," he says.

By 1992 SeaFax had become the inside source for industry-specific information. "As we became more market dominant, our customers came to us for new products," he says. It was this overwhelming client demand that prompted workman to again reevaluate and expand his business, this time concentrating on new markets, not additional services. "I learned that the same companies that buy large quantities of fish are also likely to buy beef and poultry--and I already had the marketing information," he says. Workman took an eight-week sales trip to pitch his business to 52 poultry and beef companies throughout the country. Prospects were impressed by what he'd done for his seafood clients, but the tactic that actually reeled in new business was his "100 percent satisfaction guaranteed" claim. "We're asking people to pay up front for a year's worth of services," he says. "If I'm not willing to stand behind what I sell, why should they be interested in buying it?"

And just what does SeaFax provide? The company offers individual seafood, poultry, and beef industry-specific versions fo Bloomberg Business News a news service, mixed with a workshop program. For example, the InSite online service gives subscribers 24-hour access to such data as SeaFax's business reports and debt searches. The company's five-page business reports track industry players, including management changes, buyouts, mergers, marketing strategies, and financial information. The customized marketing profiles provide company contact information, business descriptions, and marketing information, A customer query launched SeaFax's most popular product, the NewsWire, a daily, one-page fax that highlights late-breaking industry news and trends. Workman estimates that nearly 800 clients receive this time-sensitive fact sheet. SeaFax also provides spring and fall workshops on marketing, credit management, and business-planning strategies.

Workman's first-year revenues as a one-parson local collection agency were $50,000 in 1985. As a full-service information supplier, now employing 44 full-time credit reporters, analysts, data collectors, and salespeople, SeaFax closed 1993 with revenues of approximately $2.9 million and expects to top $3 million in 1994.

Seena Sharp, Sharp Information Research Sharp, 51 lect the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple and a high-paying position as a corporate market research manager to move to Hermosa Beach, California, where she began a home-based market research firm in 1979. "I wanted to spend more time with my children, who were then three and six years old. And Southern California seemed like a breeding ground for small and home-based businesses," she says.

Her customers are predominately advertising agencies, Fortune 500 companies, marketing consultants, and an array of manufacturers. They come to Sharp for market studies, ranging from industry overviews to full-blown analyses, that help them anticipate trends, validate or contradict assumptions, and identify opportunities and threats. "People who come to me want more than the basic questions answered," she says. "They want in-depth information. I look for implications: 'What does this data mean?h The answer can uncover potential opportunities and problems."

Sharp bills her approach to research as competitive intelligence--sleuthing focused on a company's positon in relation to the marketplace, competitors, the economy, society, and the political scene." For each project, she ferrets out direct and published sources, such as newspapers, trade periodicals, newsletters, surveys, association publications, government documents, reports, magazines, product announcements, and press releases. And if she's not flipping through one of her 15 weekly required reading publications, she's on the phone conducting interviews with industry experts and journalists.

Her clever and well-rounder approach to information gathering has earned her $96,000 in gross revenues for 1993 and a solid reputation among many big-name and deep-pocketed companies. Her client roster includes Blue Cross, GTE, Hilton Hotels, Nissan, and Rubbermaid. "Most of the information is free and out there," says Sharp. "The trick is to know where and how to access it."

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