8 Reasons To Get Your Local Business Online

Written by Sharon Fling


Continued from page 1

- Visitor Polls

Invite your customers to give their opinion about something of interest. For example, a business that caters to parents who home school their children posedrepparttar question: "Which question are YOU askedrepparttar 106303 *most* about home schooling?" This question is relevant torepparttar 106304 target market and something they most likely have experienced. It invites them to participate and alongrepparttar 106305 way, give their opinion about something.

But most important torepparttar 106306 business owner, it can be a source of incredibly valuable information aboutrepparttar 106307 customer - and it's free. It also makes your website more interesting (as long asrepparttar 106308 poll changes often enough).

- Discount Coupons

What better incentive for someone to visit your website than to save money? Customers love getting a bargain, andrepparttar 106309 great thing about coupons isrepparttar 106310 customer usually has to buy something to get whatever goodiesrepparttar 106311 coupon offers.

Your coupon will especially motivaterepparttar 106312 prospect that was already thinking of doing business with you. If you're using a website building tool, it can easily be added atrepparttar 106313 click of a mouse, and unlike a yellow page coupon, you can change it anytime.

These are a few simple examples, and this list can easily be expanded: order status, press releases, product information, a searchable product database. Again,repparttar 106314 possibilities are endless.

6. TO GET PUBLICITY

Every business needs exposure, and one ofrepparttar 106315 best kinds is media attention. If your business is something new and different, send out a press release that includes your URL -- you could get written up inrepparttar 106316 local paper.

Even an ordinary business can get media coverage if you can come up withrepparttar 106317 right angle - perhaps a follow-up to a previous article? A human interest story? The media is always looking for interesting stories and if you're creative enough, maybe yours could be one of them. And what better place forrepparttar 106318 public to get more information than from your website?

Perhaps you could sponsor a local event, or do some volunteer work. Your business will getrepparttar 106319 credit, along with a mention ofrepparttar 106320 website URL.

The more placesrepparttar 106321 public can find information about your company,repparttar 106322 better off you'll be. In our increasingly wired society, having a website makes it easy for more people to get information about your company. And they can get it more quickly and easily online.

7. BECAUSE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE ONLINE

Did you know that 40-48 million adults went online last year looking for local content? The average local user is college educated, makes good money, and likes shopping online. They are more likely to make purchases than non-users of local content, either online or offline. This demographic market is every business owner's dream.

As more local information becomes available online, people are starting to look atrepparttar 106323 Internet as something useful instead of a passing fad. Consumers are getting online in record numbers, resulting in a critical mass of local users in top markets, and spreading across communities of all sizes.

Chances are a number of your local prospects and customers are part of this desirable demographic - and that number will only increase.

8. SO IS YOUR COMPETITION

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of all U.S. small businesses are connected torepparttar 106324 Internet, and nearly 50% will continue to maintain active, purposeful Web sites this year.

Analysts at http://www.emarketer.com have predicted that 72% of small businesses will engage in e-commerce by 2002, racking up an impressive $230 billion in total revenues.

Maybe you think nobody in your industry is usingrepparttar 106325 Internet. But I guarantee you, whatever your business, one of your competitors is online and usingrepparttar 106326 technology to promote themselves - perhaps not locally yet, but it's just a matter of time. If your competition is there, you should be too.

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So there you have it - 8 good reasons to get your local business onrepparttar 106327 Web. (Notice I didn't includerepparttar 106328 reason "to sell something". Too many business owners have made that mistake - putting up a website just to sell something. You have to give before you receive. Nowhere is that more true than online.)

If small business is to survive, business owners must learn to harnessrepparttar 106329 power ofrepparttar 106330 Internet ... or risk losing their remaining market share to competitors that "get" technology. For those who choose to ignorerepparttar 106331 "elephant inrepparttar 106332 living room", hopingrepparttar 106333 Internet will go away, it's only going to get worse inrepparttar 106334 days ahead.

Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and publishes an electronic newsletter that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. For more information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send a blank email to: subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART


Geotargeting Delivers for Local Business

Written by Sharon Fling


Continued from page 1

- Zip Code

Since all Zip Codes can be easily matched to a location, Geotargeting by zip code works fine - as long asrepparttar person is tellingrepparttar 106302 truth. People lie allrepparttar 106303 time when signing up for free services and filling out survey forms.

Still, what we have now works most ofrepparttar 106304 time, and asrepparttar 106305 technology improves, so willrepparttar 106306 results.

GEOTARGETING SOLUTIONS

Geotargeting is done in a number of ways, but they all fall into one or more ofrepparttar 106307 following four basic categories:

1. Localized content – This is advertising or information that applies to a local or regional area. Some providers of localized advertising include online versions newspaper, television, and radio; also includes city guides, yellow pages and directories.

2. Banner advertising – Most banner ads are sold through one ofrepparttar 106308 online ad networks, and all of them provide some sort of geographic targeting and demographic selection. Some ad networks include Doubleclick.com, ValueClick.com, and Commission Junction (www.cj.com).

3. Registration Data - Most sites that provide services such as email or internet access require users to register. That process often includes zip code, which can be used to target by city or even street. These types of sites can also use cookies (small bits of data stored onrepparttar 106309 user’s computer) to recognizerepparttar 106310 user each time they return by matching it to their registration data. Examples include aol.com, hotmail.com, yahoo.com, netzero.com, etc.

4. Geographic Data Providers – Providers of geographic specific data, such as phone directories and map services, can easily serve up local ads. That’s because to getrepparttar 106311 information they need, people have to give either zip code or area code, which is easily mapped to location. Examples include mapquest.com, switchboard.com and weather.com.

New sources for geotargeting are popping up allrepparttar 106312 time, as traditional postal list owners such as magazines and catalog vendors realize they’re sitting on a goldmine of customer information. Asrepparttar 106313 technology gets better, you can expect geotargeting to become even more widespread.

The bottom line? For local business, geotargeting will help to deliver onrepparttar 106314 oft-repeated promise of a level playing field. Forgetrepparttar 106315 global economy ....the future ofrepparttar 106316 Internet is local.

Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and publishes an electronic newsletter that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. For more information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send a blank email to: subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART


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