However, despite advantages to franchising, buying or starting a franchise business is not for everyone. Some of disadvantages to franchising are discussed in list below.

Cons of Franchise Businesses

Loss of control and freedom - since franchisor's standards have to be adhered to, a franchisee may have limited scope for individual personal initiative. Ongoing royalties could be as high as 10% (or more) of revenues - this amount could determine whether you business is profitable or not. The initial franchise fee can be quite substantial. It can range anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 and, in some cases, up to $50,000! Advertising fees - there is usually a fee for advertising on a regional or national basis. If franchisor does not make best use of your advertising dollars, this could be a waste of money. Required Signage - most franchisors have a developed sign package that franchisee is required to purchase. This can be very expensive for small business owner. The franchisor's problems are also your problems - for example, you could have a serious issue if there was a conflict between franchisor and a major supplier. In summary, despite disadvantages of owning a franchise business, it generally offers real advantages with considerably reduced risks over going it on your own. All franchises are not created equal and research and due diligence should be done before starting or buying any franchise business. Franchising cannot guarantee a profit. You, as business owner, are ultimately responsible for success or failure of venture.

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- FREE OFFER: And of course most important thing on first page and every page is your subscription box with offer of a FREE report or other incentive your customers would value.

Above all, show your customers that you're in it for long haul, not quick score. No flashing banners screaming "Buy Me!". No pressure to hurry up and buy before midnight. Set yourself apart from your competition. Slow and steady wins race...and builds relationships.

CONSISTENT USE OF EMAIL

If you are emailing your local customers, sending them offers, coupons, and useful information about your business, you are more likely to get their business than some stranger out in cyberspace. And if you're sending out a newsletter, you'll be light years ahead of all of your competition, local or not!

Maybe idea of having to write a newsletter is stumbling block. If so, don't call it an ezine and don't lock yourself into a schedule. But just as you use snail mail, newspaper ads, radio or tv ads to keep your name in front of your customers, you should use email to do same thing. And it's a lot cheaper than any other form of advertising, so why on earth wouldn't you?

Here are a few ways to use email to create "brand" awareness within your local community.

- KEEP IN TOUCH: Email your customers and prospects on a regular basis, at least twice a month. Any less than that and they may forget you. Don't contact them just to sell them something. Send them useful information, related articles, notice of new content on your website, product announcements, etc. Your goal is to keep in touch so that if they or someone they know needs your product or service, you'll be one they call.

- SUPPORT: When customers purchase a product or service, use email to help them get most out of it. For a book or publication, it could be an email "walkthru" series highlighting important topics, or telling them what they would learn if they'd only read it!

- JOINT VENTURES: If at all possible, you should do joint ventures with neighboring businesses. Band together with several other (non-competing) businesses and form a coupon exchange. Every week or two, each of you send same email to your customer list, with email coupons for each business, or a link to a web page with coupons.

- TIMELY RESPONSE: When your customer does "raise her hand", reward her with a quick response! There's nothing more de-motivating than an unanswered email to someone who claims to want my business. More than once I've purchased a product and written a followup email, only to have it go unanswered. Guess who won't get another dime of my money?

I know all of this sounds like an awful lot of work, and I won't lie to you...relationship marketing is timeconsuming and can be hard work. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Building a website that focuses on customer takes more thought than slapping up an ego site (all about you). Maintaining a mailing list can be a real pain. Unsubscribing people who can't seem to read. Potential spam complaints. Answering subscriber questions. Responding to feedback or inquuiries.

It's so much easier to forget whole thing, which is what most people do. On internet, if you want to rise above clutter, you must do something to distinguish yourself from masses. You must be willing to do what others are not willing to do. For a small business, that means relationship marketing. ========================================= Sharon Fling is author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On Internet", and publisher of "Local Business Today", an ezine that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. Subscribe today and get a free ebook information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send any email to: mailto:subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART