7 Ways to Promote Your Local Business Online

Written by Sharon Fling


Savvy business owners are catching on torepparttar fact thatrepparttar 106300 local online market is booming. it’s predicted to be a $50 billion market by 2006. There is no doubt thatrepparttar 106301 future ofrepparttar 106302 Internet is local - and if you don’t get your local business intorepparttar 106303 act now, it may be too late.

Look at howrepparttar 106304 big boys are reaching out to consumers, driving traffic to their local stores. Staples, Office Depot, Wal-Mart - these guys are all going afterrepparttar 106305 local market in a big way. Why? Because they know that people spend 80% of their income within 20 miles of home, and that consumers are turning torepparttar 106306 Internet to research products and services before they buy.

Now, maybe you can’t compete with those deep pockets financially, but it doesn’t take a million dollars to have a successful web presence. Here are 7 easy ways to promote your local business online, and they don’t cost a lot of money.

YOUR URL EVERYWHERE (you do have a website, don’t you?)

Any and every thing that may come in contact with a customer should have your URL on it. Business cards, bags, flyers, newspaper ads, your store window, free giveaways --as you re- order your stationery and promotional items, just add your URL. Simple and painless.

NETWORK WITH OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES

One ofrepparttar 106307 most powerful strategies for promoting your business is to team up other business owners, especially those who already have websites. You probably can learn a lot from their experiences, and there are all sorts of ways you can work together to benefit all. For example:

Link Exchange - each website can have a special page just for links to other (non-competing) businesses, giving each business a chance to pick up new customers at no cost. These links should NOT be on your main page, unless you want your visitors to click awayrepparttar 106308 minute they hit your site.

Coupon Exchange - every week or two, each business owner can send a special mailing to their list with coupons from all ofrepparttar 106309 businesses. Each business has a chance to get some new business without spending a cent.

Local Guide - if there’s no local business guide in your area, why not team up with some other business owners and create your own? You may be able to find a web designer that will go in on it with your group, just forrepparttar 106310 exposure andrepparttar 106311 chance to sell his services to individual business owners later. He could help promoterepparttar 106312 website in exchange for referrals orrepparttar 106313 right to sell ads onrepparttar 106314 site later.

LOCAL BUSINESS GUIDES

Whether you’re selling a product or a service, local business guides can be one of your best traffic generators. People are increasingly turning to these local directories to look for goods and services. Get your site listed in as many local guides and directories as you can find. Some charge for a listing, but many are free because they’re just starting out and need to get listings. So get listed for free while you still can. Many businesses are still not taking advantage of this great source of traffic, so you could easily berepparttar 106315 only listing in your category. I’ve heard more than once about consumers who patronized a business because it wasrepparttar 106316 ONLY listing in its category.

Using Internet Auctions To Promote Your Local Business

Written by Sharon Fling


Here is a little-used but highly effective way of reaching potential customers, even in your local market: online auctions.

A growing number of businesses are using auctions to attract a steady stream of customers. By listing on an auction site such as eBay, your business will be exposed to an audience of 22 million people in over 100 countries. But more importantly, it can reachrepparttar people next door.

The small listing fees are a small price to pay forrepparttar 106299 kind of exposure you get, especially onrepparttar 106300 granddaddy of all auction sites, eBay. There are small businesses out there that get 80% or more of their sales from eBay.

And not all ofrepparttar 106301 sales happen on eBay - you can use your "About Me" page to drive traffic back to your web site. Then you can get your prospect's email address and sell to them directly, saving yourself some listings fees and commissions. And with eBay's feedback system, potential customers can get bona-fide firsthand testimonials from your previous customers.

If you want to sell multiple items, you can set up a Dutch auction. To make sure you earn a profit, you can set a minimum price, known as a reserve price. You can also set a "Buy It Now" price, which allows someone to buyrepparttar 106302 item immediately without waiting forrepparttar 106303 auction to end. And finally, you can set up your own eBay store for as little as $9.95/month.

There are many tips and tricks to eBay auctions -- so many that there are a slew of books and services and software programs just for helping people to manage their bidding and selling activities. Check www.geolocal.com for auction resources.

As far as reaching your local market, major cities are set up as regions on eBay. Consumers can easily search by region and category at http://pages.ebay.com/regional/hub.html -- "eBay Local Trading." This is where people will go if they want to buy something locally, such as furniture or something expensive.

A recent development has made it even easier for your local customers to find you. AltaVista -- one ofrepparttar 106304 major search engines -- announced a deal to feature listings from its shopping-comparison guide on eBay. According to AltaVista's senior director of global product marketing Gannon Giguiere, "We can now allow consumers to compare Web, localized brick and mortar stores and auction listings with a single glance."

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