Business: Jumpstart Your Local Business -- Get Online

Jumpstart Your Local Business -- Get Online

Written by Sharon Fling

If you're not marketing your local business online, opportunity is passing you by. So many people focus on repparttar

Internet's global reach that its potential benefit to local business is often overlooked. Global information is great, but people's day-to-day lives are local. Now that so much information is available online, more consumers see repparttar 106301

Internet as something useful instead of a passing fad.

Here are 5 ways that consumers are using repparttar 106302 Internet:

E-MAIL

According to Messaging Online, there were around 891 million email addresses at repparttar 106303 beginning of 2001. By now there are probably 1 billion or more. Almost everyone has an email address, or knows someone who does. It's fast becoming as common as repparttar 106304 telephone, and just as necessary. Even if you don't have a website, you can use email to communicate with your customers. Send them useful information, coupons, and special offers. If you don't, someone else will.

PRE-SALES RESEARCH

For many consumers, repparttar 106305 internet has become repparttar 106306 great equalizer. They no longer have to take repparttar 106307 word of a salesperson -- all repparttar 106308 information they need to make an intelligent decision is online. Consumers can research everything from products to retail services, and make sure they get repparttar 106309 best deal. But unless your business is online, it's unlikely they will find you.

ONLINE SHOPPING

U.S. retail e-commerce sales for repparttar 106310 first quarter of 2002 were almost $10 billion, and will top $44 billion by year's end. Clearly, plenty of Internet users have gotten comfortable with spending money online. Top picks include books, travel, music, clothing, Computers, movies/videos, consumer electronics, and health products. But if your business isn't online, you won't get any of those e- commerce dollars.

7 Ways to Promote Your Local Business Online

Written by Sharon Fling

Savvy business owners are catching on to repparttar

fact that

local online market is booming. it’s predicted to be a $50 billion market by 2006. There is no doubt that repparttar 106301

future of

Internet is local - and if you don’t get your local business into repparttar 106303

act now, it may be too late.

Look at how repparttar 106304 big boys are reaching out to consumers, driving traffic to their local stores. Staples, Office Depot, Wal-Mart - these guys are all going after repparttar 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 to repparttar 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 of repparttar 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 away repparttar 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 of repparttar 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 for repparttar 106310 exposure and repparttar 106311 chance to sell his services to individual business owners later. He could help promote repparttar 106312 website in exchange for referrals or repparttar 106313 right to sell ads on repparttar 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 be repparttar 106315 only listing in your category. I’ve heard more than once about consumers who patronized a business because it was repparttar 106316 ONLY listing in its category.

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