Local Internet Marketing for Small Business Owners

Need I say more? The above quote says it all.

Those big yellow books are fast becoming nothing more than doorstops. Some people use them as plant stands. I give them to our rabbit to gnaw on. They are being used less and
less to search for local business listings. This is a fact.

Folks, the train is about to leave the station. It is essential that every brick-and-mortar retail or service business get an online presence of some kind, while it is still free, or at least cheap. In the future, listing prices will certainly increase, and you'll be that much further behind your competition. The time is now.

You DON'T Need a Website to Benefit

Contrary to popular belief, a website is not the only way to have an online presence, although it certainly is a step in the right direction, and I'd encourage you to get one.

But everyone is not ready to commit to having a website. Fine. At least put your business out there where it can be found. Give yourself a fighting chance to snag some of that 70% of consumers searching for your type of business online. There are several ways of getting online without having a website:

• Search Engine & Directory Listings - get listed in popular search engines and directories (like Google, AOL, Yahoo, etc.) so that when consumers look for your type of business, your name, address & phone number shows up
• Pay For Call - pay only when a prospect picks up the phone and calls you
• Pay For Click - pay only when someone clicks on your search engine or directory listing or ad