Local Marketing

It has often been said that in order for a business to succeed nationally, they must first succeed locally. While this isn't always the case for every business, it is sound advice to follow. When you have the support of your local community, you may find that it is easier to create marketing promotions. Usually you can partner with nonprofit foundations and schools and reach a new audience, while boosting your company's image. Here are some tips to help you get started with local marketing:

Tip # 1 - Reputation

You must build your reputation with your local community. This will come through supporting some events and local causes. For example, purchase a float to drive in the city parade on the 4th of July, this is a great way to let people know you are part of the community. Gain a good reputation with the city by having excellent customer service skills. If possible, set aside a few hundred dollars that you can use when schools come knocking at your door when they need help to raise funds for a play or a band trip. Finding ways to give back to the community will quickly build your companies reputation and people will respect your business

more.

Get active with your local community. This isn't as hard as it may seem and you can do it with flyers, mailers, and simple phone calls.

Tip # 2 - Local advertising

Instead of spending money advertising to the big newspapers, advertise to your local newspapers. Usually each county will have it's own newspaper, try to get a weekly or monthly spot in each paper so you can let people know you are in business in their community. Since newspaper advertising can get quite expensive, partner with some other companies to promote your business. This way you split the costs of advertising and you gain exposure to a larger audience.

If you don't want to do a print ad, find out how much it costs to do an ad insert. This is a great way to get the attention of a local audience, especially if you place it on bright paper and make it stand out.

Tip # 3 - Door-to-door marketing

To gain the attention of your local community, go out and meet them. Door-to-door marketing can be something simply like hanging a flyer on their door or you can do something more extensive like a meet-and-greet. If you go out and knock on doors, be careful not to sell your business too much because a lot of people do not like solicitors and they may automatically assume you are a salesman.

Tip # 4 - Local Directories

Be sure to get listed in the local directories. A lot of communities will offer advertising for the local directories too and this is a great way to gain exposure with your target audience

. Depending upon your location, some local directories actually have online sites where people can find you. If they have an online site, always make sure to include your web site with the ad so you will get a few extra inbound links.

Tip # 5 - Get online

No matter how big or small your business is, you need to get online. Building your web presence is a great way to not only get known locally, but nationally as well. Add things to your web site that will attract your local audience. Perhaps add information about traffic updates, weather, and local news. This is a simple way to become and all-in-one web site for your local guests. Once your business grows to a national audience, you may want to consider using unique URLs for your local audience and your national audience.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Frisco Reach Out <info@friscoreachout.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 4:00 AM
Subject: The Joy of Christmas - The Joy of Christmas
To: denise@fastfinddirectories.com

Dear Frisco Business Owner,   As many of you know, 2009 has been a very tough year for many of us involved in business.  The economy has been slow, sales have been down, and many are simply trying to survive right now.  Frisco families are not exempt from these tough times, and those of us involved with Frisco Reach Out are trying to give them a hand up in this difficult situation.   Frisco Reach Out is a conglomerate of local non-profit organizations working together to reach the needs of Frisco families.  Therefore, we are putting on an event called The Joy of Christmas which will take place on Saturday, December 12th.  We will be helping parents give their kids a great Christmas this year by offering a free toy giveaway for ages 0-18.  And we cannot do this event without you.  We are asking the Frisco business owners to help us with this huge undertaking by donating toys to our toy drive.  We are looking for toys in the $10 range for all ages, as well as the donation of gift cards and nonperishible food items. If any of you are interested in helping Frisco families have a great Christmas this year, please contact us. We will have both pickup and delivery service available. If you'd rather not receive emails from us in the future, please click the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email. We'd love to work with you and yours to make this a better Christmas for all of our neighbors. Our website has much more information, plus feel free to call with any questions. Sincerely, Brandon Burden & Jo Elaine Hooper Frisco Reach Out, coordinators www.friscoreachout.com (web) info@friscoreachout.com (email) 972-712-5574 (office + fax) 214-796-7832 (cell)

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