Question: Can you make for us a list of marketing tools available for local businesses and rank it by efficiency?
Answer: There are many ways to get a list of local businesses. The quality of the list will be determined on how you obtain the list.
You can search online for local businesses. Google and Yahoo both have local business directories. DMOZ also used to have a great directory, but to be honest I'm not sure how often it is updated. What I love about these directories is the ability to search by geographic region as well as industry.
You can purchase lists by list brokers such as InfoUSA.
You can also check with your local Chamber of Commerce about purchasing their membership list. I know they sell it because when I joined the chamber I was getting at least one telemarketing call a day.
The cost of the list will determine how much work you are willing to put into it and what type of data you are interested in, for example do you want their address, telephone number or email address? You can also find the data online for free, but it will cost you time and resources.
Your Turn: How do you find local businesses that you want to market to?
Good afternoon,
I love all your articles, and read as many as I can. You can find information about local business in the chamber of commerce, I do it. The newspaper it is secondary but in the local newspaper you can find them. Hope it helps.
Laura – Great Marketing Question – and if I had the perfect answer, I would be directing people from a sailboat off the islands right about now!
Google and Yahoo are fine for getting basic information (forget DMOZ for local – not their purpose). Chambers and Rotaries are fine – so are insiderpages and Merchantcircle. Association Directories are good – if someone will give them to you. The best way I have found – mainly because every Local Area is different – is to find one client in that area – somehow – and then launch your marketing campaigns around them – both offline and online marketing.
No “Local” marketing campaign moves quicker than word of mouth – which includes online word of mouth.
Some effective marketing ideas at: http://www.stellarpointgroup.com/effective-marketing.html
Thanks Again…your questions always generate some new ideas for me.
Great article Laura. Other feedback we receive are lists and information on people on Twitter and other social networking sites. Do you recommend leveraging Linked In to do targeted demographics for businesses? If not, what would you recommend?
Here’s an amazing Website that just launched. It’s called FLOOPLA.COM and it’s a social business network with a great profile and marketing tools…and it’s FREE! It’s the best business site I’ve seen so far.
Online marketting can help small green products producing company at cost effective traditional way of easy living and producing and when intrested only in slow to become rich .People , products and persfective matters.
In new millanium oppturnities are pleanty for sustainable green textile ,food ,home cleaning etc.items. Local made as well imported.What is important is sustainablity , green ness , problem solving ,durable than the existing goods is going to be in high demand.
For example Chinese motor bikes cell phones sells in africa among pastoral community for gazing herds or sourcing it to U.S. and Australia market .They sell not beacuse geen,sustainable but becasue cheap ,durable to price . If a community of herds buy 100 bikes 1000 phones in a year they need broker with in the one in local community. He makes small organisation he lives on slow rich philosophy.Recording this brokers name in the directoryaround the world is not difficult . His life is easy and servicable.
Similarly now in entire U.S.A. no 100% chemical free Denim jeans ,only Eco&Low impacts only selling at 100$ range.It can be made with exact cut with exact tailored with 100% chemical free in Bangaladesh with only 1000 pairs a month makes good oppturnity to import on b2b and re sell on b2cto defined area in U.S. How will the maker in that country market the goods. Only Small marketer needed in U.S. who want to work at home . Organic era frugal living has come. Oppturnity is small islands in troubled ocean. Small marketting enterprenurs in U.S.b2b logically approach.So that he builds local customers of emotional thanks to his service. This is what Laura concept at practical example.
At times real organic cost effective traditonal way ethnic produced products are availble only from select gegraphical places only. Those items can be imported. Thus world wide b2b b2c directories are required.
To take up small volume from far of placecs produced was difficult in the past century ,not now.
Creative use of Cyber sapce technology is big advantage for small business. Small volume adequote profit slow rich organic products marketting is likely to come in the next decade.
Great is service of Lura in green products for , small enterpises like us.
The library is a great place and plus it’s FREE! If you’ve never been to the reference dept., then plan for an hour or two. The time investment will be well worth it. They have many business resources with lists available. (i.e. Business Journal Book of Lists, plus many more.) Once you get a library card, many resources are accessible from home via your computer! I regulary go to their databases at least once a month!
Great tip Deb, thanks for sharing. We often forget about our local libraries