Freelance Home-Based Small Business Use the Internet to Reach your Local Community

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Use the Internet to Reach your Local Community

by Garland Coulson

The Internet has proven itself as a great tool for small and home business owners to reach global markets.

But what about people in industries that need local clients? It is unlikely that your average grocery store in Chicago is going to ship to a client in France, although some boutique specialty food stores do ship world wide for special products.

Can a hairdresser cut your hair over the Internet? Maybe in the future with a special helmet that goes over your head and plugs into your computer…

Huge amounts of people use the Internet, and they ALL live and work somewhere! In my own region, studies have shown that 75% of residents use the Internet.

In January 2004, almost 146,000 people searched for the phrase “auto repair” through MSN and its affiliates. It is safe to assume that almost everyone is looking for a local auto repair shop.

“Weather” is almost always in the top 50 key words searched for on the Internet. Unless you’re traveling, chances are you are using the Internet to find out local weather.

When buying a car, many people use the Internet to check out pricing and features; them come to the local dealership to buy.

People are using the Internet to find local hairdressers, auto repair shops, schools, stores and other products and services.

How can you connect with them?

Step 1 – Make sure they can find you!

Make sure that you include your local town or city name on every page of your web site. This will improve your chances of coming up when someone types in a geographic phrase like “Seattle auto repairs.”

If there are local business directories on the web, such as a local chamber of commerce web site, make sure you’re listed.

Step 2 – Remind them about you

Invite your local clients to sign up for your electronic newsletter or e-mailing list. Give them some incentive by offering them special deals that can only be accessed through signing up.

ClickZ magazine recently published an article about an Ontario grocery store, Farm Boy, Inc. who used their electronic newsletter to communicate weekly with their customers. The newsletter includes useful content for the reader such as weekly specials, recipes, coupons, and even a feature called My Shopping List that readers can use to create and print a list of favorite products. Farm Boy also includes a poll to find out what shoppers are looking for.

Their results? 62.5% of the people on their list open the newsletter each week! Most popular for readers to click on were coupons (35.5 percent), specials (25.4 percent), and recipes (17.1 percent).

This same technique would work for hair dressers, auto repair shops, massage therapists, health providers, local shopping malls and other retail shops and services.

While planning for my move to Vancouver Island, I found a local web site that e-mails me new real estate listings that match my criteria each week. You can bet I’ll use their service when I arrive to start house hunting.

Step 3 – Find local people online

When people go on the Internet, they join communities relating to their hobbies and interests, including their community. Do some research to find out if there are any online communities that attract people from your local area. For example, I belong to a community network called The Ryze Network. They have 20,000 members. They have discussion topics on a wide range of topics including some local communities like Ryze New York, Bay Area Hiking, Ryze Toronto, and many more. You can also start your own community for your local area and search the membership to find local members to join.

While the reach of the Internet is global, your local community is using it to find products and services like yours! Learning to use the Internet to reach your local community will help you be their best choice for products and services.

Garland Coulson, “The E-Business Tutor” is an acclaimed speaker, author and coach in the field of Internet marketing for small business and home business. For more information, visit The E-Business Tutor web site at www.ebusinesstutor.com or call toll-free in North America at 1-866-413-0951.

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Use the Internet to Reach your Local Community

How can you connect with them?

Step 1 – Make sure they can find you!

Step 2 – Remind them about you

Step 3 – Find local people online

SPOTLIGHT CONSULTANTS FROM OUR FREELANCE COMMUNITY

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