LOCAL Business

The WORLD Wide Web
Can Help Your LOCAL Business
and its LOCAL clients

Local business [LB]is getting a lot of attention these days relating to the World Wide Web or Internet. We keep hearing about how much business is now, and will be, done online; strident headlines warn of the dangers of not getting online immediately...

Many family businesses are in fact LBs. And many family businesses have inter-generational differences of opinion as the [usually] younger generation urges their seniors to get on the web.

We don't think there is a clear-cut answer that applies to all family businesses... that are local... so we're going to give you some information and insights that will hopefully help you decide what's best for your LB.

We'll look at LBs getting online from a number of angles - just as you would look at any other business decision... your client's perspective; your competitor's perspective; profitability - costs and new revenue sources; obstacles; and examples.

Local business - client's perspective

we always want to know what they're thinking and doing!

You might think that the Net, more specifically your own Web site, offers few opportunities to help your customers find LBs. After all, the Web is "world wide"... a "global medium."

And you would have been fairly correct, up until recently. But matters have been changing rapidly...

Clients, potential customers, and even some of your competitors, are going online. A web site allows you to build a highly trafficked site that will in turn build your offline LB.

Local business - competitor's perspective

always a good idea to keep tabs on what they're up to!

An online local business listing is not just the way clients find you. Faster and faster, LBs are coming online themselves.

Geotargeting is one of the newest and most exciting ways of reaching local audiences. Learn what it is, how it is done and where to find resources for online and offline geotargeting.

Local business obstacles to going online

and how obstacles might be overcome

It's fine to avoid taking your LB online if going online doesn't make good business sense. But if you avoid it simply because there are perceived obstacles, and those obstacles could be overcome, then the result is a lost opportunity.

LB obstacles prevent you from starting and building a thriving online presence. Read Local Business Obstacles to Going Online to help grow your offline LB and add new income streams.

No matter what your local business is... even if your business is as "everyday" as anything from home cleaning to yard cleaning to dry cleaning... or

• a real estate agent or lawyer in Tempe, Arizona... or Anguilla, British West Indies -- own your geographic niche
• a landscaper in Juno, Alaska -- get the jump on competitors
• a gas station in Hudson, New York -- build a devoted clientele
• a Mexican restaurant in Vista, California -- run "Net specials of the week"
• a bagpiper in Ottawa, Canada -- get hired for "gigs" for 100 miles around
• a grocery store in Bristol, England -- differentiate yourself and take business from competitors
• a local manufacturing company -- attract and support customers.

Nothing will grow your existing offline local business like a Web site that WORKS.

The key, of course, is owning your own traffic. Before you can PREsell, before you can monetize, before you can diversify, before you can grow a large mailing list... you must grow your own traffic.

Which begs the obvious question...

"How do I build the targeted traffic that is the key to online success?"

The answer is simple...
... you'll find it in How Do I Build Targeted Site Traffic?.

And that leads to monetizing the site so that you can profit from the traffic you build...

Local business profitability

Diversify: Add New Income Streams To Your Offline Local Business

Being dependent on one income source ["having all your eggs in one basket"] is a high-risk strategy, but there are very limited ways to diversify in the offline world.

The best LB news in some time is that you can go online with a web site to help diversify your family / local business.

We show you 7 ways to diversify by adding new income streams to your offline local business.

Cost effectiveness

Think of a Web site as a super-Yellow Pages ad... with 100 times the results... at 1/10 of the price. Compare a 4" x 2" Yellow Pages Ad with a Web Site.

Examples of local business going online successfully

Site Build It! maintains a site with links to a whole variety of LBs and their sites - you're sure to get some ideas for your own situation.

Site Build It! Local Business Example Sites

Sharon Fling's book How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet! is a must-read, whether you are thinking about taking your LB online, or are already online and need ideas to boost traffic and success. It includes access to a private membership site so that you can stay up-to-date with this rapidly changing field. After you click, a new page will open with Sharon's Home Page. Click on the "Join Us" section in the top left corner.

It has a supplement book that tells the story of 9 "click and mortar" businesses - why and how they made the decision to get online, and what impact it has had on their LB.

To download a free excerpt from Sharon's book,Click here.

Family Business Experts Understands
Family Values andBusiness Systems
FBE can help you decide WHY and HOW your family business should get online.

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