Wendy from Cadmus Environmental of Houston, TX had some of the typical problems small businesses have, people just couldn’t find her business on line.

She knew that as a mold inspector in Houston, TX she was providing a valuable service helping people in Houston’s mold prone climate, and she knew she needed to be found online, but she just hadn’t discovered the right solution that fit her budget.  Wendy even considered doing local search marketing on her own because many Internet Marketing firms were just too expensive.

Then Kyle from eLocal Listing called, explained the services and pricing and worked with Wendy to outline the benefits of the program.  Wendy decided that with the affordable monthly fee and the no contract obligation, that she would give elocallisting a try.  Wendy decided to test out a Premium Profile for three months.  But within the first few weeks she could tell she was getting business from the listing.

Unlike other affordable online services, eLocal Listing places businesses on the major Search Engines with an optimized, highly targeted, call to action driven Business Profile.  In a nut shell, eLocal Listing drives motivated consumers to your business through Local Search.

Wendy agrees…

“The thing I like about the calls I get from [my advertising with eLocal Listing], is that the caller has pre-selected me before they even call since they’ve already read about me and like the approach I take. It cuts down on the amount of selling over the phone I have to do in comparison to the leads I get from other services.”

We are so pleased to have Wendy and Cadmus Environmental as part of the eLocal Listing family.  Thanks for the information and trusting eLocal Listing to provide you with affordable and effective Internet Marketing.

eLocal Listing continues to grow even in these challenging economic times.  In gratitude to all of our loyal customers and dedicated employees, we are pleased to announce that it’s Senior Management Team will donate $1 to feed the children on behalf of each new follower we have to our new eLocal Rocks Twitter account .. follow us at @elocalrocks, just say “feed the children for me!”

Tim Judd, CEO and President comments,

Feed the Children is doing terrific work both overseas and right here in the US. It’s amazing and really quite depressing that a country as rich and powerful as ours has millions of children who are under nourished or just plain starving. Their approach is very practical, they feed many thousands of kids every day and are often first on the scene when disaster strikes. eLocal Listing is proud to support their excellent efforts.

Check back at the end of August and we will let you know how much we have donated on behalf of our Twitter followers.

**eLocal Listing is not affiliated with or endorsed by Feed the Children.

eLocal Listing introduces Found Fast Multi-City, the first regional Internet Marketing product of its kind.  If Americans spend 80% of their income within 50 miles of their home, shouldn’t your Internet Marketing Campaign reach them where they are spending money?

Now it can, eLocal Listing’s Multi-City Package allows businesses to expand their reach within 50 miles of their business.  There’s no monthly contract, website needed, and no bidding.  eLocal Listing makes Internet Marketing Easy, Affordable, and Effective.

Find out more at www.elocallisting.com

I was reading a book on the merits (or lack thereof) of cold calling and came across some poignant points that made me stop and pause for a moment to reflect on the difference between more traditional (ok, some will say old fashioned) methods of selling and newer methods fueled by the Internet, the power of Search, and the influence of the consumer.

I will paraphrase a few of these concepts from a book written by Frank Rumbauskas …

“A certain percentage of the market is predisposed, ready, and willing to buy your product [or use your service]. Instead of wasting time [reaching out to] a bunch of people who will NEVER buy your product, you need to find and perfect ways and means of attracting the people who WANT to buy your product before they call your competitors and buy from them instead.”

That is what Search offers small businesses; a perfect way of attracting the people who WANT your product or services.  With Online Search, consumers actively search for businesses who can solve their problem or provide a service or product.   They Search for you – imagine how effective this type of advertising and marketing actually is.  You place your business in front of customers searching for you.  Local Search is even more targeted and effective since consumers are looking for a product or service in a specific location (city/town/zip code).

The secret to sales success is no longer in television, classifieds, radio, or direct mail, (although I really believe that online mixed with traditional advertising is a great way to grow businesses and I will blog on it in another post) instead the secret is to “create and enact systems to uncover people who WANT to buy your product” or service.

Online search marketing does just that .. a way to reach interested, qualified, and motivated customers searching for YOU!

Last Friday Oprah dedicated her show to Facebook, the social networking phenomenon that now boasts over 175 million active users, of which I am one.  Founded in 2004 by a bunch of very smart (check out how many of them went to Harvard), YOUNG entrepreneurs (and I emphasize young), who were able to see monetary value in a social utility that “helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family, and coworkers.”

Now, you know if you have a Facebook account that they ask a lot of questions; they want to know who you are so that they can drive targeted advertising/marketing to your page and to that of your friends who they assume share some of the same interests, and well, let’s face it, buying patterns.  Facebook strategically places seemingly non-intrusive ads on your “wall.”   The ads are simply an image and some text .. I almost didn’t realize that they were ads! Isn’t that part of the power of subliminal marketing strategy used by so many companies to lure consumers in to purchasing ..

Take a beautiful young lady , who is in the “marrying age” and “in a serious relationship”, what type of ads do you think appear on her page .. Diamond ads, no pressure here.  … My husband, a Kiwi, has a Quantas ad and well, me, I am a little disappointed with the ad that appears on my home page;  Belisi Skin Tightener. I knew I should have had Aaron touch up that photo, but none the less, they “knew” that she was young and maybe knew that I wasn’t quite so young.

Targeted, focused advertising .. seems national advertisers have caught the Facebook Advertising bug, but isn’t there an opportunity for small businesses who rely on local exposure, local customers, and local dollars.  Yes, the answer is yes.  Facebook’s ad bidding tools allow businesses to narrowly target consumers by using the IP address and a member’s profile information (and their friends’ profile information as well) to determine a user’s location, interest, age, employment and even favorite television show.   This is targeted, focused marketing at its best.  Much better than other traditional advertising because you not only know who sees your ad, but who clicks on it and how/when it converts.  This is a great opportunity for local businesses to spend their dwindling advertising budget on a very focused audience at an affordable price.  eLocal Listing includes “social marketing aspects” in our product offerings and is currently offering Social Advertising to its Corporate Strategic Alliance Partners, as well as local business reviews.

I will write more about advertising on Facebook in another post, but for now I have to get online and buy that skin tightener I saw on my Profile.