In a nutshell, why does my business need LocalAdLink?

LocalAdLink uses technology to get you more local customers at a lower cost when compared to older, less effective forms of advertising. Due to the fact that fewer people are reading newspapers or using the Yellow Pages, more are listening to ad-free radio, and more are recording TV shows and skipping commercials, we believe that those forms of advertising have lost much of their impact.

 

Advertising online with LocalAdLink allows you to easily put together a quality web presentation of your business; to better target ads to your desired regions and to prospects when they are most tuned in to information about your type of business; and track results with detailed statistics, helping you to optimize the use of your listing and better see the return on your investment -- something that’s hard to track with other forms of advertising.

 

How does LocalAdLink do this?

LocalAdLink provides your business with a directory listing that allows you to showcase and promote your business in several ways: with words, photos, videos, and coupons, in addition to having driving directions, maps, and user reviews. (Make your customers happy and enjoy word of mouth advertising through LocalAdLink.)

 

 

LocalAdLink then uses its own Internet presence, its online reach through sister sites and web stores, and the vast reach provided by Google’s network to get your listing found. Especially as you give your listing more time to work for you (because of the way search engines work), LocalAdLink works to have your listing found through both natural and paid search engine results.

 

This effectively puts you in front of prospective customers when they’re searching online, reading articles online, reading e-mail online, shopping online, etc. And primarily when they’re in your physical region and looking at things related to your business.

 

Finally, LocalAdLink gives you real-time statistics regarding number of visits, where visits are coming from, how often coupons are printed, and more.

Can you give more details on how LocalAdLink gets my listing found?

The company uses three main ways of getting your listing found online. First, because of its size, LocalAdLink represents a substantial website and carries a good deal of weight with search engines. Between this point and the fact that your listing carries keywords related to your business, the goal is to get your listing found in “natural” (unpaid) search engine results, driving traffic from online searches related to your business.

So if you run a coffee shop in Cleveland, Ohio, and someone visits Google and searches for "coffee shop cleveland," your listing may show up among the unpaid results for that search. The longer you invest in your listing, the more likely you are to benefit from results like this, because search engines often give more weight to older listings with the idea that an older listing is more established and potentially more legitimate.

 

LocalAdLink also uses Google’s vast online presence to get your listing found. Google provides contextual advertising inside Gmail, in their own search engine results, in the results of hundreds of other search engines, and alongside content on tens of thousands of websites. What this means is that, if someone's reading about coffee in their Gmail or in an online article enhanced with Google ads, or if they're searching for coffee in any search engine whose results are provided by Google (this is hundreds of search engines, including several major ones), your listing may show up among the paid search results, as in the image below.

This is determined by the 2 to 3 search terms you set up with your LocalAdLink listing and the zip codes you chose to focus on. In the example below, Calo Plumbing and Heating chose the search term "heating" and the zip code in which I live. Presumably, they want to reach people in my area who are looking for home heating solutions. So when I searched for "heating" in Google, my zip code was determined by my computer's IP address (sort of like your house's mailing address) and the ad was shown. This is called "geo-targeting" -- one of the technologies used by LocalAdLink.

 

 

Sample of listing being shown through Google’s paid search results.

This listing showed up on the first page of a highly competitive search term.

 

Finally, LocalAdLink places your listing into similar “paid” positions (based on your search terms and zip codes) within its own network. This includes a number of high traffic websites and a network of web stores it is actively rolling out. These stores, provided by those with licenses for i-Supply, give those with websites the ability to sell up to 2 million items at extremely competitive rates and earn around 3% on all sales made (even on their own purchases).

 

Because of the generous affiliate earnings possible on everyday shopping through these free stores, it’s expected that this store network will spread widely and create a vast new outlet in which LocalAdLink listings will be shown.

 

Sample of listings being shown on a LocalAdLink sister site.

 

How is LocalAdLink different than the competition?

LocalAdLink is similar in concept to some other online directories, but it offers more features, more control, and more statistics. For instance, some of the competition doesn't let you upload pictures, videos, and/or custom coupons. In some cases, they may make a single movie for you and upload it on your behalf. This gives you little flexibility about adding or changing movies, and certainly puts the timeline in someone else's hands.

Some give you little or nothing in the way of statistics, but for smart marketing, you need to have real-time access to all of your stats -- how many visitors you're getting, where they're coming from, whether they're downloading coupons, etc. You'll want to tweak your listing as you go along, based on these listings.

How else can LocalAdLink help?

Providing you with a web presence and the marketing power to get your listing found is the central service provided by LocalAdLink. However, the company will introduce other marketing technologies over time, giving you more options to affordably attract more customers. One upcoming option will give you the ability to reach consumers via SMS text messaging with an offer or coupon when they are near your store.

 

I don’t have a website. Can LocalAdLink still help?

LocalAdLink becomes even more essential if you don’t already have a website, because you need some sort of online presence to capture more customers. LocalAdLink provides you with that presence and allows you to change it any time you like. And it provides you with the tools you need to market your listing.

 

In short, if you don’t have a website yet and don’t have a great need for one, you can consider going online with LocalAdLink alone.

 

I don’t have a physical retail business. How can this help me grow my home business?

If you’re selling anything, you need a way to share what you’re selling. Whether you ship products, offer a service, or offer a home business opportunity, you need to explain what you offer and have people find out about it.

 

LocalAdLink gives you a web presence for explaining whatever your business is about and allows you to choose where you market it. Hit a couple of local zip codes or get up to 50 spread all over your state or the country.

 

How does LocalAdLink keep my marketing costs so low?

The answer is technology. By automating much of what they do, they’re able to minimize costs and pass the savings along.

What if my business demands a reach of more than 50 zip codes?

If your business is national in scope, you can still tap into the power of LocalAdLink. Talk with the person who told you about LocalAdLink and they can get you in touch with the right people in the corporate offices. They can look at the volume of business demanded by your company and provide you with appropriate rates.

How do I add my business to LocalAdLink?

Get back with the person who told you about LocalAdLink. They can help you to set up an account and get your listing up and running. They will also show you how to log in to your back office any time to make changes to your listing or view your statistics.

What is i-Supply and how can it help my business?

i-Supply is a system that allows license holders to give away free e-stores featuring up to 2 million items at prices similar to those found on Amazon. If you own a website and decide to host one of these free stores, you can earn around 3% of the total sales made -- including sales from your own purchases. We believe you'll also earn from clicks on ads within the store, but this is not yet clear.

These stores are easy to set up, offer excellent pricing, and represent NO NEW WORK for you. Yet you can earn another stream of income for your business from the traffic you're already getting on your site. And since the store is hosted on your site, you're not sending your hard-earned traffic somewhere else. You're keeping it where it belongs -- on YOUR site.