15 Places to Submit Your Site for Local Search

What kind of traffic are you drawing to your Web site or blog? A local business owner in Neenah, Wisconsin who relies on physical traffic walking in the door needs to be found by buyers in and around Neenah. Are you reaching your target market? Where do you rank on the local search engine results page?

Submit Your Site to Local Directories

A Web site, alone, will not drive people to your door. That's just the first step in the process. Take the time to search engine optimize your site for keyword phrases relevant to your market. Make sure your business address (including zip code) and phone number is included on every page of your site. Mention the communities you serve. Once this complete, it's time to begin promoting your site. Step one is to submit your site to local directories.

Doug Williams lists 15 local directory resources, most of them free, in today's post on his blog, Where to Submit your Site for Local Search.

Technorati Tags: Neenah WI, local search, directories, marketing small business

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Chances are you know someone affected by breast cancer. Over 182,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women this year, according to the American Cancer Society. When you add that number to the women who are already fighting this disease, the numbers are staggering. This October, The Hair Connection in Neenah, Wisconsin is joining with women around the country to promote breast cancer awareness and prevention.

Because breast cancer has affected staff and clientele, owners Jeanne Mykel and Connie Koehnke want to help spread awareness and contribute toward funding research. Getting involved to meet the needs of the community is a win - win for everyone. All through October, a pink donation box will be available in the lobby for customer donations, and 10% of all retail sold will go directly to the "Susan G. Komen for the Cure" campaign for breast cancer awareness.

During the promotion, customers will be draped in pink capes, offered pink lemonade, and for every sale of a pink flat iron, the manufacturer will contribute $10.00 toward breast cancer awareness. The Hair Connection will also donate $1.00 for every new client haircut and $5.00 for every hair color.

"I really like the pink flat iron idea," said Susan Hamilton, parent of two teenage daughters and Race For The Cure participant for the last five years, "Women need to be aware of the choices they make everyday in their diet and exercise that contribute to their breast health in the long run. The flat irons are a great reminder. Eating right and staying in shape are two ways you can greatly reduce your risk of breast cancer, and I like the idea of starting every day thinking pink."

Risk factors for breast cancer are more prevalent in Caucasian women, and are greatly increased with age, lack of physical activity, and the accompanying weight gain. Risk is increased again if a family member has been diagnosed with the disease. The staff of The Hair Connection would like you to learn more about what you can do if you're supporting someone with breast cancer, or if you are concerned about your own breast health. Contact www.komen.org for more information. Together we can fight this disease.

The Hair Connection, located at 1325 Commercial Street in Neenah, is a full-service salon, offering affordable hair styling and the latest hair cuts for the whole family, full-service tanning with large tanning beds, depilatory and nail services. For more information, visit www.HairConnection.net or call 920-722-2341.

Can Small Business Afford Healthy Wisconsin?

Wisconsin small business owners, there's a health reform plan before the Senate that will have a direct impact on your bottom line. How much of the cost of "health reform" are you prepared to shoulder?

Healthy Wisconsin sounds good on the surface. Who's going to argue against affordable health care? Unfortunately, that would be me ... because it's not really all that affordable to the self-employed or Wisconsin small business owners.

Take note of how Healthy Wisconsin will be financed.

All employers must pay 9-12 % of wages of their employees (up to the limit of taxable Social Security wages, which is currently $102,000). Employees must pay 2-4% of their Social Security wages.

An actuarial analysis estimates that the actual figure in 2007 would have been 10.5% for employers and 4% for employees (4% maximum of $102,000 per family). For small firms of ten employees or less, the employer share will be phased in over three years.

(THESE PAYMENTS REPLACE THE PREMIUMS AND OTHER PAYMENTS FOR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE NOW BEING PAID BY EMPLOYERS AND WISCONSIN RESIDENTS.)

The average family income in Wisconsin is about $42,000. So for the average family, the cost would be $140 per month in payroll deductions. On average, the employer would pay about $370 per month.

Self-employed persons and those with income but no wages pay 10% of income up to the Social Security wage limit.

I don't know about you, but for this Wisconsin small business owner, that's a little steep! I don't have employees, don't have health insurance, and certainly don't approve of a government mandated 10% of my income going toward health reform.

I can't comment on the relative cost of this initiative for businesses who already offer health insurance. But for those of us who don't have it - it's not because we don't want it - it's because the entry cost is too high. Somebody show me the math ... who thinks that a new tax of 10% of net income is an affordable cost to the self-employed? And by the way, there are NO exemptions.

Join the Fight Against Mandated Health Care & New Payroll Taxes
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is working on our behalf to defeat this initiative. Your help is needed. If you agree that Healthy Wisconsin is not in the best interest of Wisconsin small business, add your name to the NFIB Wisconsin statewide petition. I'll have scanned in and available as a download later today - but please, don't wait. If you don't see a download link right now, while you're thinking about it - contact me. I'll fax or email you a petition by the end of the day.

Time is of the essence. We have approximately 49 days to make our voices heard.

Marketing Your Wisconsin Small Business Online

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool that I've written about extensively on my Express Marketing Memo blog. Among other things, I use it to keep track of articles I want to share with my readers. The following post (bookmarked in March) is long overdue, but way too good to pass by.

Back in March, Greg Sterling of Screenwerk did a rundown on the Search Engine Strategies Panel “Why Local Is Different.” Speaking of local search engine optimization, he says, “When will people learn … LOCAL IS THE INTERNET. The Internet is not a transactions platform (mostly); it’s a marketing platform that drives offline (read: local) transactions.”

Your local Wisconsin small business needs an effective Web site, not necessarily to process transactions … but rather as the foundation for all of your marketing efforts. If you’re buying any form of media to advertise your business and you don’t yet have an effective Web site, you’re probably making an expensive mistake.

Read the rest of Greg’s post on Screenwork, then draw your own conclusions about the important role your Web site plays in marketing your local Wisconsin small business.

To Reach Local Buyers, Write Local Content

It almost sounds too simple ... write quality content, gain quality visitors ... but this simple marketing strategy will work for any small business, whether you rely on local foot traffic or you conduct an e-commerce business strictly online.

This post on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog reminds us that for the local business, that same content is simply more focused. Read more about winning the local search game, including excellent advice for locally focused content, inbound local links, and the importance of properly formatting your content with HTML mark-up.

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Facebook for Local Wisconsin Business Owners

You’ve probably heard - Facebook isn’t just for college students anymore. No, the once exclusive domain of the college crowd has been adopted by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and increasingly by business owners.

28% of small business owners have registered with at least one social networking site, according to a 2008 Warrillow & Co. survey. It also found that fast-growth companies were much more likely to participate in social networking than slower-growth companies. Could there be a correlation?

Read Full Post: Are You On Facebook?

Announcing Paperfest Battle of the Bands, Kimberly WI

In keeping with Saturday's post about publishing press releases, I'll add the first one. Please help us spread the word about a worthwhile event in Kimberly, Wisconsin. If you have a band, or know any members of bands in the Fox Valley area, let them know about this opportunity:

Bands seeking exposure, prize money, and a chance to play in front of thousands at Appleton's Octoberfest celebration should sign up now for Battle of the Bands at Paperfest.

Eighteen bands with three songs each will compete in the opening round on Saturday, July 19. Five finalists will advance to play a 45-minute set on Sunday. Cash prizes go to all the finalists, with the winner playing a paid gig at Octoberfest.

Official judging to be provided by the Lawrence University music department. A Fan Favorite award will also be presented to the band with the most fan votes on Saturday.

Openings remain, but not for long. Bands wanting to compete should sign up now. Entries must be received no later than July 5. A complete list of guidelines and entry forms are available at www.paperfest.org/battle.htm.

Battle of the Bands is part of Kimberly's annual Paperfest celebration. Paperfest has raised and donated more than $500,000 for community and civic organizations. Learn more at www.paperfest.org.

For more information, contact Cindy at info@Paperfest.org or call 920-882-1788.

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