Where do you go if you want to advertise a new local business?

[TelecommutingMom]

I agree that Google and Yahoo are a must. Their local directories along with Craigslist are a great starting place. After that there are a ton of online local business directories you can list your business in. Perform a search for local business directories and you should get plenty of results. Join local groups and fan pages on Facebook where you can discuss your business or share links. Also if you use Twitter you can find people to follow that are in your area that would be interested in your business. Also finding local blogs that can post reviews of your business or that you can maybe swap links with is helpful as well. The more you can get your business name out there and the more incoming links to your website, the better.

[virtualservice]

Hi,

You can go with local business sites like yelp, local, mojo pages, superpages and may more.

Thanks
Virtual offices
Live Virtual Receptionist

[akmholdings]

Don't forget to Knock on doors and make the phone calls as well. Nobody wants to do the dirty work but if you devote 10% of every day doing it old school, magical things DO happen.

[GaltMarketing]

I agree with akm, knocking on doors can make good things happen (and you're actually face to face so you can see in real time how your prospects react to every part of your pitch ... something thats you can't really do on the internet). Another old school idea is to get a list of your idea clients/customers (from a list broker, or go to the library and look through the standard rates and data service, or srds), and depending on what your selling, send out a real good sales letter, or do some telemarketing (check the laws in your state though ... calling other businesses is usually fine but calling home can be tricky).

you can always offer a free report of some kind in the newspaper to capture leads too. if you've got a real good handle on who your idea customer is, you'll have an idea of where they hang out ... then go there.

[cam burns]

There's some great marketing resources for local businesses:
- Google Adwords (you can target geographic area)
- Free online listings (online business directories)
- Yellowpages websites often offer free listings as a pre-cursor to premium paid listsings

I strongly suggest installing a tracking program like Google Analytics to where your website visitors are coming from.

[tisvlad]

Looks like everyone is giving you online ideas. Those are great, but you should use all avenues:

1) Online - google, craigslist, yelp, article sites, and other seo ideas/platforms, etc...

2) Local Chamber of Commerce - You can go to some free mixers to see if there's any value to you joining. I've always made my membership fee back instantly. And it gives you all year long advertising with local businesses in your area.

3) Mailers - pick your target, work with a local mailing list supplier or mailing house and purchase a specific mailing list based in your criteria. Print and mail this 3-6 times for best results.

4) Print fliers and hand out at your local businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, and other businesses that have high traffic. They want your business, and many of them are more than happy to let you place your fliers, business cards at their locations to help out you, their customer.

5) Ask other local businesses what works for them. Most are happy to help with ideas.

Best of luck from AngelPrint.com

[AntoniaW97]

There are many websites that offer free marketing, but make sure they are actually active, otherwise you are just wasting your time. Free papers are still a good way to promote locally, especially if the paper is delivered to peoples homes. Also look for community groups, local interest groups etc and actually go there and present yourself and your business.