Recently I conducted a telephone survey of 200 local business owners in and around Seattle, WA. I compiled a list of electricians and then Googled them to see if they had any ranking in OneBox. For example: “Electrician Kirkland, WA” and if they weren’t listed I called them. Now I wasn’t trying to sell them anything I just wanted to ask their opinions about online marketing.

After I worked past the initial, “No I’m not interested in what you’re selling” surprisingly they were very willing to speak with me. Of course they all said they knew it was important to be on the internet but what was very clear was (1) they did not fully comprehend how exactly important it is and (2) they didn’t have a clue as to how to start.

Before I go on I will be honest with you, there were a few of them that told me they didn’t like the web, they didn’t want to be on the web and that their business was strictly word-of-mouth. Oh and then they would say, “Yeah we’ve got more business than we can handle.”

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We have alot of experience working with medium and large business on their online marketing initiatives. Whether there looking for Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Management, or any of our other services it generally a smooth process as they have come to understand the value of online marketing and the increast in sales it can lead to.

We are a privately held company, a business that we treat more like a family,and know many people who have small business’s but have no knowledge of advertising online or why it even matters. We decided to reach out to them and test out a new product we had in the mix developed for these types of business’s and while they still don’t completely understand how it works, they understand the internets power as every single ePowerPackage we have set up has led to increased sales and walk in traffic.

Our local marketing package is an all in one solution for companies that dont have a marketing team and dont want to complicate things. They know they need to be online and they want someone to handle it. The truth is that its more important than ever to be found online. With more and more people turning to online search instead of opening up the Yellow Pages( I will get several emails now from Yellow Page Industry types ). In fact, over 55% of local searches are now conducted online with over 65% of those people purchasing local goods and services.

This numbers cant be ignored and with a package like this that not only provides a website, but provides Google, Yahoo!, & MSN local submissions, lead generation, and much much more a small business simply cant go wrong.

Normally, I take the opportunity on our blog to talk about general topics but we are so excited about this product, its performance and what it can mean for small business in this economic environment that I simply had to talk about it.

Find out more after the jump

For years, no decades the de facto advertising standard for small business was the Yellow Pages. If you weren’t listed then how would anyone find you? While the Yellow Pages still maintains a huge directory of listings you should ask yourself if anyone is really looking at it anymore.

As far back as 2005 the trend starting moving away from printed directories to online search. This trend has not only continued but has in 3 short years become the new standard for people looking for local goods and services.

So how can your business take advantage of this new marketing trend? Your probably thinking that you need a website or that you have one and this should be good enough? Well, in both cases you would be wrong. Simply having a website doesn’t mean your customers can find you, and not having one at all doesn’t mean that you cant have visibility online.

If you have a website then its time to take advantage of highly targeted online marketing services that will allow you business to reach only the customers you cater too and for your business to show up on local directory searches online. Your website gives you a key advantage because you have the ability to expand into other online marketing services as your business grows. Local online marketing for you is more important than ever. Lets face it, if your not online, chances are your competitors are and your losing business to them.

With well over 110 million people are searching every month for local goods and services. Do you have a website? No, well that’s still no excuse for people not to find you. With advances in local internet marketing business’s can still be listed online, offer online coupons, get reviewed and provide business information without a website. So if you have been holding off its time your really take a second look at your business and make the decision to take it to the next level.

Heres some information to take away from this post.

• Over 40% of people now go online to search for local goods and services
• 64% of people who search online for local goods and services end up purchasing offline. This means they call or come in to your store.
• 110+ Million people a month are performing local searches and that number is growing fast.

So where is the Yellow pages in all of this. Nowhere really. The truth is the Yellow pages is becoming less relevant as time goes on and while they are trying very hard to build their online business model I recommend you do a price comparison of what they charge for “Online Marketing Services” and what Softline charges for the same service. You wont believe the price difference!

In todays economy you can afford to lose any sales to the competition and using local online marketing services is the key edge you need to build your business. Affordable, Effective, and Highly Effecient.