The War at Home: Marketing Opportunities in an Era of Terrorism
The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. marked the beginning of a new era for marketing and advertising. The closest comparable event in American history is Pearl Harbor, but there are some critical differences. Unlike Pearl Harbor, American business was the primary target this time, not American military facilities.The choice of targets says a lot about the kind of war America is now involved in. This is a new kind of war, and the demands on American business will be significantly different than in World War II. Then, the nation's entire business community focused on one objective, winning the war by mass-producing the weapons of war. This time the volume of weapons

Bulgarian Property Hotspots
So much has been written and said about the current prospects for the investment property market in Bulgaria now that the nation has joined the European Union; opinion ranges from those who believe the hike in property prices prior to EU accession represented the majority of the positive adjustment due in Bulgaria, to those who are certain that property prices could now mirror those of other recent EU entrants where prices doubled following accession.Some emerging hotspots are Veliko Tarnovo, which is a stunningly beautiful town with amazing architecture and great tourism interest; located in the north of Bulgaria, it is a definitely one of richest cultural locations in Bulgaria.For decades, local mom and pop businesses could rely on word of mouth and traditional print services to garner customers. If the local businesses had a good or service that they wanted to promote, they could just call up the local newspaper and ask for an advertisement. However, as media has evolved towards more sophisticated routes such as the Internet, it has become increasingly more difficult (and oftentimes prohibitively expensive) for local businesses to stand-out against the crowd by advertising in both newer and older types of media.

Yet, local businesses continually find themselves facing a problem. As potential customers become more Internet savvy, local companies could be doing themselves a great disservice by not having some sort of exposure on the Internet.

According to Kelsey Research, 70% of US households now use the internet when searching for local products and services. In fact, it is projected that over 20 billion searches for local information will be made in 2007. 75% of Internet users have looked for services and products within an area close to their home or business. Moreover, recent Internet studies have found that some of the most searched queries in search engines such as Google or Yahoo are words such as local business, free, discount, cheap, and other terms bearing the connotation that the searcher is looking for something to purchase.

Although many may be trying to look for cheap electronics that can be shipped to their homes, it is also extremely apparent that consumers are searching for businesses in their local area that they can patronize. Most consumption on a day to day basis is not on items such as electronics that can be purchased online. People need automotive services, tutors, daycare, lawn care, restaurants, grocery stores, salons, plumbers, and much, much more within a few miles of their house. These daily rituals that we all engage in are all predicated on knowing where to find business. And as mentioned above, with an abundance of people turning to the Internet to find out where well priced, convenient goods and services are located, even a small Internet presence can skyrocket a business.

Unfortunately, the typical local business doesn't have a lot of money to spend on Internet exposure. Even if they do have the finances to build a website, the process can be cumbersome and somewhat daunting for the generations of small business that aren?t well-read in the ways of cyberspace. If the typical website can run anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, is it still worth creating? Even if you get the website up and running, how will people find you? How high will you be ranked on search engines? If you are like me, all the worry involved takes away time from all the daily customer service issues that come with the territory of owning a business. Why should you spend an inordinate amount of money when there is n

find themselves facing a problem. As potential customers become more Internet savvy, local companies could be doing themselves a great disservice by not having some sort of exposure on the Internet.

According to Kelsey Research, 70% of US households now use the internet when searching for local products and services. In fact, it is projected that over 20 billion searches for local information will be made in 2007. 75% of Internet users have looked for services and products within an area close to their home or business. Moreover, recent Internet studies have found that some of the most searched queries in search engines such as Google or Yahoo are words such as local business, free, discount, cheap, and other terms bearing the connotation that the searcher is looking for something to purchase.

Although many may be trying to look for cheap electronics that can be shipped to their homes, it is also extremely apparent that consumers are searching for businesses in their local area that they can patronize. Most consumption on a day to day basis is not on items such as electronics that can be purchased online. People need automotive services, tutors, daycare, lawn care, restaurants, grocery stores, salons, plumbers, and much, much more within a few miles of their house. These daily rituals that we all engage in are all predicated on knowing where to find business. And as mentioned above, with an abundance of people turning to the Internet to find out where well priced, convenient goods and services are located, even a small Internet presence can skyrocket a business.

Unfortunately, the typical local business doesn't have a lot of money to spend on Internet exposure. Even if they do have the finances to build a website, the process can be cumbersome and somewhat daunting for the generations of small business that aren?t well-read in the ways of cyberspace. If the typical website can run anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, is it still worth creating? Even if you get the website up and running, how will people find you? How high will you be ranked on search engines? If you are like me, all the worry involved takes away time from all the daily customer service issues that come with the territory of owning a business. Why should you spend an inordinate amount of money when there is

e of the most searched queries in search engines such as Google or Yahoo are words such as local business, free, discount, cheap, and other terms bearing the connotation that the searcher is looking for something to purchase.

Although many may be trying to look for cheap electronics that can be shipped to their homes, it is also extremely apparent that consumers are searching for businesses in their local area that they can patronize. Most consumption on a day to day basis is not on items such as electronics that can be purchased online. People need automotive services, tutors, daycare, lawn care, restaurants, grocery stores, salons, plumbers, and much, much more within a few miles of their house. These daily rituals that we all engage in are all predicated on knowing where to find business. And as mentioned above, with an abundance of people turning to the Internet to find out where well priced, convenient goods and services are located, even a small Internet presence can skyrocket a business.

Unfortunately, the typical local business doesn't have a lot of money to spend on Internet exposure. Even if they do have the finances to build a website, the process can be cumbersome and somewhat daunting for the generations of small business that aren?t well-read in the ways of cyberspace. If the typical website can run anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, is it still worth creating? Even if you get the website up and running, how will people find you? How high will you be ranked on search engines? If you are like me, all the worry involved takes away time from all the daily customer service issues that come with the territory of owning a business. Why should you spend an inordinate amount of money when there is

rs, daycare, lawn care, restaurants, grocery stores, salons, plumbers, and much, much more within a few miles of their house. These daily rituals that we all engage in are all predicated on knowing where to find business. And as mentioned above, with an abundance of people turning to the Internet to find out where well priced, convenient goods and services are located, even a small Internet presence can skyrocket a business.

Unfortunately, the typical local business doesn't have a lot of money to spend on Internet exposure. Even if they do have the finances to build a website, the process can be cumbersome and somewhat daunting for the generations of small business that aren?t well-read in the ways of cyberspace. If the typical website can run anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, is it still worth creating? Even if you get the website up and running, how will people find you? How high will you be ranked on search engines? If you are like me, all the worry involved takes away time from all the daily customer service issues that come with the territory of owning a business. Why should you spend an inordinate amount of money when there is

te, the process can be cumbersome and somewhat daunting for the generations of small business that aren?t well-read in the ways of cyberspace. If the typical website can run anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, is it still worth creating? Even if you get the website up and running, how will people find you? How high will you be ranked on search engines? If you are like me, all the worry involved takes away time from all the daily customer service issues that come with the territory of owning a business. Why should you spend an inordinate amount of money when there is no guarantee of getting more customers for your trouble? Many are pushed away because the return on investment just doesn't seem worth it.

If this is what you think, perhaps you can consider many other low cost options for your small business to get attention and some exposure on the web. Something as simple as a Facebook or Myspace account can be used to garner advertisement for your business. The Internet is all about content and link popularity, and having even a little bit can help. However, there are services that are beginning to expand the range of possibilities for local businesses and cater explicitly to them. Websites such as www.Cityslick.net and www.Merchantcircle.com allow companies to create local listings whereby customers can put basic contact information, slogans, product descriptions and photos, customizable coupons, appointment generators, documents, social bookmarking, and much more. The terrific part about websites like these is that they are not static; companies do not simply post a listing and hope for customers to show up. Consumers can browse, request deals, request appointments, chat with other consumers and businesses in the forums, and leave reviews.

If you decide to list on a business directory website, make sure that they are doing their best to get you the most exposure possible. According to webworkshop.net Link text (the text that is clicked on when clicking on a link) is singly the most important factor when Google determines the rankings for any given search-term. To help a small local business website grow in this fashion, it is critical that business owners submit to local directories that can provide custom back links.

Cityslick.net in particular is proactive in its approach to ensure that these sorts of interactions occur. By using the latest search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, they are drawing customers to the website not only by promoting it as a way to find cheap, local deals, but they are also making it so that listings, just by themselves, have the same sort of visibility as traditional websites.

Local and small business owners have a multitude of things to worry about including how to best promote their venture. By using th