MerchantCircle in Forbes

MerchantCircle's Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) survey was recently mentioned in Forbes India on a larger story of business confidence around the globe. It seems the international small business community remains fairly optimistic during this recession.

U.S.
55.70 points in October 2009, the highest it has reached since April 2008.

Whether or not the businessmen of USA have confidence in themselves, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has confidence in them. Ahead of his arrival on a state visit in November, Singh told CNN that "the U.S. economy has shown a remarkable capacity to bounce back.” He may not be far wrong, but it is not sunshine just yet. The results of a Merchant Confidence Index conducted by MerchantCircle, the nation’s largest social network of local business owners, shows that only 23% of merchants believe that the worst of the recession is behind us, yet only 5.7% expect their businesses to fail.

You can read the entire article here.

Enjoy,
Community Relations

Benefits of Letting Your Customers Know About MerchantCircle Neighbors

Over the summer, we launched MerchantCircle Neighbors, essentially a social network for consumers to follow their favorite MerchantCircle members. Everyone who has a Neighbor profile can follow their favorite local merchants and get real-time updates when those businesses add new coupons, deals, or promotions. Also, as a business owner, it's a much easier way for you to directly contact your favorite, loyal customers.



Ask your best or most loyal customers to create a Neighbors Profile (here) so they can follow your deals in real time. It'll also help you create a lasting relationship with your customers.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Our Newest MerchantCircle Moderators

I just wanted to take some time to introduce our newest moderators! These are the wonderful people and business owners who take the time to help all of us out in the Forums, (including me!). Here and here are some of our current moderators, who have all done such an amazing job.

- Marion DiPippo, of Passion Parties by Marion in Mahopac, NY



- Nancy Olson, of Nancy Olson with It Works! Marketing in Evansville, MN



- Steve Presley, of Be Debt Free Now! in Fort Lauderdale, FL



- Daniel Godfrey, of Branded Solution in Pittsburgh, PA



If you'd like to become a moderator, let's see you get active on our network now! There's a ton of benefits to becoming a moderator, in fact, you can read the forum link here. Participate in the conversation if you're interested.

Sincerely,
Community Relations and Programs

MerchantCircle in USA Today

MerchantCircle's Darren Waddell was quoted yesterday in USA Today in an article titled: "More Shoppers Search for Coupons Online".

The confluence of trends raises the possibility that shoppers will continue to depend on coupons after the economy recovers.

"It's like those who lived through the Depression and always saved after that," says Darren Waddell, vice president of marketing at MerchantCircle, a social network for more than 1 million local business owners in the U.S. "People will be counting their pennies for a long time."

You can read the entire article here... or you can start creating coupons on your MerchantCircle dashboard here right now!

Sincerely,
Director of Community Relations and Programs

Using MerchantCircle Widgets on the Web

Over the weekend, I had several Google alerts (which is something you should use for your business, along with MerchantCircle's Web Reputation Manager) for several MerchantCircle member's stand-alone blogs that had MerchantCircle widgets on them. We've had widgets for over two years, but it's nice to see that they are being used to prominently link back to their MerchantCircle listings.





http://jmknotaryservices.blogspot.com/

http://aplusaffordableupholstery.blogspot.com/

http://rozotsuka.blogspot.com/

Check out their blogs above, but be sure to click on the widgets to check out their MerchantCircle listings! You can put your reviews, blogs, coupons, and much more on your other websites and blogs - and you should to get some link love.

Sincerely,
Community Relations