SF Chronicle covers battle for local ad space highlighting MerchantCircle

On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an in depth look at the race for market leadership in the local online ad space.  The report by James Temple covered a number of the hotter issues in the marketplace including mobile search, anti-trust issues and Google's dominating Place Pages. When discussing local content and databases the reporter leverages MerchantCircle co-founder Ben Smith's insights while highlighting the mark our company has made to date. 



You can read the whole story here

MerchantCircle Grows to 1 Million Members!!!!

In June of 2006, MerchantCircle launched with 5,000 members, 8 employees, and bundles of optimism. Just three and a half years later, MerchantCircle is proud to announce the signing of our 1 millionth member! Danielle Biegler, owner of Nassau Avenue Nails in Islip, NY, is the lucky number 1,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros! Danielle discovered MerchantCircle in her town of Islip after doing a search engine search for other businesses in her area. “The website seemed pretty cool and I saw it was free to create a listing,” said Danielle. “It was really easy-to-use. I built coupons, wrote a blog, and even got my husband to sign-up his business (MB Automotive in Bayshore, NY) on MerchantCircle as well.” Currently, Danielle’s marketing efforts consist of flyers and refrigerator magnets, which she places in car windshields and at fairs. She even tried out advertising in a local Penny Saver ad, which she spent $300 on. It returned zero results. After just a week of membership on MerchantCircle, Nassau Avenue Nails is already getting terrific exposure online. One of the big reasons for her early success is Danielle’s use of all the tools MerchantCircle has to offer. She’s built 3 coupons, written a blog, uploaded pictures, and answered several questions. As the 1 millionth member, MerchantCircle is honoring Danielle with a free subscription to all of MerchantCircle’s online marketing products, free MerchantCircle gear, and a new sign for her store! “It makes me proud to say that we help great local business owners, like Danielle, find more customers online,” said Ben T. Smith, IV, Chairman and CEO of MerchantCircle. "It’s an honor to serve the 1 million local businesses who’ve joined our network to develop their web-presence for free. We look forward to adding another million members to network this year." Danielle has some lofty goals – currently her shop is located in her house, but she hopes to have a retail location in two years. She’s about 25% booked, but her goal is to be completely booked AND to hire another employee. After starting her business in August of 2009, Danielle has no shortage of courage and optimism. Sounds a little like a company that started in June of 2006…. ;) While much has changed in three and a half years, one thing remains the same: we’ll do our best to make sure Danielle and all of our 1 million members continue to be found by more local customers. Thanks to all the passionate, hard-working local businesses who make MerchantCircle possible! Sincerely, Community Relations

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

Black Friday Deals

Alright, there's a reason the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year and that's because it's the best time to FIND a deal. Consumers know to expect some whopping price breaks this Friday, so make sure you keep up with the Big Box retailers by creating your own MerchantCircle sale here, promotions here, and coupons here, which can all be found on your listing and through the search engines.

The best thing about it all? It's all free to do! Now that's what I call a deal ;).

Happy Holidays and Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Goldman Sachs Sacking Up?

As Goldman Sachs has alloted more than $16.7 billion in bonuses to be paid to their employees this year, it seems their executives are starting to cave under the mounting pressure applied by the government and every day Americans. Goldman Sachs has announced a $500 million plan to join forces with Warren Buffett to provide assistance to 10,000 U.S. small businesses.

The plan will help small businesses in the form of counseling and obtaining funding. $200 million will go to local community colleges and other universities to provide small business owners and entrepreneurs with practical business education and $300 million will go towards community development institutions. It's a good first step for Goldman, which has also had the foresight to apologize for their role in the financial crisis.

"We participated in things that were clearly wrong and we have reason to regret and we apologize for them," said Goldman Sach's Chairman and CEO, Lloyd Blankfein.

Still, $16.7 billion in compensation bonuses accounts for $527,192 for each Goldman employee. Right or wrong, at least Goldman is taking some much needed first steps in helping out our small business owners which provide 2/3 of all NEW jobs in the United States.

You can read more about the plan here.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) Survey Results - Q4 2009

Below are the results for our first Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) survey - designed to track trends in small business sentiment and habits over time. This survey was fielded online between October 29 - November 4 using MerchantCircle's member base. 12,190 total responses came in during this period and there were no incentives offered to complete the 16 question survey.

Read the press release here.















If you'd like a downloadable PDF version of the above slides - click here. We can also get you regional breakdowns on specific states and/or categories. Requests can be emailed at MCI@MerchantCircle.com.

thanks,
Community Relations

President Obama, Congress, and Small Business Help

President Obama has recently been pushing for banks to lend more to small businesses - especially the banks that were bailed out by taxpayer dollars.

"These are the very taxpayers who stood by America's banks in a crisis, and now it's time for our banks to stand by creditworthy small businesses and make the loans they need to open their doors, grow their operations and create new jobs," Obama said. "It's time for those banks to fulfill their responsibility to help ensure a wider recovery, a more secure system and more broadly shared prosperity."

While President Obama has been publicly pushing the banks to lend more, there has been no word on whether the banks have acknowledged his statements or will do anything about them.

So far, $5 billion in tax breaks has been made available to small businesses from this year's $787 billion economic stimulus package. Congress has also been pushing for immediate relief. Senator Mark Warner has made a proposal:

Warner wants to create a $50 billion loan fund for small businesses by taking $40 billion of the remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program money and adding $10 billion that would be raised from banks of all sizes. The president's plan would increase the top limits on Small Business Administration loans and provide lower-cost capital to community banks, credit unions and community development financial institutions. He's asked the Treasury Department and SBA to confer with Congress members, lenders and small-business leaders to determine additional steps to help businesses.

(Source: USA Today)

You can read the entire article here. You can also find out more about programs available to you at www.sba.gov or get answers from other business owners here.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

MerchantCircle Member Janet Rothstein Featured in LA Times!

Janet Rothstein, owner of Rothstein Jewelers in Beverly Hills and recently appointed MerchantCircle moderator, was featured in the Los Angeles Times this week! As part of becoming a moderator, in return, we give our moderators any press interviews and opportunities that may arise - meaning free exposure for your business and ours.

Janet was quoted as saying:

Janet Rothstein, who runs a jewelry shop in Beverly Hills, used a company called MerchantCircle as her gateway to the online world, and she has since obtained a Facebook vanity URL for her page, where she has 63 fans. Having an online presence in so many places increases the odds that when someone searches on Google, they will find her.

Great job, Janet! We are still looking to increase the number of moderators in our forums - so please, first become a Top Merchant (click here for requirements), and then start actively contributing in the Forums.

Here are some of the news articles that feature some of our members - also, don't forget to check out our corporate press page.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Merchants Create Content + Consumers Create Profiles = Everybody Wins!

The amount of deals and coupons that MerchantCircle members create every single day far exceeds any other network, with more than 930,000 members dispersed in every state and almost every county in the U.S., consumers stand to benefit the most. Currently, more than 20 million consumers a month visit MerchantCircle listings. Those that create Neighbors Profiles get the benefit of following their favorite merchants and seeing all the latest LOCAL deals in real time, you'll also see any good LOCAL deals you've missed in a weekly newsletter!

Below is a sample of what you'd get in your inbox.




For merchants, this is added incentive to keep your deals fresh by creating new coupons and/or sales and promotions each week. You can create coupons here or start a sale here or create a promotion here. Consumers will also get the latest business reviews and uploaded pictures - so, don't forget to keep your listing up-to-date!

As a consumer, be sure to join the neighborhood and create a Neighbors profile today here!

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Survey: Small Business and Social Networks

An online survey, recently conducted by Internet2Go, through MerchantCircle's most engaged merchants (having created blogs, uploaded pictures, built coupons, newsletters, etc.) - using a sample size of less than 5% - showed some very interesting results on how quickly small businesses are adapting social media.

Granted, the merchants surveyed are already predisposed to our network, we believe the survey shows that merchants are rapidly beginning to understand and embrace social media like MerchantCircle, Facebook, and Twitter.

"We believe the behavior exhibited by these small business owners is a pre-cursor of things to come – that small business owners will increasingly forgo expensive advertising options and embrace publishing their unique content across various social media outlets," said Darren Waddell vice president and MerchantCircle. "While MerchantCircle typically focuses on helping businesses get online for the first time, we are excited to be an important part of the social media strategies employed by this new segment of merchants."

Other survey findings include the following:

- 79% of respondents report annual marketing budgets of less than $5,000 per year with the 44% spending "less than $1,000" annually on advertising and marketing

- 80% of respondents have four or fewer employees

- Asked about their "biggest complaint" regarding online marketing the top two were "too costly" (26%) and "there's not enough time to do it well and still run a business" (15.9%)

- 75% said they monitor online reviews of their business. The most common method was by visiting specific review websites (47%) and by searching on their business name (44%)

- Despite its enormous popularity social media showed the biggest gap between SMB adoption and perceived effectiveness as a marketing platform.

You can read the entire press release here.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Attaining 'Top Merchant' Status is Kind of a Big Deal!

Stemulite Fitness Formula in Florence, OR, recently put out a press release after attaining 'Top Merchant' status on MerchantCircle. Achieving 'Top Merchant' status has proven to boost traffic to your MerchantCircle listing - for some, by over 300%!

From the release:

Matthew Wagner, Chief Executive stated, "We are very proud of this promotion from MerchantCircle.com. Although we have used their services a very short time we have already networked with hundreds of businesses and we have our eye on thousands more. I like to think of MerchantCircle as FaceBook for business."

Becoming a 'Top Merchant' isn't that difficult and the results are proven. You can log into your dashboard and get to the requirements here - or look below.

The Top Merchant badge requires the following qualifications:

- Complete your profile and list your categories
- Invite at least one merchant to your network (outside of MerchantCircle)
- Create at least one blog posting
- Upload at least 3 pictures and/or videos showcasing your business
- Create at least 1 coupon featuring special offers for your customers
- Have received at least 2 reviews (from customers or other merchants

Take the first step to gaining more customers for your business.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

MerchantCircle's New Forum Moderators

As you know, we have some wonderful MerchantCircle Moderators currently perusing and helping out in the forums. What you may not know is that our moderators have also been an integral part in many of our new products, ideas, and growth in their local communities and on the web. Today, we're announcing 3 new moderators to join our original 6 - bringing the total number to 9.

Here they are!

- Janet Rothstein, Owner of Rothstein Jewelers in Beverly Hills, CA.



- Deb Robinson, Owner of The Teeny Tiny Farms in Smithfield, VA.



- Jason Stevens, Owner of Fan Man Lighting in Burnsville, MN.



Thanks a lot! We look forward to your continued contributions in making MerchantCircle the best site for local businesses and consumers on the web.

If you would like to be a forum moderator, please start contributing in our Forums and your peers will pick you out before long. You'll get a number of perks including free MerchantCircle Verified, free Local Plus, as well as links from our forum, blogs, and newsletters, amongst others.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Social Media to Help Your Life as Merchants and Consumers

Josh Catone from Mashable, "the social media guide" website, wrote a nice piece today titled: "Smarter Food: How Social Media is Making Our Cities Tastier".

The article highlights how merchants use social mediums to market and how consumers are using the technology available to them to access this information.

Promotion, of course, is one of the main reasons food merchants are using social media. In addition to helping restaurants connect with current customers in new and more personal ways, social media also allows restaurants to better connect with new customers. By making their establishments more easily discovered, food vendors can use the web to grow their business. Local guides like MerchantCircle.com, Judy’s Book, and even Google Maps make restaurants easier to find and allow business owners to advertise directly to their most likely customers: hungry people searching the web for food.

From directories, to social networks, to phone apps, you can find a lot of good information in the article. Here at MerchantCircle, we have products that will get you onto all of the networks. Click here to find out more.

Get listed on all the sites below!



Sincerely,
Community Relations

Ping.fm Adds MerchantCircle to Network

I met one of the founders of Ping.fm recently at the Gnomedex Conference in Seattle. Ping.fm is a website that allows you to update your status or micro-blogs across dozens of websites. A few weeks after my conversations with the founder, I was pleased to find out they had put MerchantCircle on their network.

You can now update your status on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MerchantCircle, and any number of top sites, and do it just once! We know how valuable your time is and we appreciate Ping.fm adding us to their network. While MerchantCircle is the best for your business needs, we know many of you use the other networks for leisure, fun, or professional interests, and use the same status message for all. This will help save you time.

Check out Ping.fm's MerchantCircle listing here or their website here.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

MerchantCircle Amongst ComScore's Fastest Growing

comScore recently released their Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for August 2009, and MerchantCircle got a special mention:

Getting Down to Business
Business-to-Business was another fast-gaining category in August, growing 17 percent to 38 million
visitors. MerchantCircle.com led the category rankings with 6.9 million visitors.

While I wouldn't classify us as a business-to-business website, we're flattered to get the mention. Many of you members know MerchantCircle as a number of things, including a social network, a forum, a web site for your business, an online business directory, internet yellow pages, a leads driver, and recently, a place for consumers to find deals, ask questions, and a portal for two-way communication on the web between merchants and customers.

The growth in traffic is a reassuring sign that we're putting more LOCAL customers into more LOCAL shops. Recently in June, quantcast had us as the 5th largest online directory. And in January of this year, comScore had us as 8th fastest growing website from the two previous months. The growth and mentions are humbling, but an important part of what we do to ensure more local customers can connect with the nation's largest online network of local businesses.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

MerchantCircle Radio Ads

With the launch of MerchantCircle Neighbors and Answers last week, we also unveiled a radio ad campaign across 4 major cities across the U.S. (LA, SF, Chicago, Atlanta) and online throughout the country. We need your support to make sure we grow our network to benefit both LOCAL consumers and LOCAL merchants. With over 915,000 merchant members and 20 million consumers visiting MerchantCircle business listings each month, Neighbors will allow consumers to create a profile to track quality deals and coupons from their local merchants in real time. Answers allows consumers to ask local merchants any number of questions to help solve their predicaments.

You can read more about these two launches here.

Take a moment to listen to our two radio ads below and offer your feedback. We are always striving to get the right message out in an effective manner and we value your opinion.

Neighbors:


Answers:


Sincerely,
Community Relations