2008 Year in Local IYP: Bloggers that Mattered, Numbers that Defined

While it was a tumultuous year to say the least, 2009 has shown there's still much work to be done in the local business space. With Yodle recently closing a $10 million dollar round, it's obvious that the local online advertising/IYP space is far from being an open-and-shut case. While we are a little biased, we believe the three "local" companies that are poised to be the biggest movers and shakers of 2009 will be Yelp ($31mm), Yodle ($25mm), and MerchantCircle ($14mm).

All three companies are financially healthy and all three have taken different approaches to gaining the traction of local advertising dollars. Yelp has gained a loyal audience base of consumers and reviews, using that base to appeal to business owners to advertise on Yelp for premium placement on the site and the ability to communicate with their reviewers. Yodle has taken the approach of selling consumer leads via the web and phone calls, with an up-front cost to the business owner. MerchantCircle has become a social network for local business owners whose "profile pages" show up on organic search results under relevant business terms. The company offers online advertising products with a scaleable model which requires no sales force.

While Yelp has not released any sales figures, Yodle claims 5,000 advertisers, and MerchantCircle has over 10,000 advertisers. Because of the different models for engaging local business owners, the employee count for each company is also decidedly different: Yelp - 200 employees; Yodle - 250 employees; MerchantCircle - 17 employees. Cheers to all companies who engage and reinvent when the rest of the old media companies stay stagnant. Although their loss, is our gain.

Throughout the course of the year in 2008, we would also like to give thanks to another form of new media that is replacing the old. Citizen journalism, in the form of bloggers, have helped to keep us informed and innovative, while also holding the company to a higher standard. Here are some of the "local" bloggers that helped us become better and the link to their best posts of 2008:

- Andrew Shotland: Local SEO Guide
- Greg Sterling: Screenwerk
- Peter Krasilovsky: Local Onliner
- Mike Blumenthal: Understanding Google Maps
- Matt McGee: Small Business SEM

Below are some of the top stories in "local" from our vantage point (feel free to send a link and we'll add it):


I've also begged permission (I think it's a great message) to release an edited version of a note from our Chairman and Co-Founder, Ben T. Smith, IV, that highlights the year that was, where MerchantCircle has been, and where we'll go:

It has been quite a year…

• This has been the worst tech IPO market in 25 years
• Some of the most important media and yellow page companies lost 95% of their multibillion dollar market caps
• We saw interesting competitors disappear
• We probably saw our personal stock portfolio’s drop more than any time in our lives
• XXX XXXXXXXXXX XXX XXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XX XXXXXXX

But….

• XX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX, XX XXX XX XXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX
• MerchantCircle went from 350K merchants to 650K merchants and now grows 20K merchants a month for free
• Starting as an idea, there are now 700 MerchantCircle Advisors/Members around the nation 'pitching' MC advertising products
• Our traffic went from 5MM page views to 25MM page views and from 2MM unique to over 10MM uniques
• We went from just 500 paying members to over 10,000
• XXX XX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX XX,XXX X XXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXX XX XXXXXXXX
• XX XXXX XXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXXXX XX X XXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXXX
• Most importantly, we have gone from a large number of merchants to a community/network of merchants who are sustaining and growing the network on their own

So while we will miss our 1M merchants for 08, we have come a long way. You should all be proud of your contribution for 08 and also for most of you what you put in place in 07 that allowed 08 to happen.

2009 is going to be a tough year for the macro environment, but may well be one of the most exciting years for creating an capturing opportunities.

• We should finish up our paid product in January with the email and cost per lead call products: XXXXX XXX X XXX XX XXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXX.
• We will have improved natural growth in merchants onto an ever-improving community platform through the early 09 focus on building consumer and community tools around our merchants. XXXXXX XXXXX XXX XX XX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXXX XXXX XXX XX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXX XX X XXXXXX XXXXXXX.
• Our traffic has a chance of moving us up to be one of the top 5 local traffic players with the smallest team in the space (17 great employees)
• And our crazy experiments like dynamic radio XXX XXXXXX, domain XXXX-XXXX, XXX XX YP ad, higher merchant touch, etc---something big will happen as always.
• We will do all this with our small tight focused team and hopefully still have a good time doing it.

Ben

I don't know about you, but I'm excited to go to work this year. I agree with Ben that this economic environment will lead to more opportunity for those that are innovative and strong enough to capture it.

Thanks for a great year!

Sincerely,
Community Relations

What's new at MerchantCircle

Every month we try to push out great new features for our merchants to enjoy and help them find new customers here at MerchantCircle. This month is no exception, we have loads to offer so take a moment, read what’s new, and start taking advantage of our new offerings.

1. Custom URL – Want a shorter, easier to remember url for your MerchantCircle listing? Check out our Custom URL feature. You can claim your custom url by 1) Log into MerchantCircle 2) Click on Listing Configuration 3) Click on Edit Business Profile. From there scroll down to the Customer URL field, fill in your desired name space and click save. From then on, it’s yours. Give your new url to your customers, print on business cards, and place on any advertising you do.
2. Widgets – Display your MerchantCircle colors on your personal website, MySpace page, and email signature. It’s easy, just go to our downloads page, copy the html next to the example widget and use where you see fit.
3. Getting Started Guide – Have questions about MerchantCircle? We’ve compiled an easy to use Getting Started Guide to using MerchantCircle and all the features we offer to find new customers. Download here and let us know what you think.
4. Better Forums – We’ve restyled our forums, added a sticky thread feature, included search capabilities, and now have the ability to assign moderators. Check out our forums today and join the discussion. And, if you are interested in becoming a moderator, drop us a note at support@merchantcircle.com and let us know why you would be a good fit.
5. Talk to Me - Ever wish you could interact with your online visitors? Well, we've just created a new feature called "Talk to Me". This feature establishes a 2 way dialog between your visitors and yourself on your MerchantCircle listing. Check back often to see what people are saying or asking of you. Participate regularly and it can drive even more customers through your door.
   

As always we’re constantly on the look out for the next wave of features to offer our merchants, so if you have feedback be sure to let us know.

I’m waiting to hear from you.

Best,

Ryan
Product Marketing
MerchantCircle

Narcissism, Hubris and Me.....

After a drug-induced weekend filled with strippers and booze, I asked my mom to leave the room so I could do some serious soul-searching. I've always been a humble guy, but I just can't help but love the company I work for. You see, I'm not one of those people who works for a company to collect a paycheck (although it is nice). I took a pay-cut out of college as a host at Hard Rock Cafe in San Diego to my first journalism gig in Pocatello, ID.

That's love.

I work at MerchantCircle because we're doing a GREAT and NECESSARY deed. We've built, essentially, a FREE website for every business in America.

Let me explain why I'm going into this. I've recently been called less-than-humble and narcissistic even. Sure, maybe I toot MerchantCircle's horn too much. But it's genuine excitement. How many times do we need to write boring blogs about the importance of blogging, or about building coupons, or about the importance of being found high in search engines? All of which are very important for our merchants.

I write the MerchantCircle corporate blog to try and entertain and let our merchants know about their growing community and about why they should continue to invite their merchant friends.

Now if I were writing just about me, it would be all self-deprecation. Let's start with a long list of embarrassing moments in my life. (I am narcissistic after all!)

- I got beat up in 5th grade by a girl because I tried to take her spot on the Merry-Go-Round. (I haven't fought since, but I will so take you Stephanie Smith from Huntsville, TX if we ever meet again.)

-In high school, a bird once pooped on my head. Fortunately, it was on my brand new fitted Atlanta Braves hat.

-During my first day behind the anchor desk filling in for sports, I read off the teleprompter my own name as 'I'm Kevin Lee-ooo'. (I should have spelled it phonetically or how it sounds. 'Loo' or 'Lue'. Or maybe I should have repeated kindergarten.)

-People at work call me T-Bone and worse yet, I gave myself the nickname.

I could go on, but we'll stop there. You know, a news director once told me, 'be more worried if people AREN'T talking about you'.

Sincerely,
Kevin Leu "Lue"
P.S. I am sooooo not hubristic! (Did I use that word right? I had to look it up several times.)