Small Business Owners Saving Money By Leaving Print Advertising

MerchantCircle member Thom Millage of All Spotless Carpets was featured today on primetime news in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. For WRAL's "Here to Help" segment, Thom spoke of saving over $10,000 a year by leaving print advertising and the benefits he's seen from blogging and utilizing online networks, such as MerchantCircle!

Check out the video by clicking on WRAL's site here.

Here's a text excerpt of the video story:

More and more small businesses are saving marketing dollars by turning to the Internet to find customers. They use blogs and Web sites as a cheaper alternative to expensive listings in the phone book or advertisements in the newspaper or on television.

Thom and Joni Millage, the husband-wife team behind Garner's All Spotless Carpets, cut their print advertising and turned to MerchantCircle.com, a site that offers tools to help small businesses build a Web brand and be found by online searches.

The couple began All Spotless Carpets in 2002.

"We started out the traditional way, with the Yellow Pages," Thom Millage said.

Over the years, he estimates, he spent more than $10,000 for placement in the yellow pages.........

You can read the entire version here, but I recommend watching the story!

Sincerely,
Community Relations

What Should I Do with My Yellow Pages Book?

At no other time in our lives have we asked ourselves this question with more frequency: "What am I supposed to do with the Yellow Pages?" Years of habit tells us that we should put it on top of our refrigerator or underneath the telephone. But if you're like me and a growing number of Americans each year, you no longer have a land line, because your cell phone is with you at all times. Even those who still have a land line, use their computer to search and research options for their consumer needs.

MerchantCircle recently launched a campaign for local business owners to stop advertising in the Yellow Pages, save money, and move their marketing efforts online. We even offer to buy their next YP ad if it doesn't work. We've also launched a national radio ad campaign and will soon move into television. Below, you can see one of our radio ads put to images of the crazy things people have done with the Yellow Pages:



While many of the uses above were on a large scale, here's a link to some creative uses for the Yellow Pages on a small scale. People are getting so angry about having the Yellow Pages dropped at their doorstep, that they're taking their anger to the web.

One thing is for sure, those Yellow Pages ads that you're paying a risky amount of money for, are being seen by less and less people.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

New MerchantCircle Promotion Helps Small Business Owners Disappointed With Print Yellow Pages

As Yellow Page companies like RHDonnelley and Idearc have lost millions of dollars of valuation this last year, their infrastructure and value to merchants will continue to take a hit. Investors, consumers, and merchants know that less and less people turn to the Yellow Pages with the influx of multi-media that is available at our fingertips. Our own MerchantCircle members have taken on the question of whether Yellow Pages actually work. To be fair, they still have value for many merchants. Check out the discussion by clicking here.

To alleviate fears for merchants and to help them during this difficult economic environment, we wanted to introduce an online advertising promotion that would help them cut-out the high cost of print Yellow Page advertising and replace it with online advertising. In order to ensure that merchants have nothing to fear, we will buy your next Yellow Page ad if you're not 100% satisfied.

Here's an excerpt of the release:

“With the economy being what it is, it’s important that local businesses try more cost-effective advertising channels, like online advertising,” says Darren Waddell, MerchantCircle VP of Marketing. “While the majority of our members tell us the yellow pages no longer work for their businesses, many are hesitant to completely stop advertising in the yellow book. We believe this promotion will help local businesses take the leap into online advertising and feel safe doing it.”

"Many small businesses know their traditional media buys are not as effective as once were, but they're afraid to adopt new platforms and strategies," said Greg Sterling, founder Sterling Market Intelligence/analyst Opus Research. "This program addresses that hesitation by attempting to remove some of the perceived risk of online marketing."

Read the entire release by clicking here.

As always, we wish you all, business success.

Sincerely,
Community Relations

Small Business Survival Tips During a Recession

No matter whom you ask, one of the most important things you should do for your business during a recession is to market, market, market. I highly recommend reading this article from SFGate called Tips for Small Businesses to Survive Recession. On marketing:

"Don't stop marketing. Scrutinize your marketing budget to make sure you're not wasting money, but don't stop marketing or advertising completely. If you can afford it, you may even want to increase your sales and marketing team."

From BNET, (even though this article is dated 1992, the information is similar to tips from today):

"5. Marketing is everything in a recession.
Smart firms continue with a strong marketing effort even in difficult times. But don't expect instant gratification. Marketing in tough times paves the way for future profits. It's the best way to keep your name in front of both clients and prospects.

..... Maintaining the status quo is for those destined to be the dinosaurs of the 80s, not the dominant firms of the 90s."

Besides marketing, it's also important to operate your business in a lean manner. If you think you're already lean - think again - you can probably get leaner. Through the Merchant Marketplace, you can compare prices on products you're already using to operate your business.

During a recession, you can find some great deals, from hiring excellent employees, to cheaper products, including advertising. It's important to clear your books of expenses that don't work, namely the Yellow Pages. Of course, this isn't for everyone. Some businesses still find the print Yellow Pages to be effective. The majority of MerchantCircle's 650,000 members do not. Here's a list of quotes from merchants from almost every state who have turned their attention away from the Yellow Pages and their high prices and long contracts.

If you haven't already claimed your MerchantCircle listing, you should know that it's free. You can write blogs, newsletters, upload your business pics, connect with other business owners, and communicate with your customers online. Even if you already have a website, MerchantCircle strengthens your overall online presence in a Web 2.0 way. If you're looking for advertising options, MerchantCircle has the most extensive, affordable, and effective advertising options on the web.

Remember: Be aggressive, stay lean, and stay strong.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Showing Value to the Web 2.0 Small Business Community

When MerchantCircle first launched in June of 2006, the emphasis was on growth, community, and value. As the nation's first Web 2.0 social network and online directory for local business owners, we knew that community and business owners would be far more powerful than a fast-talking Yellow Page salesman in a suit. Now, nearly two and a half years later with over 635,000 members, we've been able to confirm many of our initial thoughts and continue to innovate to make sure that business owners can easily have a strong web-presence and find new customers.

Recently, I've spent some time speaking to a lot of our local merchants around Santa Clara, CA trying to find a business owner who has had a lot of experience advertising in Newspapers, Yellow Pages, and various online mediums. The Kelsey Group had asked if we had any local business owners in the area to speak on a panel on November 19 - 21. (Our own Darren Waddell will be speaking on a panel titled, The Web 2.0 Equation: Community and Viral Effects.) Many of these merchants I spoke to were biased, naturally, since they pay for advertising through us - but there was some really great insight to be heard. We already hear from thousands of merchants each month about how costly and inneffective Newspapers and Yellow Pages advertising is, but hearing about the shortfalls of online advertising through many of the large "players" in the field was relatively new.

It seems that local business owners are getting BOMBARDED with calls all the time now from online Yellow Pages directories and other online advertising firms. One business owner in Mountain View (Nunley Custom Homes) has been actively advertising his business since 1989. He told me that many of the online firms he's advertised through don't deliver, overcharge, and offer no value. I asked him why he chose to go with us next, and he said, "at least with MerchantCircle, you know what you're going to get. You already get value through your MerchantCircle listing page - and it's free."

Another business I spoke to, Treasure Islands of Santa Cruz, has been advertising with MerchantCircle for over a year. He currently averages over 7,000 visitors to his MerchantCircle listing each month and has grown his business to two locations. He regularly gets calls from merchants in his network asking him how to get the most from their MerchantCircle listing.

By showing merchants value with a free customizable web listing that helps your business have a stronger web presence, we've gained the trust of many of these merchants when it comes time for them to decide they want to start placing ads on search engines and across the web. Because we have merchants all across the country who trust and believe in the network, (blogging, creating newsletters, uploading pics, networking with other business owners), it has brought the entire network up and our merchants are our biggest promoters on the street - not slick salesmen who offer nothing but talk.

We're proud to have such an active, engaging group of business owners who have sounded off on everything from politics to business practices. They don't always agree, but they are the heartbeat of America - producing more than 2/3 of all NEW American jobs. It's important for anyone who wants the attention of local business owner to show them VALUE first.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Yellow Pages' Expensive 'Feet on the Street' No Longer Necessary

As the economy tightens, and business owners could use more money, MerchantCircle has launched it's Marketing Advisor program. Instead of implementing a traditional, expensive 'feet on the street' sales force, MerchantCircle has taken an approach that no one else has the membership base to attempt. By paying local business owners to sign up their business neighbors to free memberships and paid online advertising packages, Marketing Advisors can earn a reoccuring revenue each month.

By not implementing a sales force, MerchantCircle and it's Marketing Advisors pass the savings on to local business owners. Yellow Pages salesmen have to mark up their prices to pay for the production of the books, their base salary, and finally their commission - thus making Yellow Pages costly and, we've argued many times before, ineffective.

Here's an excerpt from the release:

Marketing Advisors sign-up online and can choose up to 5 zip codes for their local territory. They get access to online training and marketing materials, and they get to offer a great message to local merchants – “cancel that Yellow Pages ad and start finding customers online with MerchantCircle.” The program launched in August, and already over 700 Marketing Advisors have signed up and provided help for local merchants in over 2,000 zip codes.

Click here to read more the full press release. To find out more about how you can be a Marketing Advisor click here.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

The Best Small Businesses in the Nation

Over the last two and half years, we've compiled the largest and most diverse group of local merchant members anywhere on the web. With 575,000 merchants, ranging from local plumbers, landscapers, restraunteurs, hair stylist, coffee shops, you name it, we've been able to assemble the most comprehensive view point on merchants, their needs, concerns and habits.

We've gauged them on a number of issues - surveying real estate agents after the housing bust, compiling statistics on merchant advertising spending and preferences, print and online ad effectiveness, business confidence, etc. - currently, we've just gotten under way interviewing merchants in several battleground states for November's Presidential election. We want to make sure local merchants know who and how which candidates will effect their business. Be sure to read the MerchantCircle blog for new postings.

For now, check out our recently redone 'Merchant Showcase', which we've been compiling over the last couple of months, interviewing our merchants about their advertising experiences with print Yellow Pages, local newspapers, radio, television, Google Adwords, Banner Ads and MerchantCircle. Learn what they did right and what they did wrong. Click here to read more.



Sincerely,
Kevin L.
Community Relations

Easy Website Creation

More than 55% of an estimated 15 million local businesses in the US do not have a website (SMI).

You can argue about the value of advertising in the Yellow Pages compared to advertising online all you want (which we've done often here), but there really is very little argument on the importance of a business website. It's often times the gateway between knowing whether a business is legitimate or not and, quite simply, to just check out some of the goods being offered.

While more than 75% of our 550,000 merchants use their MerchantCircle listing as their only and main web presence, we decided to increase our advertising offerings even more to help merchants find more local customers. That's why today, we launched the web's first 'Instant Website' and domain name offering. With just the click of a button, you can pick a unique domain name and all of your MerchantCircle content is pulled to create your new website - instantly. There's no need for HTML experience, finding someone to host it, transferring the domain name - it's the easiest and pain-free method on the web.

Take for instance what Damian McAllister of The Falk Company in Fargo, ND says:

“I bought The Falk Company in 2004 and they had 60 customers nationwide for
their Camfo Crème with no web presence. Since putting my business on
MerchantCircle, I now have 300 customers, but I want to grow my business even
more. Having a domain name and website through MerchantCircle will help me out even more on search engines and it’s been an amazingly simple process.
Literally, I just clicked a button.”

Check out Damian's new website at http://www.camfocreme.com/ below:



Anytime Damian adds a new picture, builds a new coupon, or writes a new blog on his MerchantCircle listing, it automatically updates on his website. It's the equivalent of updating your Myspace page or Facebook profile. No need for any tech knowledge. It's really simple, easy, and quite addicting!

Enjoy,
Kevin L.
Community Relations

More Bad News for the Yellow Page Industry

A new Borrell Associates study estimates the Yellow Page industry will lose '39% of its annual revenue over the next five years, amounting to a loss of $5 billion in annual revenue by 2013.' While this statistic is startling, the majority or our 525,000 merchants over the last few years have been directly telling us they have NOT seen a return-on-investment from their YP ads. That's not to say YP ads don't have value, because in a lot of communities they still do. In fact, some of our best merchants are finding customers with their YP ads AND their MerchantCircle ads.

Michael Ortega of MC Leathersmiths in Bellemont, AZ says:

"We used to run newspaper ads and large Yellow Page ads - we've now downsized our Yellow Page ads and stopped newspaper ads altogether. It was like flushing money down the toilet. With the economy being so bad, I don't know why every company is not taking advantage of MerchantCircle's free services."

While the Borrell report does not directly say the loss is coming from an exodus to digital advertising, it does say YP sales staff are being retrained to sell interactive products. We've written two posts before that generated a high amount of interest from local business owners and YP insiders, who continue to argue the lasting value of print. While we don't argue that YP still has value, it would seem the industry would be better suited trying to satisfy their customers.

In speaking with our merchants on an almost daily basis, the big complaints are the high-cost associated and how YP sales reps consistently try to package their print and digital offerings together AND in long-term contracts.

Luttra Lewis of Girlfriends - The Salon in Olathe, KS says:

"I couldn't wait for my contract to end. I probably spent about $8,000 to $10,000 a year advertising in print and broadcast and saw very little return on my investment. The internet has been the most cost-effective and proven. MerchantCircle has really helped me grow my business and find a larger audience."

To avoid further loss, we continue to believe the YP industry needs to flip the script, while keeping their merchants happy.

Sincerely,
Kevin L.
Community Relations

Giving a Voice to 500,000 Merchants

A little more than a week after our 2 Year Anniversary, it's an honor for me to announce the passing of 500,000 merchants. While we've been the largest online network of local business owners for some time, it means more to us at MerchantCircle that our business owners across America are finding new customers and able to connect with merchants everywhere.

In June 2006, when we launched, we were committed to listening to what our merchants wanted and needed in an online business network to find new customers. Two years later? Absolutely nothing has changed. We listen to our merchants, just like merchants listen and help out each other in our MerchantCircle Forum. We've continued to add new functionality and features that makes merchant life easier.

While we've often spoken out about 'giving a voice' to local merchants on the web to 'fight back' against big box retailers, we should also make note that that 'voice' is now 500,000 strong and growing. Another common theme throughout the last two years has been that of the Yellow Pages and their long, fixed-term contracts, and expensive costs. I would have to say after these two posts (here and here), many merchants agree. No other blog posts drew as much discussion on our comment board than posts about the relevance of Yellow Pages.

One of the themes we encountered in our ongoing campaign of interviewing merchants in all 50 states, is that the Yellow Pages were inneffective and expensive. Don't get me wrong, we have some merchants who are still finding customers through print, but the majority are fed up. Our discussions with merchants on the phone and through surveys led us to come up with a portfolio of various online advertising products that fits every merchant's needs. As an early indicator, just six months after launch, we went from 500 paying merchants in late December to 5,000 by June.

You can read what our merchants in every state are saying by clicking here. It's been an exciting two years, filled with lots of announcements, and you can count on many more to come. The best part of those announcements? Our merchants and their 'voice' will be a part of them every step of the way.

Sincerely,
Ben Smith
Chairman and Co-Founder, MerchantCircle

P.S. The pictures above are who we're about.

Time For Yellow Pages to Flip the Script?

Perry Evans' great blog on the evolution (and potential reinvention) of print directories presented grim stats on stock price declines of directory publishers Yell and Idearc. Just the other day, Idearc Media replaced Kathy Harless as CEO with John J. Mueller, the board's chairman prompting a 10 percent drop in a share price that was already nearly 80% off of its 52 week high. And a quick peek at R.H. Donnelly shows a decline of 78% from $84 to just under $18.

While I think it's premature to say that the print industry is dead, the long-term outlook for yellow pages in their current state looks ominous. From a consumer perspective a recent Nielsen/NetRatings survey tells us that 78% of respondents said they used the internet more today than 2 years ago, as opposed to 2% who used it less. With print directories, only 6% used it more, as opposed to 52% who said they used it less.

From the local merchant perspective, we hear a broad range of opinions about the effectiveness of yellow pages versus local newspaper versus internet advertising. In a recent survey* of our 375,000+ local merchant network, we asked merchants for their thoughts on the effectiveness of various customer-acquisition channels, marketing budget allocation and willingness to invest in advertising (in terms of both time and dollars).

Survey Results and Analysis

Effectiveness of Yellow Pages

24% of respondents rated yellow pages "not effective at all" or "mostly ineffective". When reached for comment, Dino Folino, owner of TDF Limousine Service in Oakmont, PA said:

"I, myself, don't use the Yellow Book. I go to the computer to search and that's
why I stopped wasting my money on print advertising."

His comment was representative of several conversations we've had with merchants. Interesting to note that in this case, the merchant's experience as a consumer drove his decision to quit spending on print advertising. If, in fact, merchant behavior as a consumer does influence advertising decisions, a 52% drop in consumer yellow page usage over two years (see Nielsen/NetRatings survey results above) doesn't bode well for the industry.

42% of survey respondents rated yellow pages as "effective" or "very effective" and 19% rated yellow pages "neither effective nor ineffective" ( 14% had no opinion or no experience with yellow pages).

Budget Allocation

Those who rated yellow pages as "not effective at all" or "mostly ineffective" allocated only 9% of their budget to yellow pages and a whopping 45% of their budget to internet advertising. Not surprising considering that 75% of this group rated internet advertising "effective" or "very effective".

What was somewhat surprising was the response from 42% of merchants who believe YP is effective. Of those merchants, 75% rated internet advertising as "effective" or "very effective". They allocate an average of 37% of their marketing budget to yellow pages and 30% to internet advertising (the remaining budget goes to newspapers, radio, TV and "other").

Figure 1: Budget Allocation

So even the most satisfied Yellow Pages customers allocate 30% of their budget to online. What happens if YP usage continues to decline? As online opportunities become more efficient and accessible, how will yellow pages salespeople convince merchants to spend more on print? Should the YP salesperson even lead their pitch with print? Since both YP advocates and naysayers believe internet advertising is effective, it may be time "flip the script" and begin their sales pitch with online (would you like a yellow page ad with that?).

Willingness to Invest

Here we observed consistency among respondents. While, in general, survey respondents under-report their willingness to spend dollars, the local businesses we interviewed didn't foresee spending big bucks on internet advertising even if it was guaranteed to work! Here's what we learned:

* Of merchants who rated the yellow pages effective, 73% would not spend more than $100/month on internet advertising

* Of merchants who rated YP ineffective, 60% would not spend more than $100/month on internet advertising

If the vast majority of local businesses are unwilling to spend more than $100 per month on internet advertising, is it ever profitable to insert a salesperson into the mix? Can we expect broad-scale adoption of internet advertising when price points for many solutions begin at $250 per month? Many traditional business models (and some current players in the local online space) have such a high cost structure that they can't offer products in the "sweet spot" our merchants desire.

In terms of time merchants were willing to spend, we again see consistency between the "YP effectives" and the "YP ineffectives":

Even if it was guaranteed to work, 43% of merchants were willing to spend only between 0-3 hours per week marketing their business online. 40% said they would be willing to spend between 3-10 hours and 16% would spend more than 10 hours per week.

Figure 2: Time Willing to Invest if Internet Marketing Guaranteed to Work

Running online marketing campaigns requires ramp up time that many of our merchants just can't spare. If a local merchant spends 10+ hours per day running their business, is it really reasonable to expect them to become proficient at SEM, blogging or email marketing? While a subset of local business owners is interested in getting educated about online, the feedback I'm hearing indicates that a turnkey approach is more appropriate.

Rumors of YP's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated...for Now

While print directories face difficult financial times and reduced usage, a large percentage of our user base still believes yellow pages effectively drive customers to their business. And while consumer usage is on the decline, YPs still have the opportunity to leverage the relationships they've built with merchants to sell new, more effective solutions.

With their best customers adopting internet advertising as an important part of their marketing mix, the time is now...but what to sell and how? If our merchants had their way they would ask for:

* Internet marketing solutions with the option of print ads as an add-on

* Services that are cheap (sub-$100 per month) and effective

* Services that are simple to use, requiring fewer than three hours per week to manage

Over the next 6 months, we here at MerchantCircle are interested to see how the traditional print industry reacts to changes in the local space, especially now that those changes are severely impacting shareholder value.

Darren Waddell
Sr. Director of Marketing, MerchantCircle

* Notes: As context, our target demographic represents the "long-tail" of online advertisers: typically merchants outside of major metros in categories other than arts, entertainment and dining (these categories represent around 10% of our network members). While we surveyed our entire base (more on them in a future blog), the results presented below come from 864 of our most highly-engaged merchants - those who regularly log into their accounts regularly to write blogs, upload photos, send newsletters and create coupons.

It's a Hard Knock Life.....

Or is it? Me and one of my MerchantCircle colleagues recently returned from The Kelsey Group's Directory Driven Commerce Conference: The Future of Yellow Pages. While the Yellow Pages has had a featured role in the life of small business owners for some time, there's little doubt of the prominence local internet will have on the future.

As a generation of youths grow up searching for goods and services on the web and on their cell phones, the need for print yellow pages will decrease. We live in an ever-increasing mobile world, where we don't lug around 5 pounds of yellow pages that leave our fingers black from page-turning. Our options are abundant and the companies looking to help make this local search process a faster and easier one are also vast.

One of the biggest reasons we go to the Kelsey Conferences is because of the wonderful partnership opportunities. We have several companies we work with that help distribute the coupons you build, whether on the web, on 4-1-1 calls, or on cell phones. Our goal is to make sure that you and the other 225,000 merchants on MerchantCircle can be found all over the web and anywhere a customer may find you.

We know the web isn't an easy place to navigate, so we form these partnerships to make sure it is easier and if we can do it for you - consider it done. We will continue to learn and develop to meet your needs, taking the hard knocks from your plate. No one said it was easy finding new customers, but first, you have to step up to the plate.

Sincerely,
Kevin
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

Using MerchantCircle to it's fullest

Every now and then I like to highlight a few of our exceptional merchants on MerchantCircle. These guys are the ones that use MerchantCircle to its fullest by blogging, creating coupons, uploading pictures, and basically using all that we have to help them find more customers online. It's always hard to pick the right ones, considering the vast number we have (116,000 and counting) but I try my best and often grab a handful of the ones that seem to spark my attention first.

This month we have

1. Helping Friends LLC of Akron, OH
2. Lorenzo Glass Gallery of Port Royal, SC
3. J & S Roofing and Remodeling of Kannapolis, NC
4. Elaine Barnett Pet Sitting of Ruckersville, VA
5. Healing Therapeutic Massage of Claremore, OK

If you're in there area, make sure you drop them a line and let them know you found them on MerchantCircle.

I'll be following up soon with another handful, so if you think your business should be featured and or just have a great story to tell drop me a message at support@merchantcircle.com.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,
Ryan
Product Marketing
MerchantCircle

Building a better MerchantCircle

It's been great to see all of Kevin's posts over the last few months on MerchantCircle's blog. Whether it's him talking about what's going well or what sucks, he is always funny. But, I suppose not everyone thinks so, here is a post mentioned that says maybe we are not humble enough. I think honestly some people are taking Kevin's tongue in cheek style a bit too seriously. Now, I love Sack's blog, I also love the blogs of a lot of other people who share their company story (Check out skrenta.com, rp0229.com, and munjal.typepad.com).


We are very proud of what we do, we have grown by 1000 merchants (A couple of our latest - P2000 Insulation, LMS Video Surveillance Systems, and Happy Tails Pet Care Services) in the last couple of days and that is not even close to being a great period for us. We like the growth but we are driving to get more merchants to use more of what we have already built for them. We just did a big customer survey and found that 40% of our users did not know of some of our features.

We definitely have work left to do.

For example, you can

* Publish your company blog
* Create coupons and have them distributed around the web
* Upload pictures and videos
* Send out a weekly, biweekly, or monthly newsletter

We're constantly striving to improve and will keep asking for your input as to make MerchantCircle the best it can be.


Best,
Ben Smith
Chairman, MerchantCircle

MySpace Stalking, Bondage and My 5th Grade English Teacher

When I first joined MySpace it was the result of an overzealous friend who insisted that she would create the account for me. As I continued to refuse, she proceeded to add all of our mutual friends as ‘friends’ on my new MySpace account. In a few short months, I went from standoffish to MySpace stalker.

Growing a community on the web these days is full of MySpace knock-offs; ‘It’s MySpace for college students,’ or ‘it’s MySpace for xenophobic anemic Republican doglovers’. A lot of the experts said, successful online communities are driven by the young. When we first started MerchantCircle, a lot of the critics said we were dealing with an older generation, that we couldn’t sign up merchants without an off-line sales force, and that we couldn’t do it without spending a lot of money. Well, guess what?

They were wrong.

Since we launched in June, more than 85,000 business owners have signed on – making us the FASTEST growing company in the ‘local’ online space. We’ve gone from making fun of the Yellow Pages for being outdated (see the bondage pic) to getting straight to the point.



One day, Yellow Pages will not exist. Customers will have instant access to the internet where they will search for the services and products they’ll buy before leaving the house. We’re the only site that’s already built your business listing and allows you to upload pictures, blog, build coupons and see all the reviews written about your business on the web – free of charge.

We continue to add more awesome, easy-to-use services that’s sure to make my 5th grade English teacher mad. My sentences about everything we do is becoming dangerously close to being a run-on. Oh well, rules are made to be broken and we’ve been proving the experts wrong for some time!

Sincerely,

Kevin
MerchantCircle Stalker