“Top Merchant" Decal Program Exciting Members

Since 2007, MerchantCircle has been awarding its "Top Merchant" recognition to our valuable members who distinguish themselves as a reliable and trusted source on MerchantCircle.  A select group have risen above the masses to earn this distinction denoted as a badge on their MerchantCircle pages. But last month, in an effort to give recipients a chance to really show their awards to all customers our staff stuffed envelopes and mailed off thousands of new window decals to our Top Merchants to further recognize the finest merchants on the nation's largest social network of local business owners.



Some of our members who've received their window decals recently have been tweeting and posting to Facebook with their excitement. There's even been some of you like Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston Salem, NC and Mac Productions Inc of Cleveland who've put out formal press releases! This is great to see! We're so excited that you're excited and hope you'll continue to promote your business through our network and encourage others to do the same.





For those of you who aren't yet a Top Merchant you can click here to see the criteria needed to qualify. Its easy to do and helps you better market your business.  Every month we find all of our members who have completed the requirements and award them with a Top Merchant web badge for their listing page and now a decal for their storefront.



Enter to win in the Top Merchant Decal Contest! To commemorate the launch the window decal program we are inviting all of those Top Merchants to upload a photo of your storefront with your Top Merchant decal to your listing page. You'll automatically be entered to win unlimited invites and five additional free cities to help promote your listing.





If you don’t have a storefront then don’t worry. Upload a photo of your Top Merchant decal on your car or laptop or any place you feel best represents your business. Five winners will be chosen at random and we will announce the winner on May 17. We're looking forward to seeing all your photos!

Healthcare Reform and Your Business: Where Do You Stand?

The newly signed healthcare reform bill is perhaps the most controversial and debated topic in the last 50 years in America. It has stirred passionate responses from all sectors of the American public, from celebratory to calls of unconstitutionality. Earlier this month, nearly 12,000 MerchantCircle members responded to a series of questions on the current healthcare topic in the Q1 Merchant Confidence Index. Not surprisingly, a good majority of the respondents, roughly 65%, do not currently provide health benefits to their staff. And just about half of the respondents (49.2%) felt the U.S. government should indeed reform the healthcare system.

Questions between principle and practicality were covered in this article from USA Today on Tuesday. Clearly, the jury is out amongst local merchants, somewhat due to a lack of clear understanding of the impact to them and the nature of changes which are years down the road. Experts like Steve Strauss say the reform bill will help small business because many of the uninsured work for small merchants.

So we’re asking our members today. What are your thoughts now that this proposed reform is reality? Are you fundamentally in favor or insecure about the far reaching effects on your bottom line? Is this a windfall for the future of our domestic workforce and affordability through planned exchanges?



Let us and the MerchantCircle community know your thoughts. We look forward to hearing them!

MerchantCircle Confidence Index (MCI) Survey Results - Q1 2010

Below are the results of our second quarterly Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) survey, designed to track trends in local business sentiment over time. This survey was presented to a random sample of MerchantCircle members between February 9th and February 16th, 2010. 11,013 completed responses came in during this period and there were no incentives offered to complete the survey. 

Read the full Merchant Confidence Index press release.

State of the U.S. Economy: a mixed bag

• 27.8% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "somewhat" or "significantly" improved


• 30.7% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "about the same"


• 41.5% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "somewhat" or "much" weaker

Sales revenue expectations: local merchants are optimistic

• Nearly 50% of local merchants surveyed expect sales revenues to "somewhat" or "significantly" improve over the next three months.  This represents a 23% increase over our Q4 2009 survey results (39.9% responded this way in Q4 2009)


• 17.3% of local merchants surveyed expect sales revenues to decline "somewhat" or "significantly".

Marketing expectations: investment expected to remain flat

• 46.3% of local merchants surveyed expect their marketing expenditures to remain flat over the next three months


• 29.2% of local merchants surveyed expect to increase marketing spend (up 2.6% nominally from Q4 2009)


• 24.5% of local merchants surveyed expect to cut marketing investment (down 1.2% nominally from Q4 2009)

Hiring expectations: headcount inching up

• 17.1% of local merchants surveyed expect to increase headcount over the next three months.  This represents a 16% increase over Q4 2009 responses (14.7% responded this way in Q4 2009).


• 11.5% local merchants surveyed expect to reduce headcount over the next three months.  This represents a 17% decrease versus Q4 2009 responses (13.4% responded this way in Q4 2009).

What do you think?  Stay tuned for more insights as we dive into the data.  

In the meantime, if you're interested in survey data broken out by state, business category or business size, please email darren [at] merchantcircle.com.

Darren

MerchantCircle Marketing

Local Business Owners Getting Better with Age?

The intrepid Greg Sterling recently posted a summary of stats drawn from a recent NY Times article.  This stat really stood out: "the number of self-employed people ages 55 to 64 is soaring...climbing 52 percent from 2000 to 2007."  

Our most recent analysis of MerchantCircle's local business members reveals interesting demographic data about our members:

Broken out by age:

Broken out by gender:

MerchantCircle members -- what do you think?  Are local business owners "getting older"?  I prefer the term "aged to perfection".

Darren

MerchantCircle

Sense of Urgency in our Business

If you are like me, you've seen quite few of those posters that talk about corporate principles... lofty ideals printed across a background of blue skies...clouds ... birds... you get the idea...



For most of us these things really make us cynical about the touch feely side of things... especially when in most cases they are the farthest thing from what is really going on in a business... people don't really work that way, right? Right.



So I joined this company a few months ago and spent the first several weeks trying to figure out what did matter to the people that worked there. I asked them to tell me what was important to them and I observed what they did (which we all know is much more telling about the character of a business and its employees). Finally, I got what it meant to be a part of MerchantCircle!



They begged me not to try to put it on a poster...and I promised I wouldn't do that... so I decided to talk about it as a series of blogs instead - so here goes...



Merchant Circle is about a 24/7 Sense of Urgency...best explained in the words of one of our employees as he describes a colleague:

    "From her first day at MerchantCircle, she hit the ground running. G immediately dove into three main issues and took action creating new product flows, testing them and pushing marketing initiatives to support the existing products. With limited resources and time, she seamlessly worked with the team to execute and implement these strategies. She pressed the team with a sense of urgency and commitment, backed up with hard analysis and because of her efforts, we were able to meet an important revenue milestone."

Small business merchants understand what 'sense of urgency' means. It's not a poster or a slogan. They live it every day. They know that without it, small businesses do not thrive and grow. And because it's part of MerchantCircle's DNA, we are the perfect partner for the small business merchants we serve.

2012 Spring Fling Sweepstakes Official Rules

MERCHANTCIRCLE.COM Spring Fling Sweepstakes 2012

$10,000 SWEEPSTAKES

Official Rules

YOU HAVE NOT YET WON A PRIZE.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY.

VOID IN FLORIDA, NEW YORK, AND RHODE ISLAND, AND PUERTO RICO AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

ODDS OF WINNING WILL DEPEND ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES RECEIVED.  

This Sweepstakes is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by TWITTER or FACEBOOK, nor are TWITTER or FACEBOOK associated with the Sweepstakes in any way. Any questions, comments or complaints regarding the Sweepstakes must be directed to the Sponsor and not to TWITTER or FACEBOOK.

The MerchantCircle $10,000 Sweepstakes ("Sweepstakes") is sponsored by Reply! Inc. (the "Sponsor").

1. ELIGIBILITY: Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are, as of entry date, 18 years of age or older. Employees, officers and directors of Reply! Inc. ("Sponsor"), and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, promotion and advertising agencies and members of each of their immediate family (spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, ward, daughter or son and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of such employees, whether or not related, of each of the above, are not eligible to enter or win. Void in Florida, New York, and Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico and where prohibited or restricted by law. Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

 2. SWEEPSTAKES PERIOD/DEADLINE: The Sweepstakes begins on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 12:00:00 pm Eastern Time ("ET") and ends on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 11:59:59 pm ET (the "Sweepstakes Period") unless extended by Sponsor, notice of which will be provided as set out in these Official Rules. A computer designated by the Sponsor will be the official timekeeping device for the Sweepstakes.

 3. HOW TO ENTER: During the Sweepstakes Period, an eligible Entrant must logon to http://www.MerchantCircle.com/corporate/MC_SpringFling  (the “Page”) and enter his/her valid e-mail address. The Entrant then must register by entering the information requested on the registration page, including his/her first and last name (no initials), complete address (P.O. Boxes are not accepted), zip code, and confirm email address.

This information is provided directly to Sponsor and not to Facebook® or Twitter. Each Entry will be entered into the Sweepstakes Period that it was received. For Facebook and Twitter, you can earn one (1) additional Entry for each referral of different friends ("Friend(s)") during the Sweepstakes Period by sending them an invitation per the instructions provided.  Each Additional Entry will be entered into the Sweepstakes Period that it was received. You will not earn Additional Entry for your Friends' subsequent Entries throughout the Sweepstakes. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means will be void. Limit for Facebook: One (1) entry per person, per email address and five (5) additional entries per person, per-email address per Sweepstakes period. Limit for Twitter: One (1) entry per person, per email address. All Entries and Additional Entries become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be returned and are subject to the respective Privacy Policy of the Sponsor.

Participants may not register with multiple email addresses nor may entrants use any other device or artifice to register multiple times or as multiple registrants. Any Participant who attempts to enter with multiple email addresses under multiple identities or uses any device or artifice to register/play multiple times will be disqualified and forfeits any and all prizes won, at Sponsor's sole discretion.

By entering the Sweepstakes, you agree to receive solicitations from Reply! Inc. or its affiliates (unless you have previously opted out). You may later elect not to receive future solicitations from Reply! Inc. or its affiliates.

In the event of a dispute, entries will be deemed submitted by the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. For purposes of this Sweepstakes, the “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person or legal entity who is assigned to the e-mail address at the time of entry by an internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (such as an individual's business or educational institute) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

If you would like to enter offline, please print your full name, email address and mailing address on a letter, affix postage and mail to: Reply! Inc, 12667 Alcosta Blvd, Suite 200, San Ramon, CA 94583 Attn: MerchantCircle.Com Spring Fling Sweepstakes All mail-in entries must be received by March 27, 2012. All entries become property of Reply! Inc. and will not be returned. Limit: One entry per person per mailer. Incomplete entries are void. All entries must include a valid email or mailing address where entrant may be reasonably contacted in the event of a winning entry.

Entries that are misdirected, lost, incorrect, incomplete, illegible, or garbled upon actual receipt by Sponsor, for any reason, including without limitation by reason of hardware, software, browser, or network failure, malfunction, or incompatibility with Sponsor's or other third party servers involved in the entry process, will not be eligible.

Proof of submission of the completed entry form by an entrant does not constitute proof of delivery to Sponsor of the entry form. Sponsor's decisions with respect to completion and delivery of valid entries will be final.

4. PRIZE AND ITS FACE VALUE (FV): Only one (1) winner will win one (1) Prize: The sole prize consists of a ten-thousand US dollars ($10,000.00) cash prize.

5. RANDOM DRAWING: A random drawing will be conducted by the Sponsor within five (5) business days from the end of the Sweepstakes Period to select one (1) winner among all eligible Entries and Additional Entries received. The decision of the Sponsor shall be final and binding. Odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible Entries and Additional Entries received.

6. NOTIFICATIONS: The potential Sweepstakes Prize Winner ("Potential Winner") will be notified by telephone, mail and/or email approximately within five (5) business days following the applicable winner selection. The Potential Winner may be required within two weeks to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability/Publicity Release ("Affidavit"). At the sole discretion of the Sponsor, disqualification, forfeiture and the selection of an alternate winner may result from any of the following: [1] Potential Winner's failure to respond to an e-mail or mail notification within five (5) business days from the date sent; [2] the return of any notice as undeliverable; [3] Potential Winner's failure to provide Sponsor with satisfactory proof of age, identity and residency; [4] Potential Winner's failure to execute and return Affidavit (if required by Sponsor); [5] Potential Winner’s failure to execute and return a W-9 form supplying Sponsor with his/her social security number for tax purposes within five (5) business days after it is mailed; [6] Potential Winner's failure to validly claim any prize by April 1, 2012 and [7] any other non-compliance with these Official Rules. In the event of any prize forfeiture, the Sponsor, at its sole discretion, may award the forfeited prize to an alternate winner. Any taxes are solely the responsibility of winner. Upon contacting a Potential Winner and determining that he/she has met all eligibility requirements of the Sweepstakes, including without limitation the execution and timely return of the required documents, such individual will be declared as the "winner" of the Sweepstakes.

The winner shall receive prize within sixty (60) business days after receipt by Sponsor of all required documents. The receipt by you of any prize is conditional upon you complying with any and all applicable laws, rules and regulations. Except where prohibited by law, acceptance of a prize shall constitute and signify the winner's consent that the Sponsor may use the winner's name, likeness, image, voice, photographs, biographical information, address (city and state) and written statements made by the winner about the Sweepstakes and Sponsor for promotional purposes, in all forms of media, in perpetuity and without monetary payment or additional consideration. The Sponsor reserves the right to announce the identity of the Sweepstakes prize-winner and the prize awarded to each such winner on any of its marketing platforms including websites, social sites, or email; or on those of its affiliates.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND GENERAL RELEASE: By participating, each Entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Sweepstakes; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Facebook, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, retailers, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, "Released Parties") from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from his/her participation in the Sweepstakes or any Sweepstakes-related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize (including any activity related thereto); and (c) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph/video, Entry, Facebook Profile picture, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation, notification (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from nominator or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so. Released Parties are not responsible for lost, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled Entries; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Sweepstakes, the processing of Entries, the announcement of the prizes, or in any Sweepstakes-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Sweepstakes or downloading materials from or use of the website.

8. GENERAL: No substitution or transfer of prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, at its sole discretion. Any and all federal, state, and local taxes on the prizes, and any other costs, fees, and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not explicitly stated herein as being awarded, are the sole responsibility of the Winners. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Sweepstakes or website, who act in an disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Should any portion of the Sweepstakes be, in Sponsor's sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of Entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Sweepstakes (or portion thereof) for any reason, including without limitation in the event of any technical malfunction, any unauthorized tampering or anything occurring beyond Reply!’s control, and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the Potential Winners for the Sweepstakes Period from all eligible, non-suspect Entries received for the applicable Sweepstakes Period prior to action taken using the judging procedure outlined above.

In the event of a dispute, the name of the "Authorized Account Holder" associated with any given email address will be deemed to be the Entrant and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. The Authorized Account Holder is defined as the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, an online service provider, or another organization that is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. Proof (to Sponsor's satisfaction) of being the authorized account holder may be required by Sponsor. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

10. WINNERS LIST/RULES For a copy of the Official Rules or for the name of the prize winner, mail a stamped, self-addressed envelope by March 30, 2012 to: Reply! Inc. Attention: MerchantCircle.com Spring Fling Sweepstakes 12667 Alcosta Blvd., Ste. 200 San Ramon, California 94583 Only one request per envelope.

11. SPONSOR: Reply! Inc. 12667 Alcosta Blvd., Ste. 200, San Ramon, California 94583.

12. PRIVACY POLICY: All entries received for this Sweepstakes are subject to the Sponsor's Privacy Policy which can be viewed by visiting http://www.reply.com/privacy.

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