As customers and clients become more tech-savvy and adopt new online networking habits, small business owners have the opportunity to reach out to prospects in fresh novel ways. Geolocation services such as Foursquare and Google Places make it easier for potential customers to find your physical location when conducting a search and when networking with their social contacts online. These services have made “checking in” to a residence a new trend, and small business owners who rely on foot traffic for a large part of their business can like a number of benefits when they claim their site on these networks.
Dozens of restaurants, cafes, locally-owned stores and even tanning salons in my city have already added their location to Google Places and Foursquare. Some have taken extra steps to attract more customers by offering special discounts and offers through these networks, and giving rewards to people who “check in” regularly. If you’re a dinky business owner and your target market is beginning to use sites like Foursquare, now is a substantial time to jump onto the geolocation bandwagon.
Getting Started with Geolocation Services
Whether you own a retail store, restaurant, bar or day spa, there are several ways to attach a presence on geolocation sites and start attracting more customers.
The first step is to claim your site with the major geolocation service providers. Leah Betancourt of Mashable.com emphasizes that your business must already be discoverable on geolocation apps. This goes one step beyond making sure your address and phone number are current on the major search engine listings. You need to manually add your business to sites like Foursquare and verify your listing on Google Places to maximize your reach.
Dwelling some goals so that you can build and maintain solid relationships with your customers. If other businesses in your community are also just starting to use geolocation services, your primary goal will be to establish and build your social network. If you’re entering a market with a lot of active users, you will need to focus on attracting quality prospects with unique offers and incentives.
Using Geolocation Services for Your Runt Business
When you’re ready to develop and grow your presence on geolocation sites, you can:
- Extend special offers and discounts to people who check in to your location
- Provide rewards for a set number of check-ins
- Participate in the conversations your customers are having as often as possible
- Participate in in-person community events
- Build definite your geolocation presence is visible on your business’s home page
- Invest in marketing materials that let customers know where you are located online
Some of today’s most popular and widely-used geolocation services offer a wealth of opportunities for small business owners. Use these tips to get started with geolocation service and attract more prospects to your business day in, day out.
Sources:
http://mashable.com/2010/02/19/business-geolcation-ready/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/business/smallbusiness/07sbiz.html? pagewanted=1&_r=1
http://www.geoapplab.com/2010/04/four-steps-to-growing-your-business-using-foursquare/
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Filed under Small Business Phone Lines by on Apr 28th, 2011. 
When moving to Altha, Florida in 2003, we purchased a building on main street. Very soon after the sidewalk was dug up and we asked what was being done. We were told that work being done would give us fleshy blown cable with local channels and internet service. At the time we were using Comcast® and looked forward to up coming changes. Since then I have inquired several time about local channels and internet service. Neither is available as of 08-08-09.
The cable we had was poor signal, fuzzy picture and often out for some reason. We changed to DIRECTV and although rain interrupts the signal the overall cable experience is better. Quiet no local channels and no internet with our service. Cable in this small town is not the only pickle. Choice of phone service is only one company, with a choice of long distance providers.
At some point our phone company GT Com sold to FairPoint Comm our phone service is adequate, with normal options and prices. DSL available which is the best we can do in this town. Our dsl often looses connection for some reason requiring a reboot of the modem or our network hub. I have found better dsl offered at a heed of $59, $21 cheaper than we pay, but not available in this town.
Cell phones were often not useable a few years ago. Better service from more companies is offered now days and although we are on the edge of coverage for some providers on the highway signal strength is better. Like the cell phone providers, the cable and land phone has been upgraded so it puzzles me as to why we can’t get local channels and internet. A analog TV antenna could be ragged, we have not installed one because we have been waiting on what was promised when our sidewalk was torn up for a week.
I can tell you why we do not have what we want from our DirecTV, the satellite is too stout. Why that is is a mystery when we pay $65 monthly and internet and local channels are offered in other markets. Other markets meaning more customers in certain areas. So what if they provided us with better service then they might very well have more customers in this market. I can understand it, making money is the point of being in business. This market has grown from roughly 600 to estimated 2000 today, Somebody should give us internet cable broadband, whatever and local channels too. It would be nice to see CBS, ABC and others.
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Filed under Small Business Phone Lines by on Nov 8th, 2010.
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Filed under Small Business Phone Lines by on Aug 26th, 2010.