Blumenthals ran a piece last month chronicling the sometimes deceptive practices of sales reps at companies like Yelp, who in effect prey upon local, small business owners who don't know better, in order to lock them into bad deals that rival the Yellow Pages (read: 12 month contracts at hundreds of dollars per month). Says the...

I have a confession to make.  I am a local-social marketer, and I hate mobile apps. Hate. Like, despise. I think that 90+ percent of them are a complete and utter waste of time. And the above XKCD illustrates the core frustration. And Yet... And yet, if your website sucks, people won't stick around. See,...

Here's a question I've heard posed often:  "How do I break into that 'Groupon pie?'" What's a Groupon? Groupon is the industry leader in a litany of websites purporting to offer "deals" on local establishments.  Generically, these are "Deal Sites". As we are a Local Marketing company, we've had an intense interest in such "Deal...

Did you hear that there was a football game at the Beyonce concert last night? Did you watch the game for the game, or for the commercials? It turns out that almost as many people tune in to watch the Super Bowl as tune in to watch the commercials and half time show.  Over the...

Good ol' Rand has a bit to say about unique content.  Ironically, I'm going to share some of what he has to say (but I'll link/attribute him, and thus lift him up in the eyes of the internet!). If you want your message to be seen, you need unique, relevant content that helps people.  Period....

If you own a local business with a show-room floor, then you understand the adage about the three most important parts of getting new customers: Location, Location, and Location!  Often times we view this as merely a comical way to express the fact that you need to be seen by foot traffic, and the higher...

Fact: A full page, black-and-white ad in the Wall Street Journal will set you back the cost of a house: $164,300!  $210,300 if you want it in color.  And that's not including the cost of designing the ad (and good copy-writing is both expensive and, generally, worth it) or other associated costs. Now, chances are,...

Question: "I'm working towards gaining Facebook fans as quickly and cheaply as possible?  Do you recommend offer a freebie like an iPad in order to gain them?" The short answer is: NO! The longer answer is no, because part of what drives the success of your Facebook page is natural fans who interact with your...