Patrick Kennedy, VP, Superior Woodcraft, Inc. contributed the following article. If you read this article and try one of the tips, tell us about it! What works for you? What doesn't? We want to talk with you!

During our last conversation we focused on marketing in a local economy.  The internet puts the world at your fingers, but who cares? Most of us only care about marketing to our local customers.  You can still use the internet to market to the local marketplace.   Let’s see how.

Perhaps you've begun by donating some of your work to local charities; maybe you're planning to exhibit at a local artisans' festival; don’t stop there.  All of your efforts and activity can reach much farther than the arenas in which they began: leverage this work and tell your potential clients what you are doing.

Leverage your marketing efforts:  broadcast your business exponentially by spreading the word across the internet.

First, you need an online presence and links to your website.  If you have a website great; if not, work on creating one.  Many of these suggestions cost no money, but they are not free.  Remember your time is valuable and has a cost to you.  Don’t delude yourself and think that these suggestions are totally free, but they are probably the best deals in town.   Here are some suggestions on how to use the internet to leverage your work by focusing on getting the word out to your local marketplace.

1.       Create your own blog or work with other artisans and local businesses to create a blog.  Tell the world about your donation and where you will be exhibiting.

2.       Several websites focus on buying local and offer free listings for local independent companies.  One such site is Independent We Stand.  Use them to your advantage.

3.       Use Getlisted.org, localeze or Universal Business Listing to list your company information so your local customers can find you on the internet.

4.       Contact your suppliers to see if they will place a link to your website or blog on their website.  You can reciprocate by placing a link to your supplier’s website on your sites.

5.       See if your Alma matter lists contact information and links about their alumni.

6.       Google offers an array of free or low cost products you can utilize to promote your company or help customers locate you.  Use Google Adwords or Goggle Places to help your potential clients find you.

7.       Use websites such as PRWeb to help distribute information you want the local marketplace to know.

8.       Use sites such as facebook and linkedin to increase your online social network.

9.       If you having blogging capabilities with your CustomMade account use it.

10.   Support your local businesses and they will support you.  Your dollars count.


Okay, these are a lot of suggestions.  Don’t try to tackle them all at one time.  Start by picking one or two items to tackle first and keep working at it.  Over time you will build a strong online presence and be able to leverage your activity.  You can visit Superior Woodcraft Blog to see an example of how I leverage Superior Woodcraft’s actions and reach out to our local marketplace.

Please join my discussion by posting a comment.  I would enjoy hearing from you and learning from your comments and suggestions. Remember - "Acting locally, together, we can all help each other through these trying economic times. The only support and assistance we need is each other."

More of Patrick Kennedy's writings can be found here.