Then the internet came along.

Ask yourself this? In the past few months, where have you looked for local business information? If you’re like most consumers, “online” is becoming a larger and larger part of that answer. Here’s what the top researchers are saying:

• According to a 2007 comScore study, one third (33%) of consumers prefer the printed yellow pages for looking up local business information, compared to six out of 10 (60%) who prefer online sources like search engines, internet yellow pages, and local search sites.
• According to the 2007 Knowledge Networks/SRI Industry Usage Study, people referenced internet yellow pages sites 3.8 billion times in 2007, up 15% from 3.3 billion in 2006.
• Bill Gates has predicted that printed Yellow Page usage will die off by 2012.
• According to comScore, over 65-million people visited the top four local business search listing sites in December of 2007, nearly 65% more than the year prior.
• Local businesses are recognizing the online trend. According to Borrell Associates, local online spend will reach $13.1 billion this year, up 50% from 2007.

The message is clear: Your customers are getting more and more comfortable with online business listings, and so should your marketing.

Have you guessed who they are yet? That’s right; they’re your potential customers, and the only reason they’re still “potential” is because they’ve never heard of you. That’s where local marketing comes in.

What’s local marketing? Here’s a revelation: You already know all about it. In fact, you see local marketing every day of your life. Ask yourself how often you see the following things. Better yet, ask yourself how many have influenced your purchasing decisions.

1. Billboards - You know, those larger-than-life ads that dominate your view of the highway. Imagine getting your business in front of every motorist that passes through. Then imagine how much extra exposure you’re getting for the locals who see it on a daily basis.
2. Blogs - You may not know much about them, but they sure pop up in the news a lot. In case you didn’t know, you’re reading one right now. Blogs are a great way to interact with the local online community, and open up marketing opportunities that traditional advertising simply doesn’t offer.
3. Business Directories - Plenty of people still use the old-fashioned phone book, or go online and check out interactive business listings. Business directories are great because they allow you to market your business to a local audience right when they’re most interested in your product.
4. Classified Ads - Online or off, classified ads are a great way to target your business offering to the local community.
5. Direct Mail - With the right mailing list and the right offer, you can drive serious demand and boost visibility to your ideal demographic.
6. Local/Mobile Search Listings - Local search listings come in two varieties: Sponsored (paid) and organic (free). Ideally, you want strong placement for both. This will get you in front of anyone searching for your product or service online, and has the added benefit of getting your listing on mobile phones.
7. Radio Ads - Do you have a favorite radio station? So do your customers! Get your message out to them on the air and increase awareness of your business throughout the local area.
8. Social Networking - Like blogging, social networking is a new form of promotion that only the internet can offer. By developing and interacting with a network of friends, you can help promote your business online.
9. Television Ads - A well-made, well-placed, well-timed television commercial can do wonders for your brand. I wouldn’t know about half of the car dealerships or restaurants in my area if not for their TV ads.
10. Word of Mouth - My family and I just went on vacation to the beach. Want to know where we ate? A pizza place and a seafood restaurant, both recommended by friends. Nothing drives business like a solid reputation. Turn every customer into an advocate and you’ll get more free promotion than money can buy.

Any one of these methods can drive the kind of awareness your business needs; many or all of them can make you the most popular business in town. The trick is knowing which ones will be most effective and how to get them up and running.

While the blog has been quiet as-of-late, behind the scenes, we don’t remember the last time quiet even came by for a visit.

In addition to helping our wonderful clients and growing our company, here is a quick up-date on the low-down as to what’s been happening lately:
• Jan 10 - We moved into a new office at 5 Points in Downtown Durham. The Historic A Penny Building is at 111 E. Chapel Hill St. - We will post some pics of the new space-in-progress soon.
  
• February 1 - Nathania, realizing her full and unbridled passion for social media, has struck out to follow her dream and solidify her place in the internet archive as the Social Media Butterfly that she is. - While we are sad to lose her, we wish her all the luck in the world and have high expectations for her.
• February 21 - Laura Cunningham, our Director of Client Services, and my right hand, brought her first child into the world, a little boy named Jona. Laura will be coming back from maternity leave in May. (thank goodness)
• March 3 - My wife gave birth to our second child, Hunter. Read more about his arrival on my personal blog, AdamSchultz.com.
• Starting in May (if all goes well), We will begin some free on-line marketing clinics at our downtown office that will be open to the Triangle business community. Click Here for details.
• We have a lot more change coming down the pipe. Keep your eyes peeled for a new Bold Interactive site as well as a couple of new divisions: Bold Design and Bold Local.

Stay tuned as we continue to grow the company, help our clients succeed and continue to fulfill our promise of making the internet better one client at a time.

How to Hook (More) Copywriting Prospects teaches writers (and all freelancers) how to position themselves in the marketplace in order to land more work. Most of this stuff you probably already put into practice for your clients, so now it’s time to apply these same practices for yourself.

So far you know…

1. I’m joining 9 SEO’s in an epic battle
2. The proceeds go to charity
3. One of the major search engines is a sponsor

Without further ado, I present to you:

SEOsFightFat.com

It’s like the blogging version of Biggest Loser for internet marketers.

Oh, and there’s now more than 10 people.

Here’s how it works:

Beginning tomorrow, we start counting down the pounds and blogging about it (visit my fat fighting blog). The male and female with the biggest losses will be voted on by the general public. Whoever wins has the proceeds from sponsorship go to the charity of their choice.

My charity is the Thyroid Cancer Survivor’s Association, a volunteer-run organization which has been a huge benefit to me personally since my diagnosis in February 2003 (That’s right, I’m a 5 year survivor in a couple weeks!).

So who else is fighting the fat? Only Donna Fontenot (the brainchild of this whole operation), Jennifer Laycock, Debra Mastaler, Aaron Wall, Jim Boykin, Simon Heseltine, David Wallace, Ben Cook, Scottie Claiborne, and Jeff Quipp. Seriously, I don’t know how my B-List cult classic blogger name got tied in with all of these A-listers, but I’m not complaining.

I have a Twitter account set up just for the occasion. Follow me at Twitter.com/natfightsfat. The widget for that account is on the sidebar of my blog.

And if you see me eating any cookies - slap me on the wrist!

Here is another titillating detail:

It’s a contest where the proceeds go to Charity. If you want to be a sponsor, let me know. There are many levels of sponsorship. And let’s just say that a BIG NAME search engine is one of the sponsors.

Two Problems:

1. I’m not pregnant. (That’s not a problem for me - just for Amazon.)
2. I never created an Amazon Baby Registry.

I was curious, so I signed in to view my registry. Lo and behold, there was no registry.

Here are my theories:

1. Amazon is having some serious database issues.
2. Amazon is hoping I’ll create a Baby Registry because I created a wedding registry.

#2 would be highly stupid. First, they would be informing about a gift that in fact was never purchased from a registry that was never created. Then they would be assuming that I’m trying to get pregnant after my wedding. And you know what they say about people who assume.

Nevermind the fact that some couples are trying to get pregnant and maybe they’re having complications or miscarriages. (Just to be clear, we’re not trying to get pregnant. Josh has 2 kids who now call me mom and they’re plenty for us, thank you!)

So it must be #1. I mean, Amazon would never try something like #2 (would they?).

It’s super secret. So secret, that no one at Bold knows. Not even Adam.

All I can tell you is that I’m teaming up with 9 SEOs in the greatest battle in all of history.

Stay tuned for more clues…

StumbleUpon puts more weight on the actions of those who use its service regularly. So pressing that Stumble button, as well as the thumbs up or thumbs down AND leaving comments on pages will help any pages you submit to SU be seen by more people.

A big Stumble can get you far better traffic than a big Digg could ever hope to. Last year, we had a post see traffic of 24,000 because of StumbleUpon. The effect of that still lasts until today as I’m still seeing new people comment on the blog as well as follow me on Twitter and other related social networking activities.

So, what are you waiting for? Stop reading this post and go Stumbling! Then report back with your success - and that’s an order!

This is the equivalent of 2 people dominating the conversation at a dinner party - it’s mindnumbing for the rest of us.

If you find yourself engaging in a good conversation with just one other person, use the private message function. From there, you can exchange information to send emails or messages through an IM client.

Always know your audience, folks. Always know your audience!