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What blog or online business couldn’t use more visitors? There are so many little ways to plant seeds of growth that no list can be comprehensive, so we’ll just start with some off the top of our head and count on our readers to add their best ideas. Feel free to leave links to related articles and posts in the do follow comments.

As you visit other bloggers be sure to share the best posts you find at your favorite Social Networking site. I favor the FriendFeed bookmarklet. The better your shared items the more people will want to read what YOU write. Take a little extra time and make your FriendFeed posts more valuable to readers.

Here are Five easy to use tools to make the results of your time online more fruitful: Read more…

What do you do when your vehicle needs repair and you aren’t near your mechanic? Or you don’t have a mechanic? Who can you trust not to overcharge? How do you know if a business is trustworthy and competent? Would you feel better with a personal recommendation?

That is what online reviews are: personal recommendations by people just like you or me. The more reviews you can read, the better feel you can get for who to hire, where to shop, and what to do - especially in an emergency or when traveling in unfamiliar areas. Here’s how you can do that anywhere, any time… Read more…

Each Local Listing site requests similar but slightly different information. The following form is a compilation of all of the data required when listing your business or Web site on the Local Listing sites listed.  You can use this form to gather your own information. Feel free to print this out and share it with others.  Read more…

You don’t have to operate what Internet Marketers refer to as a “brick and mortar business” to benefit from local directory listings. Every business - whether it operates entirely online, has one or more physical stores, or serves a limited geographic area - would be well-advised to obtain as many incoming links from quality local listing directories as possible.

This is true even if none of your target audience buys from you locally! Here are seven excellent reasons to immediately start requesting listings - whether you sell locally or not: Read more…

Most SEOs would be appalled at the title of this post: Search Engines Are NOT As Important As Many Believe They Are Because…

Because Search Engines are NOT anyone’s target audience!

It is not the search engine that reads what you post. It is not the search engine that buys products or services your business sells. You do not create content for the search engines. Your target audience is people!

I highly recommend we all stop focusing on search engine placement - which is a grand example of competition and greed because there are only so many spots on the first page - and focus on the people who are your target audience! Here are some tips on how to get started: Read more…

Few realize that as complicated as it is to do it well, building a site is the easy part. No matter how beautiful, brilliant, or useful your site is, if no one can find it your work will come to naught. Behind the supposed secrets of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and search engine listings, and submitting directories is one great truth: you have to make it easy for people to find you.

The secret of being found on the Internet is the same as the secret of real estate: Location, location, location. You must be sure links to your site are placed where your target audience already is! Read more…

If you do not have accurate information on your Web site or business at each of the major Local Search directories, you are missing out on increasing your business at zero cost to you. There is no cost to request listings and - more importantly - there are NO RECURRING FEES! Every day you delay requesting your listings is a day you’re missing out on potential clients.

If you are busy running your business or have no desire to learn how to do this yourself, we will be providing this service. For details and flat rate costs any time simply click on Special Offer for Local Businesses in the right column under Pages.

If you prefer to do it yourself we’ve provided instructions and links to guide you in submitting your business to local search engines. Read more…

Surely you want your current customers or clients to easily find your contact information, don’t you? You can also make it easier for them to find out what hours you’re open, what you sell, and how to find your Web site. Even your best customers could lose your phone number or not have it handy when they need it or want to share it with others!

Do you want more business? Read more…

Ready to help your potential visitors find you? Go to each of these FREE Local Search Engine Web sites and fill out the submission form. If you run into difficulty you can ask questions using the comment form below any post in this blog. Answers will be provided asap. Step-by-step instructions for submitting to each site will be provided Read more…

If your business operates exclusively or primarily in a limited geographic area (city, county or other defined area), ensure you can be found in all the major local search sites. If you run paid yellow pages ads offline, you may already be listed; however, your listing may be outdated and definitely will not contain all of the details you can list at no charge.

These are the best known high traffic general directories: Read more…