Not sure if anyone is doing this or not but, I would like some feedback.

I would like to charge local restaurants to advertise on a website. With this I would encourage them to include a coupon for like a month at a time.

I would ask users of the website send in reviews of the restaurants that they have eaten at. I guess I could give each restaurant a rating per reviews sent in.

I would try and get the restaurant managers to get their employees to ask each customer if they have a coupon from the such and such website. If not they could direct them to use it in the future to print coupons.

I could further extend this as a community newsletter and ask for other local businesses to advertise and as well have a rating system for each type of business so if you are looking for a plumber you can select the one with the best rating, as well as any business could include a coupon with their ad. I would think somewhere around $25 a month to advertise.

I haven't checked what the phone book charges to advertise but I will say that anymore I myself go to the internet and try to find the business. I hate pulling out that phone book anymore.

As a newsletter I could have local businesses offer to write articles, not about them but like a local lawn care business might write an article about getting rid of crab grass or whatever. The person writing it could not say anything about his or her business but at the end of the article it would have the writers name and what company he owns or works for.

I don't know if the restaurant service would work, but it might.

As for the yellow pages/phone book. The last one I received for my house went into the recycling bin and the one for my business is on the shelf still wrapped in its protective plastic.

T


Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

>Not sure if anyone is doing this or not but, I would like
>some feedback.
>
>I would like to charge local restaurants to advertise on a
>website. With this I would encourage them to include a coupon
>for like a month at a time.
>
>I would ask users of the website send in reviews of the
>restaurants that they have eaten at. I guess I could give each
>restaurant a rating per reviews sent in.
>
>I would try and get the restaurant managers to get their
>employees to ask each customer if they have a coupon from the
>such and such website. If not they could direct them to use it
>in the future to print coupons.
>
>I could further extend this as a community newsletter and ask
>for other local businesses to advertise and as well have a
>rating system for each type of business so if you are looking
>for a plumber you can select the one with the best rating, as
>well as any business could include a coupon with their ad. I
>would think somewhere around $25 a month to advertise.
>
>I haven't checked what the phone book charges to advertise but
>I will say that anymore I myself go to the internet and try to
>find the business. I hate pulling out that phone book
>anymore.
>
>As a newsletter I could have local businesses offer to write
>articles, not about them but like a local lawn care business
>might write an article about getting rid of crab grass or
>whatever. The person writing it could not say anything about
>his or her business but at the end of the article it would
>have the writers name and what company he owns or works for.


Well first of all you are right about people looking for local businesses on the Internet as opposed to looking in the yellow pages. I know this for a fact becaurs I have an online directory of businesses in my area and my stats tell me that a lot of visiotrs come to my site who are looking for local businesses in the area. I think the last one was someone looking for attorneys in the area - so you are right there.

Also your post made me remember about this local mailing we get that has the same thing that you are talking about. Local businesses that advertise in it and some of them offer tips and the like.

I think almost any idea is a viable one and I'm always recommending that people start a newsletter in their area of interest or expertise.

Of course your main focus would be in getting the businesses to advertise with you. What's your competition like? Is there someone or another company providing the same service that you want to? Then you'll have to concern yourself with how you are going to get the clients to come to you. How far have you gotten so far? Is the website up? If so you should start doing some work with it like finding out where your visitors are coming from and how they got there. Have you promoted the website? Have you figured out how much it would have to profit you in order for it to be viable? I think the hardest work will come with getting the businesses to advertise but I think its a good idea and I know its a good idea because the mailings that I get in my area sound like the same thing that you want to do. I sometimes look at them and see 25 or so pages full of advertising and that's a lot of advertising money!