The MerchantCircle blog lets local and small business owners know what's going on in their marketing world. Whether it's online marketing solutions, yellow page directory statistics, business video solutions, or general merchant musings, we make sure you're informed.
Coming from a family of local business-owner/entrepreneurs (of varying success levels), I have first-hand experience of the difficulties of trying to start your own business. When I was young, my father started a restaurant in Huntsville, TX, which was successful enough, that he had to work 12 hour days, 7 days a week. I know this because I spent my single-digit years running around that restaurant! He sold the restaurant a few years later to finally get some rest and started another restaurant venture in Conroe, TX, which failed. Eventually, he owned a super market in Santa Cruz and a burger joint in Boulder Creek, CA, which I spent my teen years working EVERY single weekend. I am not bitter. What teenager doesn't want to work every single weekend while everyone else is out enjoying beautiful California weather?
My aunts and uncles have also had varying degrees of success starting and running their own businesses. I've even had my own thoughts of starting a business, but which ventures have the most risk of failure? I came across this interesting article on Yahoo!, titled: The 7 Most Overrated Businesses. No surprise here - 'restaurants' shows up on the list.
Here's an excerpt:
...about 60% of restaurants close in the first three years, according to a 2003 study at Ohio State University. That's quite a bit higher than the roughly half of all start-ups that close in the first five years.
The reason: Restaurants typically have low profit margins and need strong managers who can run an ultra-tight ship through seasonal fluctuations and other struggles. Most people don't have that kind of intense managerial ability to pull it off.
Well, I guess I should think twice about opening up my Houston Rockets-themed restaurant in California. In the meantime, no matter what business you start or have, MerchantCircle is the ONLY free network that allows you to blog, build coupons and newsletters, and email them to customers.
Join the free network here today or communicate with other local business owners in our forums here.
Sincerely,
Community Relations
We're always flattered when local business owners blog about their success using MerchantCircle. It's even better when they blog about their lack of success using the YellowPages, which we've always felt is a waste of time and money. Well, don't take our word for it, read A+ Affordable Upholstery & More's blog here. Below is an excerpt:
Honestly, I've received more calls (and jobs), with Merchantcircle than any other paid or free advertising...craigslist, facebook, boys and girls club, citysearch...to name a few.
For the record, A+ Affordable Upholstery in Norfolk, VA, is a free member! One of the keys to their success on MerchantCircle is the frequency of their blog posts. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Community Relations
From day one, we've been committed to providing you with the best tools and products to attract and engage local consumers. Whether it's tools to blog, build coupons, send e-Newsletters, or advertise on search engines like Google and Yahoo, you've been able to do everything easily and effectively. Our network of 800,000 local merchants, now sees more than 20 million unique consumer visitors a month!
With our new partnership with Demand Media, (read the press release here or here), you can now add dynamic, unique business content on your local listings. Say you're a consumer searching for a local auto mechanic, once you get to a MerchantCircle member's listing, not only will there be your created content (blogs, newsletters, pictures, coupons, etc.), you can also have content like the articles shown below on automotive issues and news. This will give your potential customers a truly one-stop shop for all their business-specific needs and interests.
Find out more about adding Rich Content through your MerchantCircle dashboard here. eNom, a Demand Media company, will also be powering our Instant Website and unique email offering.
Sincerely,
Community Relations
FOX Chicago recently ran a story featuring two of our merchants from Chicago who actively use MerchantCircle to promote their business. MerchantCircle recently began feeding Merchant-built coupons instantly onto city-specific Twitter pages. In this case, coupons in Chicago can be found @MCircleChicago where we have more than
Go in and say hi to Mario Alonso at Bella Bronze Tan or Wilbur Sutphin at Deadwax Record Store in Chicago. Tell them Kevin says hi. Don't forget to check out their local media debut on FOX Chicago below.
Build your coupons now on MerchantCircle! We'll do all the work to promote you locally.
Sincerely,
Community Relations
We're always flattered when local business owners blog about their success using MerchantCircle. It's even better when they blog about their lack of success using the YellowPages, which we've always felt is a waste of time and money. Well, don't take our word for it, read 
Find out more about adding Rich Content through your MerchantCircle dashboard 
