The MerchantCircle Blog
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.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
With many local businesses struggling due to the recent economic condition, we've launched a number of programs to help merchants save money and find more customers.
- Marketing Advisor Program - Pays you money for each merchant you sign-on to the MerchantCircle network.
- Merchant Marketplace - Saves you money on essential business needs and products from Fortune 500 companies.
- Instant Website - Instead of paying a company hundreds of dollars to build you a website, buy a domain name, and host the website - MerchantCircle offers all of this for as low as $6.99 a month!
There are many government organizations that are designed specifically to help out small businesses. With the $700 billion dollar bailout, some of that money is supposed to help out local businesses. Check out these sites:
Hopefully these links come in handy.
Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations
Labels: business help, business.gov, loans, Merchant Circle, MerchantCircle, MerchantCircle.com, resources, sba, Small Business
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Every month we try to push out great new features for our merchants to enjoy and help them find new customers here at MerchantCircle. This month is no exception, we have loads to offer so take a moment, read what’s new, and start taking advantage of our new offerings.
- Custom URL – Want a shorter, easier to remember url for your MerchantCircle listing? Check out our Custom URL feature. You can claim your custom url by 1) Log into MerchantCircle 2) Click on Listing Configuration 3) Click on Edit Business Profile. From there scroll down to the Customer URL field, fill in your desired name space and click save. From then on, it’s yours. Give your new url to your customers, print on business cards, and place on any advertising you do.
- Widgets – Display your MerchantCircle colors on your personal website, MySpace page, and email signature. It’s easy, just go to our downloads page, copy the html next to the example widget and use where you see fit.
- Getting Started Guide – Have questions about MerchantCircle? We’ve compiled an easy to use Getting Started Guide to using MerchantCircle and all the features we offer to find new customers. Download here and let us know what you think.
- Better Forums – We’ve restyled our forums, added a sticky thread feature, included search capabilities, and now have the ability to assign moderators. Check out our forums today and join the discussion. And, if you are interested in becoming a moderator, drop us a note at support@merchantcircle.com and let us know why you would be a good fit.
- Talk to Me - Ever wish you could interact with your online visitors? Well, we've just created a new feature called "Talk to Me". This feature establishes a 2 way dialog between your visitors and yourself on your MerchantCircle listing. Check back often to see what people are saying or asking of you. Participate regularly and it can drive even more customers through your door.
As always we’re constantly on the look out for the next wave of features to offer our merchants, so if you have feedback be sure to let us know.
I’m waiting to hear from you.
Best,
Ryan
Product Marketing
MerchantCircle
Labels: business help, chamber of commerce, MerchantCircle, MySpace, new features, sba, Small Business, Small Business SEM, Yellow Pages
Friday, April 20, 2007
Every now and then I like to highlight a few of our exceptional merchants on MerchantCircle. These guys are the ones that use MerchantCircle to its fullest by blogging, creating coupons, uploading pictures, and basically using all that we have to help them find more customers online. It's always hard to pick the right ones, considering the vast number we have (116,000 and counting) but I try my best and often grab a handful of the ones that seem to spark my attention first.
This month we have
1. Helping Friends LLC of Akron, OH
2. Lorenzo Glass Gallery of Port Royal, SC
3. J & S Roofing and Remodeling of Kannapolis, NC
4. Elaine Barnett Pet Sitting of Ruckersville, VA
5. Healing Therapeutic Massage of Claremore, OK
If you're in there area, make sure you drop them a line and let them know you found them on MerchantCircle.
I'll be following up soon with another handful, so if you think your business should be featured and or just have a great story to tell drop me a message at support@merchantcircle.com.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Cheers,
Ryan
Product Marketing
MerchantCircle
Labels: business help, merchant, Small Business, Yellow Pages
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Let's face it, starting and running a business is tough work. I remember reading that some 600,000 small businesses fail each year. 600,000 is a huge number and because of this, I think it's great to see our merchants banding together in support of one another on MerchantCircle.
You can see this most obvious in our Merchant to Merchant forums. Here you can find the support and help of our merchants to questions like How do I generate customers walk-ins?, What are some free or affordable ways for me to promote my business?, and my personal favorite Has being a MerchantCircle member helped bring you sales?.
I think it's wonderful to see this kind of support in our community. I can't wait to see more! So, if you have some great advice to share, feel free to stop by the MerchantCircle forums and lend a hand. I guarantee you that your support will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Ryan
Product Marketing
MerchantCircle
Labels: business help, chamber of commerce, customers, merchant, sba, Small Business
