LeverageBlog Review: MerchantCircle local business marketplace

I recently discovered a new marketing opportunity for small businesses, an online business community called MerchantCircle.  I had the opportunity to speak to the CEO, Ben Smith, a veteran entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley and his Co-Founder Wayne Yamamoto, another startup guru.

In a nutshell, MerchantCircle provides a web presence for local businesses-- the cafe down the street from your office, or the dry cleaner on the corner.  Many local merchants don't need a custom, professional website, and MerchantCircle gives them a place online with a host of great features-- coupons, a blog, customer ratings and more.  And with the starting cost at free, it's growing fast. (A new business comes online about every 1/2 hour.)

More online visibility lies in the paid levels and the ability to secure ads on Google and Yahoo! for local searches, and the company is making great strides in sea ch engine ranking.  When I asked Ben for some early success-stories for MerchantCirlce businesses he suggested I do a search of my own:

If you live in the town of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania and need new gutters for your house you might use Google to search for "lemoyne gutter company" right?  Try the search here.

You'll find the top result isn't a local listing from Google or Yahoo!, it's a MerchantCircle listing from All American Gutter.  Now that's exciting. My agency Wheel Media has been providing search engine marketing services for years, and our research shows consumers are including their city in Google searches more and more.  (and leaving the yellow pages in the drawer...)  You don't need a company if San Francisco if you live in Lemoyne.

If Ben and his MerchantCirlce businesses come up early in local search results this site will drive huge revenue for the members-- not to mention MerchantCircle investors.

Thanks to Ben and Wayne for taking the time to introduce me to MerchantCircle.  Their early success is impressive and the usefulness to the local business clear.  Sounds like a winner to me.

Comments

[Ben]

MR

I appreciate the comments. We are really excited about providing the opportunity for local merchants to advertise on the local web without having to build a website. Only thing I would note is that we are well past 1 every 30 minutes. (the phone only rings once and it tells me who signed up) If it rang for every merchant, that would make me truly obsessive.. :)