Commentary
Should Hyperlocal Publishers Accept Barter Deals?
Most of the better known hyperlocal sites we contacted told us they didn’t do trade or barter, and they didn’t want to talk about it on the record. In Dallas, hyperlocal pioneer Mike Orren said people don’t talk about it because they don’t want to attract the attention of auditors, or they don’t want competitors to know that they’ll do barter. He agreed, however, that trade is “absolutely viable” for independents…
Gauging Hummingbird’s Impact on Local SEO
Standardization of data structure on simple things like name-address-phone number (NAP) information, mapping, local business category, organization (micro-formats) are now starting to pick up steam and become increasingly important for local search and discovery. Now with Hummingbird, things are about to get even more interesting…
In Search of the Checkout Pixel for Local
Until recently, the “last mile” offline had been considered the most challenging step to solve for. But today, it’s increasingly where most of the action is happening. Consideration starts online, but picking up the sushi or the TV, or getting the bridal party fitted, occurs offline — and that involves not just more steps, but also more room for attribution. What was opaque previously is now fertile ground. The race is underway to plant flags at every step and, to make things interesting, with each flag planted consumer behavior is changing…
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Pro.com Raises Another $14M, Uber Talks to Regulators
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Bezos-Backed Pro.com Raises Another $14 Million to Help Renovate Your Home (Businessweek)… Uber Open to ‘Debate’ With European Regulators Over Ride-Sharing Rules (Wall Street Journal)… Bringing Tablets To Restaurant Tables Nationwide Nets E la Carte $35 Million (TechCrunch)…
In Navigating Supply and Demand, Groupon Hopes for New Life
During a presentation at BIA/Kelsey’s Leading in Local event in New Orleans Tuesday, Dan Roarty, vice president of local commerce at Groupon, positioned the company’s deal marketplace as one part of a much more ambitious effort to create a platform that connects local supply and local demand well-beyond the confines of an email blast…
Selling to Small Businesses: Getting Your Pitch Past the Gatekeepers
Having better conversations with gatekeepers is one way to improve the sales process. Most inquiring sales reps tend to ask a gatekeeper when the decision maker will be available and then quickly end the sales call. This is a waste of a great opportunity to gather valuable intel. A gatekeeper can be your unwitting scout, giving you the information you need to better serve your prospective client…
Street Fight Daily: Clinkle Finally Launches, Ron Johnson’s New Startup
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Clinkle Finally Launches Its Payments Service (But Not The One Originally Promised) (GigaOm)… Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup (Business Insider)… Macy’s Aims to Become Retail Tech Powerhouse With Latest Moves (Fortune)…
Yellow Pages Publisher Acquires LocalVox
TBC Holdings, the parent company of The Berry Company, announced earlier today the purchase of NYC-based LocalVox Media. LocalVox, which provides a wide range of marketing software platforms designed specifically for local and hyperlocal marketing, sees the deal as an opportunity to become the go-to app for hyperlocal marketers from coast to coast…
Five Lessons Google Learned About Selling to Small Businesses
For Google, the shift to mobile presents an opportunity to learn from mistakes made during the desktop internet boom. James Croom, head of marketing for the project, has spent five years in the company’s small business team. He said Monday that the company’s new Google My Business project builds on some learnings from the company’s Get Your Business Online effort launched in 2009 to drive business across the world to build websites…
Street Fight Daily: Radius Raises $55M, Square’s New Register
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Radius Raises $54.7 Million to Improve Sales Leads Using Big Data (Wall Street Journal)… Square Is Making a Register That Takes Bitcoin and Apple Pay (Wired)… Hotels Use Online Reviews as Blueprint for Renovations (New York Times)…
Ecommerce Companies Finding Success in Brick-and-Mortar
The move into physical retail has become a fashionable choice within New York’s growing ecommerce industry. Now, these firms are finding that industry watchers may have overstated the economic advantages of an online-only sales model particularly as new technologies allow retailers to reduce the footprint needed to generate sufficient revenue.
Street Fight Daily: Samsung Teams With PayPal, Amazon Loses Local Commerce Exec
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Samsung is Teaming With Paypal for Mobile Payments on a Watch (GigaOm)… Amazon Loses Key Payments Product Leader to Microsoft (Recode)… More Than Half of US Consumers Don’t Want to Friend a Brand Online (Wall Street Journal)…
The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation