As you all know, we are fans of local search – we’ve written about it, we have even partnered with a local search directory called MyLocalLookup. Well, we now have something new to tell you about. It’s called Local Proud!

LocalProud is a brand new discount card program designed to help vitalize the local economy. Area merchants offer discounts that are honored when consumers show their free LocalProud card. The business get to determine their offers and they’re able to change them anytime via a convenient web interface. No special equipment is required for the business or your customers.

By becoming a part of the LocalProud program, the business will receive Local Proud cards to distribute to their customers as well as a window decal to display in your storefront. The program will be promoted through various local media, including television.

Pre-Launch Phase
During our pre-launch phase, they are offering free enrollment to the first 100 businesses. That means there is absolutely no-risk involved to get started. It’s time that local businesses come together and make a difference in our community. This Program allows that aspect to take hold.

Benefits To Consumers

• No Points to Collect
• No Coupons to Print
• No Waiting for Rewards
• Instant Offers
• Supports Local Businesses
• Keeps Money in Local Economy

Here is where to get started. Log onto Local Proud and hit the Advertise with us tab. It’s free and its a very cool concept! Or you can go to their pre-launch page to get sdtarted. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait another minute – I believe this will be a big hit with both consumers and businesses!

Some say we are on the road to Recovery. Some say otherwise so it depends on which side you believe. I will say this…

Productivity grew by an annual rate of 8.1% in third quarter of 2009, the biggest increase since 2003, according to the Commerce Department. This followed a 6.9% rise in productivity in the second quarter of 2009. As productivity increased, labor costs fell at a 2.5% annual rate, indicating that inflation remains under control. But, this also signals that workers’ wages are decreasing, experts say, raising a cause for concern on the durability of the nation’s economic recovery.

What does this all mean? It means that we still have some tough time ahead of us. But I like to pose the question… is your glass half full or half empty? Me personally, mine is always half full, no matter what. I will say that the month of December has been my best billing month in 10 months… I feel it getting better!

As people of the Greatest Nation on earth, we need to always be “Half Full”!

Now this is the kind of story I like to read… A newspaper company finally getting it! I found this story and of course, had to give my opinion. I wrote earlier about the merging of big companies and how, in my little brain, feel that those types of mergers are worthless to you and me.

But this little merger makes me scream with joy! In the big picture I’m not sure it really means a whole lot as far as competition but I like hearing about a small company with a great idea who though may not get hugely rich from it, they do get the reward of selling their idea. WikiCity has some great potential. There are many cities not yet populated within the site but it is farily new, less than a year old.

The Omaha World-Herald Co.’s flagship publication is the Omaha World-Herald, with a 200,000 Sunday and a 160,00 daily circulation. This opens the door for great growth opportunity and shows me that Omaha World-Herald is a great company. They are looking to the future, they know that they can’t grow just being a newspaper. I like that kind of thinking. You can read more here at Nieman Lab.

JoseGoes.com is a nice looking niche website focusing on mexican and latin restaurants in the state of Texas. The idea is to completely define who your customers are, who the target is for potential revenue and the next thing you know, you have a business model. We really like this site!

What we liked about Jose Goes other than the business model is the fact of how easy it is to use and the potential opportunities it brings for restaurants. You can upload videos, incorporate your menu as a pdf, include pictures, google mapping and much more. Though the site is very niche, it certainly has a lot to offer both the restaurant and the visitor.

Though it looks as if they’re just getting the site up and running, It appears they have plans on incorporating television advertising as well. Just click on the video player to watch it.

We are going to keep an eye on this site… in the mean time, have a look for yourself – we’re including a link to the site itself and to one of the featured members. Good searching!

Before I introduce this site to you, I want to ask you a quick question… How many emails do you subscribe to, to stay current within the media business? If the answer is more than 3, you need to check out this site.

The site is called Media Biz Headlines. What I love about this site is the fact that instead of subscribing to all the different daily email information sites, I can now just go to one site and see all the headlines within the media industry. Pretty smart idea here – I know in my daily inbox, I receive at least 25 emails a day that I have subcribed to to stay current with what is happening within the media world.

So if you work in TV, radio, newspaper, billboard, Internet, SEO, SEM or whatever else you are involved with for marketing and advertising, I encourage you to visit Media Biz Headlines - You need to “add” this site to your favorites and visit everyday!

Well it’s really not rocket science, maybe one needs to understand the propulsion portion of rocket science in order to understand local search. Local search is about being in the right place at the right time when someone is looking for what you are selling. Here is an interesting fact about how consumers are searching today…

Research shows that 85% of all consumers go online to research whatever it is they want to buy before they decide on where or who they are going to buy it from. The recent Cash for Clunkers is a testiment of this. 85% of consumers who participated in the government funded Cash for Clunkers had already made their decision on what car they wanted, the color, and from whom they were going to buy it from before they walked into that dealership. In other words, they searched online and made their decision based on what they found via search.

Who benefited from this process? I’ll tell you who benefited… it was the local car dealers who made the investment to use local search as part of their strategy. And I don’t just mean Google or Yahoo, these smart marketers also use local search as part of their complete online marketing strategies. Here is a great example of local car dealers using local search in San Antonio, TX.

The thing I like about this site is the listing page for the premium advertisers – this is there exact listing, one that demands respect within the search business.

My point is, you must be using local search as part of your strategies, if not you are missing out on some great opportunity for your business.

Which brings me to why I’m writing about MyLocalLookup.com. WhattheYahoogle has formed a partnership with mylocallookup in order to provide our readers a great tool to find local businesses. In addition, we want to add that you can now get your bsuiness featured with a Jet Package for 75% off the annual subscriptions rate. Simple type in the code “Yahoogle” to receive your 75% off at check out.

This is a great opportunity for small businesses who want to get involved more search engine marketing but don’t have the budget to afford the big guys. With this discount, the cost is $25.00 a month and can be cancelled anytime.

As our friends at Growmap wrote a few weeks ago, MyLocalLookup is the only local search engine promoted in 44 TV markets across the country. They have built a unique startegy partnering with TV stations and offering great solutions on a local level. If you haven’t already checked out MyLocalLookup and their TV commercials, you can view their TV commercials here.

SEM (Seaarch Engine Marketing) is a term all of us need to get use to and an action we all need to take. Give your business every opportunity to be found when a customer is looking for you and you accomplish this through SEM.

Business owners… It’s time take control of your business. Get involved with local search, hire someone to help you with SEM, be a part of the Social Networking opportunities. If you don’t have the time, let us know, we can direct you to the right company.

Let’s start with the fact that Microsoft is going to hire 400 Yahoo employees. Good for those employees – there’s nothing like job security in these challenging times. In addition, Microsoft agreed to hire another 150 Yahoo employees “to assist with providing the transition services” for them… again great for those 150 people. But does anyone else win…?

This story, which I read on Market Watch lays out everything that the two companies are willing to say, but never defines who benefits from this merger.

That is my stance here… there is no real benefit to us, the end users. Will their search results be any different than Google, I doubt it. Will their search results display less ads – not a chance. Will their partnership do anything to help you and me, the small business owner who is really feeling the effects of this down economy… not in the least. It’s not like Microsoft is creating new jobs here, it’s not like Yahoo is doing anything at all to revive the job markets, none of this is happening with this deal.

So my final rant is… let’s pull companies together who are going to help the small business owners, let’s create partnerships that turn into win/win/win business enviroments, not two of the biggest players partnering together, for me that’s just dumb – which reminds me of a line from an old movie called “Streets of Fire”, I believe it was William Dufoe who said “That’s dumb smart guy… real dumb if you think you can pull this off”

Let me know your thoughts – I like to express my viewpoints (just ask my team) and if do than we’ll get along great!

Before I state my opinion, I better let you read the article.

So if this is true… how does a company like AOL/Time Warner make their decision on whom they are going to purchase? This is a question that I have wondered for a long time. It’s happened over and over again, a big company buys a smaller company and the next thing you know that smaller company product turns into, you guessed it… nothing. It reminds me of the Yahoo/broadcast.com deal, where Mark cuban instantly turned into a multi billionnaire and broadcast.com com is now…???

I have had the priveldge of working with some great profitable “local” web properties who have been purchased and within a year, they’re gone. I can think of at least 10 small, and I mean less than 10 employee companies who could really benefit from an organization like AOL but do you think they will be bought?

As a small business owner and a person who has worked with 1000’s of small business all across America, I want these big companies to step up and really make the right decisions and to buy the right companies. I’m tired of seeing the small companies not get what they deserve and that is a fair shot at being bought.

So Mr. Armstrong, we’ll be watching and if your focus is really about “local” than by gosh, we want to see you buy great “local” web properties. If you need any assistance in finding the best small companies to purchase, give me a call, I can help you out.

So without further ado, please meet GrowMap

GrowMap is a blogger who’s sole entention is to educate businesses about, you guessed it, Local Search. Today, more and more businesses are capitalizing on the benefits of local search engines. There are a lot out there and the question is, which one is best for your business…?

That’s why we’ve started What The Yahoogle, a place to learn more about search, local search and the best places for you to learn about Local Search. We’ve just started so stay tuned and check back often.