Small business must think local to go global

The temptation for entrepreneurs to assume that once a startup or small business is online, the world is waiting to become customers can be quite overwhelming.

The problem is that, despite the Internet opening up huge potential markets all over the world for any online business, it still consists of groups, cliques, clubs, communities and other smaller markets.

The Internet isn't a single amorphous blob of people!

More often than not small businesses try to bite off more than they can chew from the outset, and find that market penetration can be elusive. Large media sites are often not particularly easy to get coverage on for SMEs - even large sites catering for entrepreneurs and SMEs make it hard.

The problem is the same as it is in life. Nothing breeds success like success itself. Bigger sites like to cover other big sites because there is a mutual reputation enhancement factor. Covering a "nobody" is simply not "interesting" enough - unless you're a newcomer who is lucky or are connected in some way.

So how do you go about building up a history of success in order to break into the big time? The answer is to focus on local markets. The easiest local market is your own place of business or residence since that is where you are, where you can meet people, the place you understand and know the best.

• Get your business into local directories
• Claim your Google business in Google places
• Speak to other locals and build strategic relationships with them
• Find out which newspapers and other media are willing to cover you

Above all else, make sure that your online business operates smoothly to meet the needs of the local market so that you can use their testimonials and goodwill to further your business objectives on a larger scale. Remember that you should always use good inbound marketing techniques to keep interested and aware vistors bound to your site and its content. You can learn more about content based marketing in the following:

• Inbound marketing
• Inbound vs. Outbound marketing
• How to get your first 1000 customers online
• Blogging is marketing
• Instant social marketing traffic: for people who aren't already rich and famous

By building up a strong local following, you create a platform to grow the business in another community. That community may be one county over, the entire state, or it may be a different online community altogether (i.e. facebook instead of myspace). The point being that building credibility is something that is most efficiently done in focused and targeted market segments.

Targeting market segments is quite easy to do geographically because the media is often set up to cater for local areas. In other words, once you have conquered your city or town, repeat the process that worked for you in the next town, city or state over. Each time you repeat the process it will become easier because you have that much more reputation, credibility and reach.

Article first published as Internet startups must think local to go global on Technorati.