Hi everyone,
You asked for it and it’s finally ready! More than a year in the making and several hundred hours of blood, sweat and tears later, I’m excited to announce the launch of Bryan’s Local List. It’s not perfect or the snazziest site you’ve ever seen. But I believe that taking action and getting something up and running is more important than trying to make it perfect out of the gate. You can set up your profile now, list your business and get moving to get found by local customers. For a limited time you can get on the List for $0. The sign up process involves putting in a valid credit card number, but if you use the code, “awesome” you can test drive the system for 3 months free before being charged the subscription price of $10 per month. You may also cancel at any time.
For those of you who have recently joined us, here’s some background…
Linked Orange County started as a very small idea in 2009 to create something different. A new way of thinking about: Connecting. Business. People. The idea spread and I was blown away that within a year, 5,000+ joined the movement.
Along the way I’ve asked questions like: Why did you join us? What are your business goals? What do you need? Our activities continue to be a direct result of your feedback. For example, you wanted to be connected to each other in person, not just online, so we started monthly meet ups. You said you wanted quality information so I reached out to some of the best marketing minds in the world and brought names like: Seth Godin, Brian Solis, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, Scott Stratten and others to Orange County. Stay tuned because 2011 is shaping up to be even better!
You told me you wanted more customers and more business. We all made a collective effort to try harder to do business with each other. Instead of chasing the lowest price or doing random searches for products and services sold by strangers, we looked inside the network first. People do business with those they know, like and trust. It is about relationships, and we’ve transformed from being a group into a community.
You said you wanted an affordable way to get your business noticed by more people. Combine this with my own frustrations about the shortage of Orange County media coverage and attention to small business, and you have our new OC business and lifestyle TV show, “Behind the Brand.”
In the next few weeks I will announce some very exciting media partnerships so you will know where and when to watch the show. This show is about you. It’s about people in Orange County that are making things happen. A How-To approach with stories about the secret formula of local trend-setters, visionaries and innovators like you. The show was also created to be an affordable vehicle to deliver the message about your product or service. Ask me about the many options to advertise by sending me an email.
And finally…
I’ve heard so many success stories of collaboration and people trying to keep business “in the family” sort of speak, that I know first-hand many of you are accomplishing your business goals. The problem now is that we’ve grown a bunch and it’s getting harder to find each other to do business. With more than 5,000 members we can’t meet everyone at the next meet up-even though there are so many great people!
The solution I came up with is Bryan’s Local List. In simple terms, Bryan’s List is an online and mobile business directory with some very special features. It’s free for anyone, anywhere on the internet to search but businesses pay a small subscription to be listed. It’s a way for your business to get found by our members and the 3 million+ people living in Orange County who might be prospective local customers. The website side of things is ready now. There is a mobile version coming soon for smart phones. Bryan’s List uses geo-location technology and a bunch of other cool stuff but here’s the most important points of distinction:
1. NO big guys allowed. No offense to our friends who run national brands or gigantic companies with millions of dollars to spend on advertising, but this one is for small businesses. The playing field has been leveled.
2. List your business for $10 per month per location. You asked for more customers and more business AND an affordable way to market your product or service. With all of the traditional and non-traditional advertising methods out there-including social media, I can’t think of anything more effective or affordable than this. The List is for just about any kind of legitimate and legal business including those who have shops, work from home, Reps, and other unique specialty retailers or service providers.
3. “Special Offers.” Studies show we do business with people we know, like and trust. But when budget is an issue, sometimes the offer has priority. Make no mistake, this IS NOT Groupon® and this isn’t about conditioning customers to be loyal to the lowest price-bad idea in my opinion. However, every business listing is required to have a special offer. The word “special” is open to your interpretation as it specifically relates to your business. Make it fun. Make it compelling. Make it special.
You manage all aspects of your profile so feel free to change it up as often as you like. Is your product seasonal or want to run some test marketing? No problem. Change the offer or offering instantly. Do you have more than one location or would you like to try and reach people in a new part of town? Great. Set up multiple locations…
Additional Support for Businesses on Bryan’s List…
Each week, up to 3 businesses on Bryan’s List will be selected at random to ride along in the Linked Orange County Newsletter in the new “Showcase” section like the example you see below. It will reach our 5,000+ members. This is a huge value. As an example, you’ve seen Linked OC’s Sponsored Member Spotlights, right? These normally cost $2,500 per email and sponsored ads are $500 each. If you’re doing an ROI calculation, I’m no math wizard but the value of one Showcase is approx. 500% return on your investment compared to the cost of 1 full year on Bryan’s List. Good deal, eh?
I hope you like Bryan’s List and give it a try. Get started here.
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