Making a good living with internet marketing is nowhere near as easy as some people would have you believe.  To grow a sound and prosperous business requires a range of skills as well as knowledge and persistence.

Usually internet marketers are involved in selling e-books, videos, home study courses, reports, membership sites, CD’s & DVD’s.  It is not often that you hear about someone earning a living by leasing websites.

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If you are contemplating building a local business directory to service your local community then it is highly recommended to create a viral point of reference.  Casual browsers and serious surfers can use this as a go-to point whenever they are seeking local information. Make it into a local news and information source.  The local information can be provided through selected RSS feeds pertaining to local news and entertainment. Other important categories include:

• food
• events
• local business news
• financial and economic news
• local weather reports
• surf, ski or other local sporting activity conditions
• latest shopping promotions
• sporting events
• latest local results
• the list is only as short or as long as your own imagination.

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Creating local business directory that you can on sell for a lucrative profit or as the foundation to a successful Online – Offline Consultation Business requires you take a completely different angle.  The goal is to have it bringing profits on a regular basis while servicing your local community.  It must grow above the more generic type of local web directory.  These are portal type websites that flood the search engines with as many local long tail keywords to be found in the search engines.

Most local business directories are no more than link farms.  They offer little value outside of listing local businesses in their appropriate categories. Your local directory needs to be different.  It must be made attractive to entice local businesses to list with your directory at premium prices as opposed to the cheaper or free local directories.

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There are many compelling reasons to create a local business directory whether you are an Online-Offline Internet Marketing Consultant to your local community, an Internet Marketer looking to break out into untouched territory, or someone who recognizes the potential of servicing local businesses to expand their reach, exposure and brand outside of the traditional forms of advertising.

Building local business directories is quite simple if you follow the more generic utility sites that basically list links to businesses under specific categories much like an A-Z reference page.

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There are many tools available for an offline business to use to become more visible.  When offline advertising staples, such as newspaper advertising and direct mail, are not giving the best bang for the buck,  consultants are often called upon.  They are required to help transition the client onto the Internet for increased exposure.  Usually the first and most effective methods are the inclusion of the local business details in regional and metropolitan web portals that specialize in businesses on the local or regional level.

Another popular way that business can become more visible to its public is by trying to use the potential of Social Media.  There are a large number of ways that these tools can be used, but a careful evaluation of the needs and directive of the business must be undertaken.  Besides the huge potential for profit, there is just as large a possibility that it could become a disastrous situation.

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First and foremost, by becoming a Chamber member you’re exposing yourself to the owners of most, if not all, of your area’s largest companies. If you properly cultivate and nurture professional relationships with these movers and shakers, you’ll assure your maximum exposure and influence.  You will become an asset that they will remember and turn to when your expertise is required.

Be sure to attend as many sponsored events as time and budget allow. By becoming more involved in your local Chamber you’re expertise and fields of specialty will be highlighted to more people.  Always hae a good supply of business cards that reinforce your services, and don’t be shy to hand them out.  You never know when someone will need to get back in touch to demand your services.

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Every business has expectations that need to be addressed when developing the original action agenda for transitioning an offline establishment into an online presence.  If these are not addressed almost immediately, the relationship can suffer over time as their unspoken objectives remain unfulfilled.

Careful evaluation and discussion of what the business can rationally expect to gain from a presence on the Internet is extremely important.  The raw data can be obtained using a written series of questions in the original interview.  Or the information could be developed through more informal means. It is important to get a feeling for the pulse of the business and what can be reasonably expected from the online effort.

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If you feel like it’s not going to be feasible for you to break into some of the existing networking groups available in your area enough to make an impact, you should consider starting your own group. We’re not talking about trying to compete with the Chamber of Commerce or BNI®. This is more about starting a “special interest” group where you can educate small business owners who will ultimately be your clients.

Be creative. If it is impossible to gather many assorted business owners together in face to face meetings, take advantage of the online tools that are available.  It is very simple to offer virtual seminars or “webinars”.

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Any offline to online transition consultant knows that the future sustainable relationship with a client depends on understanding the needs and expectations of the business actually in the process of transitioning from the offline world to the Internet.  It is extremely important to ensure that the right virtual presence is created.  Without a proper base from which to grow, no matter how flashy the site, the traffic will just not be able to sustain itself profitably.

The first and most basic task is to identify the actual needs of the business. If the focus is on the local community, and the business’s perceived role within it, there is no need to try to drive traffic from the ends of the world.  Similarly, any business that sells physical products strictly on reduced price structure has no real need to develop the persona of an expert in a given field.

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If you sell online marketing services to offline businesses, and you’re considering hiring someone to help with your sales efforts – a salesperson for your business – then you need to clearly understand whether you are hiring an Employee or an Independent Contractor. This is actually quite an important consideration for any job that needs to be done in any area of your company, but for now we are going to focus on hiring a salesperson to expand your marketing efforts.

If your business is located in the United States of America (the US), then your business taxes and hiring expenses will be significantly affected by this legal distinction between a worker who is an employee, and a worker who is an independent contractor.
This is because you are compelled to meet certain regulatory and statutory requirements if you hire an employee, but not so if you simply pay for the services of an independent contractor.

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