There's a major growth industry on the web. And it's got nothing to do with Google, Facebook, a new social media platform, or Twitter. (Seems like that's all that's ever talked about anymore, as if nothing else happens on the web outside the usual suspects.)
It's a boom in an "old fashioned" industry. Despite great demand for it, surprisingly little has been done to connect local people with their local communities.
Yes, there are Yellowpages online. And local news and radio stations have websites. There are sporadic community sites set up for areas around the globe where someone takes it upon themselves to start one.
When's the last time you landed on any such site looking for local news?
The internet is still very much a global, generic information source and market place. Despite the glaring desire for reliable sources of regular "local flavor" news and information along with accurate local business, entertainment, arts, politics and people news, the web represents a very non-geographically specific landscape.
No one has stepped up and begun the hard process of organizing cities around the globe with real people on the ground charged with publishing accurate directory information and community news and events.
No one, that is, until the Blog Network Association started in the fall of 2008.
This network operates across 700 domains representing cities, destinations, and market niches all over the world. Finally, someone is stepping up and organizing information on the web for locals. Real information and stories from reports on the ground. And real local business listings with phone numbers and locations you can count on to be accurate.
"We're still in the beta phase. But we're making great strides with our domain partners toward building what is the first true global network of local domains focused on publishing the true flavor of the cities, places and markets they represent." says Mark Braunstein, co-founder of the network.
How the local blog network works...
Blogs: These are the keepers of the flavor of the area they represent. On them you can find stories about local people, newsmakers, politicians, artists, musicians, theatres, and just about anything else you can imagine going on in a community that only community members and tourists would find interesting.
That's why this industry has been skipped over by everyone else. Despite the potential (in the billions) for local advertisers to support these kinds of local sites, no one on the web has taken up the charge to organize a network that is difficult on many levels to put together and grow.
Blogs take writers. Many of the domain owners who have bought into the network are not professional writers. DNA trains owners to find and write about interesting topics despite this fact, and have proven that anyone can come up with great content despite their writing experience.
Directories: Each site has a local business directory. This is where locals can find reliable information on coffee shops, car dealers, entertainment hot spots and much more. This is also another hardship in the industry: getting the data and representing the business community as completely as possible and as accurately as possible.
Ownership...
The domains in the network are owned by individuals. There is still inventory available for investors looking to get into the trend, and the Association is working to actively put a person in charge of every domain they own to accomplish their goal of real local representation of each location.
(For investment information, check the Association's site.)
A novel approach...
This local search network has determined that the only solution to growing the network is through great local news and content. Getting locals hooked on the sites as reliable, entertaining sites to hang out is the first step to making business owners take notice and start paying for advertising on the directories attached to the blogs.
Sample Blog Network Association Sites
Local Advertising
Local businesses can use SearchDirectoryOf.com to find their local directory for listing opportunities. The domain owners are able to provide several services for local advertisers such as free and premium listings, blog reviews, contest sponsorships, coupon promotions among other things.
"We're coming out with a free guide for local business owners to learn many different tactics for gaining exposure on the web and increasing their foot traffic from interest generated online", said Braunstein. "It will be available from all sites within the network as a free download and should be an indespensible guide for local businesses who want to use free and paid traffic generation and branding tactics used by professional online marketers."
The guide is called "HypeLocal Marketing" and is due out early July, 2009.