Hey, I am doing a letter for a local business directory and I wanted to know what everyone else would ask / include in the letter to get submissions for a yearly fee. Of course I know the general questions for a directory, but this is my first time trying to promote for local businesses, which I will most likely meet in person after first sending the letter. Has anyone else done this? By letter or email, same thing really
I think you would need to emphasize the benefits of being listed in your directory. The more you can leverage real people the better. Here are a couple of ideas: 1. Build up a presence on facebook for the local area. Then post coupons or deals on your directory related to the local businesses and post on facebook about them. 2. As you work with real people (ex. facebook), let them know that the businesses appreciate reviews both on your site and on Yelp. Local businesses often care a lot about their Yelp listing, so if they feel your users can help post positive reviews, they may be encouraged to list their business as well. 3. Leverage users by letting them know they can get a special deal for liking the restaurant's facebook page. 4. Go out to the restaurant and shoot some photos and a video and add this to your directory listing. Upload the video to youtube and get people to comment on the video. Overall, you just need some ideas that extend beyond the simple benefit of having a link as that is a someone old school idea. Ideally your directory becomes a great middle ground where business owners and consumers can jointly benefit by participating.
A real physical address, the email id of the owner, the zip code of the state and a contact number. Great way to drive traffic to your site.