I am an Inbound Marketing Specialist and a large part of that is Social Media.

I have spent years growing my presence on the internet but in the last year, I have been building my presence locally because when I started providing Social Media in 2008, the smaller city I live in still hadn’t accepted Social Media and I had a really hard time convincing them that it would work for them.  Then Social Media evolved with a lot of locally targeted options in Facebook, Twitter and programs like Foursquare, Yelp, Meetup and countless others.

And now that almost everyone is moving to Smartphones, it is easier to illustrate to local businesses that they can and will have success by zero-ing in on their target area using these Social Networks.

As well, I illustrate how Google Places (the yellow pages of the internet) is essential to reach the smartphone users.

In the last year, I have found as many local businesses as I can and connected with them.  I met one business owner the other day in person and as soon as I said my name, he knew exactly who I was and what I do because we are connected in Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare and I provide lots of Inbound Marketing information that they wouldn’t normally be aware of or have access to.  They follow or connect with me to learn more about marketing locally and make a point to check out my posts.  And, I have had referrals from local merchants who have never met me but they know me and have referred me to others, even if they haven’t used my services themselves.

As a result, I have gained more clients locally through Social Media in the last year, than national or international clients who have found me on the internet or through alliances I have all over the world.

Local Social Media works – it just takes some time.