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In this article:\nThe 5 most effective traditional marketing methods for small businesses\nWhy you need to get your online presence right before you spend on advertising\nKnow your customer or you’re wasting your money\nBillboards and signage\nDirect mail\nNewspapers, magazines, and other print advertising\nLocal broadcast media\nOne of the cardinal rules of marketing is “diversify.” You don’t put all your advertising eggs into one basket, and never rely on one avenue to reach and retain customers. For certain types of local businesses, traditional advertising methods such as direct mail, print, billboards/signage, and broadcast media can bolster the results you get from pay-per-click, social media advertising, and other online marketing.\nIn this article we’ll go over several traditional marketing approaches that can make sense for small, local businesses. However, before you consider spending some of your marketing budget, we need to go over a few very important points first.\nDon’t spend on offline ads until your online presence is solid\nBefore you spend a dime on advertising, traditional or otherwise, it’s absolutely vital that you get your online house in order first. \nAs we explain in our \nsmall business marketing guide\n, if you spend on advertising before you have claimed your business listings and optimized your online reputation on the major review sites, you will effectively be paying to send potential customers to other businesses.\nWhy? Because, the first thing almost everyone does when given a recommendation or seeing marketing messaging for a business (even local ones) is to search their online reviews. \nIf you have great advertising but a miserable online presence with a bunch of negative reviews—or worse, if you haven’t even \nclaimed your online business listings\n—nobody is going to spend money with you, no matter how big your marketing budget is.\nDefine your specific marketing goal \n“Make more money” might sound like a good enough goal for your marketing efforts, but you really need to think deeper than that. What \nexactly\n do you hope to accomplish?\nIf your primary objective is to spread the word that your store even exists, then you might approach things differently than a business owner who is trying to stand out in a crowded local marketspace and win a specific type of customer with specific tastes and spending habits.\nIf you decide that your goal is to improve your brand recognition or general knowledge about your business, then some of the more broad-reaching traditional advertising methods outlined below may be most effective in reaching a broad range of potential local customers.\nHowever, if you wish to target a very specific customer base with very particular habits, then you may wish to begin with \nsocial media\n, \nInstagram ads\n, and/or \nFacebook advertising\n.\nKnow who your customer is\nIt should go without saying that the most important question in marketing is “who is my customer?”\nYou can’t market to your customers effectively if you don’t know who they are, what they respond to, how they consume media, where they spend, how they spend, and much more.\nThrowing money at an advertising campaign in order to \nfind out\n who your customers are is a special kind of stupid.\nSmarter business owners know that customer data is gold, and unless you have a very good idea of who your customers are (and which type of customers you want to target), spending money on advertising is akin to setting it on fire, and isn’t as fun.\nHow much should small businesses spend on marketing?\nThere is a lot you can do with traditional/online word-of-mouth and fantastic service, but eventually most businesses will want to devote some of their yearly budget to paid marketing efforts.\nExperts typically recommend that a small business spend about 8% of its gross revenue on marketing, which corresponds to guidance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.\nGo deeper: \nHow much should I spend on marketing?\n\nAnd while it usually makes the most sense to devote the majority of your budget to the \nmarketing method with the highest ROI\n (email marketing), and the digital platform that’s 900% more effective than Facebook (Instagram), there is certainly truth to the business adage: “diversify or die.”\nSo let’s talk about some of the traditional marketing/advertising methods that can still be valuable and effective for small businesses.\n1. Billboards and signage\nThe old “Eat At Joe’s” type billboards were reasonably effective in their day, but thanks to today’s high-tech digital/full motion multimedia billboard displays, you can do better.\nHowever, even static billboards and signage can be effective (and more budget-friendly) if you get the location, the message, and the market right. \nDepending on the size of your town, your competition, and your business, a well-crafted billboard can be very effective at attracting new customers to your brick-and-mortar location, or even to your website or online store.\nbillboard for local marketing\nAn eye-catching image and a sticky (and \nLEGIBLE\n) catch phrase on local buses, taxis, trains, or other marketable spots around your town can spread awareness and drum up interest.\nDid we mention your messaging must be easily and quickly readable and simple to comprehend? We’ve seen too many billboards and other “too clever” advertisements that, while they may have caught the eye or satisfied the artistic whims of the designer, were completely illegible and therefore worthless for all practical purposes.\nDon’t get distracted by a desire to create high art at the expense of effectiveness in the message. You’re not out to win a Clio… you’re trying to convince more customers to give you their money.\n2. Direct mail and local ad mailers\n“Junk mail” tends to have the same pallor about it as “junk email” these days, but the reason you still get so much of it is because it still works. \nvarious coupons for direct mail small business marketing\nSome studies show that physical mail “direct response” campaigns perform better than digital as far as brand recall, response speed, and percentage of respondents who purchase.\nToday’s direct mail marketers also benefit from digital-age demographic information, so you can often selectively target your ideal customer base, rather than blanket an entire town with indiscriminate mailbox stuffing.\n\nEmail marketing\n is hands-down the most powerful, effective, and efficient marketing tool for small businesses. But for small, local retailers with the ability to selectively target a specific group of people that are their ideal customers, direct mail can still be an effective way to increase your customer base, send coupons, and even drive repeat business—assuming you maintain an accurate customer directory, including contact information.\n3. Traditional print advertising is evolving\nNewspapers and magazines are certainly not as influential nor ubiquitous as they once were, thanks to digital media and the explosion of information technology. \nHowever there is some evidence that a growing number of people prefer to read actual books, newspapers, and magazines, though they are available in various digital formats—even among younger consumers.\nattractive redhead woman reading a newspaper for small business marketing\nIt seems many modern Americans miss the physical/tactile experience of interacting with good old paper pulp and ink.\nBesides, you can still advertise in the printed editions of local newspapers and magazines, and most companies will also include your ad in the digital/online version of their publications, so you can get a double-whammy for your advertising buck.\nIf your ideal customers are consumers of “traditional” print media, you may find it an effective avenue to reach them.  \n4. Brochures, flyers, and handouts\nThis is where coupons, discounts, and limited-time special offers really live. \nBefore you get started with this, make sure you adhere to any local ordinances regarding posting of bills, handing out flyers, or leaving them on cars or people’s property. \nman handing out flyers for small business marketing\nHowever, if you follow local laws and you specific marketing goal (remember that?) is to spread the word about your business or to incite people to visit with a coupon for a special deal, flyers can be an effective tool.\nAs we mentioned in our \n25 free advertising ideas\n article, you might be able to save money by swapping your goods and services with a print shop.\n5. Local TV and radio\nFor small, local businesses, broadcast media can be prohibitively expensive, depending on the market and the channel/s you wish to utilize. \nHowever, many towns offer what used to be called “cable access” channels where local businesses can buy promotional time for a relatively small expenditure. The problem there is the viewership is usually correspondingly small.\nIf your target customers (remember, you have to start there) listen to a lot of radio, you may be able to reach them effectively with a small radio spend, particularly if they are the type to listen to “alternative” or independent local radio stations.\nKeep your messaging straightforward, memorable, and clear, and you might see a good return on a modest broadcast media spend.\nAnd don’t forget that you can be leveraging your small business blog content with local media for free local PR benefits, which is another effective way to spread the word about your business\n6. Phone book advertising (just kidding)\nIs this really still a thing? Yeah… you don’t want to go there.\nThose of us who remember looking up take-out pizza shops in the yellow pages know that at one time the phone book was the acknowledged source of all truth for local businesses. \nToday, the traditional phone book has nearly gone the way of the dodo, like the coin-operated payphones that the white-and-yellow pages used to be chained to. \n(20 years ago there were over 2 million payphones in the U.S.; today only 100,000 remain, with a fifth of those being in New York City).\nbattered yellow pages phone book\nHowever, the need for local “business listings” is huge, and online business listings have taken the place of paper phone books. \nData shows that 9 out of 10 shoppers search online for local stores and restaurants, and the smartphone is the 21st-century version of the yellow pages.\nSo getting your business listed on all relevant online business listings is absolutely vital for small, local companies.\nWe’ve listed our step-by-step guides for claiming your pages on some of the major sites. If you’re not found here, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.\nGoogle My Business\nYelp\nFacebook\nTripAdvisor\nOpenTable\nFoursquare\nRefer to our \nfree business listings\n article for many more!

Why–and when–you should use traditional advertising for your small business

In this article:\nThe absolute least expensive way to accept credit cards\nWays to cut down credit card processing costs\nCheapest processing options for small business\nA big reason that many small business owners don’t accept credit card payments is because of the fees that are assessed as their customers make purchases. These fees can add up fast, but not having a credit card payment option can be a huge disadvantage to any business. \nToday’s customers expect even roadside carts and truly small businesses to accept credit cards, and the fees associated with that method of payment shouldn’t be enough to keep you from getting started. \nWe’ll talk about some of the cheapest options for credit card processing so you can find a good fit for your business. \nWays to cut down costs of credit card processing \nFirst, we have a few tips to help you reduce the cost of credit card processing. \nAvoid multi-year contracts\nWhether you opt for a third-party payment processor or not, try to avoid committing to any lengthy contracts. If possible, choose an option that either doesn’t require you to sign a contract, or sign for a year at a time. You may wish to switch services down the line as your business grows, and multi-year contracts often have heavy termination fees. \nHowever, be aware that you will most likely get the lowest rates if you opt for a traditional processor who offers “interchange plus” pricing. And if you want the absolute lowest-cost processing, you will likely need to sign a contract with a traditional processor. Plus, longer contracts can often result in lower overall costs because it’s beneficial for your processor to serve your business for as long as possible.\nWatch out for added fees for services you may not need\nBeyond heavy termination fees, there may be other fees included in your monthly invoices. As you are getting quotes from various service providers, ask for samples of itemized invoices so you can see the different charges that they assess. \nSome processors include potentially helpful add-on services by default (for an additional fee), and will automatically bill you for these services unless you specifically opt out before you sign a contract.\nThese services may be very useful for your business, so make sure you understand how these value-added services can benefit your business before you ask your processor to omit the services and any associated fees.\nAsk your processor or merchant level sales agent for discounts and other price breaks\nWhen it comes to credit card transaction fees, there are two main approaches: interchange plus and flat rate. Every credit card network (VISA, Mastercard, AMEX) charges an interchange fee that your service provider pays for each transaction. Because of this, most providers have some kind of markup on that cost so they get their cut. \nTraditional processors typically use “interchange plus” pricing, charging the current interchange rate plus their markup. Interchange rates are subject to change so you might not always be paying the same fees on transactions. \nHowever, the interchange rate is usually the smallest percentage of the fees you’ll likely be paying when you accept credit cards, so your final costs will likely not vary that much, even if you go with interchange plus pricing.\nIt’s in the processor’s markup and additional fees and services where you can negotiate a little wiggle room with your processor or merchant level sales agent. They obviously need to make a profit, but they also want to keep your business, and if you develop a trusting relationship with them you can often ask for preferred rates or get add-on services at lower costs, or even get “value added” services for free.\n\nA note on third-party payments facilitators or “aggregators” \nThird-party payment facilitators (i.e., Square/Block, Stripe, etc.) are potentially very straightforward to get small businesses set up and processing. Providers like the new third-party payments facilitators that use “flat rate” pricing charge a flat rate regardless of the fluctuation of the interchange fee. This can be somewhat helpful because you always know what you will be paying and won’t have to anticipate changes in costs as the interchange rate fluctuates. \nHowever, be aware that flat rate processing is nearly always more expensive than traditional interchange plus pricing, so make sure to weigh the costs against the needs of your business. Generally, a traditional processor can save you about 20% in processing fees compared to a third-party payments provider charging you a flat rate. \nRates and fees vary though, so be sure to check out all your options.\nWhat is the absolute cheapest credit card processing option?\nAs discussed above, if you want the absolute cheapest way to accept credit cards, you’ll probably want to sign up with a reliable credit card processor and negotiate a good “interchange plus” processing fee structure rather than using one of the new “aggregators” that uses flat-rate pricing.\nThird party payments facilitators currently charge between about 2.4% on the low end (if you meet certain requirements) to about 3% or more on the high end, plus an additional .$10-$.15 fee per transaction, to process credit cards. This may not sound like a lot, but for small businesses that sell a lot of low-dollar items, or those with very small profit margins like restaurants, these flat rate fees can make it actually unprofitable to accept credit cards in some cases. The ease of entry and convenience of use may make it worth it, though.\nIt does take more time to get set up to accept payments with a traditional processor. But your processor’s local merchant level sales (MLS) agent can be a very useful business advisor, particularly about new technology and offerings in the payments world. Not many small business owners have the time to keep abreast of all the latest technology and payments innovations, and your MLS agent is very interested in keeping you as a client.\nSo, you can typically get lower rates from a traditional processor, but you'll definitely want to shop around. 

What’s the cheapest way to accept credit cards?

In this article:\nPhishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated\nEducate yourself, family, and any employees about phishing attacks and other online fraud\nNever provide sensitive information to anyone without double checking\nNever download files or click on links from unknown/untrusted sources\nNever send payment without confirming the legitimacy of the request\nPhishing attacks and other online fraud are a growing problem for small businesses. As more people transact, recreate, socialize, and work online, there is more opportunity for bad actors to entice people into seemingly innocent actions that can have devastating financial consequences to your business.\nIn this article we’ll go over some of the common cyberattacks that you and your employees (if any) might expect to see, and what you can do to prevent the damage they can cause.\nWhat is phishing?\nA phishing (sometimes called “spear phishing”) attack is when a cybercriminal sends you a fake email, SMS/text, phone message, or other communication attempting to get you to divulge sensitive personal or business information, or to send payment to a fraudulent recipient. \nOften, these attacks will appear to be sent by a boss or coworker, requesting urgent action on a key project or payment on an “overdue bill,” and will ask you to click on a link or download a file that installs malware onto your system, which then the hackers can exploit for criminal purposes.\nThese phishing attacks are becoming quite sophisticated, and can even include fake job postings on popular employment sites to lure employees to download malware-laden job application programs, or “tech support fraud” where criminals masquerade as technical support or internet security personnel in an attempt to gain access.\nWhat can I do about phishing attacks and other online fraud?\nThe best defense against phishing and online fraud, in addition to software with good security features that automatically block fraudulent messages when possible, is education. Take the time to educate yourself and your employees about the types of fraudulent cyberattacks that they may see, and what to do when they get one. Read below to learn more, and set up a training schedule to keep your employees and family members informed.\nThe most common type of phishing attack will attempt to get you or an employee to download a file, click a link, or input passwords or other personal information. You should NEVER click on a file or an imbedded link from an unknown source, or one you aren’t expecting, before confirming the legitimacy of the file/link via another way. Call or email the sender directly and ask them whether they sent you a file recently. When in doubt, delete it. Don’t click on emails from unknown senders, and definitely don’t click on file downloads. It just takes one to install a virus that can let future fraudsters full access to your system.\nNever punish or shame an employee for asking too often whether a link or request is legitimate before taking sensitive action. Keep the lines of communication open and review your phishing protocols regularly so all employees keep on their toes. It just takes one mistake to open up the back door to sensitive company files, personal information, and more.\nEven the most famous and profitable businesses in the world have suffered the impacts of this type of cyberattack, so don’t think your small business is immune.\nSpoof websites can fool you or your employees into providing security credentials\nIt used to be that if a website had an “https” prefix, you could count on it being legitimate. But spoofers and scammers have become very creative and people are fooled every day into inputting their secure login information on a fraudulent website that looks nearly identical to their bank’s, their amazon or eBay account, or even their own website.\nSometimes you can detect the fraudulent website by looking closely at the URL. Often the suffix will be subtly different, or there may be a letter or two missing from the main company name in the address. Sometimes you can find typos or other clues on the main landing page that can let you know the site may not be legitimate.\nWhen in doubt, type the correct, known address into your browser and look for any messages from the company that can inform you about the procedure or payment you suspect may be fraudulent. No legitimate company will ever ask for your login or password via an email or text message, and even on a phone call they will usually not ask you to provide these details but will direct you to the correct site where you can input the information yourself.\n(Image)\n\nRansomware is on the rise, and can impact even very small businesses\nRansomware is what it sounds like: fraudsters entice you or employees into installing malware via a link, or providing login information, and then they hack into your system and hold sensitive files, financial information, company databases, intellectual property, or other valuable information for ransom until you pay them a lot of money, or else they corrupt, delete, or otherwise destroy the files and information. Some companies have determined that it’s actually cheaper to simply pay the fraudsters than to repair the damage they may cause. \nEmail or messaging scams can fool you or employees into sending payment\nAnother tricky method scammers are trying lately is impersonating a boss, partner, key employee, or other business owner in an email, text, or internal company message, and ask for a money transfer or other type of payment. These are often urgent, nebulous requests, and prey on the fear of some employees of asking too many questions to the boss or seeming not to know what’s happening. A boss with a history of brusqueness can exacerbate this problem.\nWe spoke to one accountant working for a group of entrepreneurial businesses who got an email from an important business owner asking for an immediate wire transfer of $120,000. The accountant went back and forth with him all day via email, judged that the request seemed legitimate, and was preparing to send the wire transfer. \nDue to the accountant’s personal system of checks and balances, he called the business owner to confirm a couple of things and request certain documentation, only to find that the business owner in question had no knowledge of the transfer in question. Upon careful examination, the email address the original request for transfer had come from was one letter different from the actual business owner’s email address. Luckily the fraud was detected and reported before the payment was sent.\nThis is just one example of how innovative criminals can fool good people into providing money or sensitive information. Be vigilant! Double check everything.\nImprove your business’s chances for success and growth by improving your online visibility\nAlong with training your family and employees about phishing and other online attacks, you also need to make sure your online \npresence\n is solid so that people can actually find you and start spending money with you.\nEven small, local shops, microbusinesses, freelancers, sole proprietors, and gig workers need a good online footprint today because almost everyone checks reviews and business details online before visiting, even if they get a personal recommendation from a friend or see your marketing materials.\nSome ways to help you show up in local searches are getting regular online reviews to your \nGoogle\n, \nYelp\n, and \nFacebook\n listings and also creating new \nonline business listing profiles\n across other web directories. 

How to help prevent small business phishing attacks and other online fraud

In this article:\nWhy fake online reviews are so damaging to small businesses\nHow to remove a fake Google review\nHow to remove a fake Yelp review\nHow to use reputation management software to simplify the review management process \nFake\n \nreviews??\n Who would have thought that this would even be a problem for small, local businesses, contractors, solopreneurs, and freelancers? Many small business owners are surprised when they see the damage that can be caused by malicious or mistaken reviews posted about their businesses on review sites like Yelp, Google, Facebook, and TripAdvisor. Below, we’ll show you how to remove these fake reviews.\nWhether a fake review is posted by angry customer, a disgruntled current or former employee, or simply a random jerk who may just be doing it for fun, the sad reality of our increasingly online world is you have very little control over what people say about you or your business on the internet. A fake review of your business can be frustrating, and potentially harmful. \nWhy you need to take fake reviews seriously\nThe importance of a business’s online reputation is growing, even for small, local shops. 97% of consumers read \nonline\n reviews for \nlocal\n businesses, and nearly 9 out of 10 trust those reviews online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family. So a business’s “star rating,” its online review score, has a real impact on revenue for local businesses. Even customers sitting in your parking lot or standing on the sidewalk outside your door will often check online reviews for “social proof” before deciding to purchase.\nIt’s bad enough when you try your best to help a difficult customer and they leave you a bad review anyway. (Click to read our in-depth article on \nhow to respond to negative reviews\n and remove other negative online content about your business. Also, research shows that negative online business reviews aren’t necessarily as harmful as you might think. Businesses with between 10 and 25% negative reviews make the most money!)\nBut it’s even worse when you get a bad review that is completely false, fake, or mistaken (such as someone leaving a review for your business when they obviously intended to leave it for a different business). The reasons for bad reviews don’t really matter to potential customers. The potential damage is the same.\nThe good news is, fake reviews are contrary to the user guidelines for all of the major review sites, and are one of the few types of reviews that can actually be removed.\nMake no mistake, we recommend you take all reviews seriously, treat all customers respectfully, and respond appropriately to all reviews. But a review is obviously false, you can request that the review site administrator remove it. Here’s how:\nHow to flag and remove fake Google reviews \nGoogle will remove reviews they determine have violated their terms of service as outlined in \nGoogle’s review policies\n, which includes: fake, false, or manipulative reviews, spam reviews (content posted multiple times from different accounts), conflicts of interest (reviewing your own business), impersonations (representing the views of someone other than yourself), misleading or inaccurate reviews (reviews or photos that clearly represent a different business or location), off-topic reviews (content not at all related to a customer’s experience patronizing the business in question), and restricted, illegal, derogatory, or explicit content (photos, content, or links to restricted, dangerous or illegal activities, including threatening or discriminatory language).\nIf you’re sure that a review is in violation of Google’s terms of service, you can flag the review so Google’s administrators can examine it for possible removal. You can do this from either your Google My Business account or from Google Maps.\nHow to flag a fake Google review from your Google My Business account\nSign in to \nGoogle My Business\nIf you have more than one listing, select the location you’d like to manage\nSelect \nReviews\n from the menu
\n(Image)\n\nFind the review you’d like to flag and click the three dots in the corner\n(Image)\n\nClick \nFlag as inappropriate (or “Report review”)\n(Image)\n\nFlag a fake Google review in Google Maps:\nSearch your business on Google Maps\nSelect the right location and scroll down to \nReview summary\nClick the \nReviews\n link under your rating
\n(Image)\n\nScroll to the fake review and click the 3 dots in the top right corner
\n(Image)\n\nClick \nFlag as inappropriate (or “Report review”)\n(Image)\n\nComplete the form that follows and click \nSubmit\nIt can take several days for Google to evaluate the report, so be patient. But you should receive a response from Google with information about their decision and the status of the flagged review.\nHow to flag and remove fake Yelp reviews\nFake reviews and other reviews that violate \nYelp’s content guidelines\n, like spam reviews, reviewing one’s own business, impersonations, inappropriate content, violations of people’s privacy, promotional content, defamatory or fraudulent reviews, and “not recommended” reviews may be flagged for review and removal by Yelp’s staff. Before reporting a Yelp review, read this helpful article from Yelp first: “\nWhen should I report a review?\n”\nIf you suspect a review is fake, you should report it to Yelp. Here’s how to flag and report a fake review (remember that reporting doesn’t guarantee that it will be taken down).\nLog in to your Yelp account (the “Report review” option won’t be available if you don’t log in).\nLocate the fake review you wish to report. \nIf you’re on a laptop/desktop, click the the “Report review” button that looks like a flag.\n(Image)\n\nMobile users:\n use the “Report review” function dropdown in the “three dots” menu.\n(Image)\n\nAfter you report the fake review, Yelp will evaluate it based on its content guidelines. This may take several days. Yelp will email you with their decision to remove or keep the review.  \nStay on top of your online reviews\nStaying on top of your legitimate reviews is hard enough—let alone dealing with fake reviews. But it’s very important to keep current on all your reviews and respond appropriately to all of the legitimate ones.\nObviously, this process can take a lot of time, but if you shedule a daily review check you can take care of your reviews in manageable chunks before they all pile up.

The complete guide to removing fake reviews

It’s hard to beat original content and images when attracting new customers, but sometimes things get busy and there isn’t time to create the image you need. In those situations, it’s good to have a few sites like with high-quality, free stock images and graphics to use as you need.\nWe’ve pulled together seven go-to sites for free stock images. These are great, high-quality sources with files large enough for moderately sized printing. They’re great for promotions, branding, blogging, website background images, and more.\nWith no further ado, and in no particular order:\nGratisography\nGratisography is a good resource if you’re looking for outside-the-box, creative photos with a healthy dose of playfulness and nonsensicality. These images are great for stopping people in their tracks, making a point, and just about any other fun kind of use you can imagine.\n\nVisit GRATISOGRAPHY\n\n \nPexels\nPexels has an abundance of images, well tagged and searchable, and they add images frequently. They have images ranging from automotive to nature, fashion, and style, as well as food and hospitality. There is no shortage of options on Pexels.\n\nVisit PEXELS\n\nStocksnap.io\nRight up there with Pexels, Stocksnap.io has a wide variety of image options. They also have a great selection of photos great for those milestones in life. Sports, weddings, graduations as well as home and garden, fitness, and so much more. Whether your promoting a life-event or your collaborative, work-friendly brunch spot, Stocksnap.io has a wealth of free, high-quality images to browse.\n\nVisit STOCKSNAP.IO\n\nUnsplash\nUnsplash has some of the most artistic everyday use images. They also cover a wide variety of categories, but with a certain flair for beauty. Several of the photos they offer would look just as good in a frame on the wall as they will in your marketing and branding. They have images ranging from the Aurora Borealis to beautiful top-down, flat lay photos waiting for your messaging and promotion.\n\nVisit UNSPLASH\n\nBurst\nBurst is great for the industry-specific user. From exercise to jewelry, Burst offers a very curated and beautiful supply of images for general or specific use. What we love most about Burst is their Tips and Ideas links at the top. Not everything will apply to small and local businesses, but it provides a beautiful gallery of ideas. It’ll get your creative juices going, especially if you’re feeling a bit stumped.\n\nVisit BURST\n\nFoodiesFeed\nFoodiesFeed is dedicated to—you guessed it—food. It’s not a huge library, but it’s packed with fresh, professional looking photos of food, preparations, party settings, and more. Perfect for augmenting meal images at restaurants, cafes, bars, and lounges.\n\nVisit FOODIESFEED\n\nISORepublic\nOne thing we’ve found as we’ve scrolled through multiple free stock photo websites is a bit of repetition. It’s not surprising when considering the nature of common licensing of these images. ISORepublic, on the other hand, has a great set of images that are categorical, but not typical. It leans a bit more abstract and has a great swath of active, exploration, and adventure photos. If you’re not finding the stock images you need on other sites, this one may have the gold nugget you need.\n\nVisit ISOREPUBLIC\n

7 sites for free stock images for small businesses

Imagine you want to take someone out on a charming date and you’re sweating cold bullets. It’s gotta be good. And you know it.\nYou know that your date loves Mexican cuisine, so you pull up a web browser and punch in the search query “mexican restaurants near me.” The first result is a list of top Mexican restaurants on Yelp.com, the popular local business review site that seems to always be at the top of the page when it comes to local restaurant searches.\nYou find two spots. You investigate their websites and find that they’re essentially carbon copies of each other. Exactly the same. They’re equidistant from your house. The entrees and margaritas are priced in the same range.\nHow do you decide between them? The star rating, which comes from online customer reviews, breaks the tie.\nThe online “word of mouth” site Yelp had approximately 178 million people read its reviews on an average monthly basis. \nSo what?\nAbove all, this means more people find your restaurant on Yelp than from your own website. Scenarios like the one above happen millions of times every day. Explorative customers search Yelp to make the right decision for their night-out budgets, so you can’t ignore it if you want to attract customers.\nRestaurants especially can’t ignore Yelp reviews\nWhether they had a dazzling night or a sour experience, most people go to Yelp to talk about their experience at a restaurant. Of the (as of 2021) 224 million reviews on Yelp, the “Restaurants” category is tied with Home & Local Services as the most reviewed category \naccording to Yelp data\n.\nThe good news for restaurant owners is that \n51% of Yelp reviews are five stars\n. That means over half of the visitors to Yelp are there to rave about their positive experiences.\nAnd if you’re curious, the other 49% breaks down like this:\n4 Stars 17%\n3 Stars 8%\n2 Stars 6%\n1 Star 18%\nAre you paying attention to Yelp now?\nIf you’re a restaurant owner, consider this logic:\n92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, recent \nstudies\n say (up from 88% in 2014).\nYelp is the \n4th most visited customer review site\n on the Internet, after Google, Facebook, and Amazon (and Amazon isn’t really used for restaurants, so we could argue Yelp is actually 3rd on the Internet).\nTherefore, 9 out of 10 customers visiting your restaurant (for the first time) likely checked Yelp first.\nThe question for you as a restaurant owner is then this: did you meet them there?\nThe more you are where your customer is, the more sales you will probably make. After all, this is the goal of your marketing and advertising budget — to put your message in front of your customers.\nSo if the majority of your customers are visiting Yelp, then maybe it’s time to meet them there.\nIs Yelp worth the time and effort?\nI know this already, you might be saying. It’s not worth my time.\nA \nHarvard Business School study\n shows that a one-star Yelp rating increase can lead to a 9% revenue increase. You may not think customer engagement matters, but it does. In any event, money talks, and a 9% revenue increase is probably worth someone’s time on your staff.\nYour business is automatically listed on Yelp and users can leave reviews, whether you do anything or not. It’s on you to claim your business. Photos, menu items, and open hours won’t fill in themselves.\n2 crucial reasons to claim your business listing on Yelp\nBe found online: 91% of all online searchers use Google Search, as of January 2022. And the bulk of Yelp’s users come from Google. Yelp’s CEO Jeremy Stoppelman \ntold TechCrunch\n, “About 75% of Yelp’s traffic, overall, is sourced through Google one way or another. About 50% is traffic coming from people who start their search on Google and eventually find their way to Yelp; the other 25% is people qualifying ‘Yelp’ as one of the keywords in their search…” In other words, millions of people start searching for a bite to eat in Google and end up looking at Yelp profiles.\nCustomer reviews on Yelp can be a source of inspiration, ideas, and encouragement. Whether it’s \nputting a honey bear in the guest’s condiment area\n or just \n“keep doing what you’re doing!”\n, combing through customer reviews can lead to the affirmation or improvement restaurant owners want. \nOne Noodle Bar owner in Palm Beach, Florida said\n he always looks forward to reading over his Yelp reviews, both the good ones and the not-so-good ones.\nOne owner said, “All and any customer feedback is helpful! It’s a must for growing our business, this is why we value tools like Yelp to help better our restaurants, whether it’s positive or negative feedback it’s how you use these tools to better your business that’s most important!”\nWhether you’re not on Yelp yet or you’re an experienced Yelper, it’s time to augment your Yelp activity and generate more foot traffic for your restaurant.


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