Question 1

How do I save "Money" with this Directory?

Accepted Answer

Cost-optimization: Every business has the responsibility of running, advertising, promoting their business as well as being found online - which is where a large majority of people begin their search for the products and services you provide and that they need - many of these responsibilities are being done "for you" through the Directory (SEO, being found online, advertising, marekting, promoting, trust & credibility, driving traffic, generating leads, increasing awareness and sales, etc.) which is both saving you "Time" and "Money" in comparison to traditional methods.

By taking advantage of our Directory, the cost comparisons to typical ways of Advertising and Marketing far outweigh the cost of our Membership Plans. When you create a listing on the directory, it will be included in search engines like Google and Bing, as well as local search engines that people use to find businesses in their area - at no cost to you.

It’s also a cost-effective way to enhance your Branding, Awareness, Online Presence, Credibility, Trust & Local Visibility while generating Leads - the cost of us doing the Marketing of the Directory is included in the Membership Plan.

Typical Marketing Costs...

• Receipt Advertising: Range of $500 - $750 per store per 4 week period
 • Postcard Advertising: You will spend at least $1,150 to send a simple postcard (4*6 size) to 1,000 recipients.
 • Print Ads: a local paper may charge $12 per inch for a black and white ad, so a 4×10-inch ad would cost $480. Local Magazine Ads vary from $450-$1,750 depending on size.·   
 • Social Media Advertising: The average cost for outsourcing a social media advertising campaign is $450 to $6000 per month, with monthly ad spends ranging from $200 to $50,000 or more. 
 • Average Advertising Spend:  Marketing experts and agencies often recommend that small businesses spend anywhere from 7-8 percent of their gross revenue on marketing. There is also a general rule of thumb that you should aim at spending between 2-5% of your sales revenue on marketing.

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Question 2

What are the Benefits of a Local Listing on the bluewaterbusinesses.com Directory?

Accepted Answer

We understand as a business ower, you have to wear many "hats"... simply put, we are taking several of those "hats" and responsibilities off your plate so you have more time to run your business and eliminate the learning curve of today's marketing trends and technologies.

Additional benefits include:
 • They are easy to understand
 • They're affordable
 • They have mass appeal
 • Our Directory is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year
 • It allows you to update your business information with the click of a button from anywhere in the world that has internet access
 • Effective, affordable Advertising that business owners can easily understand
 • Perfect for consumers, helps them find local deals, coupons, reviews & events from local businesses
 • It's an affordable way to boost your online presence and increase sales
 • Increase your Visibility & Exposure / Boost your presence
 • Be Found more easily
 • Build Brand Awareness
 • Enhance your Credibility & Trust
 • Save Money on Advertising, Marketing and Promotions
 • Omni-channel Marketing (presence across multiple channels)
 • Directory is accessible 24/7  -  365 days a year
 • Increase your online presence
 • Be found online
 • Drive traffic
 • Generate Leads - more leads generally means more Sales
 • List job openings
 • Promote your events
 • Create relationships within the community
 • We also take care of maintenance for you so that you don’t have to worry

Question 3

What Features does this Directory offer?

Accepted Answer

Main Page Features
 • Local Business Search by Category, Keyword, Name or Location
 • Local Coupon/Deals search tool
 • Local Events search tool -  listings & calendar views

Business Profile Features
 • Businesses Overview (About page)
 • Businesses Specialties listings page
 • Businesses Coupons, promos & deals page
 • Businesses Events page
 • Businesses Job Listings page
 • Businesses Photo Gallery page
 • Businesses Blog page
 • Businesses Reviews page
 • Businesses Audio Files page
 • Businesses Videos page
 • Contact Info & backlinks

Question 4

What is meant by "Leverage Operations"?

Accepted Answer

Leveraging Operations simply means taking some of the workload off of the business owners plate. By creating a "tool" that does the work for you, it frees up your businesses operations workload and responsibilities simply because they are being met by the Directory.

Everything that the Directory is doing "for you" is leveraging your day-to-day operations. Another way of looking at it would be: What are you currently doing now to market, attract new customers, advertise, and promote your business that is now able to be done through the Directory? Or, if you weren't doing anything at all because you simply didn't know how, weren't tech savvy, or had the time to do it... now the Directory is doing it for you, saving you time or having to go thru the learning curve of how to do it yourself; freeing up your responsibilities to operate your business.  It's almost like hiring someone to do the tasks for you.

Examples of leverage that are being done for you are:
 • Branding, Awareness, Credibility are all being done from within the Directory.
 • Advertising can be easily performed and revised at will (possibly eliminating current forms of Advertising that consumes more of your time and money)
 • Increasing your online presence 
 • Increasing your online reach
 • Generating Leads
 • Increasing your Search Engine Optimization for your business website through backlinks
 • Promoting your Events
 • Email Marketing to your consumer base
 • Omni-channel sales & marketing delivering a consistent and uninterrupted brand experience and sales channel to acquire more leads and sales revenue
 • Social Media marketing
 • Online & offline marketing promoting the Directory where your Listing is located
 • Saving you money by trading your traditional methods of operations for those being done through the Directory for pennies on the dollar are also leveraging operations as it is freeing up or saving you money to operate your business.

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