New digital offerings replace our Shop Local Directory

Technology is moving at the speed of light.

Last year we launched a new Business & Service Directory program. It was the second itteration of the effort to build a program to help customers find and support local businesses.

The first was a free service called NCWBizlink.com. That was a free service. The problem became once the businesses launched their listing they never updated it and if they went out of business they never took it down. Why would they? It wasn't costing them anything. The problem is it made the site frustrating for users who found too many links that were no longer active.

Last year's effort was launched in partnership with a firm that specialized in building and maintaining these sites. We thought more advertisers would jump on it but it never got enough paid users to support the program and the company doing the heavy lifting never delivered the analytics we needed to properly sell it.

So this year we have a new approach. It is a takeoff on a very old newspaper strategy - classified advertising. Classified Advertising was the engine that built newspapers into the powerhouse they had once become. Competition and innovation took their toll on newspaper classifieds over the years. But there is no reason newspapers cannot compete in the new digital classified marketplace. While it may be true that the Internet allows you to compete with the World. It is equally true that through the Internet the World can compete with you. It is also true that most business is local. 

For years we have posted our classified ads to our old websites. They weren't pretty but what was interesting is the classified pages on all of our websites had the highest traffic. Last year we modernized all of our websites to make them platform responsive. That means our software automatically adjusts the web page to fit your screen. No pinching or zooming required. Then we launched our new classified advertising service. The new site is much more powerful than our previous text files with tiny logos and photos. This new site will become the platform for our Shop Local Directory service. 

But it already has powerful new features to help you promote your business. Here's a summary:

• more photos and longer text describing your item (A picture is worth 1,000 words!)
• video if you have one (most modern smart phones have video capability)
• 24/7 access (post your item from home in your pajamas - nobody will know!)
• privacy protection - you can list your item with a "contact advertiser" link that does not reveal your name, phone number or email address!)
• subscription pricing - you can sign up to run multiple ads for one low monthly fee. Sell one you can cancel that listing and add a new item for no additional charge.
• Featured listing - puts your item at the top of the page
• regular promotion in all of our print products and websites.
• Competitive pricing - prices as low as $5 and $10 per month

You want to check it out? click here http://www.ncwmarket.com

It's new and will take some time to catch on. But if you have a problem we are local and we will take care of you much better than the call center in Bangledesh!