Should small/local businesses bother with social media? Or is local search where it’s at — targeting potential customers in their own cities and towns?

The good news is that small business owners don’t have to choose one or the other. Listed below are eight sites at the intersection of social media and local search, the places where these two roads meet. When you get there, keep in mind that it’s not about sales pitches and spamming; it’s about making real connections with other human beings. Think of it as the online version of going to a chamber of commerce meeting. That’s the first piece of offline marketing advice you were given; here’s how to take the same idea online.

Bookmark and Share