Rural Iowa Business? No Web Site? Hello Merchant Circle

I've long been a fan of Merchant Circle and their tools, allowing any business to increase their web presence. No matter the size of either the business or the region, I believe every company can benefit from these tools.

One local company, Sims Plumbing in Des Moines uses their Merchant Circle page to supplement their company site. Interactive tools they're putting to use:

• Sims Plumbing Company Blog
• Newsletter with Coupon
• Message Center (where customers can leave a message online)

Before you think this piece is simply an advert for Merchant Circle, let's talk about their Reputation Management tool.

Among the many tools you see to the right, the Reputation Score may be the most important. Tracking customer reviews about your business from sites such as Yahoo Local and Citysearch, you're able to see what's being said about you online (you should be doing this already with Search  Once and Subscribe, but that's another matter).

As you can see from the dashboard, there are other reasons to get started with Merchant Circle (and most of the tools are free!)