Steal Google's List - Using Googe Local for Prospecting

My article on Google Local was featured as a Main Course in Peter Bowerman's excellent and thorough newsletter, the Well-Fed E-Pub. I highly recommend signing up if you're a writer, marketer or communications pro. As promised to him, I waited until he'd published before posting it here. Since it was published earlier today, and for those of you who asked for the article...here you go! Enjoy!

"Steal Google's List - Using Google Local for Prospecting."

We've all made up our prospect lists for marketing - poring through yellow pages, getting Chamber of Commerce directories, scanning the newspaper. It takes a lot of time and effort, doesn't it? Now there's a service that chops that time down to a few seconds.

Google. The name everyone knows, everyone relies on to find everything from movies to news to that website your friend gave you but you forgot the address for. But did you know that you can use Google to find clients?

Google recently introduced a service called Google Local. Google Local is one huge business list, free to use AND to add your business to, sorted by region. Graphic designers, manufacturers, PR, B2B industries - just about everyone's on there. Google indexes their own list of websites, along with Yellow Pages directories, to make comprehensive business lists. Think of it as the ultimate Chamber of Commerce directory...and it's yours, free.

How do you use Google Local? Easy!
1. Go to http://local.google.com
2. Type in the INDUSTRY TYPE you want (i.e., "graphic design" or "manufacturing"), and your city. Make sure you click the "Remember this location" box, too!
3. Hit "Google Search."
4. Behold list. Stare in awe.
5. Start calling.

Google Local gives you an address & phone number for every company name, about what you'd find in a Yellow Pages ad, but on your computer, where you can cut & paste it into a spreadsheet or Word. And, if you want to get specific: whenever a company has a website, it shows up in their Google Local listing, right below their contact info. So if you want to know exactly who to call, one click takes you right to a prospect's website.

Google Local represents a big shift in the viability of prospecting online. More and more businesses will be added to the list as they come online, which means it's cutting-edge information. With the added option of researching sites to find the exact contact person, Google Local becomes an invaluable prospecting tool for self-employed professionals of all stripes.

About the Author: Chris Williams is a freelance business writer living in the Bay Area. Where he works is anywhere he wants, thanks to the Internet (which he's been mucking around in since 1997). You can find him at www.blue-ferret.com.