Most consumers go online to get information about a product before buying it. Most corporations have understand this fact, and the top search results are now monopolized by advertisers with heavy Adwords and SEO budgets. MerchantCircle is here to break this monopoly cycle. Last week, I video interviewed Ben T.Smith, IV, Chairman and Co-founder of MerchantCircle, and Kevin Leu, the Community Relations Manager. Ben T.Smith IV jumped in the online social networking game to allow local business owners nationwide to perform better online.
Local merchants may simply visit Merchantcircle, and surf a directory of all the local businesses of the nation to find their own and claim it. Once the claim is submitted, merchants get access to elementary social features like a blog, pic and video uploads, as well as eCoupons they can customize to promote their business.
The main challenge with MerchantCircle, and that’s where Kevin Leu steps in, is that most local merchants do not get new web 2.0 tools, and don’t have the time either to handle an online presence. As the Community Relations Manager, Kevin is here to understand what are the problems that new users are facing with using the network, and provide solutions for it.
I recommend watching the video for further details. To make it even easier for novice users to understand the tools offered by MerchantCircle, Kevin Leu has opened a Youtube page with video tutorials.