As the econmy continues to regain its footing, one of the few sectors that has seen continued growth is online retail sales. Unfortunately, many small business owners either don't have a website or haven't updated their site since it was launched. The LoveLocal Maryland initiative aims to help small business owners overcome this barrier to online sales success.
The initiative is designed to level the playing field between small and big businesses. It provides Maryland small business the easiest to use, most powerful, lowest cost web tools available. Launched August 2, its website, www.lovelocalmaryland.com , is available for use by businesses throughout Maryland.
"A couple of the state's business programs have been trying to come up with strategies to help small business owners. They realized small business owners are under stress, not compeititve due to the economy. We created the website to offer small business owners with tips for a small fee. We were able to simplify the technology to make it as easy as possible and allow a small business to create a website, update and maintain it without a webmaster," says Andrew Kreinik, one of the site's creators.
Tools include a communications package, the ability to link to social netowking sites and also create online coupons for a website or social network. LoveLocal Maryland has a very large image library, but users can upload personal images to their site as well. They can also link existing sites and just use the tools they're interested in.
"Let's say a company is looking at inventory and needs to get rid of some of it can do so easily. Our focus was on what is needed to help small businesses be competitive and bring them into the digital age. Most of them have websites, but don't update them. So we made it easy to update. One business owner told us. 'I can update this in 15 minutes before I go to bed.' And, we're doing it at a low price," Kreinik says.
Rates for using the site are $78 per year, plus a $19 set-up fee for members of organizations supporting LoveLocal Maryland and $98 plus $19 setup fee for for others.
The initiative is supported by nine of the largest business and trade associations in Maryland representing over 20,000 small businesses and WBAL-TV. The associations recognize that the vitality of Maryland's local economies is driven by the competitive success of Maryland small business.
For more information, businesses can contact [email protected].
Founders and Supporters
Maryland Chamber of Commerce
Maryland Retailers Association
Greater Baltimore Committee
WBAL-TV
Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Maryland Hotel and Lodging Association
Maryland Tourism Council
Maryland Restaurant Association
Maryland Association of CPAs
Maryland Bankers Association
Source: Andrew Kreinik, LoveLocal Maryland
Writer: Walaika Haskins