| Alabama |  | In Prichard, AL, Sawyer Furniture has been family-owned and operated since 1970. Jaclyn Sawyer is working to make sure that Sawyer Furniture stays that way for years to come. As the third generation to work in the store, Jaclyn is in charge of internet strategy. ... more |
| Arkansas |  | In Fort Smith, AR, Border Express Co. has tried just about everything you can think of to find new customers - from old-fashioned face-to-face meetings, to dropping off chocolate, to internet marketing. All have had varying degrees of success and Border Express plans to continue merging the old traditions with new media. ... more |
| Arizona |  | In Flagstaff, AZ, Michael Ortega was tired of being shipped all over the country to work on high-end billiard tables - so he decided to stop. He took 6 months off and went back to work - this time as his own boss, opening MC Leathersmiths - Expert Billiard Services. He started out in the late 90s advertising in newspapers and Yellow Pages. ... more |
| California |  | In San Diego, CA, being the top salesman was not enough for Tuan Hoang. For 16 years, he worked at a direct mail advertising agency and knew that he could be successful on his own. Tuan had visions of not just capturing his local market in San Diego, but being the premier source for Online Printing and Mailing Services in the nation! He finally branched out on his own and opened Sky Printing and Graphic Design Services in early July of 2007. Rather than sit back and wait for things to happen, Tuan began an aggressive approach to marketing his business - one that would cost him more than $50,000. ... more |
| Delaware |  | In Bear, DE, Erinn Chioma can't sit still - literally. She's got ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which means business-wise, even though she is already running a successful day-care center, it's not enough. She decided to open Make Yourself Over, LLC, which specializes in wigs, in January 2008. Right away, she put her business on MerchantCircle. ... more |
| Florida |  | In Archer, FL, business is far from usual. In recent years, the local recession has claimed many of the storefronts in this small town of just over 1300 residents. Tina Elmore-Wright's business was one casualty of the downturn in local business. For 15 years, her business, Scents of Peace, had been a staple in the community. Slowing sales of her handmade soaps and specialty items forced Tina to close up her storefront a few years ago - but Tina wouldn't let it be the end for her business. ... more |
| Georgia |  | In Gainesville, GA, Jupiter's Paws needed a bigger audience. Trying to sell doggie gift baskets was a niche market and one that would never survive in a town of 33,000. Owner Diana Miller decided to try everything she could find on the internet to expand her audience base. ... more |
| Idaho |  | In Pocatello, ID, it didn't take long for brothers Bryan and Sean Jolley to make a profit in business. They opened Dominator Performance Diesel in 2003, after deciding they wanted to be their own bosses. In just 2 years, the brothers were making a profit, but not before taking their lumps. ... more |
| Illinois |  | In Lake in the Hills, IL, things couldn't get much better for Amy and Jeff Besthoff. They opened Jeff's Auto Service 15 years ago, advertising with fliers and the phone book, and saw a steady flow of customers. Since joining MerchantCircle in 2007, there business has more than doubled! ... more |
| Indiana |  | In Fort Wayne, IN, David Milner knew retiring from the military would be the closing of one chapter, but the start of another. Towards his last few years in the service, he started dabbling in photography, going from amateur status to professional. So it came as no surprise to anyone when he opened David L. Milner Photography. ... more |
| Kansas |  | In Olathe, KS, it didn't take long for Luttra Lewis to build out her business and become profitable - although, getting there would require a lot of trial and error. She spent her first years advertising Girlfriends - The Salon in the newpaper, yellow pages, radio and television. It's a mistake that she won't make again. ... more |
| Kentucky |  | In New Castle, KY, Make a Memory opened just a few months before 9/11 - for a gift shop, it was a debilitating blow. In order to stay in business, Donna Feltner closed up her shop and reopened it in the front of her house. She revamped her business strategy and began offering embroidery, screen prints, custom logos - anything that would bring customers into her door. In 2007, she started advertising her business online. ... more |
| Massachusetts |  | In Worcester, MA, when Sifu Gary LaChapelle took over Maury's Kung Fu, it was losing money. He and his wife Mary tried advertising in the phone book and even paid $400 for a flyer in the local newspaper. It was one of the worst experiences for them running a business. ... more |
| Maryland |  | In North East, MD, the third time's the charm for Leslie Fisher. Her first two careers were stable and paid the bills, but didn't make her completely happy, so she opened Look What I Can Do! Dog Training. A lifelong animal lover, Leslie opened up shop in December of 2006 and has steadily grown her business with the help of MerchantCircle. ... more |
| Maine |  | In Livermore, ME, Michael Weaver literally built his restaurant from scratch. In 2002, after 15 years working as a chef for other people, he laid down the blueprints for Carriage House Cafe. The hard part was getting the business built; the easy part came when he went to MerchantCircle to build out his web presence. ... more |
| Michigan |  | In Wayne County, MI, Monica is one of 5 scholarship recipients awarded by ServiceMaster and Houston Rocket, Shane Battier. Six months after being awarded the Wayne County Michigan area and a $5,000 marketing budget to start her ServiceMaster franchise, MerchantCircle has become the centerpiece of Monica’s online marketing effort. ... more |
| Missouri |  | In St. Louis, MO, Fred Dodson retired from the police department and wasn't about to be content with just sitting on his hands. As a lifelong classic car enthusiast, Fred was frustrated with what he was seeing from online classified ad sites, so he decided to start his own in December of 2007. One of the first things Fred did for CarWorldConnect.com, was join MerchantCircle. ... more |
| North Carolina |  | In Garner, NC, after spending $10,000 on print Yellow Page ads and listings over the years, Thom Millage had had enough. ... more |
| North Dakota |  | In Fargo, ND, Damian McAllister was not going to let CamFo Creme go extinct without a fight. His family had used if for three generations and found The Falk Company, who made the creme, was trying to sell it, or just let it go out of business. Damian decided to buy the company and save it. ... more |
| New Hampshire |  | In Candia, NH, Susan Lacombe wanted to do something to help people in pain. A certified nurse, she decided to open New England Massage and Nutrition. Finding new customers wasn't going to be easy, considering the small town of about 4,000 where she lived. Susan tried posting fliers and joining community networking events to varying levels of success. ... more |
| New Jersey |  | In Eatontown, NJ, it took Jennifer Bilodeau just 6 months to turn her business into a successful part time supplemental income to a full time lucrative business - but then again, Jennifer would never have had it any other way. She started Coastal Dreams, a wholesale travel agency, following a successful career as a Vice-President of a large bank owned Fortune 500 insurance brokerage. Success for Jennifer was the only option in the face of adversity. ... more |
| New Mexico |  | In Albuquerque, NM, Amber Salazar was tired of working for someone else. She wanted to set her own hours and be an independent business woman, so she started J&A Gifts and More. Right now she depends on her MerchantCircle listing to bring customers in because she doesn't have a brick and mortar shop. ... more |
| New York |  | In West Harrison, NY, QH Computing tried print advertising but will never do it again. Edward Martin spent nearly $3,000 on a half-page ad in the Yellow Pages and saw almost no return on his investment. It wasn't until he started working on his internet presence that he started to find more customers. ... more |
| Oklahoma |  | In Oklahoma City, OK, Alan Geiger had been running a profitable business for the last 18 years, but decided to start a new business anyway. Alan noticed a void in being able to find reliable auto service in local areas on cell phones. As the owner of Glass Aid, he had more than a working knowledge of the auto services industry and as a member of MerchantCircle - he knew where to go to start promoting On Cell Auto. ... more |
| Oregon |  | In La Grande, OR, Grande Ronde Fitness Club has made some major changes. Starting with a revamped marketing strategy, Grande Ronde decided to pull all of their advertising dollars away from print advertising. ... more |
| Pennsylvania |  | In Oakmont, PA, TDF Limousine Service has a simple reason for not spending money on print Yellow Pages. ... more |
| Rhode Island |  | In Newport, Rhode Island, Gail Cavanaugh was a victim of corporate downsizing. Rather than jumping back on the corporate ladder, Gail decided she'd had enough and started Gail Cavanaugh's Business Solutions, specializing in credit card services and processing. To market the company, Gail joined almost every service on the web, including YellowPages.com, Business.com, and registered herself on over 100 online directories. ... more |
| South Carolina |  | In Lexington, SC, Robert and Jo-Ann Falace had been through the worst. Having bought 3 different homes, their dealings with home inspectors and real estate agents was nightmarish, at best. So rather than go through the same process again, they decided to fight back by opening Integrity Home Inspections of S.C. - and help out first-time home buyers. One of the first things they did was put their business on MerchantCircle. ... more |
| Tennessee |  | Watertown, TN has a population of 1300 people - for Vickie Wills that audience just wasn't going to be big enough to grow her customer base for CandleStick Farm. Locally, she marketed her handmade candles and soaps with fliers around town, but saw limited returns. After a friend from California recommended MerchantCircle, Vickie signed-on and started building coupons, sending out newsletters, and uploading pictures of her products. Within a few days, she was coming up at the top of search engines for candle searches in Tennessee. ... more |
| Utah |  | In St. George, UT, gas prices have been affecting Kim Penney's profits, so it's a good thing she's been able to grow her business a little every year. One of the most important things Kim did in 2008, was to claim her business, All Hours Mobile Notary, on MerchantCircle. ... more |
| Virginia |  | In Columbia, VA, Joe Williams started Airbrush Gypsy as a side venture from his full-time job as a truck driver. His hope in 2005 was to someday give up driving trucks for a living to run his new business full-time. Of course, no business becomes successful without a few mistakes along the way. ... more |
| Washington |  | In Bellingham, WA, most businesses don't become profitable after a few months - but don't tell that to Evergreen Team Concepts, a consulting and training company. Armed with four employees and a $1,000 a month marketing budget, Evergreen tried it all, including: going door-to-door, direct mail marketing, cold-calling, issuing press releases and everything they could find on the internet. Only one thing brought customers in the door with consistency. ... more |
| West Virginia |  | In Morgantown, WV, Barbara Joseph has tried just about every type of advertising method in 25 years as a business owner. In 2007, she decided to take her efforts and concentrate more on internet marketing and advertising for Arrow Gift Shoppe. ... more |
