Midwest eBook Review by reviewer Judy Justice The author is an experienced web designer and Internet business person. Sharon Fling has written an ebook that is the definitive manual for making your business website a successful enterprise. The Internet first started as an information sharing technology between government agencies in the military. The educational community also used it to network with peers for the free dissemination of information. Somewhere along the way, there was a ground swell of entrepreneurs who decided that they could make lucrative livings by starting up online businesses. The dot.com boom was on and Investors lined up to shell out the millions to finance the new phenomenem. It didn't take long before the boom was bust and the financing dried up. Many people lost money and a large percentage of online business dropped out of sight. The boom was over. The reason why? The idea of earning large sums online with little or no work was not in keeping with what people had come to expect from the Internet. Fly-by-night operators fleecing unsuspecting buyers were widely reported and caused would-be shoppers to be suspicious of security and trust in the online marketplace. Many bricks and mortar business people realized the importance of having a website but they didn't know how to go about getting started online, or if they did pay someone to create a web presence they weren't using it to full effect.  Sharon Fling is one of the few Internet business persons to realize that having a website can compliment your local bricks and mortar business. Her ebook, “How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet”, is the definitive manual for marketing your offline business online, and even if you don't have an offline business you can pick up many great tips to improve your online business strategies. Fling understands perfectly, the law of the web, "Gimme Some Free Stuff" (p. 8) and has suggestions for freebies to give away. The author suggests "Building relationships is what business is about, especially on the Internet. Focus on the customer and you'll never have to worry about selling. Win their loyalty and trust and they'll buy from you willingly, over and over again." (p. 14) The author goes on to describe winning strategies for ecommerce, how to use email in your marketing and how to go about setting up your first website. Even the most inexperienced user will find this to be an invaluable learning tool that will provide the incentive to set up a website that will be a winner for any type of business. Chapter 10 is a series of case studies that are, alone, worth more than the price of this ebook. Anyone interested in what to offer online to enhance an offline business will find a wealth of information from the experience of the businesses depicted here. There are also links to each website so the reader can see just how a successful website is set up. Appendix A is a glossary of Internet terms and Appendix B offers an extensive list of online resources for business people with links to each website. Appendix C, Internet 101 is a primer for the new Internet user by Scott Cottingham of Internet101.org, "...selected by Yahoo as one of the three best sites on the net for beginners." (p. 102) It is an excellent guideline for anyone wanting to learn how to use the Internet and is written in such a way that even the first time user will get a good grounding in how to search for information, find free software and much, much more. As an ebook specialist for Midwest Book Reviews, I read many ebooks, I can say that “How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet” is one of the most attractive and well formatted ebooks I've seen. The information flows logically and is written with clarity in a straightforward manner. Every page has valuable advice with tips and links to more information on the subject at hand. The graphics are particularly well done, just enough to relieve the eyes and highlight the text. They are small and very well designed. One of the most informative and helpful ebooks I've had the pleasure of reviewing. Very highly recommended. Reviewer: Judy Justice http://www.organizedforever.com eBook Reviews Weekly by reviewer Pooja Srinivas The Internet has always been viewed as a global market, and very few marketers have realized the importance of local businesses having a web presence. The reluctance to be online also rises from the fact that many dot coms have bitten the dust recently, and very few predict success for online ventures. Small businesses too feel that they are wasting money by being online since their customers are locally based. Sharon Fling's eBook "How to Promote your Local Business on the Internet" shatters all myths and shows exactly why a local business should be online and how it too can survive and prosper online. Along with informative tips on how to use online and online methods for promoting local businesses, it also includes a introductory tutorial on how to use the internet and how to write effective email messages. For those businesses that are short of cash and cannot invest time and money, Sharon has included a section which shows how they too can profit from the web with limited resources. While this eBook is a excellent beginner's manual for small businesses, this is also an essential read for any web designer/marketer/advertiser who is even remotely concerned with promoting small businesses. Pooja Srinivas, eBook Reviews Weekly http://www.coursesuseek.com/ebooks.htm Hi Sharon Fling, Just a quick note to let you know I downloaded your ebook "How to Promote Your Local Business on the Internet", what a excellent resource! I found your link on Wilson's NetAssisted.com site. I can't tell you how excited I was to find comprehensive information focused on small and local business marketing. I've been following WilsonWeb, Dr. Ken Evoy, Corey Rudl and other marketing gurus for about 2 years. Ann Bivins www.positionebiz.com Position eBiz Reach Local Customers, Increase Global Exposure "Dear Sharon, Congratulations on developing such wonderful materials and and an effective approach to this surprisingly over-looked but huge market, online promotion for local businesses. It's exactly the type of stuff we needed in order to learn how to more effectively market our restaurant and hotel business. There's an abundance of good literature/ courses on marketing for online internet businesses but your course fills the gap that's missing ... how to bring more live people from around your neighborhood through your front door." Best regards, Mark Jacobson President, Connor Jacobson Hospitality Sharon, Your book is top shelf, best I've seen since the "Make Your Site Sell" series. I have not seen any information anywhere that covers this subject. I am launching a new website, and one of the focal points will be to get small local businesses to use the Internet more effectively. And, if someone opts to have me design a web site for them, I am going to insist that the first step in the process will be for them to buy the book. Then, if they are having trouble understanding a concept, I can direct them to your book. Excellent job! "If you have a "brick and mortar" store, you need this book" Bill Enross http://www.keywestpublishing.com “Sharon, As you know I purchased your ebook "How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet" last week. I printed it out and quickly read through it. I am now in the process of re-reading it in order to check out the dozens of web sites you have included in the book. You have obviously put a lot of time into this material and you definitely know your stuff. The material flows well, making it easy to read. There's a ton of stuff in here I was not aware of and I’ve come up with a ton of ideas after my initial run through the material. I'm sure to come up with even more after a thorough reading. When you throw in the FreetoSell package in addition to the "Insider Secrets to Email Marketing Course" by Terry Dean - you have one of the best offers available anywhere on the Net. It's like spending $49.95 to get access to FreetoSell.com, getting "How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet" and "Insider Secrets to Email Marketing" for free, and getting $12 in change. Such a Deal! Again I appreciate your prompt replies to my emails. Thanks Sharon.” Sincerely, Del Thomas http://www.shakerhockey.com Sharon, "I commend you on writing a suberb resource for local business owners. Until the past two weeks, I was an independent marketing advisor to personal and executive coaches and health and fitness centers. How many times did I tell friends that I was going to write a book for the LOCAL business owners to understand how to use the web and email to catapault business. You have done that with this product. I have sent the link to your site and the article you wrote in the Business Filings ezine where I first heard of you to a former client who is producing a day-long seminar in September for entrepreneurs. This would be a great product for them to include in their "Must Have" resource book. I've encouraged him to look at your program as well. I will also include this information in a final email to my clients -- they really need it. I'm not holding my breath that they'll order, but hope springs eternal. I have taken an exciting and long-overdue shift in my work and life and will no longer work as a marketing consultant for local business owners and coaches. Maybe if I'd had your book 18 months ago I wouldn't have all these dents in my skull from banging my head in frustration over the small thinking most of these local folks bring to marketing. You and your product give me hope that I wasn't the only one who got it and that now you have built it ... so they WILL come around, eventually! Keep up the great work." Sincerely, Jody Murphy "Hello Sharon, I enjoyed reading your ebook (How to promote your local business online). I've been looking at some local resources like you said and can't wait to really start using the internet to promote my business locally. I believe I will start a trend in my area. I don't have a website for my offline business yet but going through the process right now. The name of my core business right now is called Shrub Surgeon. We specialize in pruning and removing shrub & hedges. I've been having a great response, but it's time to go to another level. That's why I'm so glad I found your information. Thanks again for the great work you're doing. Please continue to feed me info that will assist me and others on how to promote our local business online." Yours in success, Jeff Turner http://www.diamondwealth.com Hi Sharon, Thanks for letting me take a look at your ebook. I have to say it's one of the most professional ones I've seen. You really did a great job ferreting all the possibilities for local businesses to harness the power of the Internet. Nice job! Yanik Silver http://www.surefiremarketing.com “Hi Sharon, Finally had a chance to read your book. Before I comment I'll say I buy a great many newsletters, books, magazines, e-newsletters, and e-books. Most of these publications deal with marketing, statistics, and demographics. And of course many deal with Web issues. In summary, all deal with information. I am not much of a recreational reader. That has to wait for retirement years! I say all the above so that you will know that what I am about to say is not totally unqualified. I am very impressed. For several reasons. First, your presentation is very easy to read. It flows from topic to topic very well. Second, the content itself is cute, but not too cute -like all those Dummy books I refuse to buy because they are way too silly. Third, you waste no time building credibility with a combination of your own experiences, then you back those with well researched statistics to build your case. Fourth, the quality of your PDF document is one of the best I have seen. Your graphics flow well with the content, and are not over done. Your graphs are also very well done. You have done one of the best jobs I have seen anywhere, and again, I can say that because I buy all sorts of information over the web. I pay anywhere from $29 to $2,000 for said information. So you go girl!” Gary Cooley http://www.ozarkmtns.com Ozark Mountains Website Deep in the Ozark Forest on Lake Norfolk "I think ‘How to Promote Your Local Business On the Internet’ is the absolute best product teaching real Internet marketing methods for local businesses.  If you own a local business, you have to own this book.  Forget the business opportunity crap being promoted in 99% of the ebooks out there. This one is the real thing, and will teach any local business owner how to promote their business online in a step-by-step way" Terry Dean www.bizpromo.com “Hi Sharon, Wow, I just finished reading your book, and it is EXCELLENT! It does exactly what you said it would do - give a business owner simple but powerful, step-by-step instructions on how to promote their local business on the web. What an amazing amount of information -- all of the resources and links in this book would've taken me years to find on my own. Keep up the good work -- thanks!” Andrea Daly www.msamsupplies.com GeoLocal.com, Inc. 4713 Highway 6 #301 Missouri City, TX 77459 USA