New media gallery for your business profile page

Recommendation: Update your photos and get that video made!

Today, we launched a new media gallery for businesses. Business owners will now be able to choose their favorite photo as their default image and then upload as many photos and videos as they want to be showcased in the CityVoter media gallery.

If you have a video, the player will default to show the video first.

This feature is currently only available on our media partner websites as we continue to focus on making sure CityVoter.com is a great place for people to get answers to their questions. Hopefully, the media gallery tools will help businesses see the benefits of uploading great photos. Smaller photos and scanned images don't show up as well. Clear photos make a huge difference.

Introducing product polling on CityVoter

Today, we rolled out CityVoter product polls (we'll come up with a clever name later). You can see an example of a beauty poll above. These polls are designed to help us discover what products a city loves. For example, if people in Philadelphia prefer Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks or if kids' in Orlando prefer Goldfish or Jell-O. Who knows what we'll learn?

We believe this will ultimately be a fun way for local business owners to see what products and services they should offer. For example, if Sacramento really does love their Neutrogena skin products, we imagine salon owners would like to know that.

Mid-Michigan is voting for their favorites

Today, I got an email from a coffeehouse owner in Frankenmuth, Michigan. They are competing in the mid-Michigan A-List being run by NBC 25. I wanted to share their email below. It was a great way to get out the vote. It included photos of their new coffeehouse location and some announcements about upcoming events. At the end of the email, there was a call for voting support. A well designed email and a great way to have fun with this promotion. Good luck Harvest Coffeehouse and all the local coffee shops. We're eager to announce the contest winners in May.

Use professionals to make a commercial for you

Recommendation: Get professional help making your business commercial and online video. Most local television stations are starting to offer to produce commercials for a low one-time fee.

I met yesterday with our partners who run television stations in Denver, Indianapolis, and San Diego. They are entering their third year with CityVoter and in each of their cities they have built great local guides they call the A-List.

This year, they are using their video expertise to help promote local businesses. In each of their cities, local businesses can have a video made for their business that will be shot in High Definition. Why does this matter? Having a television station crew shoot your commercial often means it can be used on the Internet on sites like YouTube as well as be shown on TV. That's something not a lot of video companies can promise.

We took a look at some of the videos they've made and more importantly, we were really impressed with how they were making sure these videos were seen by big audiences. Here's a sample below.



If you are on the Denver A-List, the Indy A-List, or the San Diego A-List, and are interested in a video commercial, let us know. We'll put you in touch with our friends at the station.

Sunny and clear in Charleston

Last week, we launched our second best of campus competition. This time we are partnering with the College of Charleston and their newspaper The George Street Observer to help find the best spots around the Charleston campus.

Voting began last week on a website specifically designed for their campus guide: Indulgeonthis.com. Students are voting on more than two hundred Charleston-area businesses. Voting ends on April 10th. We look forward to announcing the winners then!

They say print newspapers are dead

Source: Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

This month, the debate that has been bubbling for years about the fate of print newspapers hit a crescendo with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer deciding to print its last print edition and continue on as a website.

Small business owners busy running their companies are trying to figure out how to stay afloat in this economy, so I imagine there's not a on of time to reflect on the demise of a newspaper -- even if you live in Seattle.

I'm writing about this, because I believe this event really is a big deal for business owners and deserves more attention than stories about the Tribune going bankrupt or the Boston Globe being for sale. As newspapers and local print publications stop or reduce the number of editions, business owners will need to think differently about how they reach potential customers, and this is arguably the first time a major newspaper is trying to continue operating as a website only brand. If it works, business owners will have a great local outlet to grow their businesses.

St. Patrick's Day in the city

Over the past three years, we've collected more than 2 million votes from locals on where they love to have a pint of Guinness, listen to Irish music, and dance until the early hours of the morning. The winners of our contests give you a great way to plan your St. Patrick's Day.

If you live in Denver, check out these winners for best Irish Pub.

If you live in Philadelphia, check out these winners for best brew pub.

If you live in Boston, you can check out answers to the question: Who pours the best Guinness in Boston? Answers are here.

All CityVoter clients have great winner's lists to other great Irish Pubs, live music venues, and restaurants that may be serving traditional St. Patty's grub. To find your city, go here.

Have a great St. Patty's Day in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston...

45000 Votes In Houston Determine The Best

Our partner, KPRC, in Houston, just completed their first annual contest to determine the most popular hot spots. CityVoter collected more than 45,000 votes and more than 16,000 recommediations on where to eat, play, and shop in Houston. This provides a great local guide for click2houston.com and a brand to build on throughout the year. The folks at the station obviously understand this. Check out the fun banner they are running on their home page today announcing the winners:



There are now more than 60 insider deals for consumers in the Houston area to take advantage of when they are heading out on the town, planning a wedding, and looking for fitness and shopping deals. You can check them out here. Congratulations Houston and all the businesses who are nominated and part of the guide.

Help answer questions on CityVoter.com

Recommendation: Help answer questions on CityVoter.com to see what local consumers are looking for.

As a local business owner, you probably know your city better than most. You can be a positive influence on others in your city by helping them find great places to shop, eat, entertain their kids, and more.


CityVoter.com is a place where people go to ask questions about a city and get recommendations. You can go there to see what people are saying about your business and update your profile, but most importantly, you can check out the questions people are asking. If you have a helpful recommendation or tip, send it along. It's a fantastic way to engage local consumers and learn what's on their minds.

Yesterday, we rolled out the ability for consumers to get alerts when someone answers their question or a topic they're interested in (see email alert below).

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Read free advice from your customers

Recommendation: Read the recommendations left by your customers. They can tell you what others are thinking and help you make easy improvements.

I was reading some of the recommendations customers had left for each other in Sacramento and one customer wrote:

"This place is an oddball. GREAT food, very intimate indoor area, though small. Romantic. However, these upscale aspects clash with the outdoor experience the place offers - you sit under beautiful lights on plastic patio furniture which looks and feels like it came from the walmart end-of-season sale section."

I hope the business owner takes time to read this review and swap out the outdoor furniture. It sounds like there is a real easy fix here to create more loyal customers.

Fullerton's Town Pride - Promoting Local Shops

Recommendation: Tell your local chamber of commerce to promote your local CityVoter guide. It's free and a great way to make sure members get even more business.


More than 1,800 businesses are competing in our second annual best of Orange County contest with MyFoxLa. This year, more than 20,000 votes have already been collected. Businesses and local towns are excited about this year's promotion, and we're seeing a lot of energy to make sure local favorites capture this year's title of best of the HotList.

Fullerton is pulling out all the stops to promote its local business owners by using HotList graphics and links to businesses' profiles on HotList pages to encourage people to vote. Here are some great examples of how town websites and chambers of commerce can promote their members.

How you get your free business cards

Recommendation: Customize and order free business cards before your local CityVoter contest begins so you'll have them in time to hand out to customers or send in mailings.

Business owners who are nominated to compete in CityVoter contests get free business cards that they can put their business information on. These promotional materials come with the local branding of the media company. For example, in Sacramento, Turbo Shine Car Wash can order cards that make sure everyone knows they're part of the KCRA A-List. Or in Los Angeles, My Herb Guy can order cards that let everyone know they've been nominated for the best of Fox TV's HotList.

These business cards are designed to give business owners a fun way to do some very important self-promotion. They can be handed out in-store or sent to customers.

To get your cards, you just need to log into the business center. To help, I put together a quick cheat sheet below and circled the areas you need to visit. I hope it is helpful.

First, make sure you log in and click on the "business center" tab.

Once you are in the business center, click on the link on the top right that says, "My business center checklist" -- I circled it in red.

Once you are on the checklist, you'll find a lot of helpful tips. If you click on the link near number 4, you'll find the place to order your cards. I circled that in red as well.



Once you click on the "order free business cards and more" link you'll be taken to this page that will let you view samples and begin designing your cards.


We've received great feedback on the quality of these cards. Sometimes shipping takes a little longer than expected, so be sure to order well in advance.

Good luck and let us know if we can help.