During our month-long celebration of local independents, we have learned about the importance of spending locally and how it makes your money count more.

• 3 times as many dollars stay in your local community when you spend locally

• Local businesses give up to 4 times as much to charities

• Up to 5 times the public revenue comes from local spending

If you want to learn more, read the full article here.

And remember, WOMbeat! is a fantastic way to find and support your locally-owned businesses.  Our users are very passionate about recommending their favorite local businesses.

In celebration of the nation’s independence, the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA) and Creative Loafing are also celebrating independently-owned local businesses with its Passport To Tampa Indies July Challenge.

• GRAB your Tampa Indies passport here

• VISIT participating TIBA member businesses (like WOMbeat!) and collect stamps for your passport through July 31, 2009

• WIN exciting prizes valued over $500 by collecting the most stamps

You find more details about this exciting promotion on Creative Loafing.

Recommend TIBA & WIN!!!

As a Tampa-based business, WOMbeat! is a proud member of TIBA and has decided to join the fun.  Now through July 31, 2009, any registered user who adds a recommendation for a TIBA member business will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to the TIBA member business of their choice. The drawing will be held on August 1^st and the winner announced August 5th.

Good News!

To easily find the participating TIBA members on WOMbeat!, use the search term “TIBA Passport“.

And all TIBA member businesses can be easily found on WOMbeat! by using the search term “TIBA“.

WOMbeat! is only one of many companies leveraging the power of social media for marketing purposes.  And now, thanks to our good friend Bernie Borges of Find And Convert, you can become a Social Media Marketing expert by reading his new book “Marketing 2.0.”

The book is scheduled to start shipping on July 13th, and it will be another 2 to 3 weeks before it is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but you can actually pre-order it today.

Be sure to read the WOMbeat! case study in the book!

Have you been on WOMbeat! lately?  We’ve been busy making lots of important changes, including some major performance improvements.  But we are finding the feature people are enjoying the most is the ability to upload your own picture.

We all like to see pictures of our friends, and now you can see them on WOMbeat! as well.

We believe the ability to see your friend’s picture when viewing their recommendation for a favorite local business will add to the credibility of that recommendation.  WOMbeat!’s mission is to provide the most trustworthy information about local businesses, so something as simple as viewing pictures of your friends will help us better achieve this objective.

To see for yourself or upload your own picture, click here.  Once you login, you will be taken straight to your account settings page where you can upload your picture.

Be sure to share your opinions and suggestions for us – we’d love to hear from you!

WOMbeat! is dedicated to helping people find great local businesses with the best online word-of-mouth (WOM) tool available!

However, we are also absolutely passionate about giving back to the community too!  Because of our work with local at-risk youth and the Boys and Girls Clubs, we were recently featured in a TBTF Foundation news story.  (They even referred to us a “magicians”!)

Click here to read the story for yourself!

Interested in helping?? Learn more

While the users of WOMbeat! today are finding and sharing great local recommendations with their trusted friends, the business owners themselves are the biggest winners.

If you are a business owner, you know that there is nothing more powerful (or more flattering and cost-effective) than an unsolicited referral from one of your happy customers.  No other form of advertising beats the word-of-mouth(WOM) testimony from people who know and love your business.

So how can you get more WOM for your business?

As you may know, our team is busy working on some great new features that will do exactly that for your business – make it easier for your customers to spread the word about your business to their friends, family and neighbors.  Be on the lookout for a special announcement soon.

However, you do NOT need to wait…there are several things you can be doing TODAY to get your friends, family and happy customers to add a recommendation for your business on WOMbeat! and get the conversation started.  In other words, the more people who recommend your business on WOMbeat!, the better!

1)  Update your email signatures with a link to your business on WOMbeat!

This is probably one of the simplest ways to get the word out about your listing on WOMbeat!…for FREE.

Example 1:

Thank you for your business,

John

PS.  Please help us spread the word!  Add a recommendation for us on WOMbeat!  www.wombeat.com

Example 2:

Thank you for your business,

John

PS.  Have you seen our listing on WOMbeat!  Check us out & add a recommendation to share with your friends!  www.wombeat.com

2)  Add a link to WOMbeat! on your business website, Facebook page and/or MySpace page

Depending on how tech savvy you are, either you or your technical support can easily add a link or badge to WOMbeat! on your website, Facebook page and/or MySpace page.  For a badge, let us know if we can help you build one.

Example 1:  A Link

CLICK HERE to check out our listing on WOMbeat! & add a recommendation to share with your friends!

(And turn the “Click Here” words into a link to your listing on WOMbeat!)

Example 2: A Badge

3)  Hand out brochures at your point-of-sale to your customers

Depending on your business, you can create your own handout to give to your customers with their bill or leave a stack by your register.  Either way, giving your customers something to take home is often a great way to help them to remember to add a recommendation for your business on WOMbeat!

If you are interested in using some of our brochures, please contact us (info <at> wombeat <dot> com)!

4)  Mention your business is listed on WOMbeat! in your e-newsletter

If your business sends out periodic newsletters by email, do not be shy! Spread the good word that your business is listed on WOMbeat! Let your customers know that they can help you by adding a recommendation on WOMbeat! – one of the easiest ways for them to let their friends and family know that your business is one they recommend.

PS – If you do add us to your business e-newsletter, let us know!

5)  Better yet! Invite your customers to be your friend on WOMbeat! so they can check out your recommendations

One of the best ways to let your customers know about WOMbeat! is to send them an invite from the our site. This is a great way for you to share with them your favorite local businesses (something they will really appreciate!!!), and of course make it super easy for them to add a recommendation for your business while they are there.

If you want to get fancy, update your email signature, website or e-newsletter with the following suggestion:

PS.  Ever need a trusted recommendation for a plumber, painter or lawn service?  I have great ones to share with you. Join WOMbeat! and become my friend so you can see all my great local recommendations.  www.wombeat.com

Honestly, the ideas are endless. Sure, you can simply ask your customers to recommend you to their friends, but WOMbeat! is a much powerful call to action that has a more permanent and far-reaching impact…

Just one recommendation from one of your happy customers on WOMbeat! today can be of benefit to their friends, family and neighbors for years to come…and it won’t even cost you a nickel! I’d say this is pretty sweet!

Just yesterday, we got the good news that WOMbeat! founder Linda Olson had been selected as one of the Tampa Bay 100 by Tampa Bay CEO Magazine.  This honor is bestowed upon one hundred business leaders from the Tampa Bay area who positively impact the region’s economic development and community.

On April 30th, Tampa Bay CEO Magazine will honor these one hundred business leaders at a special Gala Reception at the Quorum Hotel. Honorees will also be featured in a special Tampa Bay 100 edition of Tampa Bay CEO Magazine.

Read the entire list of all 100 honorees and learn more about the gala reception here!

After our presentation last month at the 2009 Startup Riot, WOMbeat! got covered by Atlanta’s TechDrawl.

Founded by some of the movers and shakers of Atlanta’s technology startup community, TechDrawl is Atlanta’s premier blog site for showcasing emerging technology businesses fresh from the South.

Read the entire WOMbeat! story on TechDrawl for yourself here!

Last week, WOMbeat! had the good fortune of presenting at this year’s Startup Riot in Atlanta.  Only 51 companies were selected to present, and WOMbeat! was the only company from Florida.

Startup Riot is a day-long event that allows entrepreneurs with cool startup companies to give 3-minute presentations to a room of 350 potential investors and other advisors.

One of the attendees, TechDrawl, even covered the WOMbeat! presentation on their website, which you can check out for yourself here.