Meet Joe Fernette of Midland Local

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Fernette.  

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I help local service businesses get traffic, leads, and clients. What I love about working with local businesses is that it’s easier to build trust and gain authority in their area because they personally know the community they’re serving. There’s also less competition, making marketing easier and less expensive than marketing national brands. 

One of the biggest issues any local business faces is that of visibility. A local business could run ads that cost thousands of dollars a month and solve this problem, but we can’t all spend that kind of money right away. 

I noticed this gap where local businesses had to be seen to get more visibility and more traffic, leads, and clients but didn’t always have the funds for expensive advertising and didn’t know the ladder they should climb to reach their goals. 

I also watch local businesses become part of other local groups and organizations that cost money and don’t do anything to directly help that local business gain visibility or hit their goals. I’ve gotten frustrated with how other organizations seem to just want to collect the yearly dues as you and your business get shuffled in the pack. Nothing is done to get you in front of the real people around town. 

This is a core reason for starting Midland Local and having that platform that brings in traffic all around town so these businesses can be seen. Plus, the owners and workers don’t have to take valuable time away from the business or family to make it worthwhile. Joining Midland Local as a Partner starts with a free option. This makes it so any and all businesses can become part of Midland Local and directly benefit from what we’re doing. The more businesses and organizations we have, the more our community grows. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With the idea behind Midland Local being that everyone wins – local businesses get seen by thousands of potential customers/clients, those local people get to win free items and services while discovering new places and businesses in their town, local events get more visibility, and everyone has fun while participating in it all – it’s been exponentially growing every week with more traffic to MidlandLocal.com and more local businesses joining. 

This doesn’t mean there haven’t been and still aren’t challenges to face. The initial problem was getting people to see what Midland Local was. I needed businesses to get on board with giving something away, and I needed people around town to see what we were doing and gain interest. I couldn’t have one without the other, so getting this simultaneously wasn’t too easy at first. This mainly meant that I was spending my own money to buy gift cards from businesses and give them away. Again, luckily it didn’t take long for word to start getting around that people could win something from a local business and that local business would get more visibility around town. 

Then the challenge of explaining it to local businesses came into play. The idea of Midland Local and our Spotlight Giveaways is simple, but getting the businesses to understand why kept coming up. The questions I still get are, “Why are you doing this?” and “How do you make money from it?” 

I always want to be as transparent as possible, so I always explain that the last “win” of the win-win-win of Midland Local is that I get to talk to local business owners every day of the week. I have been helping local businesses get more traffic, leads, and clients for years and I do so because I love that I can help a business hit their goals. So, when there is a local business that could use some help with getting even more traffic, leads, and clients, I’m able to do that by taking them on as a client through my exclusive marketing agency Land Local Leads. Even if a business doesn’t become a Land Local Leads client, I still get to see how their Spotlight Giveaway boosts their visibility and community involvement. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I help local service businesses get traffic, leads, and clients, but behind the scenes of Midland Local, I’m really trying to aim 80% of our content to the non-business owners around town. This is to gain as much traffic as possible to our platforms like MidlandLocal.com and social media accounts. The more traffic Midland Local has, the more beneficial it is for a local business to be on here. The main source of this traffic comes from our simple and innovative Spotlight Giveaways. 

These Spotlight Giveaways are simply having a local business offer something from their business as a giveaway. There have been Spotlight Giveaways such as a 5-Class Pass to local fitness businesses, free first-patient visits, and a variety of gift cards to coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques, etc. We’ve even had local businesses, like an insurance risk manager, offer a VISA Gift Card just to get in front of the people in our county. Our Spotlight Giveaways allow any local business to get in front of the thousands of visitors we get to MidlandLocal.com in a new and fun way, and that’s what it’s all about. 

Midland Local is also all about listening to the people and giving them what they want. This has recently turned Midland Local into the one-stop shop for anything Midland. We’ve always had the Local Business Guide, which showcases all of our Partners and Partners PLUS with their own pages, but we’ve also added pages such as Events, Midland Local Specials, Jobs, Properties, and Midland Local Merchandise. 

Our merchandise is currently expanding, and this is fun because the profits from this go right back into Midland Local. I want to do as many random giveaways for those that are in our email list and follow our pages, and these sales make it possible. I also have some fun county-wide events coming up, such as The $1,000 Midland Local Scavenger Hunt, The $1,000 Review Contest, and more. 

The more Midland Local can reach the non-business owners of Midland, the more people can benefit and win, and the more our local businesses get seen. That is where the other 20% comes into play with our content. I want to make sure all of our awesome Midland Local businesses know about Midland Local and how they can do all of this for FREE. Our free Midland Local Partner gets a business profile so they can be found in the local guide, we showcase their reviews and directions to their location if applicable, and they can participate in two Midland Local Spotlight Giveaways in the year. Any new Partner gets featured on social media, our website, and the weekly email that goes out to thousands of Midland Locals. 

If a business really wants to take advantage of Midland Local, they can go up to the next rung on our ladder, Partner PLUS. This is an exclusive spot as we check the business’s reviews and overall standing in the community before offering it. If you pass the check, you will: 

Be verified as a trusted organization and highlighted on our page – The Most Trusted Businesses In Midland, MI. 

Have more chances to get in front of the Midland people with six Spotlight Giveaways throughout the year and premium placements on MidlandLocal.com and social media postings. 

Be able to strategically choose which week of the year your Spotlight Giveaways will be. 

Have links directly to your business website and information on our Spotlight Giveaways. 

Have an upgraded Midland Local Business Page with more business information and local visibility. 

Have access to The Midland Local Circle – an online network of trusted business and organization leaders. 

Receive special pricing for Land Local Leads services. 

Be able to participate in the Midland Local Referral Program. 

This is a paid option, but when you can get more leads for your business for less than a weekly burger and fries, it’s a no-brainer. 

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I believe taking risks is important when it comes to growing. If you’re not willing to try something new or take the next step up the ladder, you’re not improving and not growing. I also believe that you need to be smart with the risks that you take. 

Midland Local started out as a big leap that came with a lot of risk. When it started, Midland Local only had a free option for local businesses. So, I was bringing on local businesses, creating a free business page, setting up their giveaways, and running the social media and email all for free. My plan was, and still is, to help those businesses that need it with my paid services, such as Web Design and Management, Leads on Autopilot, Google Business Profile Optimization and Management, Reputation Management, SEO Services, and Paid Ad Setup and Management. This came with a lot of risk because getting Midland Local up and running took a lot of time that I was not paid for. 

Since seeing how businesses have enjoyed what we’re doing, I’ve added more services and given more time to Midland Local. So, the risks from the week before are always diminishing, but in order to continue to grow, I’m finding new things to try, and that’s always going to add new risks. 

Pricing:

• Midland Local Partner – FREE
• Midland Local Partner PLUS – As low as $42/mo
• Land Local Leads – More Traffic – Leads – Clients: Starting at $200/mo

Contact Info:

• Website: MidlandLocal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midland_local/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MidlandLocal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/midland-local/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@midlandlocal
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@midlandlocal 

Image Credits
Simple Wooden
Toy Co
Beyond Measure
Bulk Foods
Brinstar Arcade
Bar and Grill