MaineBusiness.com

I started www.MaineFurniture.org because I believe there is a real need to promote furniture makers and woodworkers here in Maine. As Commissioner of the Maine DECD said in an interview with us, "We are a humble people and we don't do the best job of promoting ourselves". (The video can be seen on www.MaineFurniture.org) I am a cabinetmaker, and I lost my shop to arson in September. The recession hit my business really hard, and I did not have insurance. The State of Maine promotes so many industries on the VisitMaine website, except woodworkers. As a furniture maker here in Maine, I had to attend trade shows in Boston to get business, and it was working until the fall of 2007, from which there was a steady, fast drop in the market as a whole. Competing with companies who dominate the search results for "furniture" always seemed an impossible task, until now. With Commissioner Richardson's announcement to help small businesses and woodworkers link to state websites, the search engine playing field has been leveled, but so many people here in Maine, from my experience, do not realize the full potential of this. I want to get the word out about the real need for all small businesses to engage in online marketing campaigns, and with the state's assistance, they can now compete with the multi-million dollar companies spending millions every year on their SEO. SEO is FREE. No more advertising budgets! Instead, spending one hour a day loading videos of your products/services, or blogging, or connecting with friends of friends through social media, will increase your presence in online search results. Linking to state websites will greatly speed up the process! The problem I see and face is Educating small business owners here in Maine to the fact that the internet is the new yellow pages, and to compete in today's business world, you must show up in results for your field. Through free promotion of woodworkers on my site, and using the latest SEO techniques I have learned and put into practice, which are proven to work, I want to brand "Maine "Furniture" in the ways of "Maine Lobster", and "Maine Blueberries".