About Local Marketing Institute

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Hi there! I’m Eric Shanfelt, the founder of Local Marketing Institute. I’ve been doing local marketing and digital media for over 25 years and have been the Chief Digital Officer for several large consumer and B2B companies.

When we started Local Marketing Institute in 2015 we had one mission … to help local businesses grow through effective and ethical digital marketing.

And that’s still our mission today.

Digital marketing can be overwhelming for local businesses. With local search, Google My Business, Yelp, Apple Maps, Facebook, online reviews, social media, email, digital advertising, websites, analytics … where do you start and how do you know what really works?

And there is a LOT of bad advice out there. Every day we see so-called “experts” peddling advice that is flat-out wrong, doesn’t work, or can actually damage the online presence and reputation of local businesses. We get the same scam phone calls, emails and LinkedIn messages that you do.

So, that’s why we do what we do. We only work with the most well-respected and proven local marketing experts in the world to teach you how to market your business online.

Currently, we do that in four ways:

  1. Our Tuesday morning email newsletter
  2. Our weekly Zoom Q&A sessions
  3. Our podcast available on all major platforms
  4. Our LMI Connect Facebook group

And it’s all free.

Why do we do it? We have friends and neighbors who run local businesses … and we’ve worked with thousands of local businesses. We’ve seen them struggle with digital marketing, get bad advice, and fall victim to marketing scams.

We want to TRULY help you as a local businesses. We want to help you grow your business with effective and trustworthy digital marketing advice.

Eric Shanfelt

Sincerely,

Eric Shanfelt
Founder, Local Marketing Institute


LMI Email Newsletter

An email newsletter? Really?

Yep, a good old-fashioned, inbox-cluttering email newsletter. It’s all the rage with the kids these days. Seriously, email is still the best way for businesses to communicate with customers. Get invites to our weekly Q&A webinars, local marketing tips, and more.

Local Marketing and SEO Q&A

Weekly live Q&A sessions

Every Friday, local marketing experts, we tackle YOUR questions during our live, free, Zoom Q&A sessions. Ask anything about local search, Google My Business, Facebook, customer reviews, email marketing, websites, social media, analytics, digital advertising and more.

Local Marketing Institute Podcast

Podcast

Can’t make our live Q&A sessions? Don’t worry … just subscribe to our podcast! Every week we take the audio from our Q&A sessions and distribute it via all major podcast platforms (Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Alexa just to name a few. Learn trustworthy local marketing tactics on-the-go.

LMI Connect Facebook Group

Facebook group

Join thousands of local businesses and the most respected local marketing experts in the world as they help each other with digital marketing. We are very selective about who we let into the group. Spam and unethical marketing is not allowed. But legitimate local businesses and marketers are all welcome!