I have had some people say to me over the years, “I don’t need a website because I don’t need people from (enter far away place) as a customer, I’m a local business.” You may be a local business and your market may primarily be in your own backyard but what is the niche you serve in your community? More importantly, how do you define your community? The definition of community has changed with the internet and local is not always just in your backyard.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to buy a hat for an event I would be participating in. It is a rather special hat in that it is an 18th century colonial pattern workers cap. By doing a search on the internet I was able to find a small, mom and pop business who makes them by hand. They live a state away from where I am but after an email and a phone call there was a hat in my size on its way to me. I received the hat, in the mail, two days later and in time for my event.

This small business caters to reenactors and living history folks. They definitely have a niche that they serve and the internet has allowed them to serve that community like they never could before. As a consumer, the online community helped me connect with a small business I never would have heard of had it not been for a search on Google. It is a win / win for the business and customer.

What niche do you serve and what IS your community? If you think about those questions in non traditional ways you could find new revenue streams never before imagined.