Compared to old school Yellow Pages and newspaper ads, local businesses are facing a confusing new world of marketing across Google, Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, Groupon, email, and tons of other online services.

I gave a short seminar recently on how to create a simple internet marketing plan, with tips and priorities for local businesses. The slides are free to use for non-commercial purposes.

From the discussion yesterday at the San Francisco SEACC (Southeast Asian Community Center) Small Business Assistance Program Workshop, you can see how local businesses are struggling to connect with customers. Small businesses are being bombarded with sales pitches from internet brand names and startups.

Kelly Lam, owner of a local Vietnamese restaurant, told the group how a paid Yelp business account brought in far more customers than local media ads. But she really has to work it.  She religiously reads customer reviews at the end of every day, even if she gets home at 7 AM! She responds to the negative reviews immediately, and feeds customer ideas back to her staff. A local caterer brought her more business too, but only on the condition that she had at least a 4 star Yelp rating–evidence that customer reviews are starting to affect business relationships. With Google Places moving into the local review space, Kelly’s work days might be getting even longer.

And yes, I know it’s strange for a geek like me to talk marketing. But no matter how simple the packaging (for example, Google Places for Business, AdWords Express, or Facebook for Business) there’s an unavoidable level of geekiness in this new marketing world. However, fear not: no matter how many Yelp or AdWords cost-per-impression vs. cost-per-click discussions I have, I won’t be dressing like a marketing expert anytime soon!