The Virginia Geospatial Extension Program is helping small businesses renovate their marketing efforts by utilizing advances in geospatial technology associated with location- and place-based services. These tools, such as GPS devices and online mapping and database services, can geographically connect customers to businesses. The “Marketing in the Virtual World” workshop shows small-business owners how to apply this new technology to their advantage.

Many small, rural business owners rely upon more traditional and costly forms of publicity, such as print advertising, but free online marketing tools can help them compete with larger businesses. “We are trying to use global positioning to inform people, especially those traveling on highways, about small businesses that are located in close proximity to travel routes,” explained John McGee, geospatial Extension specialist and research associate professor. “Local business owners should consider GPS navigation devices as virtual roadside billboards. These applications can help to level the playing
field for smaller businesses.”

The workshop offers step-by-step instructions on how to register with national business databases that service many popular location-based devices, such as Garmin, TomTom, and smartphones. Participants also learn how to take advantage of free, online advertising approaches to enhance business exposure and revolutionize small business publicity. A vast majority of past workshop participants said they are now better positioned to compete and will change their marketing efforts based on what they learned. Visit cnre.vt.edu/ gep/ for details on future workshops.

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