There has been a lot of focus over the last year on major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and to a lesser extent, Myspace. This has probably drawn a lot of small business operators away from their local internet marketing activities, particularly on local social media sites. They do exist although sometimes they take a little digging to find.

Are they worth the effort? If your focus is on a regional market rather than international one then answer is most definitely yes. If your focus is more national or international then perhaps not.

One of the benefits of concentrating on a local social scene is that almost everyone there is a potential customer. If your using Twitter or Facebook, your audience is huge and international. You can focus on local people on these sites but it can take a fair bit of effort. A local site takes no effort in comparison.

All the usual social media marketing rules apply of course. If you’re targeting a local primary customer base then don’t sacrifice your local internet marketing strategies chasing ghosts on the major social media sites.