Up Next: WebVisible Launches Second Episode of ‘The Great Divide’ Documentary Video Series and Expands Nationwide ‘Watch & Win’ Contest

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WebVisible (www.WebVisible.com) today unveiled the second episode in its original documentary series, The Great Divide, exploring how small businesses use hyper-local, targeted online advertising through a day-in-the-life video of independent garbage hauler Willie Haynes of We Haul Trucking (http://webvisible.com/the-great-divide/).

“Ninety-eight percent of my business is done right now, today. That’s why part of our slogan is ‘respond within 90 minutes of your call.’”

The company also has launched its second “Watch & Win” contest, inviting U.S.-based small business owners to view the new episode and then submit a description of the challenges they, like Haynes, face in advertising to specific geographic locations and receiving leads while on the road. The contest winner will receive three months of free advertising services through WebVisible, valued at $3,000.

In the documentary series -- launched with a pilot in May -- WebVisible explores The Great Divide, where small businesses and consumers fail to connect. The company is taking its cameras behind the counters and into the factories, warehouses, shops and offices of small business America to explore the lives, struggles, ideas and insights of small business owners.

The second episode, titled “Driving Local Leads to the Mobile Office,” is available today, along with the series premier, at http://webvisible.com/the-great-divide/ or at http://www.youtube.com/user/GreatDivideMovie. A total of eight episodes will be released, each focusing on a particular advertising challenge and featuring a different small business from a variety of industries, including event planning, jewelry sales, podiatry, legal services, salon care and the restaurant business. Each episode will be accompanied by a contest in which viewers will describe how their own small business faces a similar challenge, with one winner selected each time to receive the $3,000 advertising services prize.

WebVisible will be blogging throughout The Great Divide series, giving business owners around the country a way to see the online marketing process and learn more about how to connect with customers using search advertising. Blog posts featuring WebVisible’s first contest winner, 360 Studios Photography, are now available at: http://blog.webvisible.com/blog/webvisible.

Driving Local Leads to the Mobile Office

The latest video installment tells the story of Willie Haynes, owner of We Haul Trucking, based in West Covina, Calif. Haynes invited WebVisible to accompany him for a day, to see the challenges he faces and to discuss the role of targeted online advertising for business owners who spend their days on the road. He describes the hyper-local ad placements that get him to his customers in 90 minutes or less, and explains how leads sent directly to his mobile let him close business from his “mobile office.” As he puts it, “Ninety-eight percent of my business is done right now, today. That’s why part of our slogan is ‘respond within 90 minutes of your call.’” Haynes believes his business would not survive without those capabilities.

To win this episode’s contest, small business owners must watch The Great Divide – Episode 2 and answer this question: “What challenges do you face in advertising to distinct geographic locations and trying to grow your business while on the road?” Answers can be submitted online at http://www.webvisible.com/the-great-divide/contest.php. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Sept. 30.

The winner selected by WebVisible will receive a full-service package for three months with a $1,000/month budget that includes search engine advertising on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, a call tracking number, and a multi-function landing page that includes video, form fill and SMS text lead delivery. Existing WebVisible customers and employees or employee family members are not eligible.

“Small business owners are facing what is arguably the biggest paradigm shift in a generation – the Internet as the center of consumer search activity, yet fragmented into thousands of separate places for a business to be found,” said Kirsten Mangers, WebVisible CEO.

Last year, WebVisible partnered with Nielsen Online to reveal compelling data showing that consumers were using the Web to find local products and services, yet small business owners were not fully embracing the Web as a marketing tool for their own businesses.

“For small businesses, the challenge is immense,” added Mangers. “They have to figure out how to be visible on four major search engine ad networks, more than 50 display ad networks, 7,000 different mobile applications, and 1,700 different devices. Yet for many business owners, like Willie Haynes, it all comes down to a very limited and specific geographic area, and that’s how hyper-local targeting cuts through those vast numbers and delivers the right leads, the right way. With The Great Divide Web series, our goal is to help small business owners realize the potential of online advertising and help them get found by their customers.”

About WebVisible, Inc.

WebVisible makes it easy for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) to be found online, where and how customers are looking. The leading provider of local online marketing products and services since 2001, WebVisible was among the first to pioneer the use of search as a reliable, measurable avenue to connect directly with a buyer’s needs. The company has helped more than 100,000 SMB customers from more than 4,000 industries in 14 countries to create innovative and accountable Internet advertising campaigns. SMBs partner with WebVisible directly and through its many partner companies, including Intuit, British Telecom and The New York Times Company. WebVisible is based in Irvine, Calif. For more information, visit www.webvisible.com or call 949-255-9677.