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Go Local! Competing online for worldwide customers is fine, but don't forget about those who still see you as the shop around the corner.

By Melissa Campanelli

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Although most entrepreneurs think of their Web sites as vehicles for getting new customers-from far corners of the world, no less-many end up neglecting a market with even greater potential: the one right around the corner. After all, local customers live and shop near your business. Why not reach out to them, too?

At least the trend is starting to catch on. According to the "Local Commerce Monitor," a survey of businesses in Princeton, New Jersey, conducted by Constat Inc. and The Kelsey Group, entrepreneurs who said the Internet would help their businesses compete on a larger geographic scale dropped considerably between 1999 and 2000.


65%
of Web shoppers in the Middle East/Africa will buy from foreign sites, compared to just 39 percent in Eastern Europe.
SOURCE: Accenture