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Introducing The Main Street USA, Downtown Marketing Program

Helping support, and get the word out on your great New England downtown businesses



Downtown in North Attleborough, MA,, a great New England, American town (photo by Eric H.)

While walking through my suburban Boston, MA, small-town downtown yesterday, the sight of 15 empty storefronts within a two-block area made me so sad.  A vibrant downtown is truly a barometer of  how the rest of a town is doing. If the downtown isn't doing well, how does that reflect on the rest of the community?

I remember the days of the five and dime, the local drug store, the hometown diner, the book store, the clothing shop and other locally-owned stores.  What a thrill it was to go downtown with my parents, say hello to the owners, and purchase just about everything you needed (not wanted, we were thrifty and pragmatic). Those were the days of the true neighborhood feel, and I miss them dearly.

While I shop and respect the big box stores, I ultimately believe the Main Street USA downtown stores hold the most value and create the greatest sense of community from a business perspective. Whenever I can, I shop downtown -- especially the local bakery and independent pharmacy -- but sadly, in our downtown, the vacancies have really impeded our beautiful town center and the presence of a thriving downtown.

Several of our local downtowns, a few towns away from us, thrive, however -- like North Attleborough, Norwood and Wrentham -- but, again, too many towns and cities across New England have taken too big of a hit downtown. Some have been reduced to virtual ghost towns. Sometimes, it's bad luck, but other times it's a matter of poor town planning and support, as well as incredibly greedy landlords asking too much money. It's no accident, however, that places like North Attleborough thrive in their downtown districts. Local business people and residents formed the Downtown North Attleborough Association that has really brought a wonderful mix of shopping and dining to this vibrant community. I wish other communities across New England could bring their downtowns back to life like that.

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Here Is Our Offer to Downtown Business Owners....

I want to support the Main Street USA downtown presence that brought me such joy growing up. To help contribute to our New England downtown businesses, I will be offering one year's worth of advertising for $25.00. You can send us a banner ad, or a text link ad.  The text ad listing includes up to 100 words of advertising copy, contact information, a graphic and link.

If you are a military veteran who owns a downtown store, the price for a one-year ad is $15.00. This is a way of us thanking you for your service.

All ads will appear on our "Main Street USA advertising pages(s)," and will be linked to from several of our highest traffic pages at VisitingNewEngland.com. If, however, you'd like to advertise on a page other than the designated advertising page, please let us know where you'd like to advertise (for the same price), and we'll place your ad on that page. To validate the advertisement order, we ask that you sign an advertising contract that we mutually agree on -- sort of a modern-day, legal handshake to protect both parties.  We will not bill you for the ad until you are happy with the ad and the contract is completed. We also respectfully adhere to Google's paid link policy Google's Paid Link Guidelines, so we need to place a "no follow" tag on your paid ad (if you have a Web Site).

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I will be running this special until June 5, 2009, but I highly recommend advertising now to secure the best spaces possible. More great news about this "Main Street USA Marketing Initiative":  if you should decide to advertise, I will lock you in at the price you pay when it comes to renewal time.

Why am I doing this? First to help you, the downtown business owner who needs a helping hand. The reason I can charge so little is that the money we receive goes to pay the bills. We are happy just to get by and save a little money along the way. We're not in this to get rich; VisitingNewEngland.com is a work of love and we're just grateful to earn money from ethical businesses that helps support our modest lifestyle.  Unlike some of the appalling greed that you have seen and read about in the media in regards to certain CEOs and selfish corporations ripping hard-working people off, we are here to give you value for the money.  I am a small New England business just like you and share the everyday struggles, combined with the successes, that you have. I believe in working at the highest ethics possible,  good old-fashioned hard work and want to partner with business owners like you who operate the same way.

I think if you look through VisitingNewEngland.com, you'll see that we are dedicated to our mission of helping people plan their New England travel and vacations.

VisitingNewEngland.com has been in business since 2001. We're not going anywhere. We receive nearly a half-million hits a year and we're growing. We like to think of ourselves as the new wave of small businesses, contributing positively to our country's economy. I know you do, too, and it just bothers me so much to see the struggles you face downtown.

I applaud you for your courage and mission to support your communities and your families through good-old-fashioned work. If I could run ads for free I would, so I hope you don't mind the $25.00 and $15.00 a year charges that help support your business and ours. Call it a future partnership for the betterment of New England downtowns!

Very Respectfully Yours,
Eric at VisitingNewEngland.com

*Homepage Advertising Rates for 2009

One-year advertisement, Homepage: $500.00

Two-year advertisement, Homepage: $925.00

All ads include up to 100 words of advertising copy, contact information, a graphic and link.

*Advertising Special for March 2009

Advertise on five pages for the price of one: You can have a text listings advertisement on five pages of your choice (other than the homepage) for a one-year cost of $225.00. The text ad listing includes up to 100 words of advertising copy, contact information, a graphic and link. Each additional link within in the ad costs $30.00.

Normally, a one-year advertisement on any page other than the homepage costs $500.00. Additionally, you are locked into this rate if you decide to continue advertising after the first year -- your ad price will never go up!

The following pages receive good traffic and, when combined, surpass the total number of hits of the VisitingNewEngland.com homepage:

Dining page: http://www.visitingnewengland.com/dining.html

Best destinations in New England: http://www.visitingnewengland.com/toptowns.html

New England Travel Library:http://www.visitingnewengland.com/archives.html

Best New England attractions: http://www.visitingnewengland.com/kids-newengland.html

New England lodging: http://www.visitingnewengland.com/lodging.html

Send in your ad, or contact us today! Offer good until July. 28, 2009, and subject to approval of VisitingNewEngland.com.

* We respectfully adhere to Google's Paid Link Guidelines, so we need to place a "no follow" tag on your paid ad. (if you have a Web Site).

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VisitingNewEngland.com offers you a "vacation break" from high advertising costs!

Why businesses can prosper by cost-effective advertising on VisitingNewEngland.com

Visiting New England.com, a prime New England vacation and travel Web Site has experienced tremendous growth over the past year. What that means for you, the advertiser, is more targeted customers. No matter what season, you are sure to benefit from our high traffic and interested readership. 

Reserve your low-cost advertising space now before prime locations are taken. Contact us, and we'll get back to you in timely fashion to work out together the ad that best fits your budget. For those who are ready to advertise now, please send us your ad and we'll bill you later.

Visiting New England.com to donate five percent of its advertising profits to homeless shelter for families

Editor's note: Visiting New England is committed to making New England a better place to live. We have teamed with Brookview House, of Dorchester, Mass., whose mission is to assist homeless families in the development of skills necessary to break the cycle of poverty. For every advertisement we sell, a five percent of the profits will go to Brookview House -- thus, helping homeless families.

Brookview House Mission

(Reprinted with permission from Brookview House, Inc.)

Brookview House's Mission is to assist homeless families in the development of skills necessary to break the cycle of poverty.

Our objective is to give homeless families an opportunity to live in a supportive environment while pursuing a very carefully chosen line of training, education and/or employment.

Through a combination of our housing portfolio, youth educational activities, adult career development, and work-based learning program, Brookview gives families the tools they need to overcome barriers and transition into their own housing.

For more information, please visit our website www.BrookviewHouse.org or call 617-265-2965.

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Advertise today on Visiting New England.com

No matter how small or large your company is, we can give you the exposure you're looking for at extremely reasonable pricing and great flexibility to meet your needs. Businesses such as hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, ticket agencies, travel agents and retail are sure to benefit from our travel oriented site. In turn, you will be helping homeless families, as we are deeply committed in our growing business to helping those New Englanders who are less fortunate. No matter what the cost of your advertisement, we appreciate your business. Brookview House will, too, as we proudly donate a portion of our profits to their vital mission.

For more questions, please contact us at Visiting New England.com

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New! Advertising in the New England Advertising Guide, or have your own separate advertising page on VisitingNewEngland.com