Customers, Local Economy and Community Support Make Boston a Great Place for Small Businesses Owners, According to Local Survey.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- 86 percent of Boston-area small businesses also view email marketing as an extremely or very important tool for growing their businesses

In a recent survey of Boston-area small and medium sized businesses, over two-thirds (68%) of business owners cited either great customers, the strength of the local economy, or community support as the top reason why Boston is an optimal place to own and run a business in the region. Other top reasons included: local events (14 percent), business friendly environment (13 percent), and transportation (4 percent) (a)(full results below). The survey of more than 200 Boston-area small businesses was conducted by Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com), the leading email marketing service for small businesses, associations and nonprofits.

When asked about their marketing practices, 86 percent of small businesses surveyed rated email marketing as extremely or very important for promoting their businesses. Comparing email marketing to other marketing vehicles, respondents cited email marketing (54 percent), direct mail (26 percent), and online advertising (14 percent) as the most valuable methods for marketing their businesses, with radio (1 percent) and yellow pages advertisements (0 percent) coming in as the least valuable.

The survey also queried small businesses about cultural and entertainment benefits of living in the Boston area. Educational opportunities in the area was cited most often (29 percent), followed by sports teams (25 percent), and local restaurants (20 percent) when respondents were asked to rate their favorite aspects of living and working in the Boston area.

When asked if they could have any local celebrity, civic or business leader endorse their business, sports teams fared well, especially the New England Patriots. In the local sports and entertainment celebrity category, New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady (41 percent) was the top choice, while New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick and Boston Red Sox's General Manager, Theo Epstein tied for second (both at 17 percent). Asked to choose from a list of potential civic and business leader endorsements, New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft (42 percent) and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino (17 percent) came out on top.

(a)Included in the survey, small businesses were asked:

       "Why is Boston the best place to own and run a business?"

                     The results were as follows:
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               Great customers                28%
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               Local economy                  20%
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               Community support              20%
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               Local events                   14%
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               Business friendly              13%
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               Transportation options          4%
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For more information about the survey or for additional results, please contact Tom Francoeur at 781-388-7900 ext. 205, or by email at [e-mail]

About Constant Contact

With over 40,000 customers and a recent winner of SmallBusinessComputing.com's "Excellence in Technology Award," Constant Contact(R) is the leading permission Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing(R) service for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and associations. Constant Contact is a Web-based email marketing solution that enables small organizations to easily create and send professional HTML email newsletters, promotions, announcements and more with no technical expertise required. Designed and priced for SMBs, Constant Contact is affordable, easy-to-use and includes a free 60-day trial at: www.constantcontact.com. The service is marketed through over 1,500 Business Partners and more than 100 marquee channel partners including American Express OPEN, AOL, Corel, FTD, IBM, Interland, Network Solutions, Register.com, Website Pros and Yahoo Search Marketing. Constant Contact is a founding member of the Email Service Provider Coalition (ESPC), a group formed to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email. Constant Contact is funded by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners and Hudson Ventures. For more information, please call 781-472-8100.

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