By Dallea Caldwell 

As a city girl living in a small town world, I had to get used to a sad reality: the hipper the business, the sooner it goes under. Towns that are too small to draw crowds to trendy new places leave a trail of well-designed websites and hugely popular Facebook pages behind like empty shells washed ashore.

Once, I saw a sign advertising belly dancing. Belly dancing! Searched Facebook and saw a post only a week old promoting Thursday night lessons. I called and heard a voicemail greeting for the company. I showed up the very next Thursday only to loiter in front of an empty, locked door that would never open. I should have known that it was too cool to last.

Worse, even the essentials like available plumbers, handymen, and electricians are hard to find online. These are the 4 extremely frustrating problems I face whenever I look for a local pro online.

In a small town, business social media pages are ancient:

In the city, social media might be a good place to find info on a company. But, you’re in the boonies. So, while it’s nice that Joe’s Mechanic did a great job  fixing someone’s brand new Model T Ford at the turn of the century, it takes current info to reassure you. Instead, you’re looking at a social media page that could easily be a time capsule to the early 90’s.

In a small town, a rave review is one that exists.

After looking up business after business and seeing empty reviews, you promise yourself that when you finally book a pro, you will come back and post a review.  Funny how the same neighbors who join Neighborhood Watch to catch a robber, won’t leave a review when an inflated estimate robs them and soon, their neighbors.

In a small town, your heart isn’t the only thing broken when you visit that website you saw in a local directory.

Sure, you live in a small town where small businesses aren’t even aware of half the places where they’re listed online. So, you don’t blame them for forgetting to update all 50 million online directories. But, boy…visiting a website or calling a number you found on a trusted online listing only to find it broken or disconnected really burns your biscuits.

But then, you finally find  guy and guess what:

They’re booked, of course.

It seems like the handful of small town businesses that make themselves visible are always booked.

And why not? It’s not like they have any real competition. And you never know whether to assume other businesses simply don’t exist or that they’re in the witness protection program. Your town, after all, is the type of place they send you when they need you off the grid.

But finding local pros doesn’t have to be such a hassle, not even in a small town.

Luckily, I have my TalkLocal app. It scours the web to find an available pro, even if local businesses don’t have a “fancy-pants online presence like those big-shot city fellers!” Plus, it converts online searches to phone calls to area businesses; you know, for all of those old school pros who still think phones are more for talking. The national average for the time it takes TalkLocal to get consumers talking to the right, available local pro is about 4 minutes, that includes small towns like ours. TalkLocal, available at www.talklocal.com, is free to use and free for download on iPhone and Android. Check it out!