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Consider this, 40% of searches conducted online have local intent where 82% of those using local search followed up with an offline action for a product or service.
In the past I had the opportunity to speak with an average of 50 - 60 small business owners per day over the phone. The first thing I would do after accessing their account was Google them 1 of 2 ways, first by company name, second by city, province and type of business (example Midland, Ontario, Roofer). This helped me learn more about the person I was speaking with quickly, and because part of the service I was selling was web hosting and design I could determine which direction to take the sales call in. Many times the person I was speaking with had no idea what results would appear or if they were even being found in the search engines. In same cases they didn't even consider their customers using search to find them. Wrong.
So what can you do? Start with Google, Google Places makes it easy for you to "Be found. Communicate with customers. Get insights to make decisions." Be sure to have an optimized company profile you want to include the obvious, your address and a link to your website but also positive reviews from customers, videos or images, coupons, store hours, and an overview of your company. The more information you can provide the better you'll do at reaching your local audience through search engines.
Good Luck, Have Fun with it, Be Creative and Honest.
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