Testimonials

"When I first came to town I decided I would open a massage clinic here in Ashland, Oregon which was a long time dream of mine. I was recommended to do a two page interview in the Locals Guide, as that had worked really well for another massage therapist. I said Ok! With one interview and two monthly ads I was set with work for over two years. That is how much of an impact three months with Shields Locals Guide gave me, I got 25 calls from the interview alone from people who were interested in my services. And I haven't been back to market with Locals Guide because I have literally been so busy! Shields is a marketing magician who understands how to connect people and get needs met. Highly Recommended working with Shields, getting your interview in and your monthly advertisements."

"I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of Locals Guide and notice that the relationship goes far beyond "advertising". I appreciate your professionalism and mentorship, both in person and through the newsletters. I feel as if I have a personal coach to assist in building my business. Reaction to my ad and business column have been nothing but positive and I find that clients and friends enjoy seeing me in the Locals Guide. After the interview, I received several calls and have had appointments with potential new borrowers. For sure, we accomplished the goal of putting a personal face to lending and creating accessibility."

"Our phone rang off the hook after our interview in the LocalsGuide. Those calls led to contracted jobs making it our most cost effective advertising to date; not to mention the intangible name recognition in the community. I highly recommend tapping this local resource to boost business!"

"I have been impressed with the Localsguide as a resource for the Rogue Valley community and it has done wonders for my business. After my interview and ad I received over 40 client conversations, calls, and/or inquiries about my business just in the first 3 weeks! Now that's effective advertising! In addition to that, Shields is a great guy to work with; professional, flexible, and friendly. I give two big thumbs up to Localsguide. I encourage every small business owner looking to grow their business to check it out."

"Shields and Local's Guide has helped our new business clientele grow over the past 5 months. He has great ideas for helping your reach your target audience. All advertising is tailored to help you achieve your marketing goals. Thank you Shields!"

"Advertising in the LocalsGuide really helped starting my own design business and Shields has been really helpful during the process, I would recommend advertising in the LocalsGuide to all businesses whether they are just starting or have been doing it for a while. I wouldn't have been able to make it without the LocalsGuide. Thank you Shields!!"

"Ashland Greenhouses loves the connection we make with our community through the LocalsGuide. Shields is very personable and acts without delay to meet our needs. We've received many complements on our business column and our featured interview. Thanks Locals Guide!"

"My recent feature in the LocalsGuide was a huge success! It gave me the opportunity to share in depth about myself and my healthcare approach, attracting many new patients and an overwhelmingly positive response from our community. Thankyou LocalsGuide (Shields) for providing an intimate and effective way for me to engage our community."

"As soon as we started advertising in the Locals Guide we noticed a distinct increase in our customers telling us they had literally "discovered" us by reading the Locals Guide. We opened with little fanfare and once we were ready for our "real opening" we knew that the Local's guide was mailed out to local residences as well as being easily available in all the boxes and local spots so it really made sense! I think all the locals pick it up to keep track of what's new and the tourists pick it up to find out what's going on in general. We continue to advertise monthly and think it makes sense!"

"As a new business to Ashland I needed to find the best way to reach out to folks. It has been such a great experience collaborating with Shields at The LocalsGuide. Helping people understand the level at which I work with clients and what it entails can be challenging. As soon as our interview was published I received calls and emails from folks who were really excited to learn about HH&F, wanted to be apart of the integrated approach we teach at Holistic Health & Fitness."

"It's been fun hearing from so many people how they saw our ad in the Local's Guide, as well as reading the article. It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to read the Local's Guide – I know I do! Our ad has been very helpful for our business, and the article you wrote about us brought a lot of people to our door. Even people who've known us for years commented on how interesting and informative it was. Thanks so much!"

"I appreciate the Local's Guide as a true community forum. People stop into Boulton & Son and reference our column frequently. It gives us a way to communicate with our current and potential customers, and it does seem to be quite effective."

"The LocalsGuide is a beautifully produced, very personal yet business-friendly monthly paper. I have been very pleased with the response to both the interview with me and the comments on Camelot's ad in the Guide. I am pleased to be doing business with them!"

"Being featured in the Locals Guide has really been great for our business! I noticed a definite jump in business literally the day after the article came out, and every day after. Shields was great to work with, and I really appreciated how he let us really tell our story. In the past other media outlets have spun our story in a different way than we would have preferred, focusing on things such as how young we are instead of how we have a very high quality, successful business. He understood that we can best communicate the specific qualities of our field of expertise and let us do just that. I would definitely recommend the Locals Guide as a very effective advertising tool for any business."

"The LocalsGuide published a story about my piano business two years ago, and I am still receiving clients as a result of that article! I received five phone calls the day after the article appeared, and the requests have been occasional but continuous ever since. The LocalsGuide not only generates business, but builds community– a much more important function, in my opinion. I love reading about my neighbors, and everyone I know read that article about me! Even my children's friends raced up to them in excitement when the article appeared. An advertiser that supports community by supporting the LocalsGuide will earn my business and my loyalty on that basis alone."

"Since advertising with the Locals Guide, our business has picked up 2 fold. Almost every new customer over the past month has mentioned reading our interview in the Locals Guide. Most of the new customers have decided to buy local or try local before heading to any box stores to buy window coverings. It's pretty obvious that even though receipt of Locals Guide is a free publication to all Ashland households, everyone reads the Locals Guide and keeps it for reference! We are so thankful for our partnership with Shields and the Locals Guide. It's making a difference in the awareness and sales for our business and is certain to benefit other local Ashland merchants. Thank you Locals Guide."

"I began advertising with the Locals Guide in January. In less than three months time my booths are completely full and our sales have increased! Shields has been nothing but kind and professional, always available to brainstorm and even helped me to formulate a smart marketing plan. The response from the interview he did was wonderful! Thanks Shields!"

"I recently started advertising with the Ashland LocalsGuide and can't say enough about what a great advertising venue that has been for my business. Everyone reads the Ashland LocalsGuide. Not only have I reached my target audience in Ashland, but I have also been getting clients from Medford and the surrounding areas. Thank you LocalsGuide for catapulting my business."

"It was a pleasure working with Shields in the local's guide. He was very helpful with add design and in helping me to explain my practice to people in community. I was also impressed by the number of people that mentioned seeing my ad and article in the Local's Guide and I got several new patients has a result."

"Working with the Locals Guide has been wonderful, and not just because of its positive impact on my business. The Guide is clearly a labor of love for you, Shields, and that makes it feel less like an advertising newspaper and more like the local Town Hall: a place where the many creative and heartfelt efforts made by locals to make Ashland shine are brought into focus and celebrated. Fantastic! Thank you so much for providing our community with such an opportunity."

"I advertised with locals guide a number of times, it never fails, the adds always bring new clients and keep the phones ringing. The front page interview on the December Locals guide really caught the readers eye. It not only brought me new clients but some I hadn't seen in years. Working with the Locals Guide, placement for my adds, dealing with Shields during my December interview were both easy and enjoyable but the best part…the results. I'd direct any business that wants to expand their visibility to advertise with the Locals Guide."

"The interview and adds I had in the LocalsGuide produced far more new clients for me than any other advertising than I have ever done. The interviews are a great way for people to get to know about you and the nature of your business in way that print adds alone could never do."

"Working with the Locals' Guide has jump started my bodywork practice here in Ashland – I was booked solid for over two months! Since my service is so personalized, I was not just interested in getting business, I wanted to connect with people who were a good match for what I offered. My interview gave readers a real chance to understand the unique way I relate to massage and when they called, they already knew to expect the unexpected. Thanks so much for helping to introduce me and my passion to the Ashland community!"

"My experience with the LocalsGuide was excellent. They were very easy to work with, very reasonably priced and I got a good response from potential clients. All in all I would recommend advertising with them for anyone who wants to build their business."

"As a Real Estate Broker, advertising in LocalsGuide gives my property listings the community exposure they need. Sellers know that their properties are being marketed to every household in Ashland. I run into people all the time who say, 'I saw you in LocalsGuide!' I feel the exposure LocalsGuide provides to be a valuable marketing tool for me and Real Estate Depot."

"I have had the privilege of working with the Locals Guide and Shields for several years. Shields has always been great to work with – responsive, resourceful, and honest. Advertising in the Locals Guide has been a staple for Today's Dentistry over the years and we feel it helps us stay connected with the community. I wholeheartedly endorse working with Shields and feel our business is better for it."

"We got a great response to our Winter Getaway ad in LocalsGuide. Delivery to every home in Ashland really makes a difference. Your lively, colorful from page really draws people in. We sold more than enough Getaway packages to pay for the placement, and I heard many more people mention that they read both the ad and your article. You showed me that print advertising can still be cost effective in the Internet era."

"The interview that Shields, the editor of the Locals Guide, did about me and my work generated an extraordinary amount of interest. The positive feedback that I received and the exposure it generated was significantly beyond what I had imagined and expected. Lots of folks have responded to my interview, many expressing the inspiration they drew from it to find their voice and sing. Goal achieved!"

"Thanks so much for the interview that you printed in The LocalsGuide. It was great for our customers, both new and existing, to get to know us better. During the two months after the article came out, at least 100 people mentioned that they had read about us in LocalsGuide. It was great exposure for our business, and really helped to increase the communities interest in Bookwagon."

"The Locals Guide has been a fun venue to express my enthusiasm and interest in the automotive world. To my surprise and delight I have found that through the Locals guide I have developed a fan base that not only read my articles but have become loyal customers as well."

"I received so much positive feedback from the article that ran in the October issue of the Local Guide. Emails as far away as Southern California and New Mexico asking me about SOPride. It really help to jump start the enthusiasm around SOPride and the reality of just how 'normal' the LGBTQ community is. The Local Guide put a face on the queer community and gave us a voice. Thank you Local Guide!"

"I absolutely love the new format and feel of LocalsGuide. The fact that as a community we have a way to connect and support one another in our endeavors is awesome and makes for just one more reason why Ashland is such great place to live! The exposure we have received from being featured and advertising has been great for our young business. Thanks again for all your hard work and keep it up."

"Before opening Bump we would read the Locals Guide to see what was going on around town. One of the first things we did even before we opened Bump was to advertise in the Locals Guide because we wanted to be supported by local folks like us. The response was great from the start. Almost a year and a half after opening we still have people saying things like, 'We loved your ad in the Locals Guide and we had to come in and see what this place was all about.'"

"First of all it has been a very enjoyable experience to work with Shields from the Locals Guide. He is genuinely interested in finding out about who you are and what your business is about. The conversations we had and the questions he asked were personal and inspiring. The amount of customers responding to our feature was unexpectedly high and the feedback we got was very positive – everybody seemed to have read the Locals Guide."

"Getting an interview in the Locals Guide got me more recognition than I could have ever imagined. My clients still mention how much they enjoyed reading about my business. The best thing was having people who knew me call and book their first session with me. It helped new clients who didn't know me get a feel for my business and feel comfortable to call me and start working with me. Thank you Locals Guide."

"Working with the Locals Guide has been invaluable to our practice. We went from just starting out and having to explain who we are and how we work, to being noticed on the street in a very short amount of time. After our interview with The Locals Guide, we began hearing from more families inquiring about our midwifery services. I like to think if the Locals Guide as not only advertisement, but also community education and empowerment. Thank you so much for this service to small business owners in our valley!"

"I really enjoyed working with Shields. He is a great interviewer, he listened well and paid close attention to detail. He asked intuitive questions and did a great job guiding me through the interview to make it readable and interesting. As for the Locals Guide, I thought it was wonderful exposure for my business I highly recommend it."

"Having recently moved to Ashland and starting a new business, the LocalsGuide has been so valuable to us. Immediately, after our interview was published, people started actually recognizing us around town. People often reference something about the interview and say, 'Hey I really like what you said about….' or 'Hey, I read your article in the LocalsGuide. Great Interview!' Working with Shields throughout this process was also a highlight. He really helped us refine what we wanted to say to the community and how to best communicate it. We truly appreciate how supportive he has been to us, as we start our new practice."

"LocalsGuide Editor Shields Bialasik conducts a professional, through, and sensitive interview. He made sure to have me proofread the final before he went to press. The feeback from readers of the LocalsGuide is gratifying. The article resulted in increased business."

"The amount of exposure and response received from our LocalsGuide interview far surpassed our expectations. What a great experience, providing the opportunity to tell the community, in our own words, about the ins and outs of our business, and how it came to be. We are thankful for the recognition our interview received, and for the relationships we have made as a result."

"After advertising in the LocalsGuide we noticed not only an increase in business but also customer awarenes. Our customers told us they got to know us through our interview and felt more comfortable coming into our shop."

"The article about Sew Creative in the Locals Guide has been wonderful for business. People tell us how much they enjoy learning about local businesses and are excited to see our store. It was a pleasure working with Shields in the process."

"The interview that Shields, the editor of the Locals Guide, did about me and my work as a Business Consultant in private practice in Ashland generated an extraordinary amount of interest. The positive feedback that I received and the exposure it generated was significantly beyond what I had imagined and expected."

"The Locals Guide is the BEST advertising venue that I have had experience with! The high profile nature of its distribution, and the beautiful quality of the presentation/layout, has produced consistent recognition all over town for my business, and a steady in-flow of new clients, both locals and people visiting. I am often raving to fellow self-employed friends in town that advertising through Locals is a marketing budget well spent!"

"Soon after my interview ran in the Locals Guide I started receiving calls from prospective clients and customers interested in my holistic health and aromatherapy products and services. Within the first week after the publication I received a request from a well known internet radio show to be a featured guest on their show which went very well and created residual income. I also noticed that my PurePlant Essentials organic aromatherapy product sales in Ashland, Oregon retail stores where they are sold more than doubled during the month following publication of my interview. I am very happy with the results of my interview being published in the Locals Guide though my real pleasure was the opportunity of being featured as a practitioner and sharing my message of healing with our community."

"The Locals Guide was such an incredible community organizing tool for the first year of the Siskiyou Challenge! There was a point a few months before the event where I would wake up at night terrified that no one would know about our event. Once the first article appeared in The Locals Guide, I worried no more. 'I read about it in the Locals Guide' surpassed any other media source for how participants learned about the event. Thank you so much, your help was huge and important to the success of our event!"

"I started receiving calls from new clients the day the issue came out. The response was positive from new and old clients alike. My existing clients liked knowing more about me and my practice, and new clients felt confident being familiar with me before their first appointment. My exposure in the LocalsGuide boosted my business in a traditionally slow season, and I continue to be complimented on the interview. Thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to connect with my community!"

"The interviews in the LocalsGuide have been the best promotion we have ever done at Hidden Springs. Each time someone has an interview published their phone rings off the hook for the next week or so. It's been fabulous. I knew that everyone in the community gets a copy in the mail, but I didn't know how many actually read it and act on it!"

"Thank you for taking an interest in our business, and asking the insightful questions that help others to share in that interest. The article came out today and we've already had 2 new patients schedule this afternoon!"

"In our 34 years as Hat People, Carol and I have been featured in several publications. The response to our interview in LocalsGuide was exceptional. For weeks we were stopped on the street by total strangers congratulating us on our years in business, and our comments on the importance of engaging in local community. LocalsGuide is a true community asset."

"As a new resident of Ashland, I needed all the help I could get in finding out about our community. The first publication I stumbled across was the Locals Guide. It was a fantastic introduction to town for an eager new resident. When I opened my own business – Ruby's Restaurant – I returned to the LocalsGuide as an advertiser. I saw an immediate response! Advertising in the Guide is a sure fire way to reach a whole lot of people ready and willing to spend some time in your store or business. I would enthusiastically recommend the Locals Guide to any business looking to introduce themselves to Ashland!"

"Thank you Locals Guide! I was featured in the Locals Guide as Practitioner of the month. It was a great opportunity to have my picture shown all over town and to have a focused interview about my work. I had so many positive comments about the article and had some new folks show up to my practice. Ashland is such a word of mouth town and social media acts as the spoken word. An interview is someone personally speaking well of your work. I don't know of any better marketing strategy."

"Thank you SO much for putting my article on the front page of the Local's Guide. I received 11 phone calls in just the 1st week after my article was out. It gave a huge jumpstart to my new career as Yoga Therapist. And the word just keeps on spreading! I reaped more return for my investment with The Local's Guide than with any other advertising medium I've used to date. Again, many thank yous!"

"Just wanted to send you a quick note and thank you for the article you ran for me in the locals guide. I have been so surprised at the response. I still get people coming up to me and saying they read my article and it has been a few months since it ran. I think the fact that you provided the framework and let me basically write my own article made the biggest difference. I was able to tell my own story. I feel that from the comments people have given me that they know a little bit more about me personally."

"My interview with LocalsGuide was a lot of fun and a great success! I received loads of calls and several new customers from my business feature in the LocalsGuide!"

"Being featured in the Local's Guide was really great for my business, and it was fun to see my work in the press! The article generated a lot of interest in our Retro PinUp portraits, as well as our photography business, in general. We received many kudos, inquiries and even bookings from as far away as Klamath Falls, Shasta and Grants Pass. Our Facebook fan base increased quite a bit right afterwards and whenever I tell locals what type of portraiture I do, quite often they say 'Oh! You're the pinup queen! I saw the article about you in the Local's Guide!' Thanks Local's Guide!"

"It was a great honor to interviewed in the LocalsGuide! I really appreciate getting to share with the local community and I know that the interview reached both fans and folks who had not heard my music before. Thank you LocalsGuide!"

"The process of writing my own article was truly enlightening. After many months of stalling, once I began writing, my words seemed to spill out onto the page (or screen). The response we've gotten since the article was written has been invaluable. Never before has any article or form of advertisement generated so much business for us. Thank you so much!"

"The biggest surprise for me is that having people in the community know what I do has been Relaxing for me. I expected to feel exposed. I do not feel exposed, I feel seen and more relaxed. I received calls and e-mails from so many people, physicians, therapists, counselor's, women with concerns and women with curiosity. The article created a positive wave of attention that came back at me. The wave is not over yet."

"The day after the review was circulated in the LocalsGuide, our doors were flooded with new faces and lots of questions about our business from our local community. The locals haven't stopped coming in since the article and several months after Bouelvard Coffee's write-up, people are still saying that they saw that article and that's why they decided to come check us out. What a huge gift being included in the LocalsGuide was to our business!"

"We've had nothing but positive comments on our article in the LocalsGuide. Friends and neighbors were thrilled to see us featured, existing customers loved the opportunity to learn more about our farm and our philosophy, and we were able to attract a significant number of new customers. Thank you for including us in your paper."

"I am so grateful. For me, it was so refreshing to have an editor who prints what one says and asks so many pertinent and important questions. It means you did your investigation of the subject, and responded to dig deeper into what I was saying and more thoroughly than anyone I have worked with to date. Thank you, Shields for the LocalsGuide!"

"The Locals Guide is an inventive publication with it's finger on the pulse of our Community…with it's friendly staff and intelligent and humorous commentaries The Locals Guide is a great resource. We appreciate all the support The Locals Guide has shown us over the years. We send out a big thank you to them for being a part of our Rogue Valley family!"

"The Locals Guide Works! Being featured in the Locals Guide was like being able to walk up to every Ashlander and say 'hello.' So many people commented on seeing us in the article. We felt as if we were living in a Norman Rockwell painting. For our business, the LocalsGuide has been a perfect way to reach our customers. Dollar for dollar, no other form of advertising is anywhere near as effective. Our customers and potential customers really see the ads. What's even better is that the advertising money stays local. Thanks LocalsGuide. It's wonderful that you are here!"