James Smith

No company is perfect and that is something I have come to understand and accept. ReachLocal is far from it, however there is one fundamental difference between where I am now and where I was two years ago. In October 2007, I walked away from an almost ten-year career with IAC/Citysearch. I had started in 1998 as a sales person and grew from local manager to, eventually, a Regional Director overseeing the Southern United States. While operating in several parts of the country during my time there, I had the privilege of working with some brilliant people, however I decided that it was time for a change and, knowing the space, I had always kept an eye on ReachLocal as they were growing around the country. 

Outside of the lifelong friendships and relationships I forged with the people in my old company, the decision to walk away and join ReachLocal was the single, greatest decision of my professional career. The reasons were simple. ReachLocal was leading, not following. They were innovating, not improving. They were growing, not trying to maintain. And, finally, I met and interviewed with some of the smartest individuals I had ever come across who saw where the local consumers (who fuel our clients) were going. 

The thing I tell every new recruit joining our organization is that this is a company led by people who saw where the world was going and how information, consumers and eventually small businesses were digitizing. The challenge they all face is greater than buying an ad on one site versus another site. The challenge they face is their consumers have moved online and to survive, they must make the same shift in their approach which has worked for the last twenty to thirty years or they might not be in business in the next five years. Coming from two parents who were local business owners, I understand that helping a small business make the move from what the world was 15 years ago, to what it is today, to what it will be in the next 5-10 years is my responsibility. 

For the person evaluating ReachLocal, I can honestly say that if you do not see the importance in what ReachLocal is doing in the local marketplace to what we could become to hundreds of thousands of local business owners across the United States (and the world), then this may not be the right place for you. This job is far from easy, however was anything worth having ever easy?

The fundamental difference, which I mentioned above, is quite simple. Our company, today, is not worried about declining readers, viewers, or listeners.  Our company is not trying to change their business model, we are trying to help local business owners change their business models. And, if you do understand that, I welcome you to our company.