Last night I went out to dinner with my husband, my brother-in-law and his wife. It was a night out without the kids which doesn't happen that often!

What surprised me was the topic of conversation. My brother in law and his wife were raving about how much they enjoy watching 'So You Think You Can Dance'. I was really surprised - since I had no idea that they had an interest in dance.

In fact, they have been so inspired by the show they said, "We are even thinking about taking some dance lessons but we have no idea where to go?"

I figured I'd ask my next question to confirm what I suspected, so I asked them what they would do to find out where to take lessons, they said they'd just do a search online to find the name of a local dance studio.

This is by far the most popular option for people - and it doesn't have to cost you any money at all to get extraordinary results in terms of know what people want in your local area.

Here are some statistics:

--> While 82% of consumers use search engines for local business information, those local businesses focus less than 10% of their marketing budget toward web strategies. (Kelsey Report)

--> 90% of online commercial searches results in local offline purchases and 61% of all local searches results in a transaction. (comScore)

--> 66% of American use online local search, like Google local search to locate local businesses (TMP / comScore / proprietary average)

This week's Tip: Make it Easy for Potential Students to Find Your Dance Studio- Use the power of Google Local Business Center www.google.com/local/add

What I love so much about this service is that it costs you nothing!

You can create a listing. Local customers already search Google for the products and services you offer. Create a business listing to be sure they find you.

You can have updates. Keep your address, phone number, hours of operation, and more up-to-date. Even create coupons and display photos and videos, all for no cost.

My favorite new feature is the insights dashboard. Use the power of Google's data to learn where your customers come from and what they search for to find you.

I'd recommend you watch the quick video on the page to see how you could adapt their restaurant example to fit your studio's class offerings, open houses, dance styles, and more. All it takes is a few minutes of your time. Google Local Business Center www.google.com/local/add

You never know who might be out to dinner talking about taking dance lessons; they might just be your new students!