It’s good to see many either with MS or those working to find a cure using Twitter and Facebook to bring the MS community together. While I know there are other social websites out there that can be used to bring more into joining our cause I would like to urge everyone to check out MerchantCircle.com.

Compared to other sites it is small with about a million members, but I think it offers a golden opportunity to further our cause. Merchant Circle has been described as a combination of an online yellowpages and Facebook.  Merchant Circle is a site for business, but offers many opportunities for the MS community.

First if you have a business and a phone number you most likely have a free listing. To start all you need to do is claim it. It’s easy to claim and the basic features cost nothing. If you can’t find a listing for your company creating a listing is just as easy.

I have found in many cities a listing for the National MS Society, yet many are unclaimed and doing nothing. Here in Oklahoma City the listing has been claimed but it appears sadly little has been done. Like most things on the internet if you work with them good things happen. The more you blog about something the more the search engines will rank your page higher. More page views means more multiple sclerosis awareness and the more that could join us in working to find a cure.

Merchant Circle is a cross link champion; once you start using it the search engines will move your listing towards the top. With this website you can link with other businesses, further it tracks others as they surf the site and places links automatically between pages they have visited. It features a means much like Twitter to post a text message that is posted to others in your community. How does that benefit us? Well if you’re having an MS fundraising event you can post it. Add to this Merchant Circle has a blog platform that things dealing with MS can be posted. Last fall on my windshield repair listing I wrote an article that was picked up by Glassbytes a publication for the auto glass industry that has reported getting over a million views per month. Think about how the support for those with MS would be if a million page views were added each month.

You can create a free coupon or advertisement that also is placed on other pages and all directed back to your listing.

Okay so why is Merchant Circle important for the MS community, beyond what I’ve said, particularly if you don’t own a business? For a number of reasons, to begin with if you have ever been to a fundraiser for an organization that supports funding MS research or those with multiple sclerosis you know they have sponsors. Without sponsors events like Walk or Bike MS would be scaled back or just wouldn’t happen. This would clearly reduce the amount of money available for support and research. Merchant Circle gives everyone a chance to post comments and ratings on a company’s page. For those including friends and family that are affected by MS wouldn’t you be more inclined to use a business that supports a MS event?  By us giving support to businesses that support our cause we both win.

For groups like the National MS Society this gives them a chance to be seen by businesses and maybe get additional sponsors. The online message service gives a chance to communicate with others much like Twitter. And provide another source to get the word out about events. I’ve talked to a number of people that have told me that they knew nothing about an event that they would like to have been involved with simply due to lack of communicating. Merchant Circle offers another means to drive customers into say the restaurant or other type business that is giving an MS benefit.

If you would like to see more about Merchant Circle, check out my page on Merchant Circle click on this link. Wipe Out MS on Merchant Circle

While you're looking at my Merchant Circle page look at the counter in the left column you'll see I have gotten 177 page views and that's in about 2 weeks. That could very well be another 177 that are now aware of what MS is and will possibly join us in working to find a cure.