They met on his first day in the United States at Oakland University. She was a native Detroiter; he was a student starting his Masters degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Malta.

They didn’t know it that day, but in six short years they would progress from students, to husband and wife, to parents, and to entrepreneurs. But Leonard and Julie Magro know their journey is only beginning. Combining their talents in technology, entrepreneurship, and a desire to help others, the Magros have been working to help midsize businesses develop Internet strategies.

The Magros believe that small and medium-sized businesses have overlooked what an Internet marketing strategy can do for their business, assuming that it was only for large companies with big budgets and nationwide customers. However, the Magros point to several research studies that have shown a majority of on-line research is conducted to purchase local products offline.

Half of Internet searches look for local products and services (Kelsey).

For every one dollar US consumers spend on-line, another five or six are going to offline purchases influenced by their online research. (MIT)

97 per cent of Internet users in the US gather shopping information on-line, and of those consumers, 51 per cent characterise their behaviour as “shop on-line, purchase offline”. (NPD Group)

With this research in mind, they use a combination of services including Web design and redesign, search engine advertising, search engine optimisation, e-mail marketing – no, not spam – legitimate opt-in e-mail marketing services, e-learning systems, and document management systems to help local businesses reach more potential customers.

They work with all f their clients to develop a strategy they can afford and gives them a measurable ROI. They achieve these cost efficiencies because most of their services are offered a la carte. They create a strategy for a business and the business can pick and choose when and how they would like to roll out the plan. Many of their customers roll out the strategy in phases to accommodate a budget.

The Magros say the best part of the business is watching their customers grow thanks to the strategies they helped them develop. They have recently launched a new website at http://www.MagroInternational.com that communicates their services, history, and dedication to customer service.