The Quick Story: After 30 years in Las Cruces marketing and advertising, one local pro has watched the game change dramatically—and now she’s bringing back the Sunday paper discovery experience for an era where small businesses need it most: digitally, affordably, and built on four years of real relationships.
Finding a great local business shouldn’t feel like cracking a code.
It used to be as simple as flipping through the Sunday paper with your coffee, discovering that new bakery on Main Street or the family-owned bookshop you somehow never knew existed.
A Las Cruces native is bringing that feeling back—just without the newsprint fingers.
The Problem: Getting Lost in the Digital Shuffle
Meet Yvonne, the force behind LiveLocalWeekly.com. After 30 years in marketing and advertising right here in Las Cruces, she’s watched local businesses struggle with something that shouldn’t be hard: getting noticed by the people who’d actually love them.
“Back in the newspaper days, businesses could buy a decent-sized ad, especially on a Sunday, and get noticed,” she says. “I’m bringing that back, only in digital form—and way more affordable.”
The Solution: Digital Discovery, Done Differently
So how does it work? On her platform, LiveLocalWeekly.com every business subscriber gets their own landing page, a directory listing, and can post on the community calendar.
The best part? All the posting is done for the business owner. They simply supply the photos and information, and LiveLocalWeekly.com will do the rest, so the business owner can do what they do best—building their business.
What Makes It Work: The Stories
Here’s where the magic happens—the business stories.
“That’s part of this concept. The storytelling is a big deal,” Yvonne says.
These aren’t your typical directory write-ups. They’re crafted with the insider scoop, the real story behind the storefront—what makes the owner tick, why they do what they do, what makes this place special. And they’re randomly showcased on the homepage, so when you’re looking up one business, you’ll stumble across another. And another. All local.
It’s like the best kind of word-of-mouth, built right into the platform.
Built on Four Years of Relationships
Now here’s the thing that gets her fired up: she’s been building this for four years. Not the website—the relationships.
Through Instagram, she’s been sharing local business posts, meeting owners, hearing their stories, and watching them grow. “I really love that,” she says, and you can hear it.
All that relationship-building? It’s the foundation of what she’s launching now.
She’s already putting the pieces in place. Right now, she’s placing LiveLocalWeekly.com QR code stands in strategic spots across town—hotels, grocery stores, coffee shops. Her pitch to business owners? “Go digital, save a tree, get discovered in a whole new way.”
Why This Matters
What’s really driving all of this? Yvonne knows what’s at stake.
Local businesses are literally the backbone of Las Cruces,” she says. “They contribute more to the economic ecosystem, invest in the community, and create the culture that makes this place special.” She pauses. “What happens if we don’t prioritize them? A decline in the economy and an overall loss in our culture. We can’t survive without local businesses.”
Yvonne – LiveLocalWeekly.com
What’s Next
The vision? Her one-year goal is at least 50 active businesses on the site.
Five years out? Taking this concept to other communities.
Before any of that, though, she wants you to know something: “There’s a real live person behind this website who genuinely cares about local businesses and our community.”
So what’s this really about?
“I’m trying to make local business owners happier,” she says simply.
If she can bring back that Sunday morning feeling—discovering local businesses over coffee, and getting excited about walking through their doors—that’s Las Cruces doing well.
Become a subscriber and choose from two simple subscription options that fit your needs. You’ll get immediate next-step instructions and someone who actually cares about your success. No hassle, no confusion—just a new way to get discovered.
