Back in November I covered a MarketingSherpa report that dealt with online, printable coupons.  As I said then, the power of a coupon lies in its power to draw customers in.  Last year I said: 

It's part marketing and part psychology:  but there's just something about a coupon that makes them hard to resist.

As more consumers start shopping online, and searches start getting more local, the Internet is bound to start driving a lot more of your offline sales.  A user can go to any one of the online map and/or local search engines and do a hunt for your business or industry.  Have you seen Microsoft's new adCenter spots on television?  The "people are looking for your business" bit?  Microsoft recognizes the growing use of the Internet for local services.

To that affect, the Google Base blog announced a new feature for Google Maps that is bound to make offline merchants everywhere happy:  printable coupons in Goolge Maps.

The way it works is simple.  You update your business listing on Google's Local Business Center website.  There's a new "Coupons" tab there that allows you to create coupons to augment your business listing.  And don't worry… you don't have to know any technical coding or have special skills.  You enter the wording of the offer, a couple of other details, and presto!  Instant coupon.  Google has to verify your business location, but says that your coupons should be online within a day.

The next time someone searches for your business or your industry (pizza in Chicago) and special "Coupons" link will appear that lets customers view and print your new coupons.  Pretty simple, huh?

Should you decide to give the service a try (and I suggest you do), it'd be a good idea to implement some sort of tracking feature at your business.  It could be as simple as counting the number of Google coupons at business closing.  Depending on the rate of usage, your printable coupons might be worthy of mention in advertising or in-store signing.  Hype it up and make people think they just have to see your online coupons or they're missing out.

Oh.  And one last thing.  This new service is free.  So what's your excuse for not at least trying it now?  That's right!  There isn't one.