I am running into repeated problems with readers outside my area confusing a LOCAL public service announcement for something that’s relevant / of interest to a broader audience.

And I’m getting a little annoyed about this.

I am listed, or have been linked to, on a lot of national sites as a personal finance and frugal living blogger, which means I have readers checking in from all over the place. This situation is definitely fun to watch, and I enjoy networking with the personal finance community. But, Monroe on a Budget was launched as, and continues to be, a local blog for the Monroe, Mich., area.

So here is heads up to you national readers: when I post in italics on the start of the post “This notice is for my readers in xxx,” the information is not intended for a broader audience. It’s intended for my LOCAL readers who are in the community or region specified!

Many of the public service announcements I post are for very specific geographic areas. This includes scholarships for students at Monroe High School and the community education classes at Monroe County Community College. Even the Michigan Bridge Card posts are only for those who live in Michigan rather than my Ohio readers who live just 15 miles away.

But there were people (one from New Zealand!) tweeting my post yesterday about a tax service discount in Lambertville, Mich. Why would anyone be interested in that post unless you live in Lambertville, Temperance or Toledo? I’ve got lots of tax tips in my archives that are far more appropriate for a wider audience. Link to those, if you want!

And in December, a national financial site that was repeatedly linking to my posts regardless of the topic linked to a Santa Claus letter program that was available to children who live in the two zip codes for the city of Monroe, Mich. Ridiculous! I went to that blog and called him out on his comment board for that silliness. He stopped linking to me. Good. If that site host can’t tell the difference between an article for my local readers and one that is more of general interest, I don’t want his links.

Here is the problem: readers who don’t live in southeast Michigan have been known to post a comment or email me in attempts to follow up on articles about assistance programs, discounts and services. One woman told me “That phone number doesn’t work.” It turns out that she lived in another state. Of course, the phone wouldn’t work for her. She wasn’t eligible for that program anyway.

That’s why I started putting full addresses and complete phone numbers on my public service announcements. I learned that didn’t take care of all the questions.

So a few months ago, I started the tagging policy where if a post is intended for a local audience, I say “This post is for my readers in …”

My blog content is broadcast to the Monroe, Mich., audience as much as possible through RSS feeds on multiple local web sites (the newest: Saving Sense coupon site). My own newspaper’s web site provides most of the link referrals, because a button to this blog is on the rotation for links we post there.

Monroe on a Budget is also read by other bloggers and news media in the Monroe, Toledo and Detroit areas. They often pick up on information that’s useful to their audience – in fact, the regional journalists and bloggers have been known to email tips and leads to each other as appropriate.

But in order for that Internet magic to happen, this is an open site. I don’t require people to subscribe to read the posts. Compare it to a local newspaper site: The Monroe Evening News has had a web site since 1996 that anyone can read from anywhere on the web – but my co-workers and I know that a good percentage of that content has limited interest to anyone outside our community.

Bottom line: I’m not changing my local spin. That is the core personality of Monroe on a Budget.

Therefore, those of you who are my national readers need to use some common sense when following up on or linking to my posts. There are plenty of tips and information here that you will find relevant and interesting; but you need to leave the local public service announcements for my local readers.