Use Localeze, Info USA and Axiom to get franchise locations listed across a plethora of sites on the web and off line in one fell swoop.  I am very familiar with local search  and have pushed many of my clients to top spots on Google Local, but there are other tactics that can be far more productive than fixating on Google listings 24/7.  Google has become a royal pain in my butt, handing me AdWords slaps for no reason and punishing customer websites that seem to never rank after a domain  change and redirect.

The most interesting SEO is happening these days on big platforms like Facebook and YouTube.  I just discovered a great Facebook Local site and the ability to SEO via apps could have a lot of legs

There is a new "Facebook Local" project and I think its off to a great start. Its looking like a great Yelp type review site that leverages the facebook community to review local businesses without ever leaving the Facebook platform