Pat Barcas photo
Heidi Thorne, social media expert, said she is finding that Twitter is offering the most return on her time investment in the social media world for small business.
By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
DOWNERS GROVE — Small businesses in the plumbing industry and elsewhere can greatly benefit from the free resources of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogs to get their message out, and get the money rolling in, but where to start?
Heidi Thorne of Thorne Communications spoke at “The Works” and got the message out on social media.
“I’m loving Twitter right now. I can send out relevant links, people follow me that share an interest in these stories, and we take it from there,” said Thorne.
She said Twitter is the hot tool right now to get contacts and customers, just due to its micro-blog nature and ease of use. She did say that it takes work to build a fan base, sometimes taking months to see results.
One of the important tips she shared for businesses was to have a personal photo of yourself for your personal account.
“If this is your business, you’re running it, have a picture of yourself, not just the logo. People will be ten times more likely to follow you if you have your actual photo up there,” she said.
Also, completely fill out your profile. This makes you look like an actual person with real information to share, not just a spammer.
When sending out information, don’t make it all about yourself or your business. If you do this, there will be no two-way interaction, which is the whole point.
“If all you do is talk about yourself, no one will comment. You need to offer up something for discussion. It doesn’t have to be controversial, just something interesting,” said Thorne.
Keep it interesting and variable. Don’t send out the exact same tweet or status everyday. And do take care of real business before dabbling on Facebook.
“It is effective, but it’s a time suck. Take care of the real business before taking care of social media,” she said.
It’s also important to not let your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account go stale. Thorne recommends activity at least once a week at the bare minimum, just to show that you are active and have something to offer.
Also, businesses can use social media as a customer service tool, said Thorne.
“Set up accounts just for service. Post up relevant topics and helpful tips, and monitor it daily. Just be careful with your advice, and don’t post anything you wouldn’t want to see posted on a Billboard,” she said.
Heidi Thorne can be reached on Facebook at www.facebook.com/promowithpurpose.”
Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.