I recently had the good fortune of partnering on a Social Media Presentation for the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce’s Back to Basics program with Jeff Zbar of ChiefHomeOfficer.com and Erin Glass of Viziun. Jeff set the tone speaking about branding as a whole, while Erin focused on Facebook as a business tool and I focused on how to use Twitter for business.
What I found encouraging about the presentation was that several chamber members approached each of us at the conclusion to ask us follow-up questions. Several even told us how they were planning to go back to their office and explain to their boss WHY they need to be on Facebook and Twitter NOW.
As someone who is very passionate when it comes to Social Media, I’ve always felt if you can explain to a business owner in clear terms why they need to be involved, they will be motivated to do so.
One example of a business that was allowing the conversation to go on without their participation was our friends at Lion County Safari (who is not nor have they ever been a client of ours). Back in June 2009 during a presentation to the Palm Beach County Attractions Association, I was able to visually show LCS what they were missing.
I went to search.twitter.com and typed in Lion County Safari. At the time, there were over 150 tweets about the attraction, and 95 percent of them were positive. LCS’ Director of Marketing and Public Relations Jennifer Berthume, upon seeing this, pulled me aside at the end of my presentation and used my computer to sign up for Twitter that day. Seven months, 559 followers, and 489 tweets later, @LionCountry has become a Twitter fixture and understands the value of connecting with the general public on a daily basis through this medium.
Therefore, my advice would be this: before you get involved, see what others are already saying about you and/or your business. Once you see how the conversation goes on without you, it just made be what you need to motivate you to take on the challenge of a new horizon!
Toby Srebnik,
Senior Account Executive (@TilsonPR)
