Friday, October 2, 2009

CHALLENGE: Attract a Crowd to Your Small Business Using Twitter & Facebook. Here's How . . .

I used to run The Sportsman’s Gallery. We sold art and unique gifts for the sportsman. In 1 year my team and I grew sales from $230k  per year to over $500K annually. One of the ways we grew the business that year was with “one day only” events. Here’s how we put together one of those events. 

Back then people were just starting to collect golf art.  So I arranged for a famous artist, Larry Dyke, to meet customers face-to-face one night at our store. We showcased his first limited edition golf print and his paintings. 

After working with the artist’s agent, I called a local charity and told them we would donate a percentage of the evening’s sales to them. Then the charity’s PR person sent faxes and made phone calls to their contacts with the local press.

The Houston Chronicle announced our event on the sports pages. We had a great turnout. We also made a lot of sales.

Today it’s much easier. Once you have an idea for an event, you’re able to share it with the world in a matter of minutes. You’re able to tweet influential members of the press your announcements. You’re able to tell all your Facebook “fans” about your event. Read on to find out just how easy it is.

Case Study: Twitter & Facebook Promotion, Talk Like a Pirate Event at Cosmo Cafe

On September 14th Cosmo Cafe ”tweeted” this to it’s followers, “Drag yer pirate booty on down to Cosmo this Saturday fer $3.50 Red Stripe Lager an’ Rum Punch!”

 

They also created an event announcement on their Facebook page:

 

Talk Like a Pirate Day Facebook Invitation

 

They had a great turnout. Everyone had a great time. But the smart folks at Cosmo Cafe and Bar didn’t stop there. They followed up by posting photos of the event on Facebook and in their newsletter:

 

Want to Know How Much More Social Media Can Impact Your Bottom Line? Here are the numbers from three companies.

TWITTER & PIZZA SALES GROWTH. “With his first concerted effort at a Twitter-only promotion, Leach was able to drive 15% of daily revenues with Twitter.  And of those 15%, 90% were new customers!  Not bad for a guy who didn’t even have an account until 5 weeks ago.” –   Naked Pizza in New Orleans

Quote from, http://www.localsearchnews.net/how-to-twitter-naked/

TWITTER & COMPUTER SALES GROWTH. “Dell said on Thursday it has raked in more than $3 million from Twitter followers who clicked through its posts to its Web sites to make purchases. The company, which has posted to Twitter about two years and tracks the sales with proprietary software, made more than $1 million in the past 6 months.”

Quote from, http://bit.ly/gYUyU

TWITTER, FACEBOOK & COFFEE SALES GROWTH. “Mr. Zadok says last fall Coffee Groundz’s general manager, J.R. Cohen, set up profiles for the café on Twitter and Facebook. Customers started tweeting orders and special requests such as booth reservations, and in-store events promoted on the sites drew crowds three times as large as those previously advertised through signs and other traditional means.” 

Quote from, http://bit.ly/zyhgJ

Plan Your “One Day Only” Event Now

What are you waiting for? Start attracting crowds to your business now. Create your “one day only” event. “Tweet” it up. Then invite your ”fans” on Facebook. You’ll be glad you did.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!

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