Adventures in Social Network Marketing…or is it…
Posted by: californiateaandcoffeebrewery on: July 31, 2009
This month the editor of T Ching (www.tching.com) has asked me to write my guest contributor post on using social network marketing, social media networking, or whatever it’s called..sigh..and I’m at a little bit of a loss, as it’s all still Greek to me.
However, what I do know is that it’s free, it most likely can’t hurt and it has helped in some measure get our word out to, not only our own community, but to the world at large. And that’s a good thing.
Our ‘associate/intern/all around smart young marketing guy’ Ed first set us up with Twitter and Facebook accounts and then added Etsy as a site to make it possible to purchase our teas online until our permanent company website is ready to go. He then ‘handed the keys’ to me, so to speak, and off we drove. And it has been a fairly smooth ride.
What seems to be happening now is that the sites are beginning to gel a bit; Twitter readers locally are coming in to check us out, we are gaining Facebook fans from that, and even had a sale from Etsy…which is the lagger. Etsy will simply become part of a larger picture once the website is ready. Oh, and of course there is this WordPress blog, which also lends some lift-off.
What is most challenging to me is the Twitter part of the program. I’ve seen and read a bit on technique, psychology, style, etc., and am just in the ‘watch and think about it’ phase. Much of it makes no sense to my logical mind, such as posting the same phrases over and over again, as one company does, or just putting up links to ‘How to add 3 zillion followers a day’…but I keep Twittering our messages, some links, but hopefully all or most focused on the niche we are attempting to make a mark in.
I would love to hear from anyone who feels they have some good tips on utilizing the Internet resources in social networking and I will gladly make use of that input in the article on T Ching. We now have over 400 followers in not too long a time, so apparently something is working, even though many most likely follow ‘everyone’. Maybe it’s time to do some ‘weeding’.
We love any and every way to get our message and our business out to the public that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and produces results! Have you done well in this arena? Please, help all of us!
6 Responses to "Adventures in Social Network Marketing…or is it…"
August 8, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Thank you for following through! I read your link and it was helpful. I’m wondering if a blog like this could/should be incorporated into Facebook. It seems to me this is a place where it’s easier to give more information; Facebook seems like a ‘hang-out’ quick update, ‘hi..what’s new in your life?’, friendly on-line ‘third space’ to alter a famous phrase a bit.
Any thoughts on that?
August 8, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I agree – since you already have this blog set up though I would consider doing both. Go here to create a fan page, then start inviting your friends to it.
August 9, 2009 at 10:41 am
I follow you on Twitter and am active doing social marketing in the tea community online. I’d say the right advice for a tea company is simple: just be conversational and meet new people. Talk tea. That’s all you need to do. You’re already right to know that more is not necessarily more when it comes to social life on the Internet. But worse than wanting too many people is doing things like posting tweets at them with services that send them out when you’re not around. No. Just be there and willing to talk to people. That’s what I’ve found everyone in the tea community has to do. After all, it’s one of the friendlier of any groups on places like Twitter.
August 10, 2009 at 2:31 am
We do already have our Facebook page set up:
http://www.tinyurl.com/nu42a9
Thanks again! Feel free to comment on Social Media or link to article/post you have written on it here or our Facebook.
I also will link it on the http://www.tching.com blog post I’m writing which should come out August 20th.
August 10, 2009 at 2:35 am
Hello Jason,
Thanks so much for your input. I hope you can come and visit when/if you’re ever in our area. Your contributions are much appreciated, here and on our Facebook page!
Leave a Reply
Search
- CA_tea: This is Diane from California Tea & Coffee Brewery. The owner of the company never bothered so much as to acknowledge my email. Obviously, we ar
- Jason Witt: I have a confession to make. I've never had a chai latte! I'm not partial to real Indian Marsala Chai, which I've had at an Indian restaurant. It w
- californiateaandcoffeebrewery: Oh yes...in fact, I have been twittering about her (about 1.5 weeks ago). The woman who is the expert on one tree teas. There was a fascinating arti
Categories
- Uncategorized (11)
August 8, 2009 at 7:41 am
In response to the Twitter request I received from you earlier today I wrote a post on my blog that I hope will help you. You can see it here on Social Collector, my social media blog.