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Business & Tech

For Rye Businesses, Using Twitter and Facebook is Essential for Success

After attending social networking workshops several Rye businesses are embracing social media.

Promoting oneself through Facebook may be second nature to many young people, but using social media sites to promote businesses is catching on in Rye.

The Rye Chamber of Commerce organized "Social Networking Primer" sessions in February and April. Now, two months after the first course was held, local businesses have begun to embrace sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

"We felt it was important for our business owners to do all that they could to market themselves and reach out to customers and potential customers," said Sally Wright, Vice President of Communications for the Rye Chamber of Commerce.

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Many of the businesses established Facebook business fan pages, including Rye Grill & Bar, Rudy's Oyster Bar & Bistro, and Welstead & Stack EcoBrokers.

Wright and Gerald Stern, who taught the course, felt the initial February workshop was such a success and received such great feedback that they agreed to hold another session in April.

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Stern said one of the biggest obstacles social media novices face is becoming comfortable with social networking tools and understanding how customers and colleagues use those tools. While some businesses may worry about the return on investment for social media, Stern said he believes it's worth it.

"I have yet to work with any business that has not found a benefit to their overall marketing efforts, increasing response and purchase, but most importantly building stronger relationships with their customers," Stern said.

Steve Mochel, owner of the driving school Fresh Green Light, volunteered the company's Purchase Street offices for the social networking classes. Mochel, who spent 20 years in the marketing agency business prior to creating Fresh Green Light, believes it's critical to stay on top of new media trends.

"First and foremost, business owners need to understand how their customers are using social media and make sure they're creating something relevant to them," said Mochel, who uses Facebook primarily for the high school audience and a blog for parents of new teen drivers. "Social media is here to stay with new sites and services popping up every day."

Roty Welstead of Welstead & Stack EcoBrokers found the workshops so helpful that she and her partner, Annalise Stack, have continued to work with Stern as they try to build a new concept of helping homeowners and buyers find ways to be more environmentally- responsible. Welstead said that while she was familiar with Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites before the workshops, the sessions helped her realize these can be powerful tools for marketing her business.

"The ability to be able to exchange information, thoughts, concerns, ideas on a real time basis is truly exciting," Welstead said. "We learned in the workshop that how you use these sites is unique to one's own business.  My partner and I practice general real estate and, additionally as EcoBrokers, pursue our interest in 'green' innovation, whether in buildings, products, technologies, incentives for homeowners, tax rebates and the like."

While still in the early stages of using the skills they learned during the workshops, Welstead and Stack are already using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking tools to expand their business.

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