Promoting A Business in 140 Characters or Less

To tweet or not to tweet?

For many small business owners, that is the question.

With the proliferation of social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, connecting to people online is easier—and more vital—than ever.

However, some local businesses have yet to fully embrace these sites.

On Thursday, a group of 15 Rye business owners sought to change that, gathering at Fresh Green Light's Purchase Street headquarters for the first of four "Social Networking Primer" sessions. The sessions will teach them how to use social media to market and grow their businesses.

The Rye Chamber of Commerce organized the course, which is being taught by Gerald Stern, a 25-year marketing veteran and owner of the strategic marketing firm WOW Productions. Each business will pay a total of $320 to participate in all four sessions.

For many of the attendees, the notion of promoting a business in 140 characters was an alien concept.

"I just really don't understand a lot of this stuff," said Michael Fabry, one of the owners of Rye Grill & Bar. "My wife is on Facebook but I have no idea what Twitter is."

Roty Welstead, a realtor with Coldwell Banker, said social media sites are a necessity in a competitive industry such as real estate. 

"There's a certain demographic going on and I want to make sure that I stay on top of it for my younger clients," she said. "I think it's important to be current."

The session's participants—a cross section of restaurant and pet store owners, building contractors and employees for civic organizations—said Facebook and Twitter were not sites that people in their generation frequently used, so they've relied on more traditional methods to grow their customer base.

Suzi McNamee, owner of McNamee Promotion Company and a marketing consultant for the Chamber, said she has used word of mouth and personal connections to get clients.

"I know I need to learn about LinkedIn. I don't have a Facebook page, but [it's important] just for business exposure and to get my name out there and come across other people I've worked with in the past," she said.

During the first session, Stern gave a general overview of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, the latter of which he jokingly referred to as "texting on steroids."

Stern said many businesses are hesitant to join these sites because they don't understand the potential benefits.

"I think they believe that it takes too much time," he said. "They're also afraid of two-way communication. Even large companies are having challenges with that."

"They've always been used to one-way communication, where they can communicate to the community and to their customers," Stern added. "Now when people can talk back immediately, they're scared. They don't know quite what to do and I think small businesses are the same way."

Some of the attendees, however, had already started using social media. Joshua Roth, vice president of Pet Pantry Warehouse, said his company has been on Facebook for a year and has a blog, but doesn't use both extensively.

Roth said small business owners like himself need to embrace the Web.

"I think it's a tremendous opportunity that's just not tapped," he said. "I just don't think people understand what the benefit can be. I don't think they see how many people you can connect with."

During the session, Stern said social networks are a great connection tool, but amassing a huge Twitter following or fan base on Facebook isn't enough to make a business successful. Owners should focus on the quality rather than quantity of connections they create online, he said.

"All this new media is great, but you still have to go back to the basics," Stern said. "Twitter is not the be all end all for making your business run."