Social Media put my business on the map

Like lots of small businesses these days I've had a website for a few years. It really hasn't done much more than act like an online business card and pamphletfor me and I have to confess that until recently it really didn't contribute in a way I could see to my bottom line. Last January, though, all that changed -- and how. Now my site is definitely developing new business for me.

What changed? In a few words: I added a Social Media to my site. Here's how I got there:

Late in January I was helping a fellow business owner with some things out of town. We jumped off the 401 at a sandwich place he knew in an industrial park close to the highway. We got talking with the owner of the place who asked us if we wanted his Twitter account to follow. 

"How's that work for you?" I asked him. He explained to us that his business was split between workers in the nearby factories & offices and people on the road -- technicians and salespeople -- all people attached to their Blackberries and iPhones. The more of the on-the-road people he got in the better his revenue as the walk-ins from the neighbourhood were a pretty fixed number. He opened a Twitter account (twitter.com) and started putting his daily specials out early in the morning and taking orders for lunch from people tweeting back to him. He told us his weekly revenues have never been higher. We spent most of our lunch learning more about Social Media from the sandwich shop owner.

As we drove home my friend and I discussed what we had learned and tried to apply it to our businesses. I've got a photography business I'm struggling to move past its current level. Most of my new business comes from referrals, and that's essentially how we decided to use Social Media to help with that. 

First, I needed to rework my site, and that took some time with a good web developer. I created new accounts on Facebook and Twitter using my business name. Nudged all my friends and clients to sign up and follow me. I started blogging regularly -- posting advanced copies of images from my assignments -- the web devloper set my blog to re-post automatically to Twitter & Facebook. My clients and friends helped out by sharing things they liked with their friends. All of a sudden instead of having next to no Google presence I was at the top for the region. The blogging and sharing of content across Social Media had put my Google rank on rocket-fuel and spread the word about my work.

Most importantly, I started getting calls saying, "I saw your work on your website and I'd like to ask you to shoot my wedding." I'm busier than I've ever been.

There's lots of information available about the details of putting Social Media to work for your business. Here are two articles at the Globe & Mail to help you get started

• How to use Twitter to grow your business
• Web Strategy for small business