Related Posts
- Women and Social Media: A Balance of Personal and Professional
- New Reports on Moms’ Increasing Use of Internet & Social Media
- 5 Things You Can Do To Improve Her Experience At The Cash Register
- Wen McNally Photography: Taking Facebook By Storm
- Why Your Focus On Low, Low Prices Could Be Killing Your Business
More From This Category
- And The Award For Best “Soccer Mom Myth” Performance Goes To…
- How Understanding Female Generations Will Affect Your Marketing
- P&G Uses Olympics To Say, “Thanks Mom”
- Divide & Conquer Series #4: My Time Organization System
Every time the Garden Center Group calls to hire me as a speaker for their annual fall convention, I’m compelled to ask, “Aren’t you guys sick of me yet?” But secretly, I’m always delighted to get the call.
Over the years, I have taught members of the group about the financial efficiency of advertising on the radio vs. other forms of media. I’ve given workshops where individuals learn how to write different kinds of copy to the 4 Neighborhoods of Women. And last fall, I plunged them headfirst into the deep end of social media, introducing them to the power of Facebook.
What I love about the Garden Center Group is that no matter what topic I choose, the attendees are like sponges. And they don’t just listen – they DO.
Case in point: Grossman’s Country Nursery, based in Rochester, NY.
After our last workshop, Larry and Frances Grossman returned to Rochester and immediately set up a Facebook page for their business. Ever the long-term vision type of folks, they took the “build it slowly” perspective. Visit their Facebook page and you find a commitment to fans that few local businesses provide – direct contact with customers; blog posts on gardening tips; photo albums of gardens and “before/after” shots; even videos of on-site events.
I emailed Larry, asking how it was going for them in this economy. Here’s an excerpt of his reply after a recent, highly successful event that grossed them tens of thousands of dollars over what was expected:
Retail sales are keeping pace with last year, people love the LG connection on the business side along with the blog tied in to both the website and Facebook. Day to day I head up Design/Build and am booked out to mid July; again my connection to the customer…
And from a profit perspective, traditional advertising expense is way down from last year. We don’t do paper ads. Nothing has been on sale either. Gotta love sending the dollars to my bottom line instead of slinging mud against the wall. HooAh!”
If you’re on Facebook, look up Grossman’s Country Nursery and see how they’re using social media to not only benefit the bottom line, but also create a lifetime connection with their customers.
Not interested in Facebook? Then you might want to consider picking up your marbles – I think I hear your mother calling.
Michele Miller is a writer, speaker, and consultant on ways to capture the heart of the female customer. The co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth, she consults with businesses of all sizes across North America
Haven’t fully embraced the advertising power of Facebook. But I will explore it more after this article.
Thank you.
Found this again today and thought is worth a look at again. http://jobs2ireland.ie/career-advice/appearences-can-be-deceptive-susan-boyle/
Thanks for adding your comment, Claire. I think you’ll find it to be a very effective tool, especially within your company.
I saw an interesting panel at SXSW about the subleties of getting customers to friend/follow your brand. The trick is to engage in real conversations and resist the urge to hamhandedly spam-sell.
I, for one, having seen you speak so many times, am not surprised you’ve been invited back again…and again. It almost makes me want to get into the gardening business.
Ray, you are so right – there is a great need for building a strong foundation and maintaining that delicate balance between announcement and dialogue. Thanks for the kind words – we all know you’re a pretty hot-damn speaker yourself.
I never though Facebook could be this useful, thanks Michele.
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for stopping by. As a writer, I think Facebook would be a great tool for you to use!
I agree-Larry and Frances, by far and away, do the best job at Facebook for business I’ve seen. I wish I had more time to work on ours!
I have not use Facebook as a means of advertising, I am thinking about it though. I tried to check out Larry’s FB page as you suggested, but we can’t get in unless we are friends, so I will have to wait to check it out. I did visit their website which is very nice.
I am eager to find out more how FB can work as a marketing tool.
It would be worth signing up for a free Facebook account, just to see how it all works and discover the opportunities there for your business.
Nice example of REAL use of social media…most businesses tend to just stick to dumping their links all around.