Social Media - Meet-up
Social Media – are you tired of hearing about it? Do you have a Facebook and Twitter account? Are you on Yelp, Four Square and Linked in? How about all of those niche social groups… you could literally spend all day on your computer updating your status and posting events.
Meetup.com is a store’s dream – and it is gaining in popularity. Meetup.com is a site where you can create an event and have people interested in it from all around your area come to you. It’s crazy! People on meetup.com are looking for you and the events you throw at your store! Not only that, but other meet-ups may be looking for a venue to come together. Who doesn’t love a store full of people ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over your merchandise?
I became aware of meetup.com after I attended Readers Studio in April of 2010; there were a few people from local Tarot Study group meet-ups. Initially I added meetup.com to the list of things that I would eventually get to (you know that list… the one you never get to), but Heatherleigh of the Boston Tea Room in Ferndale did a bit more, she actually started one. The Detroit Area Tarot Guild took off in unexpected proportions and currently has over 100 members that come and go, attending when they can. With that success, she started a Mid-week meditation group and Patty (our candle goddess) started a Reiki Share and Reiki Clinic meet-up. These few meet-ups are growing in number, bringing potential new customers into the store and widening the footprint of their marketing.
Successful Meet-ups are generally low or no cost, many just ask for donations to cover the small fee that meetup.com charges to create your group. Image an aromatherapy study group, or a spiritual book club, how about an alternative health study group? Recently I started the Motor City Folk Magic group and the first meeting had 13 people show up; 13 people that had never been to my store with half of them unfamiliar with Coventry candles (shocking I know!)
Ironically, I started writing this article before Storm’s Cosmic Forecast hit my desk and I see that February is a great month to reach out in the social media world. While you are reviewing your SM strategy, add meetup.com into your research and see if that widens your reach.
Oh, while you are at it – hootsuite.com makes your SM postings easier, posting to several at the same time and you can even schedule when they go out!
Happy Socializing!
Jacki Smith
Founder, President and Enchantress
Coventry Creations & Type 40 Sales.