Local Business Owners Ease into Social Media

Local business owners looking to learn more about social media have several options this spring.

, the Adult and Community Education department of the St. Charles School District and are all offering courses on social media.

Ken Tucker, owner of Changescape Web, teaches a social media course at St. Charles Community College and often puts on seminars for local chambers of commerce.

He said most of the people who attend these sessions are people who have created a Facebook page for their business but just don’t know what to do with it.

“If they would invest just a little bit of time and effort to get more involved in social media, they’d find it’s a phenomenal extension of face-to-face network marketing,” he said. “You have the ability to build a relationship, unlike with a website. It can be an exceptional growth opportunity for small businesses.”

Cheryl Graber, director of the Adult and Community Education Program at St. Charles School District, said the district decided to offer the courses because social media and social networking are so popular among businesses.

“We try to follow trends in what is latest and greatest and what’s hot out there,” she said. “There are a lot of people who don’t understand how important these aspects of social networking can be for their business and how to make it work best for them.”

Local Business’s Twitter Use Varies

St. Charles Chamber of Commerce has offered social media classes in the past. This week it's offering two Twitter courses for members--one for beginners and another for more experienced Twitter users.

Tate said he decided to have the two courses because local business owners have a varying amount of social media knowledge.

“You have your people who use it for personal, but they’re getting more and more people who are wanting to use it for their business,” he said. “Some people--especially with Twitter--they just don’t get it.”

Although there are some local businesses using Twitter, Tate said many local business owners find it difficult to fit in social media.

“Time is already stretched thin,” he said. “They are trying to run a business, that’s the biggest issue.”

 Connecting with Customers

Tate said the most useful thing for a business to learn is how to find out what its customers are saying about it and respond quickly. 

Rebecca White tweets for the (@ESH_StCharles), which is connected to the St. Charles Convention Center. White, catering sales manager, said she uses Twitter to connect with guests.

“It is fun to interact with people,” said White.

When the Convention Center hosts conferences, White will search for the name of the event on Twitter to see what attendees are saying about it.

People who attended the Midwest Education Technology Conference a few weeks ago used Twitter to make suggestions for future conferences, like adding WIFI hot spots and power strips. White learned that a presenter in one of the rooms was having Internet connectivity issues when she saw the complaint on Twitter. She was able to address the problem before the presenter could pick up a phone and figure out whom to call.

White, who has a personal Twitter account, said she suggested the hotel get on Twitter when she was hired. The account was created but wasn’t used very often until White took it over in December. 

White said many of her colleagues don’t understand Twitter or what it’s used for. She said she just watches how other businesses use it.

“I see what they’re doing and try to mimic that too,” she said.

 Upcoming Social Media Classes:

St. Charles Chamber of Commerce Classes (for Chamber members):

• Beginner Twitter session, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., lunch, 1 p.m.-2p.m., Advanced Twitter session, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. March 3 at St. Charles Chamber

St. Charles School District Adult Education Courses:

• Five Elements of Social Media for Business: Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., March 31 to April 28 at Hardin Middle School
• Grow Your Business Thru Online Social Networking: 6 p.m. March 7 at Hardin Middle School