http://econsultancy.com/ca/blog/63850-how-small-businesses-can-make-the-most-of-twitter

“If there’s one thing you have if you run a small business, it’s time. If there’s one thing you probably don’t have, it is money.” written by Christopher Ratcliff.

After reading this article, I do agree the author’s point of view that using social media to open small business is low-cost and low- risk. Running a small business by using social platform, the owner plays different roles such as owner, manager, customer service assistant and marketer.

(Picture: from Google image)

Nowadays, more and more people actively use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get found online. Social media has become an important tool for small businesses. By using this approach, it allows small businesses to have direct communication with owners’ customers. When recommending products and services to new customers, it seems that people tend to trust their friends or families far more than any sophisticated marketing advertisements. When advertising the products of your small businesses online, don’t just pose the posters and products’ introductions online as few people will pay attention to it. The author gives three recommendations to maximize engagement when doing promotions. Firstly, owners should tease the sale in advance to raise interest. Secondly, owners should respond to followers to keep the conversation going. Last but not the least, owner should keep in tweeting during promotions. The more people start following you, the more opportunities you get for your small businesses. When implementing a small business social media strategy, organizing your content effectively is a difficult and important skill since social media is about sharing, not just about advertising.