Beth Baker claims she’s a runner, not an athlete. Beth’s business, Running Evolution coaches folks who have never run run 5Ks as well as runners who want to go longer distances. Beth loves her job because of the rewards to helping people improve themselves and reach tough goals. Learn how Beth’s used social media to reach out to runners and the people who want to run.

Please describe your business and why you are passionate about it?

I am a running coach that specializes in the “new to running” runner. I am in love with my job and each person that transitions into a runner. I run and talk with them and get them going and they end up doing incredibly well.

Do you use different social media tools to promote your business?

Yes, I use twitter and facebook.

What tools have worked for you? What hasn’t?
They both work in different ways. Twitter is more of a networking tool and facebook is more of keeping up connections to past, present and potential clients. If I need help finding a marathon race in Austin, I use twitter and if I have a new class or special, facebook.

What do you hope to achieve with these tools in the next 6 months?

I think social networking is in constant flux, and you have to keep your name in the page daily. My goal is to stay on top of it with consistency.

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Having brick and mortar stores can have their challenges and advantages. It’s great to have a place where customers can physically come inside and shop, but you are limited to a regional space where customers can reach you.

Mabel and Zora is a clothing boutique, having two stores in the Portland Metro area.  They offer ladies’ clothing, jewelry, luggage, art and accessories from new and established designers, including local Portland designers. I got a chance to interview them about their use of social media and how it’s affected their business:

Do you use different social media tools to promote your business?
We have started using Twitter and Facebook lately, we have been on myspace for a few years, I like the twitter and facebook, I’m not a big fan of myspace, it’s a little hard for me to navigate around and is slow.

What has worked for you?
Twitter and Facebook have both been very successful for us and we know we still have a lot to learn about it! But so far, so good! I don’t know if people are seeing our blog or not but we keep writing just in case. We redid our website last August and spent a lot on it and nothing really sells on it, so we are trying to get more people to it, so far no luck, but they are coming to our stores! I know I need to do more with the website, but just haven’t got the patience for it!

What hasn’t?
Like I said above, the web sales haven’t really worked out, but the website does drive people to the store, which is great, I would just like it to pay for itself!

What do you hope to achieve with these tools in the next 6 months?
I guess I’d like to just keep learning, and figure out how to simplify. I’d also like to get the website selling more. I’ve read lots of things in magazines about things I can download to simplify the twittering and facebooking, I just need to take the time to put them into action!

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I recently got an opportunity to interview Amy Ambroult of AG Ambroult Jewelry. Amy designs and crafts these amazing silver jewels such as necklaces, rings, bracelets, and other pieces are literally. Visit her website: agambroult.com to see her amazing jewelry line.

Please describe your business and what you offer:
AG Ambroult jewelry is a line of contemporary silver jewelry that explores the link between industry and nature.  I (Amy Ambroult) am a jewelry designer and fabricator — which means I make all the pieces by hand, using traditional metalsmithing techniques.

Yes–Facebook, Twitter, and I have a blog (http://agaelemental.blogspot.com)

I think they have all served a purpose. I wouldn’t  say any one doesn’t “work”. In terms of sales, Facebook has definitely been the best. I have a fan page for my business and invite all my personal “friends” to become fans. This brought awareness of my business to long lost friends and acquaintances that wouldn’t have otherwise known about my jewelry line. As a result, I have had a good handful of orders through Facebook contacts.

Twitter has been great in bringing awareness of my business to perfect strangers. I have tried to create an interesting “persona” through my tweets. It has brought a good amount of traffic to my blog and Etsy shop (where I sell my jewelry online), though I couldn’t say for sure if this has resulted in any online sales. Either way, it is helping to reinforce the “brand” of  my company–which could only be a good thing.

The same goes for my blog–reinforcing my “brand” and “persona” by not only posting about metalsmithing and my jewelry, but also about recipes, gardening tips, craft projects and other thoughts of interest. This brings people to my blog who might not otherwise be interested in knowing about my jewelry. Creating a following on my blog will bring a feeling of community, trust, and credibility, which will (hopefully!) transfer to the public’s opinion of my company.

In the next 6 months I will continue using these forms of social media to bring awareness to my business, reinforce my company brand, and continue to create an interesting online presence and persona that will become synonymous with my business, AG Ambroult.

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This is the first of a series of interviews with other small businesses like yourself! The best way to learn is by listening how other folks accomplish and succeed. I always love talking to small businesses and finding out what their passion is behind the business.

My first business is Mercedes Rose, a talented voice-actress, as well as film actress, model, and teacher.

Please describe your business and why you are passionate about it?

For the last 13+ years I have been a full time actress and voice over artist. These industries combine all that I love- creativity, self motivation, variety…

It also helps that I am incredibly good at my job. And since i have no other marketable skills, that is a very good thing!

Do you use different social media tools to promote your business?

I use social media on an almost daily basis to promote my own business but also to stay in touch with trends and cycles within the acting community. Almost all films, advertising agencies, production companies, performers and crew have their own sites now. Sites like Facebook are a great way to spread the word about what you are working on.

What tools have worked for you? What hasn’t?

I successfully use Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter and a variety of industry specific Ning sites.  Many actors and filmakers swear by MySpace and while I do have a page I find it too 2008…

What goals to you want to achieve with social media tools in the next 6 months?

I would love to get to the point where I can have a personal assistant to help with all the updates and postings. It can be time consuming to post blogs, photos  and videos. But the time is definitly worth it.

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I attended WebVisions, a web designer conference held in Portland last week. I’ve been checking out WebVisions the past couple of years and really enjoy learning about what’s coming up on the radar and what’s new in the Web Design world.

This year the focus was the future and I’m happy to say my impression of the future is pretty positive. The two things that everyone seem to keep repeating were:

1)  Open-ID – having one username and password to login your Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts

2) Open Source – having the source code of software available to the public to design, develop, distribute, and share. For example – most of Microsoft’s software is the opposite of open-source.

Hearing those two themes mentioned over and over again was such a relief! I develop and host websites in a mostly open-source environment and I feel that it’s a solid foundation to work off of.

What do you want to see change in the future for the online world? What would make your life easier/better online?

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