Posting for Fun and Profit

Small businesses are signing up on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Digg—but some entrepreneurs say the benefits aren’t easy to detect. Not so for these three area entrepreneurs, who credit social media efforts with significant  boosts to their business.

Dynomighty Design

Brooklyn, NY

What they did

Dynomighty Design offers eco-friendly products ranging from magnetic jewelry to wallets, all with an urban feel and many that are tear-resistant, water resistant, expandable, and recyclable.

To demonstrate the durability and usefulness of the goods, founder Terrence Kelleman created videos about them, which he uploaded to YouTube.

How it paid off

Within three months of their first YouTube post, Dynomighty Design saw $130,000 in sales, and many of the videos have gone viral.

“In 2006, one of our videos was featured on the homepage of YouTube for 10 days during the week before Christmas,” Kelleman said. “We had so many orders, we couldn’t fill them fast enough.”

Now with a roster of about 150 videos, Dynomighty is also active on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Delicious. Meanwhile, YouTube is using Dynomighty’s page as a case study in how videos can attract customers and build a following. Check out their YouTube page at youtube.com/user/tkelleman.

Ventureneer

New York, NY

What they did

Ventureneer began as a way to provide training and networking for entrepreneurs and nonprofit executives. To do that, the site needed lots of plugged-in followers—so founder and president Geri Stengel launched the blog Vistas, which is on Ventureneer’s homepage and also available through RSS feed on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Justmeans.

Stengel shared the blog posts with leaders she wanted Ventureneer to connect with, and encouraged them to link back to the blog. As a result, Ventureneer improved  its presence in search engine results. “Vistas established professional credibility with leaders in our community,” says Stengel. That helped as the company entered other social media venues.

How it paid off

Now Twitter posts are responsible for 5 percent of traffic to Ventureneer.com (currently, the company has more than 2,500 followers, and has been listed at #7 on topfollowfriday.com). Ventureneer credits LinkedIn, which it uses to post slide presentations, promote webinars and more, for more than 10 percent of the traffic to its site.

Recently, Ventureneer handled social media for the Social Media Exchange Conference on Scaling, which increased Ventureneer’s page views by approximately one-third before, during, and after the event. See what else they’re doing at ventureneer.com/vblog.

Wendy Brandes Jewelry

New York, NY

What they did

When Wendy Brandes decided to sell her own jewelry line, she incorporated her 15 years’ experience in national media and marketing into her business plan by creating a blog.

At the time, in 2007, blogging was just picking up momentum, and Brandes used it as a tool for discussing not only her brand, but fashion, her favorite vintage finds, feminism, and more. Brandes promoted the blog to her media connections, updated it daily with newsy content, and shared her posts with her network. The posts were reposted by other bloggers, and she is now quoted by fashion bloggers on a regular basis.

How it paid off

When she started her blog, her website accounted for about 5 percent of her revenue. Now, e-commerce represents 90 percent. Brandes believes blogging has changed the dynamic of her business by exposing her not only to customers in New York, where her business is based, but also the international market.

“I’ve gotten customers from all over the world, including Kuwait, Russia, and New Zealand, who would likely never have discovered me otherwise,” she says. For those interested in getting involved in social media or blogging, Brandes says, “Loosen up. Social media is about interactivity and informality. It’s not a one-way, corporate-sounding communication.” Check out her blog at wendybrandes.com/blog/.