One of the things consumers love most about OwnerListens is getting a response from an actual person, not a title or a brand. We believe that translates to social networks and review sites as well. Customers love knowing more about the person behind their meal, haircut, dental cleaning etc. Online profiles let you showcase the personal side of your staff and yourself. Here are some ideas for things you could share:
- The story of how and why you started the business. What made you passionate about building or buying it? What is your vision for the future of the business?
- Your personal background. Where did you grow up? Who inspired you to own your own business? What are your favorite activities beyond work? Do you have a family?
- The story of your staff. Why did they choose to work for this business? Where are they from? What are their extra curricular activities?
- Fun things or traditions about the business. What are things the staff does together? What are perhaps some ‘war’ stories from the past? What is the culture of the business like?
The format should not be a dry paragraph based string of facts. Try to make the content exciting and playful (where appropriate).
For example:
– Did you know? 8 of our 43 employees grew up in the area. The rest are transplants with tenures ranging from 5 to 34 years in our lovely city!
– This is Mika. Even though she thought she’d grow up to be a police officer, she’s extremely happy she chose education. Nothing like the smiling faces of our wonderful kids every morning. Mika is from Colorado and majored in fine art at Florida State University.
– Our business was started by Joe’s mom ten years ago after she retired from her job as a nurse at the local VA. When mom officially retired, Joe took over. The second of four kids, Joe was always the one to spend time with mom in the kitchen and clearly he picked up a few things. Here’s a picture of Joe making our signature rack of lamb.
If you take the time to gather this info and post it, you will not only find customers have a better connection to your business, but also that you and your employees do. You will increase the sense of loyalty and camaraderie.
Total time commitment: Depends on the size of your staff. We estimate:
2-3 hours to come up with a plan and a list of questions to ask your employees. 20-30 min per employee to gather the info (have them fill out a questionnaire, capture their photo etc.).
5-10 minutes to prepare a post.
It’s more efficient to gather all this info and prepare a bank of posts at once that are ready to go when needed.
Photo by: Mockuuups.com