Week 6 Part A: Engaging Your Customers - Facebook Strategy

San Marcos Farmers Market

Vista Farmers Market

Ocean Beach Farmers Market

Pizza Port Brewing Company

Scene in San Diego

San Diego Reader 

Voice of San Diego

Hypland Worldwide

MCC Social Media Class

    The reason why I chose to like and follow the San Marcos, Vista, and Ocean Beach Farmers Market is because I plan to set up my taco stand at these farmers markets. These 3 farmers market have a good amount of traffic and are easy to get into. All three pages post weekly and their posts are mostly about the time and dates of their farmers market. I think that is important because as a vendor it is good to know this information just in case something changes. They also have good engagement with their followers, I noticed they responded to followers when they commented on their post. They all use pictures of their previous farmers markets giving vendors and consumers an idea of what to expect which is really useful. I also like that they have their contact information on their page making it easy to reach them. The next page I liked was the Pizza Port Brewing Company. The reason why I chose to like this page is because I like how they promote themselves to their consumers. They post a lot of pictures of their food and beer which is a great way to get more customers. Every time I see a picture of their pizza I want to go to Pizza Port. I want my business to have similar posts as theirs because I think this will bring in more customers. Their posts do not have a lot of writing but their pictures are enough to get their followers attention. The next group of pages I liked are the Scene in San Diego, San Diego Reader, and the Voice of San Diego. The reason why I liked these pages is because they tend to shout out local businesses in San Diego. They also post weekly and have a solid following, so if you get to make it on their page you will get a good amount of eyes on your business. Their posts are also well written making them look good to their audience. Their post also tells you where you can find the businesses they feature. Once I have my taco stand running I would love to be featured on all three pages. The last page I like on the list is Hypland, the reason why I liked this page is because I love how creative they are with their clothing brand. They took a bunch of 90's animes and put them on shirts and sweaters. Everything they make stands out and captures the attention of anybody. The reason why I like this is because I want to create cool merchandise like shirts and hats that I can sell at my taco stand. They don't post much on their Facebook page but they do post a lot on their Instagram. I've liked their page for a while and have got so many ideas for my own brand in the future. All the pages above that I have liked are helpful for my own business growth in some way or another.  

 Week 2 Part B: Business Research

    Gaby's Funnel Cakes

#1. They don't have a web page, the only way to look them up is by Instagram and Facebook. Their Instagram and Facebook page is Gaby's Funnel Cakes. I wish they had a web page. 

#2. This business is a local food business in Chicago, Illinois. They serve all sorta of food from freshly sliced potato chips to aguas frescas, but their main dish is funnel cakes. They are a local business with a location on the westside of the city at a swapmeet. They also set up around the city for festivals in the summer.

#3. They are only using Instagram and Facebook, they also do not have a website so you have to look them up on their social media site by name. They also post once a month and the last time they posted was on August 6th for both their Instagram and Facebook. They have 1,865 followers on Instagram and they have 272 followers on Facebook. 

#4.  Gaby's funnel cakes were started by my aunt and uncle in Chicago. They have been around since 2012 starting at a swap meet and eventually having stands all over the city. They only have one permanent location on the west-side of the city. During the summer they set up stands at some of the best festivals in the city. They have set up stands at festivals like lollapolooza and the taste of Chicago. They are not as active on social media as other businesses but they are still very popular. They only post about once a month but they are really good at interacting with people on their social media pages. If you guys are ever in Chicago during the summer I really recommend you guys give them a try!

Carlsbad Kickboxing

#1. https://carlsbadkickboxingclub.com/ 

#2. They are a gym who specialize in Muay Thai and Boxing. They also have a regular gym next door with brand new equipment. They are a local gym here in Carlsbad California that started off small but have built a great gym with over 500 hundred members. 

#3. They do not have direct links to their social media pages on their web site. They are only on Instagram, I found them on Facebook but they had 3 accounts that seemed like they have not been used in years. So for this post I will say they only have Instagram. They also post daily with their last post being today, they also post two or three times daily sometimes. They have 22k followers on Instagram. 

#4. Carlsbad kickboxing gym is a great place to train at if you want to learn authentic Muay Thai. If Muay Thai is not your cup of tea then you can always take their boxing classes that are taught by some awesome instructors. They also have personal trainers if you want to accelerate your skills. They are really interactive with their followers and members online. I never had any issues trying to reach them over Instagram and have had great customer service over the phone or in person. From what I have seen they only use Instagram and post daily. 

Hypeland

#1. https://hypland.com/collections/ 

#2. Hypeland is a clothing brand that does a lot of collaboration with Japanese animes. They have great designs on their clothes. They do not have a physical store but they are based out of Los Angeles. They are a global brand with people all over the world who buy their clothes.

#3. They do have direct links to their social media page which is Instagram. They only have Instagram but that is all they need because they have 480k followers. They post weekly and their posts are always pictures of their clothes or of famous people wearing their clothes. The last time they posted was August 30th, they also post on their story daily. 

#4. Hypeland is one of my favorite clothing brands because I love anime. The second reason why I love this brand is because they also use quality fabrics that are worth paying for. Hypeland has been around for about 7 years gradually growing into the global brand they are today. They are also great at interacting with their followers and customers, often having raffles and giveaways for their followers. They have a web site but they are mostly on Instagram where they post weekly and create stories daily. 

Super Rare

#1. https://superareshop.com/

#2. Super Rare shop started as a boxing brand but has turned into a fight shop for not just boxing but for all mixed martial arts. They have two locations one in Brooklyn, New York and the other one in Los Angeles, California. They are an international brand that ships all over the world.

#3. They do have direct links to their social media pages. They are on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They have 94.4k followers on Instagram, I think they deleted their Facebook and Twitter because the links did not lead to their pages. They post pictures and videos of their gear with some pro fighters sporting their logo. The last time they posted was today, which was a picture of boxing shoes. 

#4. I have bought a ton of gear from super rare, boxing gloves, thai pads, hand wraps and even soap made to combat ring worm and other skin infections you can get from training. They also make really cool clothes inspired by legendary fighters like Ali, Bruce Lee, and Mike Tyson. They also make quality custom boxing gloves with your name on them. They are really good at interacting with their followers and they also offer great customer service whether it is over the phone or in person.

Nini's Deli

#1. https://www.ninisdeli.com/

#2. Nini's Deli is a sandwich shop on the north side of Chicago. They have a small menu but trust me, everything on there is great! They are a local shop in Chicago but they were nationally recognized across the country a couple of years ago as one of the top 50 restaurants in the country.

#3. They do have a direct link to their Instagram and Facebook pages. They have 11.9K followers on Instagram and 1,005 followers on Facebook. They haven't posted on Facebook since February, but on Instagram they posted today and they post weekly on their Instagram page. 

#4. The food at Nini's Deli is great! The kitchen sink sandwich with a jamaica lemonade is always my go to when I visit. The owner of Nini's deli has had caught some flak in the last couple of years because of his political and religious views. Besides that he and his staff are really friendly and welcoming. They always get back to you if you message them on Instagram and address any issues you have. I definitely add this to my long list of foods to try in Chicago. 

The number one thing for any business to succeed I believe is having an amazing product, whether it is food, clothes, and sports equipment. All the businesses I listed above have a great social media following or are well known in their communities. The reason for this though is that they have an undeniably great product. If their product was not great I don't think they would have as many followers as they do. 

The second thing I noticed is the pages that posted constantly had the most amount of followers on their social media pages. Having more followers might not always equal more money but it does help in the fact that it gets your business in the eyes of potential buyers or clients. I want to start my own business one day, I don't know what exactly I want to do, but I do know that I want it to be a combination of the businesses I listed above. 
I have always been against social media because it is really easy for me to get sucked in and be unproductive, but I also know if I want to maximize by business potential I will have to be on social media. 

 Week 2 Part A: Communication between business and consumer

    Communication between businesses and consumers has changed a lot throughout the years. Apps like Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Instagram have made it real easy to communicate with businesses from a consumers standpoint. These apps are great if you're a business with a great product and want people to know what others think about your business. This is great for your business because you know what people want and what they might not like, so you can change it to better your business. In the past businesses would only get reviews and promotions mostly from word of mouth which does not have as much of a range as social media does. If you're lucky you might be featured on the local news or a radio station might mention you during commercials. It is crazy to think how much communication has changed when it comes to businesses and consumers. 

    So I looked up reviews to 3 of my favorite restaurants, the first one is Sushi4reel. I love sushi and I love this restaurant! The reviews they got were mostly positive, they have a 4.5 out of 5 which is pretty good. The only negative reviews they got were that they waited longer than expected for their food to arrive. This makes sense because they get backed up with online orders. That alone should tell you how great their sushi is!. The second restaurant I checked out was Guhuan grills reviews which were even better than the restaurant. They have a 4.7 out of 5, all their reviews were great except for a couple which were still not bad. The only complaint they have is that the food is a little pricey which I agree with but the food is definitely worth it. The last restaurant I checked out was Lucha Libre which is a taco shop. Their reviews got the lowest ranking out of the three with a score of 4.3 out of 5. The reviews were still really great and the reason why they have some low reviews is because people are complaining the burritos are not as big. I love these 3 restaurants and I'm happy they all got great reviews. 

    To be honest I have never left a review at a restaurant which I should. After reading all these reviews I feel bad because I should leave reviews to these restaurants I love. Another thing I want to point out is that I will never leave a negative review on a business because I don't want to hurt someones lively hood. People have bad days and so do businesses, so I don't want a crappy day to affect someone's means to provide for their families. From now on though I will make more of an effort to leave positive reviews for great businesses. 

    If I had my own business I would try to respond to every review regardless if it is positive or negative. If I see a positive review I will try to respond timely and thank them for leaving a great review because that will benefit my business greatly. If a person leaves a negative review I will try to respond to it as fast as possible. Honestly negative reviews might take precedent over the positive ones, because I want the consumers to know that I care and take their complaints into consideration. I believe a great business had great customer service. I have also been told people buy from people they like so I will try hard to respond to all the comments. 

Writing a Positive Comment:

    So I went back and left two reviews on different businesses. The first one was sushi4reel, I said they have great food and the atmosphere of the restaurant is great. I also said they will leave happy and satisfied. The second review I left is for a hair product company called Hair craft. I wrote that they have a great hair product that feels great and does not leave for hair feeling dry after using it.