Last week I put the Room It Up Corporate HQ on the map – the Facebook map that is!  While we don’t get a lot of foot traffic here in our Stuart, FL offices it got me to thinking about how these new location based platforms (i.e:Facebook and FourSquare) could be great for our Small Business retail partners.  Alas, I bring to you: Social Media Friday: All about location!  Consider this a mini introduction into all things location social media based.

(example of the room it up corporate hq on facebook)

If you have a retail storefront you should make sure that your business has a complete profile on Facebook, FourSquare and Yelp! This will enable your customers to “check-in” at your storefront.  Once someone has checked-in this will allow them to post comments, tips etc.. about your business.  As a bonus everytime a user checks in this will also show up on their various networks, such as Facebook and Twitter – giving even more exposure for your business!  By having these profiles open to the public you will not only be able to see how many people are checking in, but it will also allow you to see the comments, tips, etc.. that people are posting about your business.  This is a great way to get instant feedback and will give you an opportunity to both market directly to these users and also adjust your practices based on the feedback you are receiving.  These profiles are super easy to set up and take minimal time!

You can also have a lot of fun with these location based platforms.  For instance in FourSquare – users have the ability to become the “Mayor” of an establishment based on the number of times you have checked in at a given place.  I have seen before where places have offered “Mayor-only” discounts and promotions.  I also recently came across this article about the 5 new ways small businesses can offer location-based deals which is definitely worth checking out!  You can learn more about these sites and social media in general from one of my favorite websites, mashable.com – i encourage you to visit the site and learn more about social media!  Feel free to post comments with any questions you might have to this posting and I’d be happy to help!  -Alex

Tags: facebook, foursquare, roomitupHQ, social media, yelp

We have a goal – 2,000 Facebook Fans!  Help us achieve this goal by joining our Room It Up fan page today!  Get your friends to join too, by suggesting the page to them!  I can’t give out details but let’s just say a special surprise is in store for when we get to 2,000!  So head on over to your Facebook page and connect with us now!

PS- Those that are our Facebook Fans will get a first look at the Fall 2010 collection that we will debuting next month!

Tags: facebook, room it up fan page, social media

Here at Room It Up we try to stay on the “cutting edge” of things, whether it be introducing new fashion trends in our prints, designing user friendly e-catalogs, creating a great e-commerce website, etc… Our newest venture to add to our list is our Social Media presence.  We realize the power that Social Media has in regards to business and how it is starting to shape the way that consumers view products, companies and personalities on the internet.  Anyone who is anyone has a Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn account right?  With all of the companies out there it is becoming more important than ever for your business to have a presence on these networks and become easily accessible for everyday consumers to see you, or you might get missed!

Today an article about Facebook on Mashable: The Social Media Guide caught my eye (and sparked the idea for this post!).  It reported that people spend approximately 3x more time on Facebook than other popular websites like Google.  What does that mean for us?  I think it means that consumers are looking to connect to people and companies on a more personalized level.  We, at Room It Up, have a presence on 3 of the largest social networks: Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn, as well as this blog you are reading right now!  We are consistently updating our network profiles in an effort to keep our presence up to date and informative.  We find these networks to be great avenues to give and receive feedback about our line and customer service, as well as great places to disseminate quick information and promotions to our “fans” and “followers”.  We can’t wait to see our presence grow even bigger as our brand begins to expand in popularity.  In an effort to grow our presence, we recently added the social media buttons to the bottom right hand side of our screen on our websites to make it easier for consumers and retailers to find us on these networks.

Do you own your own retail business and have you created a presence on the social media websites?  I would love to hear your thoughts and what you think works and what doesn’t work in regards to these social media outlets.

Tags: 2009, branding, facebook, linkedin, room it up, social media, twitter

Congratulations to Angie Black, winner of the $100- Gift Certificate to roomitup.com. You have 24 hours to message us on Facebook with your email address and contact information in order to claim your prize.

Thank you to all who entered our giveaway!! We had a great time looking at all of your posts, comments, suggestions and more! Stay tuned for future contests like this on our blog, facebook and twitter.

Tags: contest, giveaway, promotion, room it up, social media, winner

Get Socially Connected to Room It Up, and enter to win a $100 gift certificate to Room It Up!!!

Read below for the 3 ways to be entered into the random drawing for the $100 gift certificate giveaway.

First, gain your initial entry to the giveaway by visiting our NEW Blog and posting a comment about your favorite Room It Up product. OR how you would spend the $100 if you were to win the giveaway. Please note that in order to post a comment you will have to register with WordPress under User Registration (located on the right hand bottom of the screen). Once registered, you will be all set to post away!

You can gain ADDITIONAL entries by doing any of the below:

Join our Facebook Fan Club! Become a fan of Room It Up on Facebook and make a posting about what you like best about Room It Up, your favorite product, a recent place you spotted Room It Up, etc… Then visit the BLOG tab and click FOLLOW to receive our updates via Facebook. Be sure to head back to the Blog and post about what you did in order to gain the extra entry for the drawing.

Tweet about us! Follow @RoomItUp on Twitter and tweet an @ reply message about our contest, a great Room It Up product you have purchased, the new bargains we just added to our Outlet Sale, etc… The more creative the better! Be sure to head back to the Blog and post about what you did in order to gain the extra entry for the drawing.

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Wednesday September 2nd on both Twitter and Facebook.

Go ahead and start posting away… we can’t wait to see your fun posts, tweets and overall RIU social media love!

The Room It Up Team

PS… This offer is open to all fans of Room It Up including:  people that work, students that pull all-nighters (slackers you can enter too!), moms, dads, store owners, worker bees, even your dog or cat… YOU just need to be a FAN!

Tags: Blog, contest, facebook, giveaway, room it up fan, social media, twitter