Attention coffee house owners: Here are the 5 social networks I believe you should join, or at the very least observe. #1: Twitter Twitter is huge. Your customers are likely talking about you on Twitter and wish you were on Twitter. Millions of people are chatting about everything on Twitter. Try searching for the name of a coffee shop on their search site. #2: Yelp Yelp is fast becoming the #1 place for people to write their own reviews of restaurants, businesses, and also coffee shops. Guaranteed your favorite coffee shop is listed and probably reviewed. #3: Flickr Flickr is one of the oldest and most popular photo sharing sites on the Internet. I personally upload a bunch of photos of Arizona coffee houses. #4: Facebook Every coffee house should have a Fan Page on Facebook where people can become a fan. #5: Brightkite Brightkite isn’t as popular, but lots of people are “checking in” at coffee shops and posting photos from their cell phones. What social networks have I missed? Are you already connected? Share a link to your profile in the comments.
Victor I never could get into Twitter. Tried it several times and just don’t get it, I guess. 0 Reply July 17, 2009
Psyd It could be that Victor and I are too old-school, or just too old to get in on this. It could be that Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and their ilk are simply vehicles to make money by selling space to advertisers, and in some cases (check your G-mail TOS) just a sophisticated phishing scam. I’d rather pay for a coffee and the new Avenue than join Twitter to tweet for a free cuppa. 0 Reply July 17, 2009
Tom Maegdlin You forgot Matt Milletto’s Baristaexchange.com! Great place for cafes and baristas to network. If you join don’t forget to join the Arizona Barista Network group. 0 Reply July 17, 2009
Brian I think this is a good list. Seriously, it should be printed out on a flyer and dropped off at all coffee shops. 0 Reply July 18, 2009
Curtis Miller I’m not into Facebook, but I hear there are a handful of people that use it… What do you think of Foursquare as an alternative to Brightkite? TechCrunch recently had an article about how Foursquare could benefit businesses: http://is.gd/1Dwqo 0 Reply July 18, 2009
Chris Tingom Curtis, I’ve been using Foursquare, as you know, but it needs time before it hits mainstream. But then again, if a shop were go give the Mayor a free drink every time, and made it a contest, I could handle that!! 0 Reply July 18, 2009
Chris Tingom Tom, Baristaexchange.com is definitely one I missed (I kind of figured someone would mention it, actually). Thanks for pointing it out. 0 Reply July 18, 2009
Psyd Yeah, I just got into the AZ Barista Group on BX. Something tells me that the inter-city espresso throw down is gonna get interesting. Tom, Chris, y’all chat about that and start hypin’ it. I’ll go try to pour another swan, instead of a chicken or a budgie. 0 Reply July 18, 2009
