Social Media Workshop for Small Businesses

On Saturday June 23rd, Cowerks, the Asbury Park co-working community, will be hosting a workshop on “Social Media for Small Business”. This half-day workshop will give attendees all the tools they need to create and execute a social media strategy for their business or brand. The workshop will take place at the Cowerks office space located at 230 Mattison Ave in Asbury Park.

The workshop will cover a plethora of information on social media platforms and new media tools, and give small businesses owners the power to leverage these resources to convert a network of members to customers. The in-depth workshop will teach attendees how to create brand identities on Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Pintrest, LinkedIn and YouTube. Tips and hands-on tutorials will demonstrate how to tailor social media campaigns to targeted demographics, use blogs to engage readers, conduct sales through sites such as Facebook and Pintrest and understand how purchasing decisions are affected by social media.

“The main goal of the workshop is to empower  and enable small business owners to have control of social networking and teach them that it's not intimidating” says Cowerks co-founder and workshop organizer Bret Morgan. “They can take control of it on their own without hiring a company or expensive agency.”

The workshop will also work alongside business owners to assist them in creating a social media plan. Creating a plan will help determine what channels to use, what people to engage, and what conversations to join. It will also help by examining what platforms are in use or could be used, what conversations already exist, what’s important to stakeholders, and what resources are available to create the plan. Morgan says “the business owners will make a specific plan to their business and there will be a follow up session where progress will be demonstrated and any questions will be answered.”

The workshop will run approximately 4 hours with a 1 hour follow up session.  It is geared towards all levels and is perfect for retail business owners, small businesses, bar/restaurant managers, freelancers, home-based businesses, and anyone looking to expand their “online” presence.

Attendees should bring their own laptop or tablet as this will be a hands-on workshop. The cost is $59.95. Tickets can be purchased at http://cowerks-SM101.eventbrite.com. More information on this workshop and other upcoming sessions with Cowerks, head to the Jersey Shore Tech MeetUp group at http://www.meetup.com/Jersey-Shore-Tech/.