Simple Solutions: Using social media to help a small business grow

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's still called social media, but Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are far more than social chat rooms. It costs almost nothing, and if you do it right, marketing your business through these channels can be a boon for your profits.

Paige Japhet builds homes. She and her husband Jeff are growing their business with a little bit of old-fashioned salesmanship in a new way.

Long before the walls go up Paige is building a social media presence. From Youtube "ask and answers" to constant pushes on Facebook and Twitter. "We are a small business and we decided let's just try social media. I mean, what's it gonna do? It doesn't cost us anything and I know I'm always on it, so why not," said Paige

The results? Ten calls a day just off the Internet alone. "I know that our sales have doubled since doing social media," Paige stated.

And there's more. "We had about 800 people on Twitter, right now we have 32,000."

Paige and Jeff are not alone. A new study says 90-percent of marketers believe their social media strategies generate more exposure, and 77-percent say business traffic actually increased.

Paige has a tip to help business owners grow on social media. "I realized when I became more personal and shared my life, my kids, my husband, and not our product, we got more followers," Paige continued,"They're going to come to us because they trust us."

A study by Social Media Examiner shows 93-percent of businesses use Facebook, followed by Twitter at 79-percent, Linkedin at 71-percent, and Youtube at 55-percent.

Instagram, not so much. It was only used by 36-percent of businesses.