Dear Restaurant Owners:

I have been involved with social media now for the last three years and have always been an advocate that restaurants should be using twitter and facebook.

I know for a fact that when restaurants engage with me, I will most certainly  be “checking out” that their restaurant to show some “love” right back at them. Case in point: Table 17. They engaged with me so much, that I organized TWO tweet ups there.

I’m a little slow with “liking” restaurants on facebook but lately have gotten up to speed. (what took me so long?). One weekend, I saw THREE  facebook updates that interested me:

a) Butter Avenue posted: Matcha Latte is now available.

Perfect for a Winter Day

b) LaBamboche posted: Here’s a photo of our bacon and blood orange macaron

c) SmashCake Desserts: She posted on twitter about her frozen peanut butter cheesecake cookies. I was so intrigued that I ordered 4 of them in a heartbeat. I would have never heard of this young entrepreneur based in Toronto had I not seen her tweet.

Guess who went running to both restaurants? ME. That’s right. What I’m trying to say is: Facebook and Twitter really work. There is a ROI – it’s hard to tell because not everyone announces that they came to your restaurant cause they saw your post but it DEFINETELY works.

However you have to use it and manage it. You can’t just post or tweet and not check in for a week. This defeats the purpose.

It also defeats the purpose if your staff do not know that the restaurant is on twitter and what the twitter username is – this actually drives me crazy. I can’t spread the love about your restaurant on twitter if none of  your staff know the twitter username!

Ok – enough said. I think you get it.

PS. Would love to know from anyone else who has made purchases as a result of facebook or twitter.

For more info:

Butter Avenue 3467 Yonge St. (647) 341 8686 Twitter: @butteravenue Facebook: www.facebook.com/butteravenue

LaBamboche:  1712 Avenue Road & 4 Manor Rd Twitter: @labambocheTO Facebook: www.facebook.com/labambochepatisserie

SmashCake Desserts: Twitter @SmashCake_TO Facebook: www.facebook.com/iwantsmashcake.com   Tel: (905 616 2480).

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Quite regularly I stumble upon new businesses/restaurants/services while on Twitter. My latest find is a start up called Spinzo.

I started to chat with them via twitter and liked what they were all about. Now I want to share with you, (dear readers) what Spinzo is all about. I am also going to run a contest today with Spinzo!! What’s super cool about this contest is the fact that I could pick any prize I wanted for my readers!!

They originally offered me an iPad as a gift but I said “hmmm…my readers are mostly foodies so what about a gift to KITCHEN STUFF PLUS. Thats right…you could win a $250 gift certificate to Kitchen Stuff Plus to buy anything you want.

Love. This. Store.

When I went to visit my local Kitchen Stuff Plus, I was eyeing this piece of kitchen equipment. Now who wouldn’t want to  win a $250 Gift Certificate towards a purchase of one of these beauties?

One of my favorite appliances in my kitchen!!

Ok..back to Spinzo. Who are they? They are a Canadian Startup dedicated to offering dynamic pricing on great local experiences.

Want to know how to participate in this amazing contest?

All contestants have to do is post their purchase requests to the Spinzo Facebook page or Spinzo Twitter page.

These purchase requests can be about anything!

Important: (really important) Please use @momwhoruns in these requests: i.e : “I heard about #SpinzoSavesTO from @MomWhoRuns and I really want a new Kitchen Aid” (or another request like pots, cutlery etc)

Post requests to: Facebook.com/SpinzoToronto  OR on Twitter.com: @spinzotoronto) 

No need to leave a comment below…just head over to the Spinzo Facebook page or onto Twitter!!

So what do you think? Easy peazy contest non? Not to mention, a gift certificate to Kitchen Stuff Plus is SWEET. The contest will run from Tuesday Aug 21st to Tuesday September 4th at midnite. This contest is open to anyone in Toronto and the gift certificate can be used at any of the Kitchen Stuff Plus locations. Random.org will used to select the winner and that winner has two weeks to get in touch with me. Otherwise a new winner will be selected.

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As you know, I’m kind of a “contest junkie” so when I saw a tweet from Insomnia saying they were giving away a pair of tickets to see the screening of HYSTERIA…..I was right on it.

I clicked on their facebook  page and saw this:

Insomnia Restaurant and Lounge

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Social Media and Job Hunting. It works!! Here’s my Story:

I went away on vacation, only to return last Wednesday to find out that I was unemployed. I immediately updated my profile on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.  I stated that I was “Seeking Employment as a Sales Rep or a Community Manager”. Immediately I had two replies on Facebook to contact two separate companies and two retweets on twitter.I was impressed.

By 1 p.m…I had a meeting with 3 foodie friends (@TheBumpercrop, @afoodgypsy @lisataerk). They brainstormed with me and delivered a “go-Vicky-go” type of speech.

The pep talk worked!!

On Thursday, I met with @nearafar who also answered some more job hunting questions and gave me another pep talk.

On Friday, I received emails from @HorriblePeanut @FiestaCupcakes @CDNFoodieGiirl, and @Labamboche with leads. I was truly feeling supported by my twitter friends. Oh yeah – there was another friend (who sadly is not on twitter) who sent me numerous emails with ads too.

On Sunday I met with @sackman66 at 7:45 a.m for TWO hours of networking. WOW..I was on a roll. My friends were really there for me and I was ever so grateful.

On Monday morning, I had a phone call with someone from twitter who was looking for some assistance with her start up .We even met for coffee in the afternoon. Sadly it wasn’t a great fit but once again “twitter’ made the connection (thru a retweet cause I wasnt following her).

On Monday nite, I finally sent out my resume to one of the companies that contacted me thru Facebook earlier last week.

On Tuesday morning, I heard from her and at 2 p.m I was in the office…. armed with my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone….ready to work!!

Now how awesome is this story!! Whats even more awesome is I’m working with a company that I really believe in and when I walked into the office I knew FOUR people (thru twitter of course).

I have to finish this blog entry with this photo. The office has this machine in the kitchen:

It’s a VITA MIX and my boss was all too happy to demonstrate how it works!! This means, I was treated to this delicious bowl of hot soup that was made in less than 10 minutes.

I am now working for Shes Connected and I’m beyond thrilled to be part of this team.

Morale of the story: Use Social Media if you are job hunting and don’t be afraid to change your profile!!

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