Once upon a time not so long ago, you could be pretty sure that an employee logged on to a social media site was goofing off. But no more. And we're not just talking about LinkedIn, the business-only networking site. The latest trend is for businesses to have their own presence on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, side by side with personal pages, as well as maintaining business blogs. They may already be the majority.

About 56 percent of Twitter users say they use the site for business purposes, according to Rodney Rumford, one of the keynote speakers at the inaugural Gravity Summit on Social Media.

And it's not just in the high-tech lines of work; our own high-touch gift business is getting in on the act. Gifts & Decorative Accessories caught up with industry members from all walks of life — a retailer, a vendor, a rep and a trade show manager — to find out how social media is helping them do business better.

Allison Olsen, owner of gift store Inside Out in Snohomish, WA, has been blogging and Twittering for three or four months, though she has been in business for six years.

Olsen recommends Twitter as a good first step into social media because it is so easy to do: the microblogging platform gives you up to 140 characters of text to play with in writing your "Tweets," the same length as a text message. "This is almost a perfect way to be a shy person in business because you don't have to be bold and crazy and super creative on Twitter. It is sort of baby's first steps. Pick something that is new in your store and link to it. There are little things that might tie to your business: things that are home and garden or green."

While some users recommend one-on-one back and forth, Olsen disagrees. "No personal conversations," she advises, "this is not instant messaging." Instead, she suggests Twittering things like "we're pleased to be featured in" and then link to a media source (like a newspaper or trade publication) that's written about you. This also boosts your search engine rankings, she points out. "Twitter increases your visibility to Webcrawlers and their view of you as legitimate and relevant."

Olsen also does Twitter-only specials, rewarding customers for following her. "I get in a new line of handbags and I will say, save $2 off, and they can go and view it and then order it for immediate shipment. We'll put our phone number in the Twitter so they can call. We might have a special that is tied to a length of time because the whole point of Twitter is instant. I usually make it within 10 to 24 hours."

Olsen makes short work of claims that Twitter doesn't boost business. "This is what Dell has done and they can attribute $1 million in sales to this," she says. "If I get one sale off of Twitter and Twitter takes me 140 characters, I think that was worth my time. That's less time than I spend in the actual store with a customer. It definitely means I get orders from further away — I got an order from New Jersey last week, and I'm in Washington State! Plus I have had contacts with authors that have resulted in revenue as well. "

Olsen also maintains a blog, which she likes because, unlike emails, readers can delete notifications, but the info is still accessible to them if they want to access it in the future.

Though she emphasizes the importance of regular updates, Olsen says regular doesn't have to mean constant. "For blogs I feel good if I am doing more than one to two posts a week. If you are a big store or a service provider [a daily blog] would be more key. If I am an organization store and can provide a daily organization tip that is more vital because it becomes their Bible, whereas if I have got new stuff every day, it starts to lose its importance." She also started a collective blog among sister retailers/service providers in the Historic District. "All of us have the password and share the work of adding content to the blog," she explains.

If you're technophobic or just time-crunched, social media is something you can delegate, especially to an employee who is an enthusiastic personal user. But it still takes supervision. "One of the girls that I meet with regularly, she does pay a blogger," says Olsen. "She reviews the blogs; she directs what the blog should be about."

Olsen doesn't maintain a business Facebook page; instead, she adds VIP customers to her personal Facebook. "I have had some good sales from that as well, though that is more of a way to build the relationship."

The bottom line, says Olsen, is relevance. "On your Facebook page, blog page, Twitter page you are supposed to write a little description. A good piece of advice is to read that every time you post and think 'is this tied to this,' because you don't want to make your customers go sideways and not meet their expectations. That is a quick way to lose a customer. The more visibility, as long as it is relevant, you're golden."

Kelly Gund, COO of sales rep firm Lineworks, does not mince words. Social media "is essential to any marketing strategy, and any strategy that does not include it is doomed."

Lineworks got on Facebook only about a month ago. Gund explains her approach to creating the page: "I wanted to make it really personal, a glimpse into the Lineworks family, so we have pictures from our tradeshows. I wanted it to be a fun place to go." Lineworks also posts upcoming events like the Virginia show. The page is geared toward vendors and retailers, but Lineworks has even found some consumer fans. "We have a particular line called Poo-Pourri and we have fans on there who are fans of Poo-Pourri. It's really funny the people you start collecting unintentionally."

Part of Gund's goal is that the people she collects will interact with each other, not just with Lineworks. "The stores can put a picture of their storefront and their contact information, participate in industry discussions; it is their community as well. One of the discussions right now is why social networking is so important, is it important? Another is challenges in the industry."

Lineworks' online fanbase is small so far, but Gund says this is only the beginning. "We only have — I think we're in the 30s. It's just a matter of getting people to know that we're there. Of course you've got to start at zero."

It's not just new buyers that Lineworks expects to gain. "We are big believers that the new media is going to give us access to countless new ideas and customers," says Gund. "Companies have got to let go of the idea that all the good ideas come from within their organization."

Tradeshow management MMPI is brand new to social media. Says Trisha Schultz, "We got started with Twitter a week ago, maybe two weeks, tops." They've had Facebook since December, but held off on announcing it because they wanted to talk to buyers and exhibitors first, "because it is new in the industry; getting their feel for it," Schultz explained. MMPI has its buyer relations manager in charge of social media. "She's on all day and sometimes even in the evening," says Schultz. "She sends out information, answers questions, makes appointments for market. We collected all of our show specials for March and we want to post them on Facebook."

"It doesn't take a lot [of time] to start it up, but it is time consuming to keep it going," warns Schultz. "We're on it 2—3 hours, maybe more, a day. You're constantly answering questions and providing information. What is surprising is we've got a lot of our exhibitors on there too. So when buyers ask about product we can contact the exhibitors online."

Whether all this time is paying off, Schultz says it's too soon to say. But she knows MMPI is not alone. "I've checked with boutiques around the Chicago area and they're all getting on it," she says.

Oka b., giftable shoe vendor, joined Facebook on January 15.

Caroline McCoy caught Gifts & Decorative Accessories up with how it's going so far. "We already have around 700 fans. That's just word-of-mouth, people that are just fans of our shoes, and retailers too."

McCoy does exclusive promotions for Facebook fans. "They'll hear on Friday we're doing 20 percent off we'll give them a code so they can go on and get an exclusive deal," she says. "We've also done contests, like 'how do you wear your Oka b.s?'"

She also uses the site to communicate one on one. "We've used it a lot interactively; done Q and As," she said. "If people have concerns or want to know if something comes in a specific color, there's a group of us that get on and answer." Oka b. also gets special requests through Facebook. Though the company can't always meet them, it's a source of inspiration: "it's nice to see what people want to see, designwise."

While a big appeal of social media marketing is its lack of price tag, Oka b. hasn't stopped with Facebook's free features. "We've also experimented with advertising on Facebook," says McCoy. "It definitely spreads the news. It's also helping reach a younger demographic."

But Facebook is only one piece of Oka b.'s coordinated social media strategy. The company also started a blog through Wordpress. (At press time the blog was only four weeks old.) "That's more style tips," McCoy explained. "We get them from runways and looking at spring fashion shows. Those pictures go up on our Facebook page too."

And that's still not all. "We're doing Twitter, that's been huge," says McCoy. Maegan Clark, who handles Oka b.'s Twitter account, says the company has about 260 followers and is gaining about 20 more each day. MCoy estimates "she's probably on there everyday most of the day, though not exclusively," and Clark agrees: "I probably Twitter about 10 times a day." Her Tweets are anything from a new style tip to a heads-up that they've changed their home page to highlighting a new style for spring. "We've made a lot of good blog and media contacts on Twitter; it's a good format to see what people are thinking," says Clark.

A key part of Oka b.'s social media strategy is to have the different channels reinforce each other. On Twitter Clark will Tweet "check us out on Facebook and add us as a friend" while on Facebook McCoy posts "add us on Twitter to hear the latest breaking news about Oka B."

Regardless of the platform, Clark and McCoy agree that availability is essential. "Replying, being consistant, even on the weekends," says Clark, and McCoys says, "people are really interactive with it; they expect a response ASAP."

For a list of where to find gift industry members on social media sites, visit www.giftsanddec.com and use search words "social media." To be included, email your info to editorialdesk@reedbusiness.com.