I am pleased to introduce Zev and Leslie Rosenberg of Raritan Air Water Power Service. This is part of a series of guest interviews with small business owners in New Jersey. For a past interview, see Interview with NJ Playgrounds.

I previously wrote about Raritan Air Water Power in this post called Say Thank You – a trait the Rosenbergs do well! I got to know the Rosenbergs when our sons were in the same Cub Scout pack.

When did you start your business? We started our heating and air conditioning company here in February 2005. However, we were in business for a number of years when we lived in Potomac, MD. Zev has been in this field for 30 years.

How do you market your business? Currently we market mostly through word-of-mouth. We also send customers reminders about preventative maintenance that should be done in the winter and spring. Being part of the Highland Park First Aid Squad discount card also brings in additional business and customers seem to appreciate the savings.

Customers are very interested in energy savings and we try to alert them to ways to save. There is tremendous opportunity in high efficiency equipment right now due to federal tax credits and utility rebates.

Have you used social media? We currently have a page on Facebook. Readers can become a fan of our page at Raritan Air Water Power Service. We give tips and reminders there on savings and ways to manage your home.

What are some ways a business can keep customers? The most important thing is 100% quality control. For us that means every job that we do the customer has to get a follow-up phone call asking them how things are going and if we met their expectations. Let’s face it, people have come to expect lousy service. When someone’s not happy with the service they’ve received they are likely to go elsewhere, thinking it’s not worth the hassle. Occasionally we have to go back on a service call or installation. It makes the whole situation easier on the customer if we call them. I think people appreciate that you followed up even if they don’t have a problem. Most people are just shocked that once you get paid you even care! That is the biggest thing.

The second thing is to let people know that sometimes they have options of what they can do to repair their equipment. If they do have options, I like to present them and let people decide what best meets their needs.

Third, whenever I make any kind of suggestion on what needs to be repaired, I ask myself, “what would I do if this were my home or business.” I think people appreciate that you are trying to keep their perspective and or help them make decisions that are in their best interest.

Finally, in this current economic climate people need options for paying which is why we take credit cards.

How do you suggest dealing with a difficult customer? The first thing is that you have to establish realistic expectations and listen to what your customer is saying. We try and spell out for people exactly what we can and cannot do and what they should expect. Also you have to understand that not everybody wants what you have to offer. Many contractors will do anything to “get the job.” Because I live here I can’t offer to give someone less than what they need.

•   •   •

Thank you so much, Zev and Leslie, for this interview.

I jokingly told Leslie I was going to photograph one of our toilets, which Zev has fixed while checking our heating system or our air conditioning (he’s multi-talented), but instead I will show you their logo and phone number:

Do you have any questions for Zev or Leslie? Or if you would just like to cheer them on, please feel free to leave a comment.

Eva Abreu, a Social Media consultant, will be giving a series of 4 lectures on Social Media at the Highland Park Public Library.

1. Thursday, September 3: Introduction to Social Media
   What exactly is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Learn how to cultivate business relationships online. Find out how much time is needed and how you will benefit. Eva Abreu is who will show you how to plan and implement your Social Media Campaign.
2. Thursday, September 17: Using Twitter
   Learn why everyone is on Twitter, how to set up a profile, and how to choose who to follow. Also, what to “tweet” about using seach features. Finally you will know how to collaborate and connect online and offline.
3. Thursday, October 1: Using Facebook
   Facebook isn’t just for kids. Learn how to set up your profile, the difference between a group and business page, and how to post events.
4. Thursday, October 15: Blogging – How To Start
   Why should you start a blog? Learn what the difference is between a blog and a website. Find out about easy blogging tools, how often to blog, and what to write in a blog.

You may register at the library, by phone or register online.

Eva’s latest venture is New Jersey Social Media. Learn more on her site.

On November 16, I will be giving a Twitter Research Workshop at the library. More information on that workshop coming soon, including a blog post on how one can do passive or active research on many current topics on Twitter.

Three Thursdays at Three Libraries in Central New Jersey

Last night was the “inaugural” presentation of our Social Media Networking Talks with Eva Abreu as our “Social Media Tour Guide.” Annie Boccio talked about the many friends she has made via social networking. We had a presentation by Paul Grzella about Getting Published in Daily and Weekly Newspapers and MyCentralJersey.com. I presented “Twitter, Blogs and Websites” — more about my presentation in a separate post. Adam Wolf showed ways to target audiences in Facebook; he used his wife’s business, Places Everyone, as an example of how one can attract attention to your site using Twitter and other social media. Jessica Levin taught us how celebrities used traditional media like television and magazines to brand themselves; one can now use social media as a way to brand one’s business or organization.

Thank you to Graham Gudgin for his important role in arranging last night’s talk at the Edison Public Library.

Next week at 7 pm: Highland Park Public Library, 31 North 5th Ave.

One woman asked a question about poor spellers. Can one advertise one’s business via social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs) and misspell words? If it’s a small business, what do you do? Suggestions?

In honor of Diana Hakakian, Chiropractor

As a follow-up to my post on Twitter for Local Business, here are some ideas on how a chiropractor can use Twitter to connect with potential new clients.

Step One: Sign up and pick a username. It can just be your first or last name with an initial, or you can choose an alias like this one: DrMommy. As you are working at present yourself as a health professional, you will want to add a photograph of yourself, to show you are a real person. You can poke around on Twitter to see what others are using to get some ideas. You can change the user pic easily later, if you like.

Step Two: Add a few sentences to your bio on Twitter. This is important. Why should people follow you back? You need to provide them some kind of idea of who you are and of your interests. If you have a professional blog, website, page on LinkedIn or Facebook, add the URL.

Step Three: Write your first tweet. Tweets must be 140 characters or less. An example:

“I am so glad I have been able to help my new client with her back pain after her accident.”

You can even phrase it as a question:

How can find others on Twitter who might need chiropractic services?”

Or:

“I’m a newbie on Twitter, but I’m not new to health services. I know a lot about” (fill in with x y and z).

Step Four: Write a tweet with a link to an article. It can be any article, but why not choose one that will show your knowledge of your health profession? To write a tweet with a link to an article, first put in the title of the article. That will help get others attention. Then paste in the URL. If your tweet is now more than 140 characters, and your Twitter application does not automatically shorten it, you can use a URL-shortening service to get a shorter URL.

Step Five: Find others to follow. If you already have a few friends on Twitter, follow them (and ask them to follow you back). That way when you click on new followers, you have at least a few people following you already.

Here are some chiropractors that tweet:

• DrMommy
• chiromama
• HandsonHealth
• drhenderson
• chiroqueen
• dr_jennifer
• WellnessDocAz
• chiromoos
• ClinSigPro
• thespecific
• drrobs
• DrDavayneDC
• matthewloop (social media tips)
• digitalchiro (social media training for chiropractors)

Updated: Digital Chiropractor (digitalchiro) trains chiropractors on how to use social media as a marketing tool for their practices.

For learning more about Twitter, I highly recommend following clydeboom.

Step Six: Follow people in your area. Chiropractors need to have clients that are in their own geographical area. Here are some tools to help you find local people:

• Nearby Tweets
• TwitterLocal
• Twellow: Twitter Directory

You can also look in http://wefollow.com/ for Twitter users in your area. I am listed in the New Jersey section (search for newjersey).

Step Seven: Talk to the people you have followed. You can reply (@username) to their tweets. Or you can RT (re-Tweet) what someone said. Retweeting is an excellent way to show you enjoyed what the person had to say, and you want to pass the valuable information or inspirational thought unto others. I often reTweet good articles.

Step Eight: Learn how to search. Twitter is a great tool for research on anything current. You can try searching for ‘health’ or ‘back pain’ or ‘chiropractic’ or any other keyword. Some search tools:

• http://search.twitter.com/
• http://twitterfall.com/
• Twitter application TweetDeck has search tools built-in.

Question: Do you need to have a blog to go on Twitter?
Answer: No. However, the more web presence you have, the more professional you will appear to potential clients. LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs on WordPress.com or on Blogger are all free ways one can market oneself. A professional website or a professional blog can be aides in marketing your services to these potential clients.

Want to learn more?

• Jennifer Fong explains What is Social Media?.
• If you live in New Jersey, attend a talk by Eva Abreu about Social Media. She will be at the Highland Park Public Library on April 30 speaking about Social Media Marketing. I will be there, too!
• More links for learning in my recent post: Twitter Twitter Twitter

If anyone has more ideas about how a health professional can use Twitter to reach potential clients and market their business, please feel free to leave a comment. Questions are also most welcome.

On Tuesday I attended my first meeting of a local networking group, BNCJ. I found the other attendees friendly and informative, and I look forward to joining the organization. There was a lawyer, a home inspector, a contractor, a travel agent, a financial services representative and an stock broker. And me, the web designer! Or web builder, as I sometimes call it. Design is only a small part.

At one point I mentioned Twitter, and some of other people had never heard of it. “Twitter? Is that like Facebook?” Actually, it’s much easier to use, I responded. Instead of connecting with people you already know, it’s easy to meet new people. I cautioned them not to use Twitter for direct sales (you will get unfollowed fast if you are too pushy). The people I follow want to have intelligent discussions on a variety of topics.

Yesterday I posed the following question on Twitter:

Shimon responded: “answer (IMO): yes if they have tips and promotions (like make up tips for women or computer coupons). Women oriented should b better”

liajen (aka Jennifer Fong) responded: “I believe it can. You just build your targeted niche through local searches (such as with twellow) & build relationships.”

What do you think? How can a local business use Twitter?

Sky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, dark skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.

I took this photo standing in Highland Park looking across the river at New Brunswick last month in early December. I believe that steeple is in Cook/Douglass Campus of Rutgers (Voorhees Chapel?).

These last two photos were taken this morning. Much bluer sky, right? The above shows the contrasts of old and new architecture in New Brunswick.

This is Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, one block from the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University. I was visiting my favorite computer fix-it folks: Cyber Knight Computers.