Katie's IT Blog

Social News websites are definitely a great source of free advertising for small businesses. I just recently got a job working for a woman who owns an independent travel agency and operates it from her own home. Previously, the target market for the travel agency was jewish singles. Now, it is more simply for people who want to take an off beat adventurous international trip. I have realized through her agency how important social news sites are.


My job for the Steppin' Out Adventures Travel Agency is to keep up with event postings on all of the various social networks and social news sites. Some sites even have a calendar where anyone can post upcoming events. Through posting on all of the sites, we will be able to figure out what generates the most site hits and what sites are really worth the time. Attached to her home site is a tracker that will tell the administrator where they get the most people. The amazing thing to me is that she knows exactly what needs to be done, it is just the time that is needed. In order to keep up with all of the social news sites, a lot of time is needed. I am hired for 10-15 hours a week to just make sure that all of the sites are up to date and all the upcoming trips are advertised well.

I have already learned so much from the owner even though I have only had one meeting. She is really good at keeping up with contacts. Any e-mails she gets from travel companies, jewish groups, singles groups, or anyone who could be a potential market, she sends an e-mail back telling them about her upcoming trips. She keeps all the mass e-mails and keeps track of who she has told about what. She is always open to new markets and keeps all her contacts because she will never know when they might want to put a trip together with her.

There are just too many social news sites on the web that companies really have to do their research to figure out what is worth their time. The market is divided in to so many different segments that establishing a target market is very important if you do not want to waste your time. However, flexibility is also needed in case your original target market is slightly off.

I will make sure to keep you updated about all the new things I learn through my new internship! It should be really interested and perfect for this course!

The picture above is from http://www.steppinoutadventures.com/