Growing your FB Fans and Twitter Followers: Hartwick's Innovative Approach

Lisa Hartwick, owner of the kitche n store Hartwicks increased her Facebook fans and Twitter followers by adding a dedicated computer terminal in her store for customers to sign up while they're in the store. She told us about it recently:
Lisa Hartwick: We also have the computer on so people can sign up right then and there.
Kim: And so what was your thought process in doing that?
Lisa Hartwick: Well, actually the manager and one other team member came up with that idea one night. As we were trying to recruit people and handing out flyers about follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Craigslist, (they said), why don’t we just let them sign up in the store right when we have them at the cash wrap, if they say that they’re interested they can just come over and log on immediately to their account and click us to follow.
Kim: And does that happen a lot?
Lisa Hartwick: It has happened quite a bit, I wouldn't say a ton but it does happen a lot. A lot of customers say, “I will, I promise I’ll do it but I’m in a hurry.” Or, “I’m meeting somebody for dinner so I’ll make sure I do it tonight when we get on.” So we get lots of those comments too.
Kim: I just found it interesting because I think many retailers would be afraid to give up that much selling space or counter space for a computer.
Lisa Hartwick: Yes, I mean well, we all ready had that computer there because it’s one of our cash registers, so all we did was spin it around. So for us it wasn’t any inconvenience at all.

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