Durocher's+TV+&+Appliances-+Kaitlyn+Durocher

=**Durocher's TV and Appliances**= = = =**Kaitlyn Durocher**= Durocher's TV and Appliances 734-241-7626 222 South Monroe St. Monroe, MI 48161

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=144701647&trk=tab_pro info@durochersonline.com [] [|http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000959732249] https://twitter.com/#!/Durochers http://www.flickr.com/photos/76568572@N05/

=Final Week- Summing it All Up=

Durocher's TV and Appliances Sells Furniture, Electronics, and Televisions Needed to create a better Facebook, update their website, and explore other social media sites info@durochersonline.com [] [|http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000959732249] https://twitter.com/#!/Durochers http://www.flickr.com/photos/76568572@N05/



Through this project I learned that while social media is something that teens grow up with it is not always easy to control or maintain it within a professional aspect. My business, Durocher’s TV and Appliances, which is actually owned by my dad, knew **//very//** little about social media before I began to work with them on it. They had a Facebook, but it was not maintained. The only thing they really had going for them was their website which is controlled by one of the employees. By working with Durocher’s I was able to help them understand social media sites and expand them in order to help their business grow, but it wasn’t all easy and not everything I wanted to get accomplished got to be. Social media has many facets to it and learning how to fully utilize it for a business can be challenging. The first thing I focused on with Durocher’s was their Facebook. Together we made a fan page and an updated page. People began “liking” the page and numerous customers said they heard about our sales through it. Next, we tried to establish Twitter as another one of the sites; however, Twitter was a bit more difficult to succeed with. Twitter was harder to work with because the ages we are aiming toward selling things to do not usually have Twitter pages (not where I live anyway) so, spreading the news that we had a Twitter meant little to nothing to many of our customers. Hence, the Twitter page did not meet our expectations as we had hoped it too, but we are still working on it and will continue to even when I finish this project. Also, we updated the website and I taught the guy who manages it, Rich, how to manage all of the other sites. The website is a definite success. Another failure we had was when it came to my idea of creating a blog. Since I know little about appliances I could not put together the blog on my own and everyone else either was not interested or did not have time to help me. Once we get Twitter going smoothly, however, my dad said he will sit down and help me create the blog for our customers to better understand our products. Now that I am finished with this project I am urging my business to continue to keep up with it all. They now realize that simply taking five minutes to update the sites is well worth it as it attracts customers to the store. I encourage my business to keep telling others about our sites and to always put our sales on each one. My dad and Rich will be taking over once I am done.

__**Successes:**__

 * The Facebook page
 * The Facebook fan page
 * The website
 * Running ads and sales through Facebook
 * Attracting customers via Facebook
 * Referring people to our pages
 * Teaching other employees how to control the sites

__**Failures:**__

 * Gaining followers on Twitter (won't give up though!)
 * Putting links to our other social media sites on our website (Rich could not figure out how to so if anyone knows how, let me know please)
 * Creating a blog
 * Sparking interest in our blog
 * Sparking interest in Twitter
 * Getting the Facebook fan page to be under Durocher's Facebook page instead of mine; it just won't let me switch it over for some reason

__**What I learned:**__
= =
 * Social media is very useful and can really help a person, business, or charity expand.
 * Social media can be challenging and not as easy as it appears to be
 * Sites must be maintained and updated often for them to be successful
 * Where I live, Twitter is not common for older generations, but Facebook is
 * People love to interact over social media sites
 * Social media is hard to keep up with
 * Social media can be difficult to get to work the way you want it too
 * When used correctly, social media can be used for a lot more than just socializing

= = =Week 6- Sales and Promotions=

This week Durocher's had different sales advertised over Facebook, Twitter, and mainly the newspaper. They had a sale where the first ten people to like our fan page got to come in to the store and get a free bottle of furniture cleaner. People were a bit confused as to which page to like (as they kept only liking the status,) but it did gain us likes and attract people to the store. We got rid of seven out of the ten bottles we were giving away and the people who claimed those bottles also bought different things around the store.

The next sale they had was where we payed double the customers sales tax on their purchases. So, say their tax came out to $10, they did not have to pay that amount but we took off $20 from their final amount. It was rather confusing, but people loved it. The sale is still going on currently and as I worked at the store today I noticed a lot of sales and new customers. Hence, I think it was a success.

As for the social media sites, the guy in charge of the website has added links to all of the other pages and I am teaching how to be in charge of Twitter and Facebook now too just in case I go off to school next year.

I can definitely tell that the efforts I have been making towards bettering the store through this project have not gone un-noticed. People compliment me a lot on the Facebook and the Twitter is still growing. My dad is definitely grateful too as he is clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff.

**Feel better, Kaitlyn!!**

=**Week 5- Making Progress**=

Twitter- I have //finally// figured out the problem with Twitter and am now working on expanding followers and the amount of tweets we have. My dad is coming up with a list of things that he would like to see us tweet about so that will be very, very helpful as I know nothing about appliances and furniture.

Facebook- We discovered that we had TWO fan pages instead of one. How this happened, I do not know. So, I deleted the one with the least amount of likes. However, for some reason now the page is linked to my personal account and it won't allow me to link it to Durocher's regular Facebook page. This is another things I will have to look in to and fix.

Website- Rich, who is in control of the website got all of the information of our different sites from me and is going to put links to each of them on our website. He isn't sure how to do this and neither am I so it may take a week or so, but once it's done I know it'll attract so many more people since it'll be easier to access and find everything.

As for promotions and sales we are going to do the "guess the appliance" sale and my dad has a few others in mind that he is working on to get out there. I have been sick with strep throat all week so I haven't been to work at all, but I have done what I could from home to keep this project progressing.

--Karl
 * Hi Kaitlyn,**
 * Nice photos! Great that you'll show interiors next time. I'd love to play, "Guess the appliance and get it for free!" and just show a super abstract little part of a blender or something. It might mean you lose a a few inexpensive appliances, but it would sure get a**ttention! People might even come into the store to see if they can identify it. Don't have to do it, but it could work? :)

=Pictures=

I took these three pictures (while at work) to add to our Twitter and Facebook pages. The pictures the sites have now are not very attractive and look unprofessional. Now, these pictures will be more appealing for our fans and and will attract more people to the sites. I uploaded the pictures to all three pages and all of the workers at the store immediately complimented me on them. They said that it already shows that our sites are improving and that it looks much cleaner and professional. I plan to take pictures of different appliances and products and then upload them now too. I think that will attract even more people because they will be able to actually see what we offer in our store.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/76568572@N05/6876553812/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/76568572@N05/7022656573/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/76568572@N05/7022656671/

=Week 4- Gaining "friends," "followers," & "likes"=

This week Durocher's TV & Appliances and I started working on our blog page. I've realized that this is going to take some time to develop because there are **so** many different products and descriptions that need to be added in order to help customers understand the products we sell more fully. Also, since I know little to nothing about dishwashers etc. I am relying solely on the workers of the store to get all of the information for me and then I will create the blog. This may be a couple weeks process. However, once it's finished and marketed I feel our customers will utilize it and appreciate it a lot.

Next thing we did this week was brainstorm ideas to promote the business. We already had our Pot of Gold Sale which went really well, but now we are doing a sale over Facebook basically. I uploaded a picture of a furniture cleaner that the store sells and the first ten people to "like" our fan page can come into the store (with a copy of the Facebook status as proof) and pick up a free bottle of furniture cleaner. I feel this will be fun for the customers //AND// it will attract more people to both our fan page and our store. Which, by the way, I created a fan page this past week for the store instead of just having a normal Facebook page. I am still developing the page though as I need to take a few pictures and put them as the cover picture etc. The picture we're using now looks bad and I plan to take numerous pictures in order to clean it up.

For our next sale we are planning to do the promotion that IKEA did. However, as I said below, I don't fully understand what they did so I have to look into that and figure out how we want to do it for our store. My goal is to attract as many people as possible to our pages and then to our store.

We have gained many friends and likes this past week. However, I am still having issues with the Twitter. When I tweet they do not show up to anyone but me for some reason. I am fixing that as we speak (online tutorials are very helpful.) Hence, our Facebook and fan page is growing nicely and I am now going to focus on the Twitter page so next week I can say it is growing nicely as well.

The guy who is in charge of the website is working on adding links to all of our other sites and he is also helping me with the blog. I feel we are moving along nicely in these aspects.

Today, I am going to go to the store and take numerous pictures both for the assignment and because as I said our fan page really needs them.

Thank you! I appreciate that! :)

Also, I talked to my dad and we definitely want to do the thing IKEA did, but I don't exactly get it. I know they posted pictures of products on their Facebook and then people tagged others in it or something of that sort but how was the winner of the product decided? The store has a ton of old inventory so this would be perfect to not only clean stuff up but also to attract more customers. As for the Twitter, I think something is wrong with it because I am tweeting and I can see the tweets but when I look at the page from my personal Twitter I don't see more than four tweets. So, I am going to remake it since I have no idea whats wrong with it. Thank you for your tips and help, I really appreciate it! Have a good rest of the week!

- Kaitlyn

Hi Kaitlyn! You're my hero for going on a service mission. How wonderful of you.
You have given this a lot of thought, and it's all good. A couple of things. You should get the webmaster to put Facebook and Twitter links on the homepage. You know, the Facebook promo IKEA did with tagging showroom photos might work with Durochers! Maybe there's some inventory that hasn't been sold in years they could give away? Your Facebook link doesn't work and nothing comes up on a search. Also, the Twitter hasn't been updated this week. I realize that some older people may not be on it, but a lot of people are, and people on Twitter are smart and many have money. You could look up the demographics of a Twitter user.

Great job!

=Mind Map= = = == = = =**Week 2 & 3- Progress Made**=

This past week I was in Costa Rica for a service spring break and had no access to internet. However, the company and I have made some improvements in their social media since I last posted on the Wiki.

My dad, his accountant, and one of his sales person's who was in charge of the website before me and I all sat down again and talked about the sites.

We re-created the Twitter page and have four followers so far and about 15 tweets. I know this is not a lot, but in Monroe people view Twitter as something for teenagers so many adults do not have one. However, I am going to show some of MY friends our account and let them relay it to their parents. I think this will be the best way to go about gaining more followers because a lot of the people I know come into the store because they recognize our last name as the stores name. Constantly I am being asked if I am related to the "Durocher's who own the furniture store." Hence, it is a popular name in my hometown so I can use my networks to create a bigger one for the store.

This past weekend Durocher's had a St. Patty's Day Pot of Gold Sale. Every time a customer bought something they got to reach into a pot of gold and draw out a coin with a discount price on it. Whatever the percentage was, was what the customer got deducted from their final amount.

I knew this was a huge sale for the store so I advertised it on both Twitter and Facebook. I updated status's and Tweets while I was working informing people of the sale and what coins were left in the pot. People liked our status's and commented on them as well. Once woman even told me the only reason she knew about the sale was from Facebook.

We also have gained about fifty friends since I took over the Facebook and I continue to have people from around the community add our page.

The name on our page is "Durocher's TVand Appliance.:" The person who made the account said he could not change the name because it was too long (which confused me) but everytime I try to change it, it won't allow me too. I am going to continue to work on changing the name though because I feel it looks unprofessional even though people still know what it is I would like it changed.

I updated the "About Me" and other information on our Facebook to help people understand what the business is all about.

As for the Website, the salesperson who is in charge of it changed all of our products to the updated models and updated our contact information as well.

For this week, I want to sit down with everyone again and decide on our blog as I think we are ready to start it now that we're getting the social media sites going. I want to make the Wordpress page, but then teach someone else how to manage it so they don't rely solely on me. Then, I plan to spread the news of the blog on our other sites. I think the blog could be very useful to customers since there are so many different brands that we sell and it can get pretty confusing. The blog can clear up any confusion and customers can refer to it if they don't want to call us with a question.

That's all for this week!

=**Week 1- The Beginning**= = = __The Business:__

The business I will be working with on this project is Durocher's TV and Appliances. This is my families business which my dad owns and I am a secretary at. My grandpa started this business in 1951 as a radio service. Now, however, the business sells furniture, appliances, televisions, parts, humidifiers, cell phones, and other such things. Durocher's delivers and does service calls. I decided to work with this business because it is near to my heart as my father owns it and because they desperately need help with their social media sites. I hope to improve their sites to widen their clientel list.

__First Meeting:__

I met with my dad and his accountant, Tracy, for our first meeting. We discussed how I will be helping them expand and better their social media and we all agreed it needed a lot of help. We talked for about an hour on the different types of social media that they can utilize. We decided to use their current website, Facebook, and Twitter. Once we get those running nicely we plan to start a blog all about furniture and appliances to help clients find what they are looking for.

We decided against such social media accounts such as Tumblr and Myspace because they are not as popular as Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress etc. Hence, when we decide to create a blog we will be using Wordpress. We also decided on this because due to this class I understand and know how to use Wordpress and can easily teach it to someone else.

Sadly, I had made the company a Twitter account before but for the life of me I can not remember the password so I have to start from scratch. Which is alright overall because the account needed work anyway.

Through this meeting I learned that this won't be an easy task. There is a lot of updating that will need to be done as new deals are coming out constantly. Also, I will need to train someone to take over the accounts once I move to a different college (which I plan to do next year.) This alone will be difficult as none of them are very tech-savvy.

However, we accomplished a lot by setting our goals which basically are to create the Twitter account and clean up the pages first off. After this we will continue to update the sites and try to grow our "likes," "friends," and "followers."

Since this is a small business I believe social media could really help the store expand.

Stay tuned for more updates! :)


 * Hi Kaitlyn, what goes on here? You're supposed to have a second week and** **a mind map here outlining your strategy. Y****our goals are pretty simplistic and vague. You spoke for an hour about this to the client and I want to hear about it. This is supposed to be detailed (250 words long). Very disappointing. -Karl**
 * Hi Karl, I did not realize the mind map went on this page, I posted it as a link under pages and links in the wiki. I will add it to this page however. Also, I was in Costa Rica for 10 days and could not access internet making it hard for me to update all of this. I apologize for the dissapointment and will keep more focues on it! - Kaitlyn**