01/03/2018 – This week, the virtual community of Owassoisms turns 8 years old. Looking back it sometimes seem like yesterday, then again it seems like I have been doing this forever.
Eight years ago, “instant information” was just beginning to be big. People could pick up their phones or log on to their computer and breaking news was right in front of them. I was the Marketing Director at a local newspaper for 6 years, and like most print media, subscribers were dropping in big numbers, so return on investment for advertising was as well. My “more social media” interaction idea to turn this around was met with laughter from the powers that be, and I was told it would never work. By the end of 2009 I saw the writing on the wall and decided to leave.
Owassoisms was never meant to be a business. At least, not at first. Honestly it was meant to be an “I’ll show you my idea wasn’t stupid” moment. I started a blog, then a Facebook page that I shared with 20 friends, telling none of them that it was me doing it. Those 20 shares turned in to 2,000 Facebook followers in the first month. Bam! My interaction idea was confirmed! I was happy.
Not sure what my next employment move would be, I kept the blog going, while deciding. During that time Owassoisms continued to grow quickly, and questions started to be asked on who was behind it. I received direct questions to the page and even a “Dear mysterious Facebook Administrator” email from the police department, lol.
At about three months in to Owassoisms, some of my advertisers from the newspaper found out it was me and suggested I run with the idea. Obviously, I did and here we are today.
As we grew, employees had to be hired. We went from a two room office, to a three room office, to the 9 room office that is home today. We expanded to other area communities. Our official name changed to “Community Marketing Partners” as an umbrella over all of the community outlets we serve. We even assist starting community pages in other areas.
We now run numerous local community pages. We also manage numerous Facebook and social media pages for businesses far and wide. So, when you see a post from your favorite local business, it might just be us putting it out. We soon became a full service marketing company for our sponsors. From social media, print to needing a billboard, we can help.
We have evolved as local needs evolve. We let you know events going on with local schools, groups, sports teams and charity organization to help them thrive. Though I have heard differently, we do not charge them for sharing their fundraisers or good deeds. 😊 One of the funnest things we do is give things away to our readers! We love seeing the smiles from the winners.
Over the years, we have helped with a variety of things, like finding lost children to helping you avoid traffic back-ups with our traffic alerts. Countless pets have been reunited with their owners. We helped rally the city together for a fallen soldiers’ homecoming and let you know where you can find those Girl Scout cookies. There is also a lot of behind the scenes help that goes on as well.
Our goal is to be a virtual bond connecting our community in a positive way. Positive is the key word that gets us a lot of hate mail. Sure, we get crappy service at area businesses just like you, but we are not going to slam them on our community outlets. In turn, this means we do not let you slam them here either. But, if we receive outstanding service somewhere, you are sure to hear about it.
Strong language is another tricky subject. We have a very strong spam filter on our Facebook page. People accuse us of deleting their posts all the time, but it is just Facebook hiding them until we review. Example: If you use “!!!” three times in a row, Facebook thinks you are a little too excited and will tend to hide your comment, even though you may be a excited happy and not a mad excited.
Need to let people know about your business? We can help! We let you know businesses coming in, businesses going out, and where you can find the best sales. Our advertising sponsors are what keeps us going, so thank them next time you are in their business. Advertisers we work with must also have a good history. We check them out with the Better Business Bureau and check complaints we may have received. We will not advertise for a business with a sketchy history to protect our readers. Service businesses must be licensed and insured before we will advertise for them as well.
We have several new things planned for 2018. One of them has already begun with our “Everyone has a story” features. We want to know what cool things go on with you, and share it with our community.
So, whether you have followed along with us for the entire eight years, or recently joined us, we are glad you are here. We now have over 113,000 Facebook followers, and Owassoisms.com is hit an average of TWO MILLION TIMES per month!
Happy New year from all of us at Owassoisms and Community Marketing Partners. We hope you check in often to see what plans we have for year nine!
