When Plant City Connections member Marina Baker saw the Lakeland Business Leaders’ Facebook Page, she knew she wanted to start one like it for Plant City Connections.
Lakeland Business Leaders group page has 1,382 members with an active community posting on the page daily. Baker was impressed and knew Plant City Connections, a networking group for small businesses, also could benefit from an active page on which people could post about their business. Baker started the Facebook page in January.
“I’m really excited about it,” Baker said. “I didn’t expect it to catch fire like it did.”
The page has 127 members and is growing.
“We have businesses from florists to mechanics to Deese Scrubs,” Baker said. “We have lawyers; we have CPAs. It’s just a whole hodgepodge. Basically, all the businesses for a small city to function.”
But Baker doesn’t want the conversation to be limited only to businesses. She encourages non-profits, such as churches, to join as well.
Baker hopes the page will help keep business in Plant City. When people visit the page, they will be able to see the businesses in Plant City and have a conversation online with others who may know about additional services and products.
“The thing that bothers me is that pretty much everything you need is here, but you just don’t know about it,” Baker said. “There’s an inner circle of old-town people who know where everything is, but the rest of us don’t.”
Baker gives an example: When she needs organic food, she treks all the way to Tampa to go to Whole Foods. She recently discovered that some of her neighbors have eggs and others grow vegetables. If there were a common forum where they could share they had those goods, then she would have kept her business in Plant City a long time ago.
“Once the conversation starts, it will go outside of the virtual world and into the actual world,” Baker said.
Baker knows the value of using technology. She was a technical writer for a software company that developed programs for the newspaper industry.
She has seen technology change throughout her career and understands social media can create a new conversation.
Plant City Connections, started by Lori and Libby Libhart, has been around for years. For those who want to network, or want to know more about the online conversation, weekly meetings are held at 8 a.m. Tuesdays, at Focus 4 Beauty Career Center.
“I would love to see numbers like on Lakeland’s page,” Baker said. “I would be over the moon. Just join and start talking about who you are and what you can offer.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
Plant City Connections
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/groups/pcityconnections/
WEBSITE: plantcityconnections.com
MEETINGS: 8 a.m. Tuesdays, at Focus 4 Beauty Career Center, 1805 James L. Redman Parkwayvzlomannye.com