@JoelECarlson: Hello, and welcome to today’s Twitterview, No. 250, with my guest @AnnieDSouz of @YelpMSP. Lets learn more about her!
Annie: Hi Joel!
Q – #1 So @AnnieDSouz, you grew up in the Twin Cities. After attending the UofMadison WI, what was your 1st job?
Annie: I started teaching Spanish to little ones and interning with @metromag a couple months out of college.
Q – #2 What steps led you from @metromag over to eventually be at @YelpMSP?
Annie: I started freelancing for a few publications, websites and nonprofits, but mostly entertainment and travel writing.
Then I just saw my dream job pop up in the Weekly Yelp newsletter and I knew I had to have it.
I love writing, but I was looking for a different kind of challenge and the @YelpMSP Community Manager gig was it
Q – #3 As Community Manager for @YelpMSP, what are you responsible to take care of?
Annie: Local marketing, events, PR, the Weekly Yelp, biz owner education, social media and a small mountain of other things
Q – #4 I see. @Yelp has been around for awhile when it comes to SM platforms. What are some features that ppl might not know?
Annie: Our events are still under the radar, even though we have something going on all the time.
Cupcake Camp is tomorrow, Burger of the Month Club is on Thursday, Trivia on Saturday.
And on the business side, we have a ton of free tools to help business owners manage their Yelp profile…
Business owners can post photos and announcements, respond to reviews, create check-in deals for the Yelp app, etc.
Small business owners think Twitter/Facebook, but @Yelp is where they can reach their customers directly.
Q – #5 Great tips for using @Yelp. Now about YOU! FAVORITE(S): Restaurant or kind, store or kind, comfort food, hobby/activity.
Annie: Indian is my bread and butter. Or Mexican. Or anything edible. I just love good food.
I’m a thrifter. It’s so hard to pick a local favorite, but I do frequent @rewindvintage and @BlacklistMpls regularly.
Comfort food=mac ‘n’ cheese. A box of Annie’s, sub cream cheese for milk and add too much grated sharp cheddar.
As for hobbies, try to play tennis as often as I can in the summer (oddly, on a Boston Scientific team).
Q – #6 Of course Annie’s! :) To end today, what personal or professional goal are you currently working on?
Annie: One of my big goals this year was to take a real, unplugged vacation, which I didn’t do last year.
Two weeks in Peru should do the trick!
@JoelECarlson Peru??? That’s awesome with a capital A! Thank you very much Annie for your time and comments today! Enjoy the trip!
Annie: Thanks, Joel!
Thanks for the Twitterview, Joel! Someday we’ll have to talk social media IRL etiquette too. I’ll let you know when I start my social media charm school!