“Su Socio de Negocios” Expo Explores Social Media Sites

Los Angeles, CA --September 29, 2009--Technology and marketing experts shared insights and tips about using Twitter, Facebook and other free or almost free social media tools to an audience of Hispanic small businesses gathered in Los Angeles. Over 300 Latino entrepreneurs participated in El Clasificado’s free annual Su Socio de Negocios micro business expo on Tuesday, September 15 for the engaging Spanish language presentation by social media marketing experts Ariel Coro of the Tú Tecnología segment of Univision’s Noticiero 34, and Cristina Barvo of CREST Creative Strategies.

The topic at this “Su Socio de Negocios” expo –El Clasificado’s seventh such expo—was chosen in order to fill a void in this kind of information for Spanish speakers. According to some of the latest insights in a report released March 25 from market research firm Mintel, online Hispanics spend 90 minutes longer than non-Latinos using social networking websites or chatting via instant messaging.

Honorio Castillo of Galaxy Auto Body in Long Beach recently started using the internet to place free online classifieds. “The economy has forced me to slash many of my budgets, starting with advertising, so within the past two months I’ve gotten pretty resourceful about using the internet’s free services,” attested the expo attendee. “My son has shown me a little about social sites like Facebook, but it was great to learn how I can use these for my business.”

Coro and Barvo, besides covering the use of Twitter and Facebook, included the topics of search engine optimization(SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) Google Analytics, and the benefits of owning a microsite—the low-cost alternative to a traditional website. Additionally during the expo, attendees were introduced to Elclasificado.com’s free online self service classifieds and directory services. 

“When we first launched Su Socio De Negocios in 2006, our plan was to connect Latino micro businesses to advancing technology tools and the internet.  At that time many of our small business clients did not even own a computer. What they needed more was basic business, accounting and management training that we provided in Spanish through Su Socio De Negocios.  Now our customers are eager to get on the internet, have a micro-website and use social media marketing tools,” stated Martha de la Torre, CEO and founder of El Clasificado.

The Su Socio de Negocios Expos have flourished into a solid brand consisting of a weekly e-newsletter that reaches more than 30,000 small business clients per week, an interactive website with valuable editorial and a business resource directory, as well as one large expo and 5 smaller networking breakfasts per year.

Sponsors for the event included Boost Mobile, Ford and Wells Fargo, N.A. among others. The next “Su Socio de Negocios” event will be a networking breakfast on October 21, 2009.

The event series is presented by the Spanish classifieds, El Clasificado, a multi-media print, online and grassroots event marketing solutions company that connects buyers and sellers in the Hispanic community through its handful of niche-oriented websites. A verified publication with a weekly circulation of over 375,000, El Clasificado print reaches more than 1.5 million Latinos and is distributed in nearly 200 cities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego Counties.

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