See and Be Seen on as a Fan of Urban Optiques on Facebook!

It’s official: Today we launched the Urban Optiques Facebook page.

Just three years ago, I’d probably have to explain to everyone what “Facebook” was.

That explanation would go something like this:

“It’s this website popular with college students where they share pictures with each other, post the location of tonight’s “Beer Pong Olympics” and write comments to each other that only insiders get.”

Oh how things have changed.

Facebook Goes Mainstream

Now, I have everyone from nieces and nephews, to in-laws and outlaws, to the optician at PearleVision that I talked with for less than five minutes two weeks ago (it’s called “optometric recon” and I DO perform it regularly,) sending me invites to “Join Them on Facebook.”

When I started receiving invites from half of my graduating class in high-school last year, I knew that Facebook had gone mainstream. Just a year earlier, if I had mentioned “Facebook” I was generally met with blank stares.

In February of this year an amazing set of statistics were released:

1. As of February 2009, there were nearly 45.3 million active Facebook users in the U.S. That means about 14 percent of all Americans were on Facebook … but this number has been growing exponentially each month.
2. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook was women aged 55 or older.
3. Women (of any age), were adopting Facebook like crazy — as of February 2009, women comprised 56.2% of Facebook users, up from 54.3% late in 2008.
4. 45% of Facebook users are aged 26 or older.

So much for Facebook being just the domain of college students and Twenty-Somethings.

Why Urban Optiques Is On Facebook

So why would an independent optometry and eyewear boutique in Northville, Michigan want to go on Facebook?

I mean, is it really worth our time?  How many people would really become fans and what would they get out of it? Isn’t it just  the “cool” thing to do for companies these days? Will we just have yet another Facebook page with three followers, and all of them work for the business?

We actually think Facebook is perfect for our business, what we offer and who we are.

Here’s why:

As any other independent, local business owner knows — building personal relationships with people who are passionate about the product you provide is far more valuable than dropping thousands of dollars into tired old “interruptive” print advertising.

Connect With Other Eyewear Lovers

The goal here is to connect with people that love what we have to offer and appreciate it.

Advertising Chrome Hearts or Lafont to people who would be just fine with a pair of cheap eyeglasses from a place where the optometrists get paid for how many patients they’ve seen, instead of how well their patients see, is a dead-end.

Yeah, we could do those kind of exams and sell you those cheap frames that will break in a year, but we wouldn’t sleep at night. And I didn’t switch my career and become an optometrist to stay up all night thinking I put my patient in a sub-par frame or situation where they didn’t receive the best vision care possible.

So we proudly continue to fight a system dominated by discount eyewear and eye exam shops that  sacrifice solid vision care for profits and “how many patients did you see today?”  And we think Facebook is just another arrow in our quiver to convince people that we offer something different, unique and better.

Why Become a Facebook Fan of Urban Optiques?

If you love cool eyewear — whether that’s eyeglass frames or sunglasess — or just appreciate doing business someone who is local and is willing to work with you, instead of a corporate office off in another city, become a fan of us on Facebook.  It doesn’t even matter if we never have the pleasure of seeing you in-person.  Just supporting the independents like us is fine in our books.

You can become a fan of Urban Optiques here.

We’ll be doing some cool stuff in the coming months and be sure to participate in our discussion around your “Holiday Eyewear Wish List.”  What we hear from you will determine what we carry in the future.

Plus, it’s just lots of fun to share. And that’s the whole point of this “Facebook” thing, right?