Creating Buzz for Second Avenue

Upper East Side Operating amid the noise, dust and general chaos of the Second Avenue subway construction, Second Avenue businesses need social media. That's the argument of Yorkville resident Jocelyn Taub when she pitches the services of her social media marketing company, Second Avenue Social. “In these still-bad economic times, and especially here in this neighborhood with the ongoing construction,” she said, “I think it's important that these businesses utilize it.” When Taub was laid off from her job in radio promotion at the beginning of the recession in 2008, she turned to digital marketing and social media to bring her skills up to date. Now, she said she thinks local bars and restaurants should do the same.

Before the recession, she had a career in radio promotion and marketing. But then, the company she worked for consolidated and left her behind. Taub said at first she wasn't worried. She had never had a hard time finding a job. But this was at the beginning of 2008. The Great Recession began in December of 2007. “Once I realized that it was not going to be as easy as I thought, and if I wanted to stay in journalism, marketing, PR, I realized, I have to get up to date,” she said. “So that's when I went back to school.” Taub attended NYU's School of Professional Studies in digital media marketing. As she began to use social media for herself and for others, “I started to believe in it,” she said. Taub said she thinks social media could benefit businesses who've lost customers to the inconvenience of the construction on Second Avenue. “A couple of businesses told me,” she said, as an example, “the ones with the scaffolding in front of them – sometimes they would get business when people would pull over, park, and somebody would sit in the car and they'd run up and get something.”

With construction blocking parking, she said, they can't rely on that kind of customer anymore. “It's almost like watching The Price Is Right,” she said. “What's behind the scaffolding?” She said social media could help businesses, like the ones blocked by construction that are less physically visible, get their name out and reach potential new customers. She said she thinks social media a good option for small, mom-and-pop businesses, because for the most part, it's free. So far, however, Taub said response to her ideas from businesses has been lukewarm. “Everybody's afraid,” she said, “I guess because everybody's trying to take a piece of their pie.” Taub said she understands that reluctance. She said she was lucky to work in radio, and she always made good money. She never expected to have to work for herself. “It's been very humbling,” she said. She can relate to businesses' struggles, and, she said, she puts that into her pitches. “I'm having a rough time; they're having a rough time,” she said. “If they don't do well, I'm not going to do well.” Taub said she likes that Yorkville still feels like a real neighborhood. “Every day it's like, hey, it's my neighbor, hey to the dry cleaner, hey to the guy at the deli,” she said. “You see the same people over and over.” By helping mom-and-pops keep their clientele and stay in business, she hopes to help the area keep the flavor she's enjoyed over her two decades in the neighborhood. “It's New York City, it's Manhattan, but it's removed from all the insanity of Midtown, downtown, and the tourist sites,” she said. “I always refer to this area, east of Second Avenue, as the suburbs of New York.” Visit www.secondavenuesocial.com for more information about Taub and her business.