Denton Recommends A Facebook Group That helps Your Business Thrive

Denton Recommends A F cebook group th t helps your business thrive

by Steve Gamel

Denton resident Kristin Sha Boyd knew she was onto something special with the Facebook group she had just created a few weeks earlier when a new member, Phoebe, joined and came to her raving about it not even 24 hours later.

“Phoebe has a catering business, and she got eight customers in one day — in a couple of hours, really,” Kristin said. “That was the point of the group, and it felt so great. I love helping businesses thrive.”

To say Kristin, a residential mortgage loan originator with Republic State Mortgage, caught lightning in a bottle is not only a cliche, but it’s also an understatement. Allow us to introduce you to Denton Recommends, a Facebook group that seeks to bring together a community of Denton-area business owners to provide warm referrals and recommendations for fellow residents and entrepreneurs.

Denton Recommends is free and the first of its kind in Denton. Kristin started it on December 13, and by the start of the New Year, it already had a few hundred members covering everything from mortgage officers and realtors to financial professionals, caterers, lawn care

companies, auto repair shops, karaoke services, and everything in between. There were well over 600 members as of press time, though an average of five or six new members are being added every day.

“Social media is where it’s at,” Kristin said.

She’s not wrong. Groups are the latest craze on social media, no matter what your interests are. Recent statistics show that roughly 1.4 billion people regularly use Facebook groups for everything from hobbies to staying on top of information in their communities and connecting with like-minded professionals.

There are plenty of groups popping up every day, including right here in DallasFort Worth, but Kristin was surprised to find there wasn’t one for Denton business owners. Now that there is one, members can post on Denton Recommends as often as they like to ask for referrals or offer up educational information.

And the best part is that practically every post is being shared, liked, and commented on.

“I was part of McKinney Recommends, and that’s what ultimately inspired me to start this group,” Kristin said. “I was

surprised there wasn’t one already. The response has been amazing.”

She added, “It used to be cold calling or knocking on doors, but that’s not really the direction we want to go anymore. Being able to promote other businesses and mom-and-pop stores through word of mouth and social media is really at the heart of it.”

Kristin said she doesn’t intend to put too many rules on the group. She is one of three administrators and simply asks that members be respectful and are exclusive to Denton and its surrounding communities.

The sky is the limit, and that means more growth and opportunities for your favorite Denton businesses. Kristin planned on hosting the first Denton Recommends mixer on February 17 and already has two more scheduled in March and April.

“It literally grows every day,” Kristin said. “I’d love for it to eventually be over 1,000 members. People I know are so excited by how fast it has taken off, and that makes me incredibly happy.”