Neighbors supporting neighbors

Aislyn Corcoran, an entrepreneur and resident of the Hidden Springs neighborhood in the foothills of Boise, Idaho, has been taking advantage of her newfound free time due to the Covid-19 pandemic to focus on her small business. When she expanded her bakery business of signature sourdough breads to include “ooey, gooey” chocolate chip cookies, Corcoran turned to the Hidden Springs neighborhood Facebook page to tell other residents about the additions.

The only catch is Corcoran does not have a Facebook account. She’s not allowed to have one. She’s 11.

Corcoran has expanded her business while attending school remotely. Corcoran’s mom, Larissa Corcoran, handles advertising and Facebook posts. She writes up a description of her daughters' products and asks residents to comment on the post with their orders.

“It’s super chaotic,” said Larissa Corcoran. “But people like the convenience of commenting in the comments section.”

Corcoran isn’t the only person in Hidden Springs who has turned to the Facebook page to push products during the Covid-19 pandemic. Neighbors are selling everything from birdhouses to Mexican food.

Multiple factors related to the Covid-19 pandemic have forced the neighbors of this Idaho neighborhood to adapt. Some business owners have lost their day jobs, turning to their side gigs to make ends meet. Some are just trying to keep busy. Others are simply trying to help their neighbors during the pandemic.

Austin Walker, an online marketing adjunct lecturer at the University of Montana College of Business with 10 years of digital marketing experience, said small businesses often turn to online marketing and social media because it is easier to compete there.

“When it comes to social media, you use it for awareness. It’s the top of the funnel,” Walker said.

Walker said online marketing techniques are often cheap and can even the playing field between small businesses and larger corporations. In a time when small businesses have been hurt the hardest, online marketing can become their only advantage.

Nikki Tomanio-Allemand, who sells meal prep services in Hidden Springs, doesn’t use the neighborhood Facebook page for her small business anymore but instead has graduated to her own page. She said new businesses owners often take advantage of the Hidden Springs neighborhood Facebook page as a starting point to begin online marketing.

As creator of the EazyPeazyKitchen meal prep service, Tomanio-Allemand's experience with using Facebook as an online marketing tool has been positive.

“Facebook wants you to use them. Facebook is where you go,” Tomanio-Allemand said.

She also said that the Hidden Springs Facebook page is so inviting for small businesses within the neighborhood to use because of the sense of community. She has seen firsthand the convenience and advantage of neighbors supporting neighbors.

It is unclear exactly how much Facebook posting activity has increased during the pandemic. However, many business-owning residents have noted an increase in their posting patterns, whether it be to introduce new services or because they have more time to post during the pandemic.

Sharon Schmitz, a resident of Hidden Springs for 13 years, was forced to streamline her advertising methods for her sewing company Modern Made during the Covid-19 pandemic. Schmitz’s neighborhood Facebook posts increased when she discarded other marketing strategies and primarily posted ads on the neighborhood Facebook page.

She started Modern Made around 20 years ago before she moved to Hidden Springs. After Boise mandated masks, Schmitz began producing and selling them. Since then, she has sold more than 2,000 handsewn masks.

“Covid-19 sadly was good to me. I saw a need, and I fulfilled that need,” Schmitz said. “I had to stop taking orders. I was 100 (masks) behind.”

Before the pandemic, Schmitz sold her goods at craft fairs and markets. When those were cancelled, she turned to Facebook.

Schmitz said that she has three different ways to post advertisements on Facebook to let neighbors know about her new products. Advertising on Facebook can be chaotic, Schmitz said, and had she used multiple methods rather than prioritizing the neighborhood page the chaos would have been even worse.

Tad Duby, another longtime Hidden Springs resident, turned his carpentry hobby into a business when he lost his day job as an energy consultant during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, he had posted occasionally on the neighborhood Facebook page to sell birdhouses, decorative barn doors and other products of his carpentry hobby. After he lost his job, his carpentry hobby became his main income.

Duby has experience in social media advertising and blogging but has stayed away from using Facebook as a business tool in the past. He had been skeptical of the chaotic nature of receiving orders through the comments section of a Facebook post.

After relying on small projects and word of mouth referrals within Hidden Springs during the beginning of the pandemic, Duby recently turned to Facebook. It may be chaotic, Duby said, but it’s effective.

Aislyn Corcoran plans to continue her baking business after the pandemic. Her goal is to make enough money selling bread and cookies to buy an apartment by the time she is 18.

“She’s an old soul,” Larissa Corcoran said. “It’s helpful we have our community Facebook page.”