Online Vitamin Business Expands Reach with Internet Marketing
Union Vitamins of Pinellas County
Bob Bouchard, ex-farmer and owner of Union Vitamins, created the online vitamin shop because he noticed the quality of nutrition in food was diminishing.
“We had a lot of enthusiasm towards health interest,” Bouchard said. “I had a background in the farming business and realized that a lot of the qualities of food today have been diminishing in their nutrient value. It became more and more of a concern, especially when my kids were growing up and now having families of their own.”
Mary Twohey, a client developer for Union Vitamins, has personally used the products, due to a spinal cord injury.
“I’ve had a spinal cord injury for more than 30 years and there’s always been a concern for me with a compromised digestive track to be as healthy as possible,” she said. “When I heard these products were going to be veggie caps, completely non-GMO, and no fillers, that resonated with me.”
From personal experience, Twohey knows that finding high quality vitamins is a concern for many people with disabilities.
“I’m very excited to be a part of a group that’s offering a quality product that could lead to better health status for folks with compromised systems,” she added.
Union Vitamins reached out to the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development and business consultant Kurt Forster to gain help in social media marketing.
“The SBDC has been phenomenal in getting us advice and direction to go. We use it consistently, we use it everyday, we strive to know more about it and they have the answers,” Bouchard said.
Since Union Vitamins is an online retailer, social media is essential. Forster educated the Union Vitamins team and encouraged them to hire someone with social media marketing knowledge.
“Before we had this knowledge we were kind of a secret and we felt that we were a company that shouldn’t be kept secret,” Bouchard said. “Now we’re able to make this aware to the public. It’s increased what we had in sales from before and it will continue to increase.
“The biggest help we’ve had with the direction of Kurt and SBDC was that it was imperative that we have someone that was Internet-based and we picked up partner Armindo and this became a very useful tool.”
Union Vitamins has many products for specific use, such as bladder health, joint health, and immune health. The team has even ventured beyond vitamins with a beauty line that consists of completely natural beauty products.
“Our biggest success I think is in the formulation of some of the products we’ve developed on our own for a specific market,” Bouchard said.
Moving forward the Union Vitamin team plans to continue utilizing the Florida SBDC at PCED to gain fresh ideas and knowledge.
“We’d like to stay in contact with them because fresh ideas keep coming out and we want to make sure we stay on top of that,” Bouchard said. “They’ve been very helpful with everything they’ve suggested and it has really come true as far as how the practices need to be taken care of. “
