It is any given morning and Christine Laikind, artist-owner of Firebrick Gallery and Pottery Studio, has already made her downtown rounds.

She picked up a drink at Beyond Juice. Got coffee at Bean & Leaf Cafe. And bought a muffin at Breadwinner.

And then she tweeted all about it.

Laikind's where-I've-been-today approach to social networking is common among shoppers and diners — everyday people who get out and about in their towns and let people know where they've been.

But for Laikind and other downtown business owners, it also represents a new way to network, an easy marketing tool and, especially, an important comraderie-building effort among business owners. 

"I'm a believer," Laikind said about the power of Facebook and Twitter to bring a hub of business leaders together. "I've been able to develop some great relationships with other businesses."

That's what Kristi Trevarrow, head of Rochester's Downtown Development Authority, envisioned when she began encouraging business owners to get on board Facebook two years ago. Today more than 130 of the downtown's 400 businesses have their own page.

Trevarrow hosts Facebook Fridays, where she helps business owners create their own page and coaches them on how to use it.

"I believe the key to its success is that we held their hands and showed them how to use it," Trevarrow said. "Through posting on those pages, you form a voice, you form a personality. "

Talulah Belle, Firebrick, The Home Bakery, Studio One Salon, The Funky Frog and Gus O'Connor's have some of the most active Facebook pages, Trevarrow said.

Gus O'Connor's posts multiple times a day with menu suggestions.

"Ham & Fetta Quiche....Fire Roast Tomato Soup.....Curry Turkey Salad on Multi Grain with fresh fruit....." read one recent post on the Irish pub's wall.

"It's a way to engage customers," Trevarrow said. "You get immediate feedback. It's an economical way to get the word out."

Firebrick owner Laikind agrees. The painter and college professor uses Facebook to let her fans know about upcoming workshops. "I have gotten some foot traffic; a woman just came in and signed up for a workshop after she read something about it on Facebook."

And if you happen to be a friend of The Funky Frog, you're more than familiar with owner Renee Perkins' love of all things Facebook. She posts multiple times a day — mostly about new items that arrive through the door of the children's resale shop — and takes credit for helping moms across Rochester find size 10 winter snow boots, tap shoes and double strollers, among other necessities.

"A lot of moms use Facebook to socialize, and that is my target market," said Renee. "Everytime I post pictures of big things that I get in, within minutes I have people responding back that they want me to hold it for them. It pumps me up — gets me going."