The media hype, warranted or not, over social media sites can be overwhelming especially for small businesses. Where to start? How to keep up? It seems like it could take up all your spare time and it can. This is why I recommend a well thought out strategy for small businesses that includes social media as part of an online strategy which is just part of an overall marketing strategy. However, if you have a retail location, I have one social media site that you can take advantage of with only a few minutes a month of time and the rewards can be immediate. What is this magic site, you ask? foursquare.

The definition. Foursquare is a mobile application that helps you find new ways to explore your city. Foursquare helps you meet up with your friends and lets you earn points and unlock badges for discovering new places, doing new things and meeting new people. Users can also choose to have their Twitter and/or Facebook accounts updated when they check in

The company was founded by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai and is based in New York City. The service launched in March 2009. There are currently nearing 1.6 million users and with 10+ check-ins per second. And the numbers keep climbing. They have been called the next Twitter in regard to meteoric rise in users and influence.

It’s part social networking site, city guide and game – all in one. Users check in to local establishments and earn points for checking in. Their friends can see where they have checked in. Users can also unlock certain discounts and tips that other users have left behind. And it’s not just discounts; tips include what to order at a restaurant and what not to miss at a museum. This is word of mouth at its best. Since the application uses the GPS location of the user’s mobile phone, a user can find places and discounts that they would not have been aware of otherwise. For a quick overview, visit the demo video on the home page.

I’ve noticed that foursquare is currently being used by restaurants, bars and coffee houses. Most discounts I have seen are for the mayor of the location (the foursquare user who has checked in the most times at that location in the last 60 days). This is where the game aspect comes in as users earn points and badges for checking in. Right now Starbucks is offering $1 off Frappuccino to the mayor of each of their locations.

It is nice to entice foursquare users to compete over the mayorship of your location; however, I think many businesses are missing the boat. I would offer a discount or special offer to any foursquare user who checks in. You can still offer a super special discount for your mayor.

What kind of investment will this take? Unlike social media sites like Facebook or Twitter where frequent updates help you stay in front of your fans and followers more often, foursquare users see your specials when they are in your neighborhood. A modest investment of a few minutes a month to change the special and you are on your way to participating in this new online trend. Don’t stop there; promote your special on your other marketing platforms along with in-store materials provided by foursquare. Find out how to access your listing and get in-store materials on the business page.

Foursquare is also sharing info with local merchants who use foursquare to share discounts. So you can keep track of your best customers and get an idea of their habits through foursquare.

If you are a retail location like a restaurant or retail store, I would get online right now to verify your location information and add a foursquare special. It’s easy and you can start tracking results right away.

Social media is all the rage in the marketing world, especially the small business marketing world. I know this because it is what I do and what I hold seminars on. And I talk to business owners everyday who say “oh, I already have a Facebook page”. As if that were enough. I often equate it to a decade ago when businesses thought they could just build a web site and their sales would skyrocket. We all know how successful businesses were who had a site with no strategy.

I use this blog to give you real world examples of good and bad marketing which I tag as “Brilliant” or “Daft”. This is not to highlight or criticize the companies in my example, but rather to get you to think. Are you doing something similar? How can you make it better? If it’s a good idea, can you use it in your business?

I encourage my clients and audiences to look at what is working in other industries and apply it to their business. I absolutely love this example below by a guy looking for a job in advertising…

Does that give you any ideas on what you could be spending your AdWords budget on other than fighting for those hot keywords?



My office is now truly virtual. I have worked for myself from home since 2000. I used to say my office is Starbucks and now after many years of meetings at the coffee shop and working at home in my office, I can truly say that I have a virtual office.

In the past year, I have answered important emails while playing with my toddler at a favorite playground, updated a client web site at an internet café and gained emergency access to a difficult client website using a dial up connection at a friend’s house.

I’ve tried a lot of different things over the years including a USB cellular internet connection, using a Palm to display PowerPoint presentations and even a paper (gasp) calendar. Now, I truly feel virtual and organized based on advances in both the technology available and applications to work with that technology.

Here are the most important tools I’ve found in my new virtual office:

My BlackBerry. Without question, the ability to read and respond to emails anywhere, anytime allows me to stay on the grid wherever I am. The BlackBerry Facebook application lets me stay in touch with friends. I would LOVE a Linkedin application ASAP.

Google Calendar. With its Google Sync capabilities, I’ve solved many problems. Keeping calendars on all my devices – BlackBerry, laptops, desktops, Palm – in sync along with the ability to publish 2 different public calendars and keeping most of my appointments on a private calendar. My toddler even has a calendar of important play dates.

Various Social Media Apps. In a future post, I will explain how I have streamlined my social media process for myself and some of my clients. Since we are talking virtual office here, BlackPing has been a lifesaver in allowing me to post from wherever again through my BlackBerry.

Evernote. I think that Evernote was made for me. I am constantly thinking of ideas for my clients, my blog posts, and my other businesses. Evernote lets me keep my random thoughts organized and accessible from any internet connection (including, you guessed it, my BlackBerry).

PassPack. I have a ton of passwords like everyone, but add to that all my client passwords. Since I could be out of the office when a client emergency arises, I need access to all these passwords at all times. PassPack lets me do that and keeps them secure as well.

PayPal. Strange to find on this list? PayPal allows me to bill clients if necessary when I am out of the office, receive payments and transfer to my bank account. This is crucial on long vacations.

Starbucks. The coffee chain stays on my list for not only offering a place to meet with warm, toasty beverages, but the free 2 hours of WIFI a day saves me the $30/month I was paying for cellular internet service.

All of these tools have also allowed me to downsize my laptop, removing applications I am unlikely to use when I’m out and about (read Illustrator and Photoshop), and leave me with a laptop that is super fast.

Honorable Mention goes to my wireless all in one printer which allows me to print from any computer, anywhere in my house.

All that being said, I do have a wish list: a BlackBerry app for Linkedin and Constant Contact. Please, please, please. The playground is calling.

There’s never been a better time to stay connected with your business network than right now. Business tends to slow down over the holidays and sometimes sooner if you are like me and snowed in a week before Christmas. This is a great time to take advantage of social networking sites to stay in touch and build your network. Over the next few posts we will examine how to do that effectively using some of the top social media sites. Today we start with the #1 business networking site – Linkedin.

5 Ways to Build Your Network on Linkedin

1. Check out your Linkedin Inbox for Requests to Connect.
2. Are you connected to all your current customers and vendors?
3. Peruse the connections of your connections to see who you should be connected to but you aren’t yet – both people you know and people you want to know. Send requests to connect and don’t forget to personalize the message.
4. Are you a member of a lead share group, BNI, committee, board of directors? Are you connected to all of your colleagues from these groups? This extends to charity work as well.
5. Scan the membership of any groups you have joined on Linkedin. Are there people in these groups that you need to connect with?
6. Scan the groups your connections are in. Are there groups you need to join? These can be alumni groups, trade associations, or networking groups. If you find new groups to join, return to 5.

I hope these tips will get you started on building your network while drinking hot cocoa or eggnog or hot cider.

If you want some guidelines on who to connect with, see my post Deciding on Linkedin Invitations.