foursquare - Mobile Marketing and the future

Are you overwhelmed by technology, in particular social media? For the average business owner trying to leverage the internet to market their business, it can be daunting. Fact is, some of the most successful internet marketers are also the least active in social media. I have been slow to test new applications because either subscribers haven’t asked for it, or there was no value to readers who are looking for leverage in their marketing. While social media generates a lot of interest and traffic, social media success stories for business are still more the exception than the rule.

Initial Impressions of Foursquare How About You?

Works well on iPhone

The app downloaded and installed on my iPhone 3G - Unlocked and Jailbroken to work on Tmobile.

Let’s Me Check In

Foursquare uses the internal GPS to determine where I’m at, and then presents several options. One of those is ‘checking in’ at a location you are at or near. Checking in also give you the option to notify your friends and add a brief message as well.

There is another feature called “Tips” from what I gather, this allows me to me to read others tips, and present my own for a given check in place. One might recommend a particular dish at a restaurant, or even a server. Whatever tip you think would help others regarding a given check in point.

Let’s Me See Others Nearby

Pretty self explanatory. You can see other Foursquare users near you. Unfortunately, the event I was at, only had two others who had ‘checked in’, not so good at an event of 1000+ people. Yet I wasn’t too surprised, as this is a relatively new technology.

There was also a Twitter option, “View Tweets Nearby”. It passes search parameters to Twitter for others nearby (within 1 mile) your location.

Adding Friends

There are 4 ways to add friends:

• Scanning the local address book on the device
• Twitter friends (enter Twitter ID)
• Search by Name
• Find using a phone number

I used the address book, as the next most appealing option was the Twitter ID, I was surprised how quickly it returned search results for friends on Twitter, wow.

How Will This Add Value

Considering Twitters lethargic path to profitability, a company like Foursquare needs to monetize quickly. There are two primary areas where value could be added.

Location Based Mobile Marketing for Consumers
Getting coupons and invites for promotions of businesses near where you are. Saving money just by driving around town! Being rewarded for being a customer at a place you checked in, get a coupon for coming back to an establishment you’ve given business to in the past.
Location Based Mobile Marketing for Businesses
Encourage others to ‘check in’ with incentives, coupons, and raffels.

Sidenote: a location has a “mayor”. Mayor’s apparently have some clout (not sure yet just what that is).

Small businesses can work with mayors of their establishment to encourage activity, for example, a coffee shop could have an incentive for the mayor such as “Check in once a week for a free latte.” Their friends see where they hang out and create a social magnet, crowd customers, or however you’d want to reference it.

Source: Travis Campbell

Good, Inexpensive, Human Billboard!!! HTA Houston Tennis Open 4.5 Men's Singles & Doubles

HTA Houston Open is Here!

Interested in exposing your company, product, or service in a local tennis tournament?
The HTA Houston Tennis Open (formerly the Gallery Furniture or the Coke) is happening in a week and a half, start date is April 2nd - 5th.
I will be playing singles and doubles in 4.5 - 4.5 is the most competitive level in the tournament due to the volume of players and the size of the draw.

I'm offering the opportunity for your company to expose a product, service, or simply a name.

Terms:

1. You will provide me or us (depending on what you want) with a shirt with the advertisement. We will wear it for the duration of the match.
   
2. Fee per match is $10 + the t-shirts (we get sweaty... we might need a couple)
3. I will also wear the t-shirt during warm up, while watching the other matches, and while socializing with players.

I can't guarantee I will advance to the finals or even the 2nd round. But this is one cheap way to get your name out there.... make it bright, flashy, and interesting.

email or call me if interested.
713-510-8223

Mobile Apps... Is this the future of your Business?

Are you an iPhone, Android, or RIM junkie?

I know I am. I carry my iPhone everywhere I go. Walking, jogging, when I cook, while I clean, in the shower (play music), in the car, in church, EVERYWHERE I go my best friend iPhone tags along.... For a fact I know there are many people like me out there. We now depend on the simple things which aren't simple at all (mobile apps).... The future is in your hands and while you read this take a 15 second break and think about this; Go back to 1999 (this is the year I was a senior in High School) and think about how people got a hold of you? think about how much time you spent using the internet? how you got around? how many maps you bought? how you had to get a map for a different county, city, state, or simply you had to get the big Atlas map.... think about how you heard about a restaurant, were the reviews posted on the paper or by word of mouth? take a second and think.... 1, 2, 3, 4..........15... OK!

Now, let's think about your day to day activities today. I know most of you are like me, and I'm like most of you... I wake up to my iPhone's alarm, I check the weather on my TheWeatherChannel App, I check the stock market right at 8:00amCST and every hour on my Stocks App, I check the News on USA Today mobile App, I play Words with friends on my mobile App... and I DO everything through my iPhone.. email, sms, pics, you name it.. I'm always on my iPhone.... Many of you are always on your Androids and on your Blackberry. The future for Mobile Apps is here and those business owners who want a piece of the pie should take action if not now, SOON!

Here is a great article written by The Yankee Group:

The Yankee Group estimates that nearly 7 billion U.S. smartphone app downloads will garner $4.2 billion in revenue by 2013. And with the number of smartphone users set to quadruple to 160 million at the same time, Yankee Group uses just two words to describe the market to come: gold rush.

How can developers and app store owners position themselves to profit from the impending bonanza? Two Yankee Group reports, "Forecasting the U.S. Mobile App Gold Rush" and "Which Mobile App Platform Deserves Your Software?" offer key insights:

• Fit the app to the platform. While Nokia, Apple, Windows Mobile and RIM each have an installed base of more than 25 million devices, not all platforms are created equal. For now, consumer developers should focus on RIM’s Blackberry, where consumer-oriented apps are scarce, while those aiming at enterprises should target Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android to address those relatively untapped markets.
• Price your apps appropriately. Paid apps will account for one in four downloads in 2013. And while 99-cent apps are the norm now, Yankee Group predicts that paid apps will cost $2.37 on average by 2013, increasing today’s $343 million download market by more than 10 times over those five years.
• Focus on marketing. App store owners need to attract developers by marketing their apps and promoting the store’s successes via top 25 lists, download counters and running revenue tallies.

With this said, you should take advantage of the mobile app market. If you are a business owner and think this is a fit for you and your business you need to talk to www.squarepush.com - or simply give me a call and we can have a fun threesome... meaning a 3 way conference call!

Flash does not help your SEO strategy!

Did you know flash could be the reason your website is not ranking as high as you would like it to be ranked?
Here is a short article written by Joe from www.seoboy.com about this issue:

Overuse of Flash

Much like drinking whiskey, Flash should be used moderately. Otherwise, it can get out of control. I’m not saying Flash is bad. In fact, I think Flash can be a great way to make a website look more professional, convey messaging and engage users. However, Flash can be the nemesis of search engine optimization.

In July, 2008 Google announced a new algorithm that would allow them to crawl and index text within flash images. However, this system does not work optimally so you shouldn’t count on this content for rankings. This means that you should stick with old HTML text in order to talk directly to the search engines. You can spice up your site with Flash to make it more appealing to humans. But don’t over do it.

Having little or no text on each page

This goes hand-in-hand with the overuse of Flash. Designing a website solely in Flash renders it mostly invisible to the search engines (with the algorithm an all-Flash site isn’t completely invisible but it’s still a bad idea). However, even if you’re not utilizing Flash on your site, it’s still possible that you don’t have enough great content that will attract the search engine crawlers to your website, as well as keep them coming back. The fuel for search engines is content so you need to make sure you have plenty to offer.

Top 9 Tips to Follow and Have a Successful Advertising Campaign!

Be Creative and Follow These 9 Tips to a Successful Advertising Strategy!

1. Highlight your competitive advantage. One of the keys to all advertising is to accentuate the pros of your company, those factors that give you your competitive edge. Too many ads are clever but fail to sell the benefits of the product or service.

2. Establish an image. You can recognize the McDonald's arches while whizzing by on the highway. Likewise, there are plenty of products that you recognize by their packaging or logo. Image counts when it comes to advertising and promoting your business. Too many advertisers do not work to build a consistent image. Check out Three Brand Identity Myths That Will Bring Your Business Down for additional issues to avoid.

3. You have to spend money to make money. There are ways to save money, but typically advertising is not the place to cut corners. It will affect sales, and that affects the bottom line. Successful advertising may cost some money, but that is because it works. Check out More Bang for Your Advertising Buck for cost-cutting tips that won't cut your goals.

4. Advertise in the right places. Your favorite magazine, radio station, or even television program might not be a favorite of your audience. Know what they read, watch, and listen to, and advertise in media that reaches your target market.

5. Don't allow your budget to run your advertising campaign. If you budget $5,000 per month for advertising, you've made it very easy from a bookkeeping perspective. However, if like most businesses you have seasonal highs and lows, you are spending too much money advertising during down times and not enough when you want to attract customers. Too many entrepreneurs do not budget according to their seasonal advertising needs.

6. Diversify. It is all too common for business owners to choose the best place to advertise based on price and potential rate of returns and then stop. As is the case with investing, you do not want to put all of your eggs in one basket. Spread your advertising dollars around.

7. Don't try to be everything to everyone. No product or service will appeal to everyone. Many business owners, including corporate executives, try to come up with ways to reach every market. Typically, this does not work. It can spell disaster for small businesses, who cannot afford to spread themselves too thin. Therefore, find your market and be everything you can be to that audience.

8. Test your ads in advance. If you have the time or money to invest in focus groups, you should test your ads on other people. Do they understand and accept the message that you are trying to convey? For further information, read Focus Groups: How They Can Work for Your Small Business. There are other less-expensive ways to test your ads as well: questionnaires, for example. The article Creating Questionnaires for Gathering Market Research can be helpful.

9. Monitor your ads. It is very easy to ask new customers or clients where they heard about you. As simple as this is, many entrepreneurs do not bother to do so. It is advantageous to know which ads generate business.

If this was a top 10 list, what would you have as your #10 tip?
Feel free to comment!

Source: www.allbusiness.com