From the BlogSubscribe Now
I know there are various versions of this floating around the web. I like this one because:
1. It involves donuts.
2. It includes newer sites like Pinterest and Instagram
3. The G+ one is funny and unfortunately true (I’m still rooting for you Google+!)
Source: Three Ships Media. I originally received it via a Falk Harrison coworker’s email.
Whaaaaaaaa????
LOL Bussmann!
Check out the St. Louis Social Media and Tech Report (whose creator left me the Foursquare tip you see above), and get the t-shirt he speaks of here.
Yes, I’m old and now compact my nightly exploits into a tight three hours of drinking and White Castles. What of it? (read posts from my 9/21/10 evening tweetstream from the bottom up)
(image and mean thought balloons courtesy of the @SteinBurglar)
🙂
The check-in craze has hit a fever pitch. Three companies are in the octagon right now – Foursquare vs. Gowalla vs. Yelp checkins, plus the rumored but unreleased checkin functionality on Facebook – ahhhh, competition breeds forced choice – which one service should I use? A full comparo is a topic for someone else’s blog. Informal polling of my Twitter following tells me that Foursquare is on top, but that Gowalla is making inroads and had a huge presence at SXSW. I am using Foursquare because Michael Tomko made me sign up for it. I am not kidding – I would not have joined unless he browbeat me into doing so back in March. Thank you Michael! Since then I’ve been on a check-in bender, becoming the mayor of Pepose Vision Institute (I sure coulda used a discount, people!), the Saint Louis neighborhood The Hill, my Post Office, and Chimichanga’s Restaurant.
In my estimation, probably 85-90% of businesses have either not heard of Foursquare, or have no idea how it could help their business. I might be conservative when I say 90%. It’s still very new in the St. Louis area, and many established businesses will shrug this off as just “a game that young people are playing.”
Smart businesses that want to cater to the smartphone crowd will view Foursquare et. al. as a huge opportunity. Chances to interact with your customers include checkins and mayorships. These potential interactions can occur on a daily basis (!), and the rewards that a business might decide to bestow on its Foursquare “mayor” can engender real loyalty and generate excitement about your business. Foursquare can bring customers to your doorstep!
However, what happens when your employees start checking in at work? Clearly, a business’ employees will be on site way more than any customer ever could. In turn, it would not take an employee long to capture the mayorship of your business, with other employees following close behind. Your customers are frozen out. What should a business do? If you are a business with walk-in customers that spend money on-site (i.e. a restaurant), that mayorship needs to be held by a customer! And it needs to be fought over by your customers.
One option would be to prohibit employee checkins at work. That doesn’t sound like much fun. I have a better idea.
Using White Castles as an example (because they’re so tasty), either the employer or an employee would create an alternate checkin location for their employees called the “White Castle Employee Lounge.” Plug in the same street address, call it the Employee Lounge, and let the employees fight over that. Frankly, the business owner could even place rewards and incentives on that mayorship. Bingo, your business’ real Foursquare mayorship is ready to be fought over by paying customers!
And, if for some reason, Foursquare does not allow such duplicate locations, they should!
Playing the part of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading the past few days.
1.) Remember, in small business, it’s advisable to sweat the details. Don’t obsess over them and never get anything big done – but don’t overlook the details. Like, for instance, if you’re an Internet company, renew your domain name! LOL @ Foursquare.
2.) Mark Hayward helps you define your small business social media goals in one of his latest posts. Most important here: make a simple plan, and then stick to it. Consistency is so key!
3.) I like to think I live a life of decency… showing respect for others, no matter if I report to them, or if they report to me. No matter if they’re some high-powered donor, or the person making my hamburger. Pleases, thank yous, may I’s… the very lessons I’m trying to teach my daughters. Peter Shankman discusses South By Southwest (SXSW) in one of his latest blog posts. At the event, it seems someone may have yelled at a volunteer. Some think Peter was the offending douchebag, when it turns out he was not. The meat of the post is much more than a who-done-it – it’s about showing respect for others (like never yelling at a volunteer). Peter argues for having a truer sense of self, i.e., we are not curing cancer or feeding the hungry. Get real, and get over yourself. (warning, just a bit of foul language in the post.)