Foursquare, the location based social network, is purported to be the next big social media phenomenon despite ongoing privacy concerns.   Launched just last year in only a few cities around the world, Foursquare now has over 400,000 unique visitors (in January).  Since September there has been a steep increase  in activity as users catch on to this popular social networking game and this is only expected to grow since Foursquare went global last month.

Foursquare Growth

Playing Foursquare

Foursquare allows users to check in from their mobile phones when they are out and about at dinner, sports venues, tourist venues and even at the hairdresser.  As a user, each time you check in to a location you are awarded points.

Once you start accumulating points or visiting locations frequently you are awarded badges and titles (I am the Mayor of Stock Up, one of my favorite places to have lunch in Kerrisdale).   Foursquare apps are available for download to most major smart phones (iPhone,  Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre.).

If you think it sounds like more of a game than a serious business network, you are right but if your business is location based, it is a game you really should be taking seriously.   A little friendly competition can do wonders to bring people back to your location again and again and so businesses are beginning to clue in to the loyalty potentially and Foursquare as a tool to spread awareness: many businesses are offering incentives to those who become mayor and to visitors who offer tips about the location.

Foursquare Tips for Business

1. Make sure you are listed on Foursquare.  The best way to do this is by joining the community, downloading the phone app and adding a venue from there (read this post from Dave Tailor for more detail on how to do so).

2. Consider offering incentives for those who visit frequently and sign up with Foursquare to promote these.  Every time someone signs in to your location, their followers see this, so the more Foursquare visitors you have the better – its like free advertising!

3. Monitor Foursquare to see who is visiting and especially to track tips.  Foursquare users can provide tips about your location and since this is user driven you may want to reward positive tips and be prepared to go to bat if someone posts something negative.  Most of the tips I have seen to date are positive.

My Perspective

I have been playing around with Foursquare for a few months and it is fun but so far I haven’t been rewarded for my patronage – here’s hoping this post changes that!

Frustrated at the longer anticipated wait for sushi the other week, I posted this warning others to factor in time but there has been no response to that either.

Since Out-Smarts is virtual and not location based, we’re not on there but we do encourage all businesses to be aware of what Foursquare is, to make sure they are listed and to keep an eye on what is being said about their business.  If Foursquare does take off, as it is predicted to, then more and more of your clients will be using this tool to share their nights out, business meetings and fun.

Its social media crazy season in Vancouver and the surrounding areas with several different events happening back to back over the next few days.

Tomorrow, join us at the SMEI Social Media Roadshow (I’ll be moderating a panel with mega guest speakers including Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss 604), Rob Duncan (BCIT), Chris Breikss (6s Marketing), Jordan Willms (Sumolabs).

On Friday is the Dare to Thrive Conference out in Coquitlam where I will be holding a workshop on how to use social media effectively for business social media.

And last but not least on Monday is the Crave Business SHOP Symposium 09, a one day conference where, this time, I will be on a panel of social media experts discussing the virtues of social networking – moderated by the lovely Debbie Collins of SOYA and joined by Stephen Jagger of Reachd, Michael Kim of Grapevyn and Alexandra Samuel of Social Signal.

With any luck you can come to one or all of these events and learn how you can use social media effectively to benefit your business.

I get asked the question “what is social media?” all the time. It came up today during our teleseminar with Sue Clement from Success Coaching and I thought I would follow up in this forum to answer the question for a wider audience.

Social Media, according to wikipedia, “are primarily Internet – and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information”. The words sharing and discussing information are key. Social media tools are all those tools online or on your phone that let you post information and get feedback, or interact with your others in that forum.

Social media tools include: blogs, podcast, videopodcasts or vlogs, and social networks. Basically any tools that you can use online that allow you to interact, collaborate or get social. In business, which of these tools you use will depend on what you are trying to achieve, who your customers are, your corporate brand and resources.

Social media are simply tools that can be used to extend your reach, to grow your network, to drive traffic, to increase brand awareness and to build business. These days they are a vital component of any company’s marketing arsenal because they are more targeted, less expensive and more versatile than traditional marketing methods.

I was full of good intention to liveblog tonight’s Canadian Women in Communications event at BCIT tonight but the connection failed so here is the “almost” live blog of the event. There were six sessions taking place in the room. Unfortunately given the time constraints I could only attend 4 so I have tried to catch the essence of each.

1. Blogging – Telus Senior Communication Business Partner Deborah Chatterton discussed the benefits to giving employees their own publishing platform.

First you should determine if social media is right for your company.  What is it all about? Its about engaging your target audience in conversation with you.  In the past you pushed information out now you get info back.

Types of social media:

• You Tube for sharing videos
• Digg is a site where you can share websites you like.
• Social Networks like Facebook.
• Blogs
• Wikis – user generated content that can be added to
• Social Networks – like Facebook

Social Media Considerations:

• You should ask if social media is right for your company.
• Are your customers there yet?
• Are your company’s communications old style and can they adapt to this?

Blogging – Deborah points out that ghost writing a blog is unethical and that a sales or marketing pitch is a no no.  You should keep the tone of voice real and hone in on actual experiences rather than trying to invent blog stories.
To find out if your company ready for social media culture – ask if they are you willing to give up control.

Q Why would you do it? A – The world is changing, people are retiring, knowledge pool is shrinking. Millenials are using this already, its a way of life for them and they are the next generation of new hires.  This is going to happen anyway. You have no control over it. This is an opportunity to: shape the conversation; demonstrate thought leadership; strengthen relationships; make executives more approachable.  Studies back up that social media actually increases productivity.

You have to have a strategy as to who will blog, what they will blog about, how often and whether you will allow comments.

Telus is not externally blogging.

Risks of blogging include: slander, bad behaviour – but these things happen in real life anyway.

Issues include: privacy, security, ethics, respectful workplace, insider trading.  To mitigate risk: – you should post guidelines before you start – its very important to have a policy.  Check out Sun MicroSystem’s policy for a great example.

Good social media examples:

• Dell were perceived to have terrible customer service  in the days of “DellHell”, now they have an online customer forum where people can contribute and the company can track reactions and respond accordingly.
• Cadbury Schweppes.
• I’m for GM
• Obama campaign

To learn more:

• Darren Barefoot
• Canadian Public Relations Society Conference
• Northern Voice (registration is now closed).

2. Podcasting – CBC Radio 3 Senior Producer Andrea Gin provided insight into podcasting:

Andrea gave an introduction to podcasting and her work with podcasts at CBC. They have on average 100,000 downloads per week and are the most listened to radio podcast in Canada

Q Is it simple?
Anyone can be a podcaster. All you need is:

• recording device
• audio editing software
• quiet

Before you start podcasting, Andrea recommended that you think about what you have to offer – what is your niche and why would people want to listen?  Also consider how people will access your podcasts.  You can offer them as downloads on your website or register in iTunes.  You can use images anywhere in the chapter or section of the podcast.

Q Do you edit it or broadcast live?  A – It is usually edited and posted rather than live.

Q How do you make money? CBC doesn’t have ads but is more about content and supporting Canadian artists?  Other companies have sponsors or use as a marketing tool.

Podcasting is different from radio in that people can listen to it anywhere they want when they want. With a radio show you miss it you miss it.  Its also much more interactive than radio, lots of people comment and contribute.

Q.Can you download to your Blackberry – A – You should be able to but it will depend on how much memory you have.

CBC Shows also appear on Web Radio and Siruis Satellite.

CBC Audience expanded worldwide thanks to podcasting – lots Canadian expats around the world tune in.

Q Do you use webtrends to track this? A -Mainly Google Analytics and an in house tool

Q – Podcasting vision has it changed over the 5 years since you’ve been doing? A – Yes at the start we treated it like radio now its more of a cycle: your listener gets involved and interacts/contributes.

CBC doesn’t launch a podcast till they have 5 or 6 shows under their belt.

Tips:

• don’t do it sporadically;
• build an audience by being consistent;
• podcast regularly.
• Encourage feedback – phone calls and emails and comments from the blog.

What kind of software do you use to edit? Adobe Audition

How long are your podcasts? We try not to go over an hour and a half. An hour is about as much as people can tolerate.

Stuff you should know is a good podcast from howstuffworks.com focused on answering questions like how long can you go with out food or water.

3. Online Market Research – Angus Reid Strategies Executive Vice President, Monique Morden, discussed proprietary online panels and communities for
cost effectively reaching the voice of customer.

Angus Reid provides research services – they are a full service company providing the soup to nuts. Vision Critical is a software company (AngusReid are their power users and parent company), its a nice  marriage of the companies.  Angus Reid has taken research online and has opened up a whole new world.  They are all across NA  and have small and large companies as clients.

Research used to be done on the phone now its all online. Some people don’t even have a phone particularly in the younger demographics so phone research results are skewed and you don’t know who are you reaching when you do phone research.  (No call doesn’t apply to researchers.) Online is becoming such a great communication tool – research is another form of communication.

How do you do online research?  Now you show the ad (or whatever your subject matter) and ask about it before you had to just describe it and ask questions to get feedback.

Types of research companies:

• Full service – Angus Reid
• Self service – ie Zoomerang,  Question Pro, Survey monkey
• Panel software – Vision Critical, GMI

Sample (the people to be surveyed) Sources:

• email list – be careful about legal issues – do you won the list and is it okay to send.
• advertise on a website
• Customer base
• Access panels set up by others

Angus Reid has a full serve service where they design the survey and bring in the survey group.  They have people they work with who form the survey group.

Validity of online research: Canada has highest internet penetration (about 86%).  55 years plus demographic is the fastest growing.   Angus Reid did polling for elections and were the most accurate of any of the pollsters all done online.
Comes down to quality of questions and who you survey.

Angus Reid works with a group of panelists – they know about their panelists: if they have diabetes, age, kids etc etc so you don’t have to ask every time.  They use only online polling because people tend to be more honest online – its less embarrassing and they tend to be more comfortable giving info online. They use open ended questions/comparisons to validate information. Usually panelists are surveyed once per week payment and have a small renumeration incentive of  1-4 dollars per survey. Online qualitative research is possible now: a group of people can have a conversation.

5. Webnames.ca COO Cybele Negris covered website and security pointers.

Domain Name Strategy – What domain name:
Depends on budget where you are – you should get at the minimum .com and .ca -

• .com is global 77 million globally registered websites;
• .ca is specific to Canada – 1 m .ca sites exists because it helps native companies to brand themselves.

Companies should have both – webnames.com was taken by someone else and he set up in competition to them. Protect your trademark/brand.
Canadians like to deal with Canadians. We ordered $5b worth of goods onlkine in 2005 – 63% from Canadian ventures.

Domains:

• 250 country code domain names in the world.
• 21 generic top level domain names: .net, .mobi (for mobile internet)
• .tel – used to store and share all contact information: Phone number, cell, home details, Facebook details etc. You can have different profiles for different aspects of your life. Works on any mobile device and gives you a geo location so that it will automatically generate a gigamap.

Domain Tips:

• Register as many as you can afford. You don’t have to pay for hosting – you can forward it to your main site.
• More sites = more links.
• You should register your domain for longer than simply one year as it shows Google continuity and improves ranking will have a better ranking.
• You should register your own domain in your name. If someone else does it then they are responsible and they can take it with them when they go.

Tips For Using Email Effectively

• Don’t use gmail, hotmail etc for your corporate communications it looks unprofessional use your branded email but gmail etc for entering on websites.
• Use departmental addresses – makes you look bigger/more established and allows you track email traffic i.e. info@yourcompany.com, sales@yourcompany.com, webmaster@yourcompany.com
• Use an auto signature
• Use rules and folders

Tips Online Privacy and Security:

• PIPEDA Act covers online privacy.
• Spam Act – first reading was 2008 – Still no anti spamming law in Canada.
• Phishing – people sending you an email disguising themselves as a company you deal with so that you are inclined to give them private information.

These days the media is a buzz with stories about Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools.  But what exactly is social media?  

Social media are tools or sites on the Internet where people and companies go to congregate, communicate and collaborate.  They include: blogs , podcasts, video sites (BlipTV), social networks (like Facebook, MySpace), micro blogs (like Twitter and Pownce), photo sites (Flickr), bookmarking sites (Stumble Upon, Digg) or any other site where you can ineract and share with others in real time.

I am from Britian so I like to use the real world pub analogy.  A pub is a place where people go to get together over a drink with others and to make new friends, to share their exploits, to show their stuff and to talk about whats happening in world around them.

Social media hubs are the same concept but in the virtual world: places online where people go (via their computer or smart phone) to get together with people they know, tell them about what they are doing, show what they can do, meet new people and to share their knowledge.  

From a business perspective, social media is a great marketing tool as it gives you access to millions of people across the globe but as with any other tool you use to grow your business, it is important that you know what you are doing, that you understand who you are trying to reach, what your goals are from using these technologies, which technologies to use to ensure maximum impact.  In short, you need a strategy.  Don’t just run around like a headless chicken trying to maintain a presence in every social media you hear about.  Plot your own course.  Know why you are using the tool in question and what you want to achieve from doing so.  

If you don’t take time to consider your social media strategy in advance and implement it correctly you can end up wasting a lot of time or worse you can seriously damage your marketing efforts.

I wrote this article to submit to article sites with the goal of driving traffic, spreading awareness and further establishing Out-Smarts expertise. Its longer than our usual blog posts and contains lots of juicy details on micro blogging for anyone wondering how to best use it for business purposes.  Enjoy!

Microblogging is quickly becoming one of the most popular technologies on the Internet with adoption of tools like Twitter growing at an exponential rate.

As the number of people using these technologies grows, the way people take advantage of them is becoming more sophisticated: they are being used more and more as a business tool. This article explains what microblogging is and introduces the most popular microblog sites. It discusses how these are being used from a business and marketing perspective and provides tips on safe and effective use of these forums.

What is a Microblog?
Microblogs are very simple internet technologies that allow users to post short statements or sentences, usually limited to 140 characters on a central site. The post can be made available to anyone or only to a chosen audience. Much like the Facebook status box these services were used initially as a forum to share triviality (like what was for breakfast) with a wide audience but people quickly tired of the banality and now the way microblogs are used is becoming more sophisticated.

Sometimes seen as a factor in the evolution of blogging, micro blogs are, as the name suggests, like mini blogs in that they allow you to post information and streams of consciousness and make these available to the world over the Internet. Unlike a blog, however, a microblog doesn’t have unlimited room for creativity – you are forced to get to the point.

Which Microblog?
By far the largest microblog is Twitter (according to Hitwise in Australia alone the popular microblog grew by over 500% new users in one calendar month this summer). Twitter was founded in 2006 and quickly gained attention by winning a prestigious South by South West Blog award in the spring of 2007. Although the site is growing at a tremendous rate, the user volume is still very small in comparison to social networking behemoths like MySpace. Using a simple clean interface, users can get set up and start Twittering really easily.

Another microblog technology that is growing in popularity is Plurk. Plurk differs from Twitter in that it provides a more visual “timeline” interface showing your “Plurks” and those you are following on a time sheet-style screen. Just launched in May this year, Plurk is a little more complex than Twitter to use but once you get the hang of it, it definitely appeals to those left brained people among us.

The omnipresent Google of course has its own version of a microblog which they obtained in late 2007. Jaiku has since been closed to new users as they beta test the latest version (which seems very visually appealing with a nice map interface). Request a beta invite to try it out.

The other major player in the microblog scene is Pownce. This one is very similar to Twitter in its look and feel but it has more capabilities in terms of being able to share files and events. Also Pownce doesn’t limit you to 140 characters so you can add more detail to your posts.

Newcomers in the field Spoink promote microblogging by phone from wherever you happen to be. Nothing new in that since most of the other offerings allow you to post from your mobile but what is different about Spoink is that it features the ability to podcast from anywhere. This is one to watch.

Microblogging for Business
Now that we know more about microblogs and the tools in this arena, let’s take a look at how companies and individuals are using microblogs to benefit their businesses.

The first thing any company or professional should do is to ask themselves: is a microblog pertinent to my business? are my peers using this service? and, more importantly, are my customers either using or listening (monitoring these forums) to microblogs? The early microblog adopters tended to be the youth market and the tech community but more and more mainstream professionals and companies are becoming active as time goes on. If you decide that your audience is applicable then the benefits of microblogging actively are numerous:

• A microblog presence is a stellar way to establish expertise and build awareness of what you or your company does. Build your brand by regularly posting on your subject area. Remember to add your logo and branding to the design of your microblog page and link to back to your blog if you have one so that your microblog contacts are aware of it and can click to read more. Threadless, the T shirt company that has made social media marketing an art form uses Twitter (@threadless) to update their audience regularly in this way.
• Microblogs are a great way to expand your network and build your contacts. To do so share neat links and always add value for your followers, if you do this effectively you can sit back and watch your contacts expand.
• Microblogs provide a good source for the latest information in your industry – if you’re following the right people, that is. Be cognizant of this as you add friends. Check out posts and look for those that add value, are industry luminaries or are using the forum in innovative ways. Network with peers in your industry to develop your knowledge and to build better partnerships.
• Microblogs are shorter than blogs and more concise so if you only have a few moments you can hone in on the juicies more readily. If you don’t have time to blog but still have something pressing you want to share, microblogs are a great way to do this quickly and effectively.
• Microblog technology can be used to expand the reach of your service and spread word quickly. An example is the police and fire services using Twitter to get the word out in emergency cases. The Los Angeles Fire Department (@LAFD) uses Twitter to spread fire related Tweets to interested parties.
• By linking or announcing new articles or changes to your site from a microblog you can drive more traffic to your site. Twitter is now the 4th largest driver of traffic to the Out-Smarts blog.
• Use microblogs for research by monitoring what’s being said about your product or industry so you can keep ahead of the pack. It’s also an excellent medium to elicit feedback on an issue you need more information on or are in the dark about. Tweetscan is a very simple tool that facilitates listening.
• Some companies are using microblog technology too collaborate on projects with decentralised participants or colleagues in short blasts. The CBC recently did this to great effect on Twitter during the Canadian federal election and were able to incorporate feedback from Twitterers on the ground in many constituencies.
• While direct selling on microblogs is discouraged, many companies use it to bring awareness of the existence/benefits of their products and services to new markets or to provide customer service updates. Whole Foods (@wholefoods), an organic food chain headquartered in Texas does exactly that whilst adding value by Twittering on community events and organic topics too.

Effective Twittering Tips
I have it on good authority that the Twitter microblog site is this year’s web 2.0 tool of choice for net savvy professionals to communicate with and grow their networks. Here are some tips for you to use to tweak your “tweets” and get more out of your Twitter presence:

1. Add value – don’t just spout off about boring stuff. Nobody is interested in what color shoes you are wearing (maybe your underwear but definitely not your shoes!).
2. Use TinyURL or a similar url abbreviation tool to shorten the length of url links in your Twitter posts so they fit in the 140 character limit.
3. Don’t spam or sell.
4. Friends and Followers – be selective about who you follow. Before you follow someone, check out their recent Tweets to see if they are of interest to you before you add them (they may not be of interest at all). If someone starts following you, don’t automatically add them and follow – take a look at the number of followers they have compared to their following If someone is following way more people than they have followers then it may be best to avoid them. They could be “Follow Spammers” more interested in gaining exposure than in finding interesting Tweets.
5. Don’t let Twitter suck up too much of your time – it can be very distracting. Instead schedule it in to your week and spend a few minutes each day updating and enjoying.
6. Limit the number of people you follow to avoid Twitter information overload. If you’re following too many people, you might miss that gem of information.
7. Use Twitterfeed to feed your blog to Twitter.
8. Monitor the Tweetosphere and make sure you are aware of anyone who mentions you so that it comes to your attention and you can be ready to counter any adverse Twittering. Use Tweetscan to monitor what is being said about you or your company on Twitter.
9. Don’t click on a link from anyone you don’t know or trust. Many Twitterers use TinyURL or similar to shorten URLs (I do) but this camouflages the true source so you don’t know what you’re clicking on. These could be disguised links to potentially dangerous sites or viral downloads so be careful.
10. Read the Twitter blog for updates and information on malware and spam issues.
11. Secure your Twitter name. Get a Twitter profile in your business name before someone else does.
12. Use common sense when Twittering and remember that most of these announcements can be seen by anyone and everyone. You don’t really have to announce that you’re away from home.
13. If someone you’re following overloads you with spam then use the Twitter block at the right of the side panel to block them and let Twitter know too.
14. Call on the community. If something adverse does happen then make your community aware of it. You will be amazed at the support, advice and action of the collective.

Conclusion
If you decide that your business can benefit from microblogging, participation in these sites can really impact your online marketing efforts, drive more traffic to your site and increase brand awareness. Before you start microblogging, take some time to check out the different offerings to find out which is best for you. Once you choose, schedule time to microblog and grow your contacts and always look to add value and tell your community something they don’t know. If you decide to hold off on microblogging for now, keep this on your radar: with its speedy user adoption rate. It’s only a matter of time before, like social networks, these become mainstream.

Follow Out-Smarts on Twitter: @Outsmarts.

Where did the month go? Despite the hot and balmy weather, fall is definitely on its way and the leaves are a tumbling. There were many new media reasons to be cheerful this month including:

I’ve been looking for an online equivalent to Illustrator for a while now and I think I’ve found it. Inkscape is an open source graphics editor.

Another gem I discovered thanks to Mary Boles of Virtual Business Solutions is GIMP an image manipulation system similar to Adobe.

A local company is helping people achieve their dreams – non materialistic ones that is. Dreambank allows people to post their dreams and have others in the community contribute towards fulfilling them. What a great way to make a difference in the world.

Our hunt for a great online invoicing system is over. Blinksale is the one. Its easy to brand and use and allows you to send invoices via email or to print them out. I like the neat thank you generator too.

Finally check out MusicLinkUp a great on-line music resource aimed at connecting music teachers with students. Way to go Voya!

Those of you just getting to grips with online social networking take note: the trend has gone mobile. There’s a plethora of new mobile social networks out there. Its no longer good enough simply to update your status next time you get around to going on-line: you should be updating it on the go using your cell phone or similar doohicky. Or should you?

Here’s a scenario for you: you’re walking down Robson Street (Princes Street or Yonge for that matter) and your phone rings to say someone in your social network has updated their status or added a photo. Turns out a colleague you’ve been trying to meet is at a cafe round the corner passing some time. Question is do you pretend to bump into them or to you respond via your mobile network in the hope that they will respond?

BrightKite is one such social network that lets you do exactly this. Its in beta right now but you can request an invite and if you blog about it you are likely to get one. Add friends on the network according to where they are or make new friends according to where you are. The system also allows you to upload photos and add comments in a map view from your phone and it piggybacks on the success of Twitter, allowing you to link to the microblog (posting once to both and avoiding texter’s finger).

Its all very cool but is it simply another distraction in an already overwhelming sea of noise. Like many of these innovations it will depend on how you use it.

Sadly, BrightKite (the mobile version) isn’t available in Canada yet (or Scotland for that matter) but I signed up for the on-line version nevertheless in an effort to get an understanding of mobile SN. My first post lamented the lack of Canadian availability and the second post was inadvertent – I tried to get support assistance because I couldn’t include my url in my profile (invalid URL indeed!) but instead my post for support was sent out to all. The response was a warning about “crass commercialization”. Thankfully BrightKite staff quickly flagged the issue and, showing great attention to customer service, apologized for their over zealousness but to be honest I was a bit put off – and my URL question still hasn’t been resolved.

I love the BrightKite concept and I am looking forward to trying out the full blown network on my phone one day (when Canadian service materializes). I hope that by then they have worked out all their processes. In the meantime, if you are just getting used to on-line social networking don’t worry, you have some time before it hits the masses.

Are you on BrightKite or using other location based social networks? Please let us know and share your experiences with us.