Author: Dan Morris

I’ve been dabbling with the new “social media” app called Foursquare. It seemed, from the very beginning to be a great app to help small businesses reach new customers.

So I decided I’d not only try it out, I’d jump in and do everything you could do with it so I could really see how small businesses are using it, and perhaps be amongst the first to know of any changes or monetization ideas.

To some degree Foursquare is a game.  For small businesses, that may make it hard to conceptualize as a revenue generator. But the game involves GPS in mobile phones, which means people must find you in order to play.

If you’re small business goal is to increase exposure,  then Foursquare might be a small part of that strategy. From the game perspective, that only works if checking into your business contributes to the player achieving a Foursquare goal like attaining a new Foursquare Badge.

(By the way, it’s really a mobile phone scavenger hunt where “badges” are the prize and “check-ins” are the requirements.)

So far some big companies have been able to get their own badges, like Lucky Mag, Explore Chicago, Mountain Dew and Zagat’s. For the small business, that hasn’t been an option.

But the other side of Foursquare is where small businesses have made some headway.  The person who checks in the most times at an establishment gets labeled as the “Mayor” of that location. Places like Starbucks are honoring Mayors with 15% off at the register.  Get your customers competing to be the Mayor – and perhaps you’ll increase the number of times your regulars show up.

For some businesses (like this one), Foursquare has been a tremendous asset to their bottom line.  But the ease of “check-ins” make me wonder.

In my quest to get all the badges being offered by companies and Foursquare, I’ve noticed a few things.

1. You can check-in without going inside and sometimes being as far a city block away. Occassionaly I ran into a pop-up that said “Whoa, you’re too far away to check-in”, but it is rare.
2. You can drive around like in a scavenger hunt and check-in at all the places you need to. (Though there is a pop-up if you check in to several too quickly).
3. If you’re GPS shows you to be somewhere else, because of a glitch, you can check-in wherever your phone thinks you are. But if your GPS rights itself and you check in again locally, you’ll get a “Whoa, you couldn’t possibly have traveled that fast” pop-up.
4. Finally, it’s hard to check-in if you’re business is in a building that inhibits your phone GPS from working. That’s the most frustrating part.

There’s little downside to listing your business on Foursquare. Probably the very best thing is knowing that anytime someone checks in within a 1,000 meters, they have a chance to see that you’re a nearby business – which they may have never known before.

If you’re “playing” foursquare and have some ideas for small businesses – leave them here and let’s chat about them!

Somehow, overnight it seems, flat screen TV’s are no longer available as an upgrade. Nope. Now flat screen is the default. In fact, if you want to buy a regular cathode ray tube TV, you’re going to have to go to an electronics store, or eBay or Craigslist. Because, Wal*Mart isn’t going to special order it for you.

I don’t recall it, but I imagine there was a day that color TV was the default – not just an upgrade option.  Just as there was a day that CD’s replaced tapes, and the automatic replaced the stick. In fact, can you find ice cream makers that require you to hand crank them? When is the day that all banks will have drive-thru’s?

Change is inevitable. The question is whether or not your small business is ready for the change? Just think about the simple things like popcorn ceilings that really make you look old and out-dated. How about business cards that don’t feature your e-mail or web address? And are you prepared to have a corresponding Facebook page should that become the norm?

Keeping up with technology is hard – there’s so much of it. But because it changes rapidly, you can begin to lose customers just because your technology is outdated – and thus foreign to today’s consumer.

Check  your website, is there a “contact us” tab? If not, perhaps there should be because everyone expects to find the hours, e-mail and phone number there. It’s no longer an add-on – now it’s the norm. Is your main web address a hotmail account? Today’s savvy youth see that as cheap and out-dated. Make sure to get info@yourdomainname.com right away.  Finally, are you ready to book appointments, sell products or communicate with your customers through your website? Soon enough the lack thereof won’t be tolerated.

Doesn’t sound like sitting on your hands is helping does it? What else is becoming the norm? More importantly – are you ready to grasp it? Leave your web address, we’ll look it over and tell you what we think about your site and the future “norms”.

Ever seen Dog the Bounty Hunter? He’s a Harley-looking dude in Hawaii who goes around rounding up the bad guys. But he doesn’t just round them up, he takes them down with style. Duane “Dog” Chapman and his family have turned their little bounty hunter enterprise into a full blown reality TV sensation. Since 2005 Dog has also turned up as a guest star on other popular shows as well.

Alright, enough with the show prep. What has that got to do with your local business? Well let me answer that with a question. If you live in Hawaii and need a bounty hunter who are you going to call? I’ll answer that for you, you’re going to call Dog the Bounty Hunter because he is the expert.How did he become the expert? He did it by allowing you to see what he does for a living – but more importantly he shows you how he does it.

There’s a roofer in Maryland who has achieved the same “expert” status in his community. He didn’t have a TV show though. He, like you, has YouTube. He films himself everytime he gets on a roof to make his initial inspection. He films the roof while talking about the problems he sees and the solutions required.

He’s created so many films that he’s featured prominently when you search for his local keywords. That ability to prove yourself by allowing others to see your expert knowledge creates a level of trust, appreciation and credibility. Not only that, but he uses the video when he talks to the client and proves to them he understands their problems and necessary solutions.

Become the Dog of  your community. Plan your work and turn it into a marketing and teaching moment. You’ll revel in the appreciation your local community shows and accomplish your marketing activities while you’re getting your work done.