Get to Know Groupon

Have you heard of Groupon yet?

The website offers users in more than 250 markets around the world a daily deal on everything from restaurants and salons to zip-line tours and bowling.

Groupon is one of the fastest-growing start-up companies around, valued at more than $1 billion.

And it's not the only one of its kind. A growing number of group-buying sites like Living Social, Juice in the City, Tippr and BuyWithMe work similarly.

Users sign up through email, Facebook or Twitter to receive daily offers of discounts of 50% or more from local retailers. The deals only apply for a certain time period and are only available if a minimum number of people sign up, encouraging subscribers to share the promotion with others.

As more local businesses use group-buying sites, some pros and cons of the services are becoming clear. We'll explore them here to help you find out if group-buying is right for you.

Pros
• Great deals
For consumers, group-buying is a chance to get a great deal (typically a whopping 50%-90% off) and motivation to try out a new local business you might not have otherwise.

• New customers
For small businesses, these sites can offer a fantastic way to get the word out and quickly bring new people into your doors. Groupon says its own surveys show 95% of its business partners would sign up again.

• Marketing muscle
Harnessing the power of social media and the frenzy of a limited-time deal, group-buying sites create a powerful new marketing vehicle for local merchants.

• Locals win
There's a lot to love in the way these sites mostly focus on local businesses in a particular area, giving mom-and-pop retail a little extra boost against chains and big boxes.

Cons
• Big numbers, less cash
Although the majority of businesses find their group-buying experience positive, it doesn't make money for everyone. Businesses can be overwhelmed by the rush of new customers or find that they picked a deal that isn't profitable for them.

• Customer question marks
Since the deals are so cheap and (ideally) so widespread, it's hard for businesses to know whether users are the customers they want. If the deal pulls in mostly deal-hunters, they likely won't spend as much and are less likely to return. Meanwhile, an influx of new people making it hard to get an appointment or score a table can frustrate your loyal customers.

• Image issues
Big price cuts can hurt some brands' images by making potential customers think you're less valuable than you really are. And once the word gets out, your core customers might want the same kind of deep discounts. This kind of path can train customers to wait for a good deal to give you business, or (even worse) go to a similar service that's cheaper or offering a discount.

To read about some real small businesses' experiences with group-buying sites, check out the tech website Mashable's recent piece, Inside Group Buying: 7 Small Biz Success Stories.

How To Quickly Add the Tweet Button and Facebook Like Button to Your Site

If you have a website with a blog or frequently updated posts, you can easily add the Tweet button and the Facebook like button to your posts – and you don't have to have a designer or developer do the coding for you.

Facebook Like Button

To add the Facebook like button (or the recommend version, seen below), visit what Facebook's developer's Social Plugins section, and click on Like Button. Don't get nervous that it's a "developers" section – if you know how to copy and paste, you can do this.

Scroll down until you see this:

As you fill out the fields, Facebook shows you what visual changes you are making to the widget. Basically, just choose whatever you want visually, if you want faces to be shown, if you want it to say "like" or "recommend", and if you want a specific font or color scheme.

Once you have the design you want, click "get code" and copy and paste the iframe code to the post, anywhere below your text. If you're using Blogger, Wordpress or another site that differentiates between rich text formatting and HTML, you'll need to paste this in the HTML section.

Here's an example of the Facebook like button on one of our articles.

And what happens when someone clicks it? It appears in their profile under recent activity, and increases the chances that one of their friends will click and read the same content.

Tweet Button

If you think the Facebook like button is easy, the Tweet button is even simpler.

Go to your Twitter page, click on Goodies in the footer, then click on Tweet Button.

Twitter gives you customization options, from button design to text and URL options. If you want to link to the page on which you're adding the button, you don't even have to fill in the URL (which is handy if it's a post you haven't published yet).

You can optionally add a Twitter username to the auto-generated tweet. If you have a Twitter account, this is a great idea to not only increase traffic on your site but also to gain more followers.

Once you've filled out all the necessary fields and chosen your design, just copy the code into the HTML section of your post, and the Tweet button will appear.

Here is an example of the Tweet button on an article about Tennessee Civil War Trails.

And here's what happens when someone clicks the button:

Unlike with Facebook, you can edit what appears, but most people stick with the default setting.

Have you used the like or tweet buttons on your site? Do you find them effective?

Tweet

Tweetbeat Firsthand: Build Your Twitter Lists, Enhance Your Online Reading Experience

Kosmix's new Tweetbeat Firsthand is the coolest thing I've added to my web experience lately.

What is it? Call it an add-on, extension, plug-in, what-have-you ... it's a browser utility that is nothing short of awesome, especially if you are always looking to add to your Twitter lists, or if you simply want to see what is being said in real time as you read articles and blog posts around the web.

All you have to do is visit the link (Tweetbeat Firsthand) and install the add-on in your browser (there are versions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari). Then, as you read articles, small Twitter icons appear in the text next to names, places and organizations that have a presence on Twitter. Hover over the icon, and the real-time Twitter feed from that organization will appear.

Besides being able to see the live feed, it also allows you to share the feed and site you are via a tweet from your own Twitter account. In other words, it sends a tweet that says something along the lines of "I am reading tweets by @fema on cnn.com with the Tweetbeat Firsthand browser addon http://bit.ly/9xJyzN."

It's a great way to enhance content for the reader in a "read more, now, in real time" kind of way, but on first assessment, I'll probably be more likely to use it as a way to quickly follow Twitter accounts, if I don't follow them already. I can't count the times I've read an article or blog post and wondered if a publication or organization mentioned might have a presence on Twitter. It's rare that I stop what I am reading, open a new browser window and actually go search.

Read TwitterMedia's review of Tweetbeat Firsthand.

Editing Your Facebook Privacy Settings

image courtesy of AllFacebook.com

Facebook's privacy settings seem to change every other day, but if you want to be more selective about what you share with whom, we've compiled a list of resources to help you stay updated.

The "recommended" settings on Facebook are the default settings, so if you haven't ever gone into your settings, this is what you will see if you log in, click on "Account" in the top right and select "Privacy settings."

Facebook suggests that you keep your status, photos and wall posts public to everyone on Facebook. Personally, I don't want complete strangers knowing every time I post a picture of a tomato in my garden, so I've created my own custom settings, which you can see designated with a green checkmark.

Before creating your own custom setting, you may first want to create Facebook lists. I have a list called "Professional Contacts," filled with people I've met at various networking events – someone I might want to share a technology link with, but not someone I want to know what I ate for breakfast (I don't usually post that sort of thing, unless there's blueberry pie in the office kitchen at 8 a.m. ...).  In addition to How To Create Lists, Mashable also has a great post on Using Facebook for Professional Networking.

Once your lists are in place, changing your Facebook privacy settings is easy – just click "customize." Facebook has it broken down by "Things I share" and "Things others share," and you can easily select whether you want Everyone (remember, this is anyone with a Facebook account), Friends of Friends, Friends Only or a Custom setting – that's where your lists, if applicable, would come in – or you can allow or disallow individual friends' access, too, just by typing in their name.

For instance, I let everyone see my website, but only I can view photos I'm tagged in – mainly because I can't control that. If you want your profile extremely locked down, you may disable your friends' ability to post on your wall – something else you can't control, but it is also a useful communication tool. Also of note, you do have to apply specific settings to your photo albums separately and individually within the photo album settings section of Facebook.

Once you have your privacy settings squared away, you may want to review this resource that covers both specific settings (hiding from search engines) and common sense (letting strangers know when you're not home): Seven Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook

Also, my favorite Facebook-related site, AllFacebook.com, has a whole guide to Facebook privacy settings, which I highly recommend checking out. 

Finally, if you have any specific questions about Facebook privacy settings that we haven't covered, let us know in the comments!

What Ice Cream Can Teach Us About Social Media

It's really hot today in Journal Communications' hometown of Franklin, TN — like, triple digits hot.

Which means it's time to talk about ice cream. And social media, of course.

Luckily, some news from lovable hippie confectioners Ben & Jerry's makes this easy. Word got out last week that the company was dropping its regular e-mail marketing campaign with plans to use only social media from now on.

As Hubspot Blog reported, this move came about because "customers had indicated that they disliked the email despite loving the brand, which means that it wasn't building the positive relationship that the famously brand-conscious ice cream company wanted."

Naturally, lots of discussion from marketing professionals followed this announcement, both critical and more conciliatory.

But the story changed when the company Tweeted on July 14:

That's right; all us North American fans can still sign up for the colorfully named e-mail missive for all our dairy dessert news.

Which is good news, and the part where we start learning from ice cream.

We all know how powerful social media can be — Ben & Jerry's Facebook page has a 1.3 million plus fans, for Pete's sake.

But though it's growing fast, social media is still just one element of a successful marketing strategy — one scoop of your sundae, if you will.

Engagement with customers is the ultimate goal, and Ben and Jerry's pretty much rocks at this, whether it's heading to Bonnaroo with a specially made flavor in tow or providing ice cream lovers their Scoop of Happiness iPhone app.

The fact that Ben & Jerry's was listening to its customers and attempting to reach them in the way their fans like best is the biggest lesson.

Take the Ben & Jerry's example to heart as you plan your marketing strategies. Listen to your customers. Find new ways to reach them. Make changes based on what they tell you. Look for engagement in any and every way you can find it.

That's our recipe for a sweet success story, no matter what your business.

A User's Perspective on Foursquare

Until you've used Foursquare, you may not understand what all the hype is about. After all, it's nothing more than a means for your friends to find you when you're out and about, right? And if it's nothing more than that, couldn't you accomplish the same thing by just sending a text message to your friends or simply tweeting it?

Well, sure.

But let me explain Foursquare to you from the perspective of a girl who in recent weeks has gone completely bonkers over one of the hottest social media trends happening right now.

When I first began using Foursquare, I assumed I would tire of it within the first month, maybe even the first few weeks. From what I knew about the social-media platform (which was very little at that point), I could see the benefit of having something like Foursquare available when I lived in New York and had friends spread across four boroughs and three states. (It might actually make it easier to meet up with some folks from time to time and grab a bite to eat.) But now that I live in the 25th largest city in the U.S., it's much easier to find my friends. There are only so many places a person can go and my friends and I tend to stick to the same neighborhood and its popular hangouts anyway. We're bound to run into each other eventually! But after playing around with the application for a few weeks, I was hooked, and here's why:

It's fun. Checking into venues, collecting badges, competing with friends for points, and becoming Mayor if I check into a specific venue more than anyone else on Foursquare . . . This is the gaming aspect of Foursquare and we all know how fun games are!

It's easy. Instead of texting my friends or, um, calling (can you imagine?) to let them know that I'm currently at our favorite restaurant and they should stop by, I can just check in on Foursquare and leave the rest up to them. And since I have the option to send my check in information to Facebook and Twitter, I can also alert my friends who aren't on Foursquare - yet.

It's motivating. If there's one thing I do more of now that I'm on Foursquare, it's going out into the real world and engaging with real people. I dine out more often (usually at restaurants that my friends often check into), meet up with friends more often, and even go the gym more often. (I'm currently the Mayor of my gym and while this is strictly due to no one else checking in on Foursquare yet, I still want to hold onto that title for as long as I can!)

It's mysterious. While there are a handful of documented badges out there, new badges are being created all the time. I never know which check in will trigger that "Overshare" or "Socialite" badge, but when it does, it's down right fun!

I get stuff. I recently checked into a movie theater with my husband and discovered a "deal near-by" pop up for three scoops of Ben & Jerry's ice cream for only $3. All I had to do to get the deal was show that I checked in on Foursquare. And Ben & Jerry's isn't the only company doing this. My friends and I have received everything from free fried pickles to free soda and half-price beer just by clicking a button on our Smartphones!

It gives me voice as a consumer. Each time I check into a venue, restaurant, gym, theater, bar or shop, I'm casting my vote for that business, at least once. Whether that business is paying attention or not (which they should be), I'm not only announcing to my friend's that I'm at this place, but I can tell them about my experience there too. And I will. Foursquare allows me to leave tips for others and will even pop-up an alert when I'm at a nearby establishment where one of my friends has left a tip. And we all know how powerful word of mouth recommendations can be.

So while I may absolutely get on the nerves of my husband and my friends and colleagues because I'm constantly fumbling around with my phone each time we walk into a place of business, or getting in heated discussions about badges that should exist and "wouldn't it be neat if so and so had a deal," I simply can't help myself! Foursquare has found a unique way to combine social media with real world interaction and that's something we could all stand to do more of.

For the Social Good

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to attend the Mashable Media Summit in NYC with Jessy Yancey. During the conference there was definitely a lot of talk of using social media for the social good. There was one particular company that I wanted to highlight:

EDWARD NORTON'S CROWDRISE.COM

Norton observed:
• Organizations were not effectively using contemporary web-based social networking tools to enhance their fundraising efforts in a meaningful way or to engage people who were supporting them.
• Organizations were not using dynamic, cutting-edge technology to reach a new generation of people in a productive way. Younger people were adopting these tools, but struggling to find a way to use them productively.

So he and a group of other partners created Crowdrise. The basic goals of Crowdrise:
• To provide a platform that works in complementary ways in multiple directions
• To develop a way to create team efforts in fund-raising for corporations and organizations involved in social responsibility

"Our conviction is that a lot of social networking is in essence about personal narrative ... people take pride in what they are doing, their personal narrative matters, and they want to share it with other people. Our extension of that is simply to encourage people to plant a flag, raise a fist, take pride in what they care about, what they are engaged in and engage other people in it."

– Edward Norton

What makes Crowdrise a great solution? They have found a way to incorporate the things that people love about social media ... the connection, the competition, the fun, the humor ... into a way to help support a good cause. Better yet, into a way to help support a lot of good causes. And according to Norton ... it only takes about 15 minutes to setup a project.

I definitely encourage you to take a look at the site and learn more about it.

3 Things I Learned at the Mashable Media Summit

I was fortunate enough to attend the Mashable Media Summit in New York last week, which they put on in partnership with CNN. It was filled with great takeaways, cool resources and even plain old funny content (what else can you expect when the speaker roster includes representatives of The Onion, College Humor and URDB?), but here are the top 3 things I feel were most important with applications to content developers like myself, small businesses and anyone who uses social media:

1. People want content that comes to them.
Both sportscaster Len Berman and Motorola representative Christy Wyatt each voiced this message in different ways. Len was referring to the 2008 presidential election and hearing young people say they don't turn to the news anymore, but rather the news now comes to them – especially through Facebook and Twitter feeds. "There's no faster way to get the news and information than on Twitter," he said. "It's on Twitter before it's anywhere else." Keep in mind this is coming from someone who grew to fame using traditional media, but has since expanded his horizons and opened professional doors using the web as his primary voice. He adds that the instant two-way conversation is the best thing about new media.

Christy, who was hawking the platform Motoblur (successfully, I might add – every attendee received a free smartphone!), was talking about the rise of mobile web. "People don't want to go to data – they want data to come to them," she said, comparing the time-consuming, battery-draining installation process (such as mobile apps, an obvious criticism of the iPhone) to the ease of directly connecting (mobile web). With more and more people using their phones as mini computers, users want mobile-friendly websites that use push notifications – almost like a text message – rather than pull notifications reserved for your desktop computer. Again, the user doesn't have to actively seek out information – their phone (or the social connections within their phone) sends it right to their pocket.

2. Foursquare is the next big thing. (Probably.)
I've said it before, and so have my colleagues – businesses shouldn't ignore Foursquare. But even though some may blast it (Time magazine calls it "the next generation of creepy social networking"), enough early adopters – including major brands – are supporting it that Mashable and others are calling it the next Twitter. As one moderator said, "The whole experience of checking in is still foreign to people, but you can compare that to the two years Twitter spent explaining why they were tweeting."

And more than 1.5 million users are checking in, and often. But what's so refreshing about founder Dennis Crowley (as compared to the lack of privacy concerns of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg) is this quote:

People that get most concerned about privacy are not the ones that have used [Foursquare]. I'm not a fan of the passive check-in model.

This means that as "creepy" as Time considers this new social application, the founder has spoken out against what I personally consider the creepier versions of location-based social networking, those that use your GPS to track where you are and automatically check in for you. No thanks. I like Foursquare for the same reason I like the e-newsletters I receive – they're opt-in, and it's my decision to actively check in/sign up.

The Foursquare discussion gave some insight into their business model. They've gone from six employees to 25 employees in the past year. They just had their developers take two weeks off from developing new features to focus on fixing functionality problems. (Don't we wish we all had time to focus solely on fixing problems?) And though they did develop an iPhone app, they didn't develop apps for the Android or Blackberry operating systems. Instead, they spent time developing their API (essentially, the interface that programmers use to create third-party applications – like Facebook Connect or TweetDeck) in hopes that someone else would develop the apps for them. And it worked.

Of course, we're not all that lucky, having developers knocking at our doors to create applications for us. But there's more in the works for Foursquare, including the idea of rewarding frequent visitors other than the mayor, so I highly recommend checking out what Foursquare can do for your business. Need an example? Listen to what Robert Smith Hotel has done with social media – and how well it's worked.

3. Content is still king – but find your niche.
My professional title has the word "content" in it, and so does my company's logo: Custom Media, Custom Content. So it's refreshing to hear these speakers constantly say things like, "Great content is a terrible thing to waste."

That quote comes from Chris Bruzzo with Starbucks, and he had a plethora of social media success stories. But throughout this conference, no matter who was speaking, content remained at the forefront of conversation. Mashable talked about how their team posts 25+ new pieces of content per day. College Humor's CEO discussed their success with branded content. CNN covered user-generated content. Even Foursquare was called "socially filtered location content."

In fact, I found the discussion between CNN and Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore (swoon) to be probably the best out of all of the great sessions. I liked it because they didn't always see eye to eye, provoking some of the best conversations. Television content is broad and general, web content is passion-based. CNN spent two years developing an iPhone app, while Mashable instantly offered up an iPad app that has since undergone six revisions. Even as user-generated content soars, CNN says it will never rely entirely on iReporters for a story: "If we let it go to purely user-generated content, it would be the lowest-common denominator," Sanjay Gupta said.

Two of the commonly used, relatively unknown (to me) phrases I heard were "curating" and "niche verticals". Mashable does both. They curate content, rather than aggregate it – select relevant news from throughout the web while giving it their own spin. As far as their niche, social media, they don't just confine themselves to that subject; rather, they will examine it from all angles, thoroughly and purposefully. A wide range of mini-topics all spin off from the central, core subject – causing what they and others called a niche vertical.

At the end of the day, your site is only as good as your content is. If you sell apples, I don't expect you to tell me how to grow oranges. But I do expect you to tell me how to grow apples, offer apple recipes, tell me the difference between a Granny Smith and a Red Delicious, and let me know how to reach you to buy apples – or just to ask a question. As the era of social media expands, remember: It's all about making connections.

Want more? Check out Mashable's recap of the Media Summit – includes complete video of all major speakers.

Vanity URLs for Facebook

Do you admin a page in Facebook and have at least 25 fans (i.e. 25 people that have liked your page)? If so, this qualifies your page for a custom or vanity URL. This can be helpful for marketing purposes or even just in those situations when you find yourself in a "real-life" conversation with someone who's interested in liking your page but neither of you have a computer handy. Just let them know your custom URL, and that person can easily find your page by adding it after the slash in their address bar when logged into Facebook.

For example: www.facebook.com/returntoharmony

Obtaining a vanity URL is super easy. Just go here (www.facebook.com/username) and click on Set a User Name for Your Page. (This is also where you would go to set up a user name for your personal profile.) A drop down menu will appear; select the page you want to create the URL for then type in your desired name. Once you select a name for your page, it cannot be changed, so be certain of the following:

• That you love the name and can live with it as long as your page exists.

• That it makes sense for the people who like or are fans of your page.

• That it contains key words that make it easily searchable.

• That everything is spelled and capitalized correctly.

Then click the Check Availability button. You will then receive confirmation that your URL was accepted, or notification that the URL is no longer available. If it's no longer available, try changing the position of the words, shortening words, or using similar words and try again. Chances are there will be something that does the trick.

Associated Press Stylebook and Social Media

I woke up this morning, went to my desk and slouched down in a my chair with a hot cup of coffee (black, please). One of my first stops is always the Social Media guide website, Mashable. Blurry-eyed I read the trending headline, "AP Stylebook Adds 42 New Guidelines for Social Media."

Not sure what the AP Stylebook is? Here's the abridged version: The AP Stylebook is typically used by reporters and editors as a guide for grammar, punctuation, usage and some general best practices tidbits tossed in there for good measure.

Okay, so now that that we're all on the same page, what are the 42 new guidelines?

A lot of them are basic acronyms that almost all of us have used at least once in our lives. The list was not without a few surprises though:

• POS - Parent over shoulder. Used by teenagers and children to indicate, in an IM (Instant Message) conversation, that a parent is approaching.
• 
  
• LOL - Laugh out loud or Laughing out loud. Use to indicate that the sender has found something funny. See also ROFL.
• 
  
• ROFL - Rolling on the floor laughing. One step beyond LOL.

Up until recently I've had another definition for POS and I've always wondered if LOL and ROFL were equals or not. Thanks AP Stylebook for clearing all of that up for me!

A few definitions also slipped their way into the book:

• 
  
• Microsite - a tightly focused group of Web pages typically dedicated to a single topic, product or service.
• 
  
• Website - a location on the World Wide Web that maintains one or more pages at a specific address.

I think it's great that AP has finally adapted to the rest of the world by accepting website as one word instead of two (Web site). I can't help but wonder why all of the other 'web' words are still two words - Web page, Web feed ... but I digress.

So what does all of this mean for me? What does this mean for you?

Regardless of who you are and what you do, you're going to have some exposure to the print media and you're going to be seeing these new rules and guidelines very soon if not already.

Some of the things laid out in the guidebook are great, but there are a few things that make me raise an eyebrow.

I'm scared to see the day that the front page of the newspaper is written like a Twitter post.

"Thx 4 the retweet. LOL."

*The words in bold are in fact included among the new 42 entries.

I'm sure many will see these changes as progressive and necessary and are championing the decision makers that voted to adopt these entries. And to those people, I say, "Good riddance."

Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe that these acronyms and rules have their place (see also: Urban Dictionary) - I just don't believe that that place is in the AP Stylebook.

This is Journalism that we're talking about. Instead of raising the bar and holding society to a higher standard, the AP Stylebook has lowered the bar by adopting these rules.

G2G.

. m

Five Reasons To Start Paying Attention to Foursquare

Like Facebook and Twitter before it, Foursquare is the newest social media tool riding a wave of buzz these days.

Foursquare, Gowalla and MyTown are part of the growing trend of location-based mobile applications.

Generally speaking, these services work by allowing you to "check in" on your smart phone wherever you go -- information that is then shared with your circle of friends.

The idea is that when you see others are doing and they see what you're doing, you'll be more likely to meet up and explore new places in your city. The apps also allow user to earn points and unlock badges for discovering new places, doing new things and meeting new people.

It's fun -- and growing. Foursquare now tops 1.2 million people who have "checked in" 40 million times. But why should businesses be paying attention to these services? Here are a few reasons.

1. They create free advertising opportunities to people already in your area


At its most basic, Foursquare is really all about businesses in your area. Where are you going to eat, drink or shop? Where are your friends going? This creates huge opportunities for businesses to increase their reach.
Nashville-based Tasti-D-Lite was a Foursquare early adopter. When you are near their West End Ave. location and log in to Foursquare, the app alerts you to deals like the one at left. What a simple, great way to spread the word!

2. They're catching on with big brands...
It's hard to ignore a trend that every major company from Starbucks to Domino's to the Wall Street Journal to Bravo is embracing. These brands and many more are buying into the geolocation craze early, siting the possibilities for content marketing, brand loyalty and more.

3. ...but smaller businesses have their own advantages
In my Nashville neighborhood, I'm more likely to hang out at a local restaurant than a chain like Starbucks. For people like me, Foursquare is a welcome reminder of all the sometimes-overlooked eateries and shops that don't have the big advertising budgets to catch my attention on a daily basis. Wherever I go, I can search Foursquare for unique, off-the-beaten-path places, even checking for tips left by others who've been there before.

4. They allow customers to advertise their loyalty
Pretty much all these applications build in rewards for loyal customers. In Foursquare, competition is often fierce among users to become the "Mayor" of a venue--a feat achieved by checking in at a place more often than anyone else using the service. As the service becomes more well-known, more businesses are catching on and providing perks to Mayors and other frequent visitors, thus generating more good word-of-mouth for the small price of a free soft drink or dessert. It's the online equivalent of a loyalty card, with added cache.

5. They turn users into viral marketers for the places they like


Not only do location-based applications provide a platform for businesses to market to customers, they also turn users into influential voices for the places they discover or frequent. Foursquare features include tips and "to-do" lists any user can create, which serve to champion local businesses.
Foursquare is also open to partnering with entities to create complete city tours with their own specialty badges--something the city of Chicago spearheaded and a model that's now being followed by other cities and states.


To learn more
To get started learning more, a good first step is to simply go to Foursquare and find out if your business is listed and what customers are saying there.
When you're ready to go further, here's a great primer on using Foursquare to promote a business.

UPDATE: The blog Brand Builder just posted a great, comprehensive guide to Foursquare for businesses.

Asheville Filmmaker Plans Social-Media Themed Comedy in Her Hometown

Last Sunday, I caught about 20 minutes of You've Got Mail and giggled when I saw Meg Ryan waiting for her dial-up modem to connect to the Internet so she could log her into AOL account, so she then could see whether Tom Hanks had sent her another message.

Remember the sound of dial-up?

Then I wondered, "When are we going to have a new wave of blockbusters that correspond to our newer forms of social networking, featuring things like Tweetups, not-so-chance-meetings because of Foursquare, or perhaps something along the lines of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist but with a blip.fm twist?"

Film production companies have been marketing movies on MySpace and Facebook for a while, and many A-list celebrities have been shouting from their laptops into the Twitterverse almost as long. However, I'm surprised that we've not seen any big productions – yet – that heavily interweave everyday social media channels into the plot, other than the Facebook movie, The Social Network, that is supposed to be released in October.

I'll follow that statement with a disclaimer: I don't go to movies much, so it's likely I may have missed something. Along the same line, I have terrible cable channel options, as I haven't had enough room in my heart for cable ever since MTV made a marked shift away from actually playing music.

Remember the first video on MTV, The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star?

So maybe the Facebook movie will be the first, but I also saw a tweet this morning that interests me even more than Justin Timberlake playing the role of Facebook Founding President Sean Parker. According to @AskAsheville via @GSocialMedia not only is another film of this type on its way, but it will also be marketed largely through social media channels, and it will be filmed in one of JCI's communities, Asheville, N.C., for which we produce Asheville Travel Guide, Asheville magazine, imagesasheville.com and feature on Livability.com.

The movie is being created by Asheville filmmaker, writer and comedienne Angela Shelton, a name you may know from the 1999 film Tumbleweeds, which she co-wrote (it has an awesome soundtrack, by the way). More recently, Shelton has gained a higher profile through her documentary and book by the same name, Searching for Angela Shelton, for which she drove around the country, seeking out all of the other Angela Sheltons she could find. She thought this concept would yield mostly funny stories, but through her interviews she also discovered that most of them shared something else with her besides a name: Seventy percent of these women had also been abused at some point in their lives.

As friends and supporters promoted the film and book via Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, Shelton saw the power of social media. That power, combined with her desire to switch gears to focus more on her comedic skills, inspired this new movie, a romantic comedy titled Online Dating for Food. Yes, there already is an OnlineDatingForFood facebook page for the film, but here's another disclaimer: Be aware that if you "like" it, people may just think you're into the act of online dating for food and not the film. I'm not making any judgment one way or the other on online dating, you just may not want to advertise that you're doing it for food. That could ruin your whole plan!

A movie involving food in Asheville makes perfect sense, of course. Shelton knows her hometown of Foodtopia. The social media aspects will make it only more interesting.

Will it be as big as You've Got Mail or The Social Network? That remains to be seen, but stay tuned to your favorite social media channels to watch it develop.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Angela Shelton and her latest project at Angela Shelton's website, and here is the link to the interview with @AskAsheville about Online Dating for Food and why she's hoping to do this film (and two others) in Asheville.

Social Media As News: Following the Nashville Flood

Here in Nashville we have been glued to the coverage of the devastating flood that struck our community this past weekend. But keeping abreast of breaking news no longer means tuning into your local news channel. Sure, that's part of it, and I praise our Nashville meteorologists and news sources for excellent reporting keeping us up to date. But some of the most relevant flood information I found during this disaster came from social media outlets, both traditional and new media sources.

Twitter
Back in January, Nashville had its first major snowstorm in years, which became known on Twitter as the hashtag #thesituation2010. As the rain poured down on Saturday, someone jokingly tweeted this should be known as #OtherSituation2010. And the name stuck. On Monday, some of the Nashville twitterati pointed out that using such a vague descriptor probably contributed to a lack of national coverage. (Though personally, I did have a laugh over #thesaturation2010.)

Using an application such as TweetDeck, it's easy to create a new column using a hashtag and follow along on your desktop computer or your smartphone. I've used these two columns to follow up-to-the-minute information on everything from tornado warnings and flood reports to details on how to help flood relief efforts and water conservation tips.

Think of Twitter as a news distribution source – a way to get people from one place to another. Many people used Twitter to share links to photos and videos of the devastation. One local business even used Twitter to show the damage it received.

Due to SEVERE flooding, Bates Nursery will be CLOSED until May 6, 2010...cleanup underway... http://twitpic.com/1khf6e

No matter how small, businesses can easily use Twitter to distribute their news, whether needing to tell customers that you're closed in a situation beyond your control – or, on the brighter side of things, using it to advertise discounts, sales and giveaways. In fact, it's often Twitter or Facebook that businesses use during situations such as this – it's faster, simpler and sometimes even has more reach than posting the same content on their website.

Facebook
Just as tweets about the Nashville flood were trickling in, my Facebook news feed was predominantly photos of my Tennessee friends' roads and yards that had become rivers and lakes. People used their phones to upload photos straight to Facebook even when they didn't have electricity:

When we all thought this was just a one-day thing, someone created this Facebook Page. This quickly became my go-to source for photos of the flood as it was happening.

Facebook also became a way for Tennesseans, both those out of town for the weekend and those who now live elsewhere, to stay updated on what was happening. And Facebook also helped those of us here reach out to our friends in other states and countries, who at first (given the other news of the weekend) had no idea of the severity of the flood.

YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest search engine, and video often speaks louder than words – and spreads virally to other social networks. A video of a classroom disintegrating on Interstate 24 first appeared on a local news station. I searched for it on YouTube to show some out-of-town family members – and I wasn't the only one. Soon, it showed up on my Facebook news feed multiple times, and I-24 became a trending topic on Twitter.

On Monday, the social media news site Mashable posted a video in a post titled "Tennessee Flooding Inspires Stunning YouTube Video." This – "Flooding Inspires" – soon became a trending topic because Mashable has such a wide reach, one post on their site spreads instantaneously.

As they say:

You don’t see YouTube videos like this very often, and as one commenter put it: “This video so captured the heart of this story… if it doesn’t move someone, they should check their pulse.” While most on-the-ground videos covering disasters and other world events are hurried and low-quality, this one is beautiful and professional-looking.

Blogs
The Nashville blogging community combined all of these social media resources to spread the word quickly and efficiently. They compiled news sources, shelter information, ways to help flood victims, videos, photos and more. They used their large followings to help prevent misinformation. They even blogged about each other's blogs – showing not just each other but Nashville, Tennessee and beyond just how social media spreads news – and the sense of community.

All of these are great examples of social media as news at work, even during an unfathomable disaster. Did you turn to social media during this or another major news event? What sources did you find most helpful?

Twitter Glossary: Terms and Tools To Know Before You Tweet

Twitter describes itself as "a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now."

If you’re new to Twitter, that description might seem a bit vague and ambiguous. So, to help you wrap your mind around the microblogging messaging tool, start thinking about Twitter as a new form of online communication. Twitter is just communication in a new shape, but it’s also a platform for listening to the communication of others in new ways.

Basically, Twitter is all about sharing links and content – but in 140 characters or less. Every post is known as a tweet. Yes, some tweets may be as boring as "I'm eating breakfast!" but Twitter is also a great business tool and another way to share your content. You build community by retweeting other content. Here are a few simple introductory terms to learn when you're just getting started on Twitter.

The Importance of @
On Twitter, when your username is preceded by the @ symbol, your username becomes a link. These are called "at-replies" or "mentions" and when someone mentions you, this makes it easy for their followers to view your profile and tweets with just one click, so it's important to use the @ symbol – and to get their username correct.

• If someone wants to say something directly to you, they'll begin a tweet with @[your username]. Example: "@livability Where is the best coffee in Pueblo?"
• If someone wants to mention you in a tweet, it has the same effect: "Going to Solar Roast -- @livability says it's the best!"
• There's no limit to the number of mentions you can use: "Going to @SolarRoast on @livability's recommendation!"

If you want to say something privately, you can send a direct message, or DM, which is essentially a 140-character e-mail through Twitter. You can do this through the DM link on your Twitter page, or by typing "D @username".

Retweets
Retweeting is how Twitter users share interesting tweets from the people they are following. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the original tweeter's username at the beginning of the tweet. Here’s an example:

To do this, all the user has to do is click the retweet button. However, this feature is relatively new to Twitter. If you want to leave some commentary, just copy and paste the tweet instead. (TweetDeck and other third-party applications make this much easier for users with functionality long before the new retweet button.)

Hashtags
One of the most complex features of Twitter for new users to understand is the hashtag, a topic with a hash symbol or pound sign (#) at the start to identify it. Twitter hashtags help spread information on Twitter while also helping to organize it. Hashtags are linkable, and you can click one to view all tweets with a single hashtag. They're popular at conferences, as well as events, topics and places.

URL Shorteners
When you're limited to 140 characters, URL shorteners are a must. TinyURL, bit.ly, kl.am and URLzen are just a few. Bit.ly tracks analytics for you too, so you can see exactly how many people clicked on your link. Both bit.ly and kl.am offer customized (or kustomized) vanity URLs, so you can incorporate keywords into the link, as well as make it seem more trustworthy and more likely to be clicked on.

Are there any other Twitter terms that confuse you? What else do you want to know about tweeting and microblogging? Check out the resources below, and let us know in the comments if you have any more specific questions.

Resources:

Mashable's Twitter Guide Book

YouTube video: Twitter: A Brief Guide to Tweeting

3 Blogger Gadgets Every Blog Should Have

My name is Kim, and I am addicted to blogging gadgets.

On a recent Wednesday, I spent more than two hours researching gadgets for this blog (and I must also admit, for my personal blog, too). Blogger gadgets can be added to your blog sidebar and allow you to add content that will essentially "stay put" – and not move down the page and into the archives like blog posts do.

When you create a new blog in Blogger, the only standard gadgets added to your blog are Followers, Blog Archives and About Me. For me, it just wasn't enough – thus the two-hour research.

Here are my top three favorite gadgets for my blog, along with instructions on how to install them on your own blog.
 
Note: All of my instructions below are for Blogger, so the process for Wordpress will be different. Feel free to comment below with any links to how to add these types of gadgets to your Wordpress blog.
 
1. Labels

Every good blogger knows that you should assign labels (or tags) to each of your posts. It helps with search engine optimization, but it also helps your readers pinpoint specific content. For example, if you visit this blog and only want to access posts related to Facebook, you can click on our "Read By Topic" List (on the left) and just click Facebook to read only those posts. To the reader, it's a super helpful navigation tool.
To add this gadget, To add this gadget, go to your blog dashboard, select Layout, then Page Elements, then "Add a Gadget." In the pop-up window, select Labels. Once the gadget was added, we changed its name to "Read By Topic" – but Labels works fine, too. Don't forget to hit Save.
 
2. Subscription Links

As an avid user of iGoogle, being able to subscribe to RSS feeds is muy importante for me. This gadget allows anyone who visits your blog to subscribe to posts through their RSS reader – iGoogle, GoogleReader, Netvibes, etc.
To add this gadget, follow the same process as you did for Labels, but this time, click on Subscription Links.
 
3. Subscribe Via E-mail

 

Every blogger wants their posts to be read by someone. But for those potential readers who don't necessarily subscribe to RSS feeds, they need a way to stay in touch, too. Enter e-mail subscriptions.
This gadget isn't available through Blogger (yet!), but I used Feedburner to add mine. Here are the step-by-step instructions.

With all gadgets, you can drag them around on your Layout page to put them in a different order. Just always remember to hit Save!

Blogger gadgets – especially the ones provided by Blogger – can add a lot to your blog. You can add polls, current headlines from Google News, lists of websites you like, info boxes and much more. The right ones for you largely depend on the purpose of your blog and your individual needs.

What Blogger gadgets do you use? Are there any you've tried but then deleted?

Social Media: The Age of Attention

As a culture we've completely immersed ourselves in this digital world, begging to be noticed. Some of us are in way over our heads simply trying to stay afloat (see also: checking into Foursquare every time you leave the couch), while others are standing in puddles not only confused as to where they are, but also are wondering what it is exactly that they're standing in (see also: your mother leaving you voicemails telling you that she just joined 'the twitters' and needs your help – great).

The bottom line is that everyone has a story that they want to tell...only they don't just want to say it to just one person – they want to yell it to the world.

So, before you plant your social media seeds that you got by trading the old cow that your mother told you to go sell at the market, you have two very important things to consider: what is your message and who is your audience.

Thought that was the hard part? Think again. Now you have to figure out the best way to get that message to your audience.

There are more social media sites out there than there are pizza-topping combinations at Domino's. So, you'll have to do a bit of research - because just like pizza toppings, everyone has different taste.

Sure, some are more popular than others, but that doesn't mean that the others are necessarily bad. Everyone has their own personal needs and it all comes down to your own personal preference. Sometimes less is more and other times more is better. You have to choose what works best for you.

... after all, this is your story.

Can I Turn a Facebook User with Friends into a Page with Fans? [Q&A]

Question: If I already have an existing Facebook user profile with friends, can I convert it into a page with fans?

Answer: Not exactly. But in addition to having so much more opportunity to market a Fan Page, there is a 5,000-friend limit for Users, and no business wants to turn away a friend. Plus, Fan Pages have great analytics, so you can also easily monitor the success your Facebook efforts.

Unfortunately, you have to start your new Fan Page from scratch – Facebook currently will not allow you to take your friends and content with you. However, it's a great idea to use your User Profile account to create the Fan Page. Fan Pages must be tied to a User account (called an Admin), and this way you can recommend to your current friends that they become fans of your new Page. (There can be more than one Admin on a Fan Page.)

Once your Page is set up, use the Suggest to Friends button under the Page's profile photo to invite your friends. You should also use the User account to post status updates that you are moving activity from the User Profile to the new Fan Page. Just keep directing your friends via the User Profile, and over time you should get your numbers back up to where they were – or even higher than ever before.

Social Media and the Wisdom of Crowds

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend a really engaging Internet marketing seminar at Vanderbilt University on behalf of Journal Communications. One of my biggest takeaways from the session, by veteran online marketers Erick Goss and Corey Cleek, was to give a little more thought to the idea of "the wisdom of crowds."

The concept comes from a book of the same name by New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki. Basically stated, the theory is that "large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant." Need real-life proof? Of the three "lifelines" on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the one that's most often correct is the option that lets the contestant poll the audience for help.

But how about social media proof? Simple--it's all around us. Crowd wisdom can help you buy the right toaster on Amazon, find new movies at Netflix and pick a restaurant at Yelp. As the crowd sends out its daily headlines and news links on Facebook and Twitter, the collective wave can clue us in -- in real time -- to what's important that day.

Is it time to get in on the conversation? Never before have there been more opportunities for organizations to hear from their audience, and never has it been more important to know what those people are saying. For better or worse, your crowd is already talking about you. Tap into their wisdom and you're bound to learn something worthwhile.

Using Facebook Widgets to Your Advantage

So you're company is on Facebook. Great! But are you getting the most out of Facebook? Remember, Facebook is totally free and has over 300 million users, so why not make the best of an already great situation by using its tools to your advantage? One way to do this is by utilizing Facebook's widgets.

Available widgets and how to set them up can be found here, but here's a quick break down of what they do and what they can accomplish:

Share Button - This allows people to post content from your site back to Facebook. This is one of the most commonly used widgets out there and you'd be hard-pressed to find a site that wasn't using this (or other share tools.) But why use this feature instead of just letting the reader copy and paste a link whenever they feel inclined to do so? With the Share Widget, you're not just making it easier for people to share content from your site on Facebook, but you're subtly suggesting they share it as well. Additionally, even if that shared content isn't clicked on in Facebook, people still see the URL its coming from. That alone serves as an excellent branding opportunity because whether people were looking for your website or not, it just made an impression. There's also the added benefit of being able to share that content without navigating away from your site.

Fan Box - This widget is a great way to let visitors to your website know that you have a Facebook page. It provides a small stream of current status updates from your Facebook page and has a "Become a Fan" button so people can "fan" you right then and there while still staying put on your site. Here's a great tutorial we put together on how to add this widget to your site.

Page Badge - Think of a Page Badge as a toned-down version of the Fan Box widget. It too is made to go on your site and it too let's people know that you have a Facebook page. However, it doesn't contain a feed and it doesn't have the "Become a Fan" button. Instead, it's a cleaner, simpler presentation that contains just the basics: your page name, most recent status update, and the number of fans you have.

Twitter Link - Why post to two places when you can simply post to one? Twitter Link allows you to send your Facebook updates to Twitter automatically. This is a great time-saving tool, and you might just roundup some followers on Twitter who fan you on Facebook. Don't want to send everything you post to Twitter? No worries - you can adjust the settings when you link the two accounts.

With just a few clicks of your mouse and a little copying and pasting, you'll be well on your way to driving traffic back to your website, increasing the number of fans you have on Facebook, and saving yourself a little bit of time!

Learning to Love and Leverage LinkedIn

Poor LinkedIn ... It may always be the buttoned-up-and-boring old dude compared to Facebook and Twitter, but that is precisely why it can be much more useful than other social networks for creating and nurturing professional relationships, establishing and shaping your personal brand and positioning your company as an authority among competitors.

LinkedIn seems to help the old people a wider range of ages feel more safe and comfortable than they do when lurking around participating in other social networks. It can be ideal for people who see value of joining the conversation, yet are not comfortable blurring the line between professional and personal contacts. On LinkedIn, the parameters are more set in that the conversations almost always are professional and industry specific. There is an ease associated with knowing even a tiny bit of what to expect, especially for social media newcomers.

Other cool things about LinkedIn:

- Unlike Facebook, there is no fear of being tagged in an unflattering photo.

- You do not have to question whether you want to "add" your mom.

- Unlike Twitter, there are several ways to reach out to your contacts without word count limits.

- No one is likely to ask you via LinkedIn to send them Mafia Wars items*.

* That's not to say you won't be asked for things; just keep in mind how much more valuable it is to your colleague to write them a professional recommendation versus helping them raise a barn or sending them a virtual sheep in Farmville.

I admit that I've been on LinkedIn for a few years and never bothered much with it until early 2010. I'd answer invitations to connect and send invitations of my own every few months. Besides joining a couple of groups, adding my blog url and providing basic career updates, I had done little else until our Content Operations department created the JCI Freelance Writers Group. The goal of this group was twofold: to create a single channel through which our department would share resources with our writers and to encouraging networking, conversation and resource-sharing among them as peers. So far, it has been a successful tool for us and our writers to share links about and discuss topics including online research, writing SEO-friendly headlines and copy, as well as other items. As the group develops, the possibilities seem to be endless for other applications.

The freelance writers group is just one way JCI already is using LinkedIn as a business tool; we also have a Journal Communications Inc. company profile established to represent our corporate identity on this channel.

If you have not yet created a LinkedIn profile, check it out and register. If you have a profile already, but have not maximized its potential (like me), here are two links to multiple resources that will help you do just that:

100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn

Lara Kretler's LinkedIn Bookmarks

Using Social Media To Control the Conversation

Many businesses hesitate to jump on the social media bandwagon because they're nervous. It's a far cry from sending out a press release or direct mailer. It's a different kind of networking from exchanging business cards in the elevator. It's something new, and it's something you cannot completely control. But as marketing strategist David Meerman Scott puts it, you have to lose control of your marketing in order for it to succeed.

To get started, many businesses and organizations want to know everything there is to know about social media and how to prevent anything that can possibly go wrong. However, the whole idea behind social media is that it's social. But sometimes business professionals need to be reminded of that – it's the people, the consumers who are in charge, not the business. When you have a presence and you're there to hear what they're saying, then you are there to steer the conversation.

Blogger Kaila Colbin recently wrote a great article for Media Post entitled Two Golden Rules For Companies On Social Media discussing why many businesses and organizations hesitate to start out in social media:

People will be complaining, in public, and these complaints will be visible to everyone, and other people who see those complaints might not like us anymore, and then the good times will be over. Providing a soapbox on which our customers can advertise their dissatisfaction runs counter to every protective instinct we have.

The problem, of course, is that those complaints are already being aired online. Anyone upset enough to go to your Facebook page and tell you what they don't like is upset enough to tell their friends and followers in your absence. Staying off social media doesn't stop the problem; it merely removes the discomfort of having to deal with it. Being on social media at least gives you the chance to respond.

But there are distinctive right ways and wrong ways to respond.

The wrong way: what's happening with Nestle on Facebook.

Whether overwhelmed or underprepared, the company went on a counterattack - trading insults with its own Facebook fans and ‘unfriending’ them. It deleted threatening posts and modified logos, and posted a warning to users in the hope that it would deter them from sharing their views. Once the online ‘bullying’ got picked up on Twitter, it went global.

Nestle's public image suffered because they didn't follow Colbin's golden rules:

1. Act With Integrity: The first rule isn't about turning your company into a group of enlightened monks or save-the-world superheros. Integrity is about being consistent. It's about (to use a horrible consultant phrase) living up to the brand promise. It's about making sure that what you see is what you get.
2. Admit Your Mistakes: We all mess up, especially on social media. But the optimal way to deal with a mistake is to admit it, take any steps necessary to correct the situation, and then move on.

Two companies that followed these rules, particularly #2, are Domino's and Southwest.

Dominos had some very bad publicity last year, which got started on YouTube, and so CEO Patrick Doyle responded in the same medium where the problem occurred – YouTube. The video isn't highly produced – it's straight, to the point, no frills. But it does the job effectively.

Similarly, Southwest came under fire in February after an incident in which director Kevin Smith tweeted about being kicked off a flight due to his weight. Southwest is very active in social media, and less than 20 minutes after his initial tweet, Southwest responded with an apology. And multiple blog entries. Ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, they would have used traditional media such as a press release or press conference that wouldn't have had the same immediate and personal effect. Today, Southwest helped recover from a negative situation by responding efficiently and appropriately – using the right social media tools.

Both of these companies, while facing PR nightmares, used social media to try to make things right. They went directly to the source of the situations and used these channels as best they could. And most of these are circumstances that smaller businesses and organizations will never have to face. But what you can learn from these examples is that you have to be here to respond to the smaller problems that come up day-to-day.

Comcast is a great example of what social media can do to to improve your customer service reputation. Their use of Twitter to respond to customer complaints – not even those directed to them – has really made them a standout among social media success stories.

But how do you start from scratch? Unfortunately, there is no simple way to do this other than diving right into social media, headfirst. Not to say you need to immediately go sign up for Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIn, Digg and YouTube today. But if you get online and spend a little time watching the conversations happen, you can quickly and easily start learning where your customers/clients/members are already located, which of the many (and there are many) social media tools are best for your particular purpose and how they can work to your advantage.


Photo: Matt Hamm