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.