From today, my Blogroll is for Comms students, recently-turned Pros and Blogging newbies only...

The Future of Blogging...

I decided to do something different with my Blog, The Comms Corner, last night.

Up until last night, my Blogroll consisted of Blogs by the more well-established people out there like Matt Singley, Deirdre Breakenridge and the like.

I love their stuff, constantly share their content and communicate with them on a regular basis (and I imagine I account for less than .01% of their referrals via my Blogroll in any event!).

So, I thought it would make more sense to turn my Blogroll into a place for Comms students, recently-turned Comms professionals or people who have only just caught the 'Blogging Bug'.

So, Submit Your Blog!

So, if you fall into one of those categories, and have a passion for communciations, send me your Blog URL via email and I'll add it to my list: "Bloggers of The Future."

Or, just drop your link in the comments section below.

I'm not sure how much traffic you'll get as a result, but the offer is there.

I'll also try and profile one of these Blogs each month.

Oh, I've also set up a Twitter list: Bloggers on the rise (which I'll get everyone set up on as well).

Thanks
Adam

10 Most Useful PR, Social Media and Digital Engagement Posts of the Week (27 Feb)

Originally posted via My Posterous 

Another week, and another bucket load of great content being shared by some great people.

Here are my picks for 10 of the more useful posts from the last seven days via a bunch of sources, which will go towards the yearly review where collectively we'll choose the top 100 posts of 2010.

Anyway, this week we're looking at: Mobilizing Your Site, Blog Comments, Monitoring and Evaluation, Client Questions and loads more.

This week's '10 out of 10 in 2010' nominations

10 Great Tools To Create A Mobile Version Of Your Site (we're accessing so much content via mobile, this really is a MUST do)

10 Ways To Get More Blog Comments (some great advice here)

47 Ways To Measure A Social Media Campaign (we're no closer to an industry standard...yet...but these help)

The Ad Age Guide To Digital Media (really insightful post, featuring some great answers to some tricky questions)

14 Questions To Ask Your Clients Before And After A Project (a really sound checklist)

The Key Traits Of A Successful Blog / Blogger (probably my favourite post this week)

Five 'Unorthodox' Ways To Fix Your Social Media (not that 'left-field'...quite useful)

Actions Speak Louder Than 'Scores' (the obligatory post by me with some basic tips on giving / getting more from Social Media)

Retaining Facebook Fans (getting people to click on 'join' is often the easy bit, keeping them engaged in tougher - some nice tips here)

The last one technically isn't a post, but I REALLY RECOMMEND you check this out: http://flavors.me  - a really stylish and practical social media dashboard, bringing all of your content together...I plan on doing mine up today.

So that's this week's little trip down memory lane - thanks to the creators of this content and swing by next week for some more good stuff.

Adam

NOTE: 

I'm gradually moving these weekly round-up posts over to My Posterous - to receive them directly each week, subscribe via that page.

STAYING CONNECTED:

The Comms Corner is now available in a mobile-friendly format, just click here.
To subscribe to this Blog by RSS, just click here.
And if you're on Twitter, we can connect there too: @AdamVincenzini

Is It Time To Redefine 'Friend'?

First of two posts today. The second (Actions Speak Louder Than 'Scores') is here.

My friend, no my mentor, no my acquaintance, no my hero, no my associate, no just plain @MattSingley just posted this: Renewing The Line Between Public And Private where he explains his decision to launch a Fan Page on Facebook even though he hates the term (and I couldn't concur more strongly).

But as he points out, it's tough.

He's a very public guy, but is Facebook the domain of his 'friends' or 'connections'?

That last sentence sums up my main issue / question: What do we call all these great people we 'meet' via Social Media? 

Connections is a bit cold, but friends?!? I've only met a handful of the people I'm connected to via Social Media in 'real life' but I really like so many of the relationships I've started to develop...and if I had my choice I'd have 6 billion of them. But practicality and safety say otherwise.

So, do we need a new word / term?

Maybe a definition is pointless, but as I touched on a few weeks back when we defined social media in 140 characters, a good definition lays the foundation for everything else.

And, if someone comes up with a good one, should it be added alongside 'fan' pages on Facebook so we have tree tiers? Or has the world just gone COMPLETELY mad?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...you know where the comments box is...

Thanks for dropping by my friend, contact, reader, human, bot etc :)

AV

P.S Just for the record, my life has been totally enriched by Social Media so I can only say that the great people I've 'met' have been a blessing...but there's always an element of 'grey' that can't be avoided, sadly.

Social Media: Actions Speak Louder Than 'Scores'

One of Blogging's most well known faces, Darren Rowse (aka ProBlogger) recently conducted an interview with the guys at Social Media Examiner about how Blogger's should use Twitter.

In the interview he made a point of reiterating one of his key beliefs / pillars about Social Media: being helpful.

And it brought me back to one of this issues I often touch on via this Blog which is the subject of 'influence.'

I profiled some of the tools that calculate influence last month and posed the following question: are they useful?

My answer was that while on a personal level they can be fun, the criteria that helps create those scores is what you should focus on (if anything).

Social Media criteria worth considering

- Are you engaging with your audience? i.e. taking part in conversations, commenting on posts etc

- Are you sharing quality information? i.e. so many links are shared, are you really adding value every time?

- Are you being generous in general? i.e. how quick do you respond? Do you respond at all?

The same applies for brands using Social Media.

Twitter and Facebook are not a direct marketing / sales channels

If you operate a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page for a brand and your feed mostly consists of commercial messages, you have got it wrong...big time!!

People opt-in to Social Media for interaction, to gather information and to be entertained, and to escape the thousands of marketing messages they are subjected to each day via other mediums.

Now, that's not to say brands can't use Social Media effectively, of course they can, but in order to be trusted and followed, you need to give something to people, and this is where being helpful / useful comes in.

Helpful + Useful + Fun = Mr (or Mrs) Right

My advice isn't anything new but yet it seems to be missed by many.

Forget influence, forget follower counts and definitely forget direct sales messages.

Instead, 'give' without expecting to 'receive'.

Proactively 'help' others.

Aim to predominantly share information of 'use' not personal indulgence.

Have 'fun' and be a 'person', not a robot.

You are part of a community, so act that way.

Brands and people who do these things don't need to worry about influence metrics because their actions (and resulting relationships that they form) speak louder than their 'scores' ever will.

AV

Deirdre Breakenridge Interview: A Year Without Newspapers (The Experiment)

When I began my 'newspaper-less' experiment 50 days ago I was really thrilled that it caught the eye of one of PR's true pioneers, Deirdre Breakenridge.

I was even more thrilled recently when she decided to interview me about my motivation behind the project.

It was posted on her Blog yesterday, and hopefully gives you some more insight into my newly adopted life without newspapers...and a host of other issues relating to the rapidly changing media landscape.

So, without further ado, here it is: A year without Newspapers interview (courtesy of www.DeirdreBreakenridge.com).

I hope you enjoy it and stay tuned for some of the mini-experiments, within the experiment, which are coming soon.

Adam

Posted via web from adamvincenzini's posterous

50 Alternate Ways To Consume News in 2010 (No Papers Experiment, Day 50)

Milestone or tombstone?

By Adam Vincenzini, Traditional Media and 'Now' Media

(Click here to read my recent interview with Deirdre Breakenridge)

It's been 50 days since I read a newspaper as part of my experiment (which is the equivalent of 1,200 'newspaper-less' hours).

And, did you know that in that period, the average British person would have spent more than 37 hours reading newspapers?

That's an average of 45 minutes per day*

Based on what I used to read (two papers in the morning, one or two at lunch and one on the way home) I was probably closer to the 60 minute-a-day mark.

So I've been trying various methods to fill the void and here are 50 of them...enjoy...or don't...up to you...

50 Alternate Ways To Consume News

1. Yahoo Pipes - A simple a tool that allows you to 'mashup' your content from around the web - I created my own 'feed' featuring three news sources I like to give you and idea of how it works - check it out: my Main News Feed

2. BuzzBox - I profiled this in early January and called it a a 'news junkies' dream - I haven't used it as much as I'd would have liked as yet but you can check out my bespoke feed here.

3. NEWScan by Rayogram - reproduced versions of your favourite papers...in traditional format...online...very cool!
(The page sometimes plays up though, if that's the case, hit refresh)

4. Screensaver News - exactly what it sounds like, tailored news that pops up as your screensaver when your computer is inactive.

5. Google Reader - more and more people seem to be using this and it's easy to see why. A simple, easy to access feed of the news that matters to you on your iGoogle home page.

6. Twitter - doesn't need much of an introduction, but especially via the lists function you follow all the news that is important to you.

7. People -Bet that took you by surprise!! People are a great source for news, with my favourite opening when I see people being: "So, what's making news today?"

8. AlertRank - essentially Google Alerts on steroids, this is quite possibly the coolest way to get news you want delivered to your inbox. I. LOVE. THIS.

9. AllTop - The online magazine rack for Blogs. This actually should be number one on my list as it has become the place I spend the most time scouring for news, especially by topic - can't speak highly enough of this one.

10. SpreedNews - I haven't tested this out fully yet, but I like the idea of it: Spreed is an online feed aggregator with an integrated speed reading tool. Spread lets you read stories faster by pushing them through a 'spreed player' that shows you only 2-3 words at a time (via MakeUseOf) - it has apparently saved users over 1700 hours in reading time...good job.

11. Addict-o-matic - This isn't flawless, but it is great nevertheless. A dashboard of news / content sources, which allows for keyword saving / customization - if you have a topic you are interested in, this rocks.

12. Popurls - A really solid, slick and savvy aggregator - doesn't have the reputation of the DIGG'S and REDDIT'S of this world, but much better in my opinion.

13. NewsNow - Not the most stylish interface in the world, but does give you a decent 'at a glance' view of the major stories.

14. RT.com - I had never heard of this before but it seems pretty neat - an online video news channel which is both live and archived - gives you a very global look at news.

15. The Big Project - This looks like it was developed in 1965, but it's really useful - it lists and links to every major newspaper website on the planet...hence the name.

10 mobile-based ways to get your news...

16. Snaptu for mobile (news and apps combined)

17. Reuters Mobile

18. Forbes.com Mobile Reader

19. NYT Media Decoder (for mobile)

20. IngBoo - "Clutter Freedom" (web and mobile)

21. iPhone News Apps (top free and paid services directory)

22. Google News / Mobile

23. Viigo (the world's biggest newsroom in your pocket)

24. Bloomberg Mobile

25. AP Mobile

20 'traditional / popular' online ways to get your news fix...

ABZY News Links (global news source guide), Journalism.co.uk (great site for journalists, but also general news gathering as well), Yahoo! News, Google News, TweetMeme, digg, Reddit, Mixx, Propeller, Newsvine, StumbleUpon, BuzzFlash, Slashdot, Slate, The Huffington Post, Sofomo (a simple and global news aggregator), NPR (really popular in North America), Sky News Online (especially the innovative breaking news alerts via Twitter), GlobalPost.com and who could forget BBC News Online (funny to think that this didn't even exist until relatively recently...compared to 'traditional' news that is...).

5 'human' news sources

I mentioned Twitter earlier, and there are five people who have become incredibly useful human news aggregators for me (especially in regards to the areas I'm interested in i.e. media, digital, PR, online, brand etc), including Mike Lizun (@MikeLizun), Steve Farnsworth (@Steveology), Chris Hall (@Chrish10), Emily Cagle (@EmilyCagle), Mark Ragan and PR Daily (@MarkRaganCEO).

One last little tip: Check out News Top 20 - The pick of the best news sites on the net updated daily.

Actually, one more, this is a simple spreadsheet-style site but helpful: AggCompare (a comparison of the major news aggregators).

How do you get your news?

Any gems not listed here worth sharing?

Drop your comments in the list below and we can look at compiling a master list that everyone can access.

AV

10 Most Useful PR, Social Media and Digital Engagement Posts of the Week (19 Feb)

A slight change of venue for the weekly wrap post - it just seems to make more sense to posts these links on, erm, Posterous!! (but I'm posting here today as well).

(http://adamvincenzini.posterous.com/10-most-useful-pr-social-media-and-digital-en)

To view the bank of previous editions, simply click here.

As usual, a big thanks goes out to the clever folk behind the posts featured this week.

And this week we look at: Syndicaion, SEO, Blogging, Social Network Stats, Social Media Tools, Monitoring, Analytics...the lot!

Post of the week:

I have to lead off with one post, which is possibly the best post I've read in 2010 courtesy of a hat tip from @Tiger Two:

Einstein's Guide to social media by Amber Naslund (if 'awesomeness' was a word, I'd use it here)

Nine other goodies...

1. 6 Superb First Social Media Tactics For Businesses via Mike Fruchter #SocialMedia
2. How to write for search engines without knowing SEO by Jason Falls #SEO
3. How to syndicate your Blog to social networks (by Blogger Design) #Blogging
4. A visual breakdown of the Age Distribution on Social Network Sites (by PixelBits) via @MikeLizun #Stats #Intel
5. 39 Social Media Tools used daily by Jason Baer via Social Media Today #SocialMedia
6. The Top Ten ReTweet Measurement Tools via JoltSocialMedia #socialmedia #Twitter
7. 4 Simple Ways to Integrate Analytics into Your Daily Internet Marketing Efforts via @hubspot #Analytics
8. How to use Bit.ly (advanced) for spying, link building and happiness (by Luna Metrics) #tools #URLs
9. The Top 8 Ways to Use Twitter Lists via @HowellMarketing #Twitter

Til next week...

Posted via web from adamvincenzini's posterous

Why some Blogs 'go to the dogs' (aka the importance of 'audience')

By Adam Vincenzini, Social Media / Digital Engagement

(Scroll down to the bottom of the post for 28 great tips on how to build and maintain your Blog audience and details of the DNA of the six major platforms)

If you are a regular reader of this Blog you'll know I have a very tabloid-esque tendency to make my headlines rhyme.

Funnily enough, there ain't that many words that rhyme with Blog so I was forced to settle on 'go to the dogs.'

For those outside the UK who may not be familiar with the term, it means 'become ruined' (it's actually a great example of a phrase's 'meaning' changing over the years and worth a look, just click here).

As if by magic, that introduction leads me seamlessly on to today's topic: Audience.

One factor in the make up your audience is geography

Using geography as the example, in the most recent full day, these are the locations where my Blog has been viewed from the most (by it's subscribers):

And as you can see, even though I'm based out of the UK, the majority of my recent readers are based out of the USA (as well as Portugal and Russia) which is why I used a very English expression and explained it (even though I probably didn't need to) to make a point.

And that point is: THINK AUDIENCE FIRST.

'Audience' is made up of several variables, with location only being one.

And, 'target audience' is really what should determine what your Blog is built around, but elements like your existing audience and latent audience are also worth keeping in mind.

Remember, a Blog might be online and it might be 'social' but it's still a communications channel, and the old rules / principals still have a huge role to play.

Importance of audience (overall) in the Social Media space

So, in a round-a-bout way, we've identified why some Blogs never get off the ground or lose momentum - they lose sight of their retained and / or intended audience.

And this is why using Social Media channels for the 'sake of it' is also a risky move.

If your target audience doesn't favour a particular channel, why use it?

One of the best posts I've ever read, and one I refer to regularly, is this one by Kent Lewis who outlines the DNA of six social media platforms.

It is excellent, and amongst some other helpful information tells us why audience is such an important factor in determining your overall traditional / social approach.

It also brings me to my final point.

Blogs are one element of the Social Media mix - they are, in my opinion, probably the most important - and they are often the 'hub' of your activity.

But they may not always be right for your audience.

In some cases a Facebook 'page' might be more suitable.

While I'm a firm believer in Blogs being the heart and soul of Social Media activity, I'd always make sure that for any project, my intended audience felt the same way first.

28 tips for building and maintaining a Blog audience

I found the following article / post as I was researching this one that really captures what you can and should do in relation to delivering a Blog that is right for your audience.

You can click through to the article here.

Bookmark it, print it off and sit it next to your desk...do anything to keep it nearby, it'll definitely come in handy.

And, before you hit 'publish' have one last read and put yourself in the shoes of your audience - if those shoes feel comfy, press enter!

AV

Which type of Social Media platform would you be?

By Adam Vincenzini, Social Media

While on holidays in Australia recently, I spent a lot of time telling my mates about Social Media (for the record, they were genuinely interested...well, they appeared to be anyway...).

However, their faces did go blank when I mentioned certain platforms that I, and my clients use, on a daily basis i.e. tumblr (my Dad was convinced I was trying to sell him a washer / dryer...anyway, I digress...).

So, one of the ways I got around this knowledge barrier was using the good old 'personality types' analogy for each platform i.e. if Twitter was a person, it would says lots of little things, very regularly, and be incredibly distracting.

It turns out that this struck a chord with most people and helped them understand the role of each element within the Social Media Mix, so I've reproduced this guide for you as I thought it might come in handy one day.

If you were a Social Media platform, which one would you be?

A Blog

Definition: A Blog is (predominantly) a personal online journal that is updated frequently and intended for general public consumption, which is often used by the author(s) as an opportunity to develop 'thought-leadership' in relation to a particular subject.

If it was a person: A deep thinker. It wouldn't talk very often, but when it did, people would generally listen closely as it was saying something well researched, detailed, and lengthy. It would often instigate discussions based on the points he / she raised.

Tumblr / Posterous

Definition: If a Blog is a journal, then Tumblr (or Posterous) is a scrapbook. A fast way to share links, photos and videos without the bells and whistles of a full-blown Blog.

If it was a person: Less instigator, more agitator / contributor. This person might latch onto a hot topic instigated by someone else, and add a bit more fuel / different perspective to that original view. Alternatively, this person might be a 'hoarder' (in the a positive way), keeping a handy public log of information relevant to them / their friends.

Twitter

(Note: This is / was my favourite one to 'translate'...you'll see why...)

Definition: Twitter is a free social networking microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users' tweets by using multiple platforms and devices. Tweets and replies to tweets can be sent by cell phone text message, desktop client or by posting at the Twitter.com website.

(I've deliberately used this very formal definition from whatis.com to give you an idea of how 'unfriendly' some official definitions can be...especially to the uninitiated)

If it was a person: It'd be a 'chatterbox' - an extremely talkative person who is quite often informal and can, on occasion, be trivial. However, he or she can use this approach to his / her advantage by initially communicating in 'bite size' chunks, before leading to more in-depth discussions and longer-term engagement.

Facebook, YouTube, foursquare, LinkedIn and more?

So, what do you think? Does 'personifying' each platform help explain its role / use?

I always think it's much more fun when everyone plays along, so I've provided the very 'formal' definitions for four more platforms below - why don't you have a shot at 'personifying' them in the comment box...or re-characterizing the ones I've used as examples...

'Official' Facebook definition

'Official' YouTube definition

'Official' foursquare definition

'Official' LinkedIn definition

As always, a palatable definition makes the next two phases of any communications plan (developing and delivering) a whole lot easier.

AV

The Anatomy of a Twitter Conversation (infographic)

By Adam Vincenzini, Digital Engagement

Last night, I took part in #journchat (a weekly conversation about media and PR conducted via Twitter).

As it was a 'conversation' (driven mainly by questions courtesy of the adjudicator), I was interested to see what kind of participant I had been during the session.

- Did I add value with my contributions?
- Did I exchange / engage with others?
- Did I bring outside people into the conversation that could add value?
- Did I highlight comments made by others that I thought were valuable?

So post #journchat, I dropped my Twitter handle into http://search.twitter.com to get an idea of my 'behaviour'.

Little did I know that I'd stumble on a really simple way to graphically assess my Tweeting patterns, that can be used for an 'event' like this one or as a semi-regular 'health' check.

After looking at the conversation, I recognised five core Tweet 'exchanges' (represented below):


(Click on the image to enlarge)

Put simply, the best way to make the most out of Twitter is to have an even balance, made up of the five exchanges / Tweet-types above.

I then looked at a passage of my Tweets from that conversation to see if I'd maintained a balance.

The following excerpt, very simply, tells me about my 'performance'.


(Click on image to enlarge)

Now, fortunately (and thanks to some fortuitous editing!), my balance during this period of the conversation was pretty decent.

But, it's not always easy to maintain a balance of contributing, mentioning, endorsing, being endorsed and replying.

What would have been worrying is if there was simply a page of only one or two exchange types on the page i.e. just retweets or just broadcast contributions.

Often times brands will look at how they're are preforming using sophisticated tools like Twitalyzer or Klout, which are great tools, but my trouble with them is they focus too much on 'influence' and are quite confusing for the everyday Tweeter - when really your overall contribution and engagement is what matters most.

Twitter is a conversation medium.

So, if you are an individual user or running a brand account, hop over to http://search.twtter.com every once in a while and scroll through your exchanges.

Balance of the five = fantastic.

Too much of a good thing = adjust, and get back at it.

Next time you are at a dinner party, think about the five 'exchanges' highlighted above - I'm pretty confident that the best 'conversationalists' around that table inject original contributions (good Tweet, followed by possibly being RT'd), challenge things (@ reply), take part in one-to-one conversations (@ to @) and add value to points made by others (RT + comment).

If you conduct this little test and make a discovery, tell us about it in the comments box below.

Good Tweetin'
AV

No Papers, Wk 5: Sentenced to 'Conversation Jail', without Bail, after detail 'fail'

By Adam Vincenzini, Traditional Media

One of the by-products of working in PR is that you are (generally) a pretty good dinner party guest.

It has nothing to do with our sparkling manners (!), or our generosity (!!), but rather our almost limitless knowledge of news and current affairs.

Whenever a heated conversation kicks off around the table, not only will we get heavily involved (what, me, opinionated?), but we'll often act like a human 'Google' - filling in the details of virtually any topic thanks to our religious-like media consumption during the week.

Now, when I embarked on my 'newspaper-less' experiment I didn't think this would change all that much - after all, I still had unrestricted access to all the news I wanted via digital channels.

But, guess what? I got made out to look (especially) silly at dinner on Friday night...and here's why...

The scene of the crime

I was out to dinner with some old friends - a couple of former PR colleagues and some friends of theirs I'd only met for the first time that night.

It was a fun night (I had the Salmon, which was very good), and being the guest from out of town, I got to do a lot of talking (which I hated...of course).

After bleeding the news of my 'newspaper-less' experiment dry, we got involved in some old-fashioned 'round the table' dinner conversation...

The topic?

The English Footballer who cheated on his wife with the ex-girlfriend of one of his teammates.

Now being in town from London, a lover of Football, and former PR manager of the Australia cricket team, I assumed a pretty prominent role in this conversation.

"Adam, if you were managing PR for this player right now, what would you do?"

"You're from London, what else can you tell us about the scandal?"

Ironically, and embarrassingly, I was actually the least knowledgeable person on the subject at the table that night.

It's all in the detail...

There was a pretty obvious reason for this: I hadn't been following it that closely.

And the catalyst for that, which only crystallized for me that night, was without newspapers in the mix, I'm increasingly only taking in 'bite-sized' chunks of news, as opposed to the details.

And it's actually quite a big problem.

Now if you're reading this you'll probably be thinking that if I wanted to be up to speed on everything to do with the latest news, there's nothing stopping me...it's all there, just get online.

And, you're right.

However, and this is the learning I took from the experiment this week: It is (a lot) easier to avoid news you don't want to acknowledge / aren't 'that' interested in when you're not reading newspapers.

If you have a copy of a paper in your hand, news and analysis will 'find' you - sure you can skip a page, but given the choice between reading about a Footballer's off-field indiscretions and a political topic I have limited passion for, my selection is pretty easy.

A learning?

So perhaps we've stumbled on something quite significant here?

I was under the impression that thanks to all the digital developments, news would 'find me' more easily and frequently, not less.

Or was I simply not that interested in that topic that other items 'found me' instead.

Who knows, perhaps we'll discover more as the year continues.

No matter the answer, one thing is clear: I must actively do my homework on current affairs / events before dinner parties the remainder of this year, or I'll end up having to make an awful lot of 'meals for one.'

Do we rely on newspapers 'too much' to keep us informed about general news and current affairs?

Do you think taking newspapers out of your life would make you a less involved dinner party guest?

Feel free to leave a comment below.

AV

Google searches for Foursquare triple in January...but creativity lagging behind...

By Adam Vincenzini, Social Media

Stats up, but creativity down for Foursquare...let's take a look at both...

Is this another sign Foursquare about to take off? Or are just a few more people intrigued because of the increase in talk / buzz?

No matter what, there's enough evidence to suggest it's creeping closer to mainstream adoption.

Google Insights

According to Google Insights, searches for Foursquare have more than tripled since the end of December 2009.


Interestingly, regional interest (based on the search data) tells us seven countries in particular are showing the most interest:

United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany and France.

This comes after a recent report that indicated check-in rates have doubled in the last month.

Now, with this uplift, will we see more businesses use it as part of their broader marketing and communications mix?

The answer is more likely to be yes, and sooner rather than later.

Foursquare 'in action' at the moment

For me, and rather disappointingly, Foursquare is being used very literally by businesses / brands at present.

For example:

- Check-in for a special discount

- Become Mayor and treat your friend to a free meal

While that's functional, and does incentivize people, I think a trick is being missed as so many opportunities exist to use Foursquare as the foundation for some more robust communications activity...the type of activity that will really get people talking.

Getting more creative...and creating more impact with Foursquare

I'm not normally one for giving out ideas for free, but seeing as I don't have a client like on this books at the moment I figured it'd be OK.

Local Mayoral Candidate Checks-In On Local Business

Sorry, but this just seems so obvious to me.

If I was running for Mayor of a city, I'd pledge to visit 100 local business in the weeks leading up to an election, meeting with the staff and providing tips, via Foursquare, about that particular business.

i.e. Roger Taylor: Last seen at Joey's Printing Co, in Hill Valley

"Joey Junior took over from Joey Senior 8 years ago and it celebrates it's 25th birthday this year...how cool!"

Output:

The Mayoral candidate has shown his commitment to local business by making his visits, he's adopted a technology that positions him as current and the fact that he's running for Mayor and Foursquare awards Mayor badges makes it a fun and quirky story...and a great story for the local media.

A great example of Social Media and PR working together to amplify noise.

Other creative routes: A retailer...

Again, these seem pretty obvious to me, but if I was a retailer who had a designated charity I'd consider the following:

"Check into any of my 350 outlets across the UK this week, show one of my sales assistants in store, and I'll donate £0.05 to our designated charity."

Now what's in it for the business apart from supporting the charity?

- Potentially thousands of mentions of people being in your stores over a one-week period that their extended social network is made aware of

- A unique angle in fundraising, which again, would be of interest to the media

- And importantly, your customers are actively doing some good with your help, strengthening your relationship with them

Other creative routes: An airline...

Now this might cause a stampede, but what if an airline offered a free upgrade to first class to the first five people who 'checked-in' on Foursquare as they 'checked-in' for their flight at at the 'check-in' desk?

Simple, but effective...and imagine how much of an impact this might have on limiting delays if everyone got to the airport on time!!

Again, another novel way of using the terminology and technology, making it fun and potentially creating news / PR off the back of it.

Now, these are quite basic mechanics, but they do illustrate what can be done with some broader thinking...I have some others up my sleeve if you're interested ;)
AV

Wanted (Dead or Alive): 'Check-outs' on Foursquare

Issued by: Brand Managers Worldwide

Reward: Respective Marketing Budgets

I received an anonymous call today from someone who claimed to be representing the newly formed BMWA (Brand Managers Worldwide Alliance).

He (well, I think it was a 'he') said his friends were a bit confused about Foursquare.

I immediately started to give him my explanation about it before he stopped me and said:

"Why doesn't Foursquare ask you to check-out?"

I paused, and said; "Ummm, can I call you back?"

It was one of the most obvious questions I've ever been asked and yet I couldn't answer it.

He followed up his call with an email - see the excerpt below:

Do you have any idea how powerful this data could be for me and my friends if we had both 'check-in' and 'check-out times'?

We could then tell our bosses things like:

- average length of stay per customer
- whether or not certain promotions kept patrons in venues longer
- when the best times were to have more staff on duty

His list did tend to go on a fair bit but the point he made was a fair one:

Foursquare could potentially provide brands with the best customer behaviour research they've ever had.

So why aren't they asking us to 'check-out'?

- 'checking-in' is already a burden for the consumer (perhaps)
- the technology struggles enough to handle 'check-ins' as it is
- there is no immediate commercial incentive for this service (the aim is to drive consumers into venues with special deals, what they do after they 'check-in' isn't a concern)

So, I called my anonymous friend back and said:

"Maybe we should pose this question to Foursquare?"

His response was; "Go on then."

So, here I go...

The Complete Twitter 'Follow / Unfollow' Toolkit

My search for the ultimate Twitter management solution...

Three parts to the post:

A) The best 'overall' tools
B) The best 'supplementary' tools
C) The best 'advice' (courtesy of @mattsingley)

This post has been cobbled together out of frustration.

Put simply, most of the tools I've used of late that are supposed to make my Twitter account easier to manage have done the exact opposite.

The problem? Too many tools trying to do too many things (probably), but also many of these tools are created by one-man bands for free and aren't subsidized in any way, which means maintenance is challenging.

The other challenge?

On January 15 2010, Twitter altered some rules which don't allow for tools to provide bulk 'unfollow' functionality which is / was the main benefit of these tools.

I'm getting to a point now where I'd happily pay for a tool that is truly robust and reliable, and brings together the key features important to me (*nudge* to anyone who wants to create a bespoke tool of this kind - I'm currently testing out SocialOomph which is a powerful 'all-in-one' tool...it might be the solution).

Anyway, I've compiled a list of some of the better ones that I've used, and categorized them by the type of Twitter user you might be...hope these help...

Part A) The Most Useful Twitter Follow / Unfollow 'Complete' Tools

1. Tweepi.com

It calls itself 'a geekier, faster way to manage Twitter' which is pretty accurate.

I like this because of the level of sophistication and detail it provides, but for some it may seem 'over-complicated'.

Main functions: Geeky Follow (suggests people to follow based on activity patterns), Flush (identifies users who do not follow you back), Reciprocate (lists people following you that you are not following back), Cleanup (a look at your entire list, supported by stats, allowing for informed decisions to be made)

Who is it for? High Volume users.

*H/T to @blogtillyoudrop for this one :)

2. MyTweeple.com

By far the most useful and practical tool of this type around.

Main functions: Once logged in, it breaks down your contacts into three categories (your followers, people you follow and everyone).

A further level of sub-categorization is then applied i.e. location, date of last tweet, number of followers etc

And this is all housed within the one, easy to manage list, which allows for following / unfollowing at the tick of a box.

Who is it for: Mid-High Volume users.

3. Twitter Karma

This tool is easy to use, and gives you the best indication of how you are using Twitter i.e. if Twitter is supposed to be a conversation medium, you can see who you are talking with (ideal, but not always possible / practical), only talking to and only listening to.

NOTE: You'll never be friends with 'everyone' on Twitter, and in some cases you only want to 'hear' what they have to say rather than actively talk 'to' them - the key, which I often stress via this Blog is to follow 'topics' first and 'people' second.

Main functions: Once logged in, it breaks down your contacts into similar categories to the ones provided by My Tweeple (all, only following, only followers, all friends, all followers and mutual friends).

This is great for getting a picture of your 'Twitterverse' but without the bulk 'unfollow' option robs it of it's most useful element.

Who is it for: Mid-Volume users.

It's at this point that my frustration with these tools kicks in - this is where the more 'niche' tools often appear, which although helpful, don't give me an 'all-in-one' solution.

However, there are a couple, which used in conjunction with the ones above, are quite helpful.

Part B) 'Supplementary' Tools

http://www.untweeps.com - identifies 'stale' Tweeple i.e. ones who haven't tweeted recently

http://whofollowswhom.com/ - another great supplementary tool, this identifies which followers you have in common with other people and is a nice way to build your network

Part C) Some advice on following and unfollowing

As I eluded to earlier, Twitter is a topic driven medium, and this should shape your 'network' - the best explanation I've come across regarding why and how to follow on Twitter is courtesy of @mattsingley who featured these two useful posts on the subject this time last year:

Five ways to follow good people on Twitter

Why and how to unfollow people on Twitter

Matt's Blog (http://mattsingley.com/blog) is great, I've found him and his advice to be invaluable in the last 12 months -well worth subscribing / following.

Thanks
AV