Posts Tagged ‘check-in’

Posted on July 8, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Upcoming speaking events: It’s all about location-based services: TriOut, Foursquare and Social Media

It seems almost everyone is trying to learn more about location-based marketing or location-based services/applications. Along with how can they use mobile check-in applications with their existing marketing efforts, implement with their social media strategies and see is it worth the hype and attention to where everyone is blogging and talking about location. Just last month the entire @TriOut team spent the afternoon at the @NCTech4Good conference discussing how non-profits can use TriOut and other location-based services. Also the last two previous speaking occasions were on location. One was why measuring check-ins are important at the search exchange conference in Charlotte, NC and the other was what is location-based marketing in 2010 at a recent social media boot camp in Raleigh, NC [Slides].

Here’s a list of a few upcoming events that I’ll will be speaking on location-based services/marketing and social media.

July: Cary, NC – SAS – The core values of Social Media and personal branding for kids (not open to the public)

July, 14: Durham, NC – @TIMC_NC – Panel: Doing Business the hyper-local Social Media Way [RSVP]

Join TIMA for the July Lunch & Learn program on Wednesday, July 14th at Hotel Indigo (just off Miami & I-40 near Ruddino’s). The panel discussion will review some of the new web and mobile based applications designed for local merchants and local consumers to come together. Some programs are game based, some are “Deal of the Day” and others rely on community content building. What is all the excitement about and do the programs live up to the hype? Are they viable new sources for local advertising?

Join the expert panelists moderated by nationally recognized social media consultant Wayne Sutton. Our guests include Lawrence Ingram, creator and developer of Tri-Out, a social GPS program and Christina Gates, Community/Marketing Manager at Yelp!

July 15: Charlotte, NC – @SoFresh – Panel: The Evolution of Foursquare Marketing 7/15 [RSVP]

Foursquare and several other location based services are the new pretty girl at the party.
Join this timely panel to get the break down of how your business can begin to leverage Foursquare and other LBS platforms for your business, discover the emerging Foursquare marketing best practices, and how these technologies can improve your other marketing efforts.

Location based services, from Foursquare to Yelp to Twitter are receiving much attention as the newest channel of social media marketing. Join our panel of leading analysts and representatives of the services themselves as we discuss the value and possibilities of location based services.

July 22: Boston, MA – Panel – To Check-In or Not To Check-In? The Opportunities of Location Based Social Networking [RSVP]

Become a mayor, collect a coveted item, create a picture storyboard of where you’ve been – location based social networking (a.k.a. “LBS”) is fun, but is it more than just fun and games? Like the early stages of Twitter, LBS has its challenges (stability, adoption rates, etc.). But – whether it be lead generation, loyalty or business intelligence / data visualization and segmentation – the potential for businesses and marketers to leverage the power of location based knowledge is significant.

August 19: Raleigh, NC – Panel – @Triangleama – Location Based Marketing [more information coming soon]

Some of you may be wondering why am I talking about location so much now vs social media. We’ll I’m a partner of TriOut a location-bases service based out of Raleigh, NC were we not only provide consulting services but a service for the community and businesses. I still provide social media marketing services and more but if you or your business would like to learn how to leverage location bases services with your existing marketing efforts use the contact form on the contact page here. You can all see a list of previous speaking events here.

If you’re in the Raleigh, Charlotte or Boston area I hope you have the opportunity to attend one of the upcoming events.

Posted on July 2, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

The unofficial check-in guidelines for using location-based services

Location-based services continue to be the hot topic of the marketing and tech space. New location-based apps are launching weekly and existing location based apps are growing their user base faster than you can check-in into to @starbucks. But with everyone checking into to what everyone is called the next big thing I think it’s time for some unofficial guidelines for checking in using a few of the popular location based services.

Below are a few guidelines for using  location-based services.

Adding locations:

• Add real locations only
• Add as much information about the location as possible (address, phone, web, tags)
• You can add events/virtual locations if they have been approved by the organizer
• Don’t add fake mobile locations (someone’s boots, paints or computers)
• It’s ok to add a location that’s or check into a location that’s close to your home and check in there instead of your home.

When to check-in

• Walking or driving to a location if it’s in visible eye sight
• When you’re leaving location
• While at a location
• Don’t share too many check-ins with your other social networks or they will unfollow/friend you.

Places you should think twice about checking into:

• Banks
• Courts
• Jail
• Strip clubs
• Bathrooms
• Police Stations
• Day care centers
• Schools
• Your Home

Check-ins that shouldn’t count

• Walking by stores in the mall or at outside venues
• Driving by locations
• Parking lot check-ins where you don’t actually go into the location but you see it.

Adding Photos to locations:

• No porn photos using location-based apps
• Food photos are ok 95% of the time
• Post photos that can show where you’re at or what you’re doing

Leaving Reviews and tips:

• Leave honest reviews and tips about your experience
• Don’t spam by promoting another businesses in a review or tip
• Don’t insult people or leave private information in tips.

Adding Friends:

• Decide how you’re going to use location-based apps first
• Optional: Accept every friend request
• Optional: Block everyone except family members
• Optional: Only accept friend request form people who you know and trust

Choosing a Location-based service

• Pick one that works great with your mobile device
• Pick one that your local community uses
• Try them all at least once
• Pick one that rewards you for using the service.

Check-in Specials:

• Take advantage of as many check-in specials as possible before everyone else does
• Don’t over brag that you received a free cup of coffee for checking in or you’re on top of the leader-board or received a few badges. (most of your friends don’t care)
• It’s ok to let your social graph know that you received a check-in special

No stalking…. PERIOD!

Also see @Whrrl’s community guidelines

for digg: ab994cd58c0940429bd1b8cc2d4ecc74

Did I leave anything out? What are some rules/guildes you would like to see people implement using location-based services?

Posted on June 28, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Photo: I wonder which business is going to be the first to add a check-in here with @TriOut window cling/sticker

A big part of location-based marketing is not what you do online but what you do offline. With that being said at @TriOut we ordered some window clings/stickers for businesses to encourage their customers to check-in with TriOut so they can take advantage of any location-based check-in specials.

We have a few businesses who said they would like a TriOut window cling but now that we have them, I’m wondering who will be the first.

If your businesses would like one email us at contact@trioutnc.com. Also you can sign-up to use our business platform at http://trioutnc.com/business .

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Glenwood Ave,Raleigh,United States

Posted on June 27, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Did the @WhiteHouse / @BarackObama pick @PlacePop to check-in over the other 20+ location-based services?

A few minutes ago I received a push notification on my iPhone from @PlacePop that Barack Obama checked in at InterContinental Toronto Centre as you can see via the iPhone screenshot above. What is @PlacePop? Per the http://www.placepop.com website:

PlacePop is a place-based, social networking application developed by Ooga Labs – a San Francisco-based consumer technology greenhouse. The company was founded in 2009 by Kent Lindstrom, former CEO of the social networking website Friendster.
PlacePop fills a gap in the geo social networking market by providing a simple location-based social app for consumers, combined with a mobile, web-based affinity marketing platform for local businesses.

After seeing the message I did a little research to see if this was a fake account and it looks like about 12 days ago the Barack Obama account first checked-in to the Naval Technical Training Center, Corry Station and since then the White House – Oval Office. On another note, I don’t recall friending the Barack Obama account either, therefor I think it’s a partnership/marketing project with the social media team at the White House and PlacePop. Also the location/time of the check-in is someone what accurate being that the President is attending the G20 Summit in Toronto.

Why is this a big deal or I’m blogging about it? Well for a couple of reasons. One being their are over 20 plus location-based services with @Foursquare, @Brightkite, @Loopt @whrrl and my favorite the hyper-local startup @TriOut (*partner) leading the way. PlacePop just launched in March, 2010 and if they landed a partnership with the White House or their PR/Social Media team that’s a big deal. Two, in a time where many attack Facebook for privacy and discuss the harms of using location-based services if the President of the United States (at least his traveling social media team) can use a location-based service to check-in so people can track his location, what does that say about everyone else or national security for that matter. Third, with the tech world drooling over the @Foursquare vs @Gowalla battle that is really not a battle, if it’s true what does it mean for them and other location-based services if the government picked PlacePop over them. Remember this: INFOGRAPHIC: If Obama Used Foursquare from @RWW in February 2010? Personally, I don’t think it means to much from a state of competition but more of a validation of the value of location-based services. Also note that “If” this true, PlacePop updates are more current than the @BarackObama tweets… interesting.

Regardless if it’s true or not PlacePop is an upcoming player in the location space and is one to watch for. At launch PlacePop had a check-in reward special with both Target and the Black Eyed Peas. Where the first 100 people to earn Silver status in PlacePop would receive 10 gift cards at Target and the first 1,000 people to check-in at any participating tour venue received a free song from the Black Eyed Peas. Those promotions were on the http://www.placepop.com/about/rewards/blackeyedpeas and http://www.placepop.com/about/rewards/target pages but are no longer showing up.

You can find me on PlacePop here: http://www.placepop.com/people/waynesutton

If you use PlacePop let me know how you use it in the comments below. If the @whitehouse / @BarackObama team are using @PlacePop to check-in what are your thoughts on the government using a location-based service?

Posted on June 27, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

5 business or personal ways to use Google Latitude

Google Latitude lets you see your friends on a map on Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle. Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch with friends.

While it seems like the rest of the world is focused on checking in and badges Google is quietly making changes and updating their location-based services. One of their services is Google Latitude. Earlier this year Google launched Google Latitude API for developers and although I have yet to see any apps implement Google Latitude or build an alternative Google Latitude app, SimpleGEO has said their product supports Google Latitude, read SimpleGeo and Google’s Latitude API post.

But what about every day or business use for Google Latitude? Well that is something everyone is still asking and trying to figure out. As a location-based geek and partner of a location-based startup @TriOut, I try to use as many location-based services as possible and Google Latitude is one of them. Therefor I’ve been using Google Latitude to track my status the past few weeks and although it doesn’t actually say check-in here that’s what I’ve been doing. Take look at the video below to see my Google location history via Google Latitude from June 1 to June 27.

Looking at my location history and finding this post on Google Latitude last week called “The only use I’ve found so far for Google Latitude” I’m now thinking about possible business or personal ways to use Google Latitude. Here are 5 ways I came up with.

1. Real-Time nearby friends sms notifications

Instead of you launching an application to see where your friends are, Google Latitude can send you a sms if they’re nearby.

2. Mobile employee tracking
This is something that’s easier on a Google Android phone where you can natively have the Google latitude application run in the background. For iPhone and other mobile devices users will have to manually launch the Google Latitude app to mark their location.

3. Location-based content finding/sharing with Google Buzz

Google Latitude and Google Buzz work seemsly together and Google Latitiude has a buzz layer where you can find nearby content based on your Google Latitude location.

4. Family trip notifications.
As @jeffhilimire stated in his blog post. If your mom or other members of the family keep calling you while on vacation to check your status on a family trip, ask them to friend you on Google Latitude. Then just keep marking/checking in during your trip and they can see your exact location.

5. Create a customer notification/messaging list

This one is questionable and takes some work. But you could create a Google profile account for your business, encourage your customers to friend you and check-in using Google Latitude. Then you can have a list of your customers, see when they visited and email them as well. You may be crossing a thin line with that one but it’s an option. Google would prefre you to use Google Places instead.

Bonus & Tip
Of course you could use Google Latitude to stalk your friends/family therefor be careful using not only Google Latitude but any location based service. Make sure you check your privacy settings especially if you own a Android powered device.

For more on Google Latitude see the video: Google Latitude explained via @google

How do you use Google Latitude or see a use for it?