March 10, 2011

What’s the Use of Foursquare?

Last summer just a few weeks after I got iPhone I was on a road trip with a buddy. Every time we ate at a restaurant or teed up a golf ball at a golf club I’d whip out the iPhone and check in via Foursquare.

“What are you doing that?” he’d ask. And of course I’d show him the app, explain how it works, how I could become the mayor, etc.

“Yeah, but why? What’s the point?”

Uh..it’s fun! Right?

It’s something a lot of people struggle with. Foursquare, to their credit, is trying to find ways to make it more of an engaging platform than just a ‘check-in’ tool that leaves you asking questions about what to do next.

One complaint I’ve seen is that when you check in with Foursquare and have that information posted to your Facebook and Twitter feeds, all you’re really doing is cluttering the stream. And people don’t want to see the clutter.

Well, if you look at it that way, virtually ALL posts are clutter to one degree or another. I tend to check in, have the info post, and then watch the reaction – and I often get it. And isn’t reaction the whole point of sharing via social media?

If you search online it’s easy to find hundreds of blog posts that are foretelling the end of Foursquare because they can’t figure out what the hell they’re doing.

But you can also find a lot of great ways to use Foursquare (as well as some nice tips on how NOT to use the app). Check out this post from Lifehacker. One very useful idea is to create a separate account for checking into any location where you spend money and use Foursquare to track expenses.

Here’s another post from Geeksugar.com which shows you a handful of ways to use Foursquare.

They also have a fun slideshow on where NOT so check-in.

While Foursquare is not perfect – here’s Peter Shankman’s blog post on his trouble with Foursquare overseas – it still has a lot of interesting uses. Maybe not as much of a game as SVCNGR, but as LBS (location based services) go, it’s still the leader. And I expect it to remain the leader for the foreseeable future. Which in social media years, could be as long as six months or more!

February 18, 2011

Using the Location-Based SCVNGR Game at Tradeshows

I keep hearing how SCVNGR is being used to engage tradeshow attendees with pics, check-ins and other game activities. So let’s take a look at how it’s being done in a tradeshow or event setting.

First, what the heck is SCVNGR?

SCVNGR is a game. Playing is simple: Go places. Have fun and share with your friends. Check-in, snap pics, do the social check-in or try a challenge! Everywhere you go, you’ll earn points and start unlocking real-world rewards at over 12,000 locations (think free ice cream!). SCVNGR makes it easy to share where you are and what you’re up to with your friends on SCVNGR, Facebook and Twitter. Start playing SCVNGR by downloading our free iPhone & Android app. SCVNGR is funded by Google Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Balderton Capital. Visit www.scvngr.com to learn more.

Last summer the New England chapter of Meeting Professionals International looked for a social media activity that met the needs of buyers and suppliers, encouraged networking and interaction, helped give back to the community, and is really fun, too…is such a thing even out there? Turns out it is: SCVNGR.

They set up a 90-minute scavenger hunt for the 150 attendees. Each venue ponied up a sponsorship fee and once the scavenger hunters arrived they were tasked with doing something. “For example, arriving at restaurant Post 390, participants had to find the private function room. There, they had to try some hors d’oeuvres. After submitting a photo to prove they’d completed the task, participants got a text message noting that the restaurant has three private function rooms.”

6 Posts on Using iPads at Tradeshows You Might Have Missed

…in which our intrepid reporter takes a stroll through a number of blogs and news outlets. And takes a couple of the companies to task for, well, various things…

Alexis Exhibits details a number of ways tradeshows will benefit from using iPads, including:

videos and photos
lead retrival and demos
attendee schedules
and more…

As an aside, I was disappointed in the Alexis website for one BIG reason: they only list a toll-free number and general e-mail but NO other contact information. Who are these people? Where are they? Why the mystery?

Tradeshowfeed, courtesy of Rogers Exhibits, lists several ways to use the iPad at a tradeshow:

incorporating multimedia
interactive demos
agendas, one-to-one appointments, and personalized agendas
way-finding
and more…

The Tradeshowfeed blog is actually a nice enough blog with useful information and a good look, but seems pretty inactive. However, when you click the ‘Latest” link, the four most recent posts are from Feb 8, 2011, November, 2010; October, 2010 and August of 2010. Uhm, that’s barely enough to fog a mirror, folks.

Eric Lukazewski’s “Tradeshow Insight” blogs is one of the more active and interesting tradeshow blogs that you’ll find and this post lists 5 iPad apps that may make your tradeshow world a little easier.

“Sullen iPad Catalog App Launches At Trade Shows” details a custom catalog that is being used on tradeshow floors to demo an art-driven lifestayle apparel brand. Nicely done.

Alexis Exhibits covers some of the same ground as their other iPad post, but still offers a batch of good ideas for using iPads at tradeshows:

Personal demos
Portability
Interactivity
Create a hands-on kiosk
and more…

The Monetate Market Optimization Blog offers a review of their experience using the iPad to demo their marketing software at a recent tradeshow. One thing that they like was the personal interaction that the iPad offers over a larger flat screen.

iPad photo (CC-BY-SA) by Glenn Fleishman from Seattle, Washington

February 9, 2011

Telecommuting In Style

Are you stuck in the office all day long, five days a week? Happens to all of us. Happens to me most of the time. But every once in awhile I get inspired and take my work to the ski resort. Can’t do it every day, because on many occasions I have to meet clients in person. But if that’s not the case, I can often handle a lot of the details of work remotely, via a smartphone or laptop.

So Tuesday of this week I took my work to the slopes at Hoodoo Ski Bowl, my ‘home’ resort. And had a ton of fun while doing it. And answered a few client calls, an email or two and communicated with the office on a critical project as well. Yeah, the first time you might feel a little odd about actually taking a client call on the chairlift, but when you’ve handled the issue, you hang up and smile…

Can you work remotely? Can you find a way to mix pleasure with your job? It doesn’t always mean heading to Cabo or the ski resort. It might mean you’re taking meetings offsite to your favorite coffee shop. Or finding a way to engage with your clients or prospects through social media while you’re enjoying a day off. The lines are blurring and will continue to blur between our “work” hours and our “off” hours as we get deeper and deeper and more familiar with tools such as smartphones and the online platforms that allow us stay in front of other people’s minds much easier than before.

Even at a tradeshow you can easily stay in touch with people in other cities, keeping your business going in several areas while also seeing people face-to-face at the show.

Today’s work world means getting adept at using all of the available tools – and knowing which ones work for you and which ones to leave aside.

Some of the tools I use which help me work remotely include Dropbox and Carbonite. They allow me to access documents from anywhere and either work on them or email them when needed. Checking in with your community by using Facebook is also very useful and not time-consuming at all. By linking several accounts together (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn) you can reach people on all of those platforms by interacting with only one.

January 31, 2011

Ways You Can Use QR Codes

Even though QR Codes have been in existence since the mid-90s, they’re only now become hip. Fashionable. Tres chic. (whatever that means)…

And if you put your mind to it, you can come up with all sorts of ways you can use QR Codes.

First, review the blog post where you can find out all about QR Codes and how they work and how to create them.

Then listen to the podcast interview with Marie-Claire Andrews of ShowGizmo.com where she discusses ways to use QR Codes.

Then brainstorm a bit on how you might use a QR Code to assist your other marketing efforts. Here are some brain-starters…

Tradeshow rugs or flooring: easy to put a graphic on a custom piece of flooring. Putting it on a rug will inspire people to pull out their smartphones and capture the QR Code to see where it leads.
“The Mechanic” movie poster
Business cards: have too much information to put on your business card, like Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/YouTube links, and more…? Create a web page on your blog or website that has all of that, along with a bio, photo, or whatever else you deem appropriate.
Cupcakes!
Storefronts: mention a freebie if you scan the QR Code.
Best Buy label
T-shirts: I saw a QR Code t-shirt for sale online (just search any t-shirt site); upload your QR Code, include an invitation such as “Scan me to win!” and wear it proudly while people stop to scan you!
“Like” us on Facebook
Marketing materials: Of course you can insert a QR Code in virtually any piece of marketing. The trick is to offer an incentive to scan: free download, limited-time product discount, exclusive offer, etc.
At a tradeshow: link the QR code to a ‘secret’ site where visitors can find such things as streaming video of the show, a virtual tradeshow website, special offers, photos, and more.
A few more ideas: business advertising, clues for a treasure hunt, an artist manifesto, link to a non-profit’s donation page, and a bunch more on this cool collection of QR Code ideas.

If you search for QR Codes on Google, there are just a million+ results. I would bet that in another year there will be five times as many. QR codes are exploding. The more companies that get involved will spur even more companies to get involved. It’s like a snowball rolling down hill. Or like global warming. Except for the snowball thing.

January 28, 2011

Losing Your Smartphone – What Next?

When you carry a smartphone, it’s sometimes easy to forget that you’re carrying a lot of information that thieves would love to get their hands on: phone records, contacts, email passwords, social networking profiles with username and passwords, access to online banking and passwords…and much more.

Just knowing that makes you a little more aware when you’re bopping around your house or town or your job.

But what about when you’re in a faraway city at a convention or tradeshow? You’re one of millions of folks out there on the road every year with a smartphone and those thieves and hackers are looking for you to make a mistake. You set the phone down momentarily at a restaurant or check-in counter at a hotel and the next thing you know it’s gone. When travelling, you’re much more susceptible to theft for the simple reason that your attention is often elsewhere: you’re in a strange place; you’re trying to do things you normally wouldn’t do (find a rental car or shuttle or check into a hotel; read a map, catch a train, etc). Once in Chicago a couple of years ago I actually left my phone on the taxi. The driver had given me his car and it took a few moments to track him down and have him bring it back…so I was lucky!

But if you lose your smartphone, what now?

Before that happens, educate yourself to the dangers of either losing your phone or getting it hacked. Read articles such as ‘Smartphones: The New Hacker Frontier”

Everyone should have security apps for a their smartphone. Here’s a collection of those apps for smartphones, netbooks, laptops or PDA’s.

PC World had a very useful article on keeping your smartphone safe recently.

If your phone is stolen, one option would be to remotely wipe the data off of your phone. Most phones also allow you to require a password when the phone is started up.

There are apps that help you track a stolen iPhone, too. In fact, iLocalis is considered a great app for doing just that. EHow also offers an article on ways you can track a stolen smartphone.

Bottom line: Don’t lose your smartphone! It’s not just a phone. It’s a lot of your business and personal life wrapped up in a small, easy-to-misplace package. And the more prepared you are to deal with accidentally losing it, the better off you’ll be if it actually happens.

January 12, 2011

Using QR Codes at a Tradeshow

One of the most effective methods to get involved in mobile marketing is to create a QR Code and display it openly at a tradeshow. It’s a somewhat familiar-looking graphic widget but not everyone knows exactly what it is or how it works.

Invented in 1994 by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave, the QR (Quick Response) code has graduated from a simple two-dimensional code used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing to much larger use. More and more companies are finding ways to use them in tradeshow marketing by including codes on booth graphics and handouts. One main use of the QR code seems to be to direct the viewer to a website where they are introduced to company-related information.

It’s easy to include a QR Code and it makes sense for at least a couple of reasons: first, it’s a great way to reduce the amount of printed material that you have to carry around and pass out. It reduces printed products that may end up on landfills or recycling bins. Secondly, the QR Code is still new enough that the use of it positions your company as a leader – or at least very sensitive to the spirit of reducing printed materials. By steering your visitor to a website to download PDFs, view videos or other material, you’re seen as much ‘greener’ than competitors that may still be handing out pamphlets (so last century!).

Scan this QR Code! — QR Code for Tradeshow Marketing Newsletter

Third, it’s cool looking!

In the Wikipedia entry on the QR Code, you can see that marketers are making use of the symbol in many ways: “Media where QR codes have been deployed include: billboard ads, in-store displays, event ticketing and tracking, trade-show management, business cards, print ads, contests, direct mail campaigns, websites, email marketing, and couponing just to name a few. QR codes are of particular interest to marketers, giving them the “ability to measure response rates with a high degree of precision”[20] allowing for easier ROI (return on investment) calculation, thus helping justify spending on marketing budgets.”

If you want to create a QR Code, there’s no cost. Even though Denso-Wave owns the patent, they are choosing not to enforce the patent rights. Search online for ‘create QR code generator’ and you’ll find several applications that allow you to create your own code in a few seconds.

Once the code is created, you can insert it in any marketing materials you may have.

To read the phone, the most common way is with a camera phone with an app or the software that can decode it.

To create a code, there are limits to the amount of text you’re able to insert:

QR Code data capacity:

Numeric only Max. 7,089 characters
Alphanumeric Max. 4,296 characters
Binary (8 bits) Max. 2,953 bytes

There are more creative uses of the QR code being developed. Businesses are linking to discount coupons, games, treasure hunt clues, mail-in rebates and more. Check here, here and here.

And if you want to see what a social media crowd thinks of the QR code and grab some more ideas, check this Facebook page.

October 13, 2010

Social Media at Tradeshows: 10 Keys to Engagement

I’ve been reading a lot about social media engagement lately – and talking about it a lot, too. Have you noticed that if you even mention the term ‘social media’ to some people, it’s like you handed them a gold Rubik’s Cube. They’ll want to play with it and play with it and never put it down.

But they’ll never solve it, either.

So how do you get on board with social media in your tradeshow marketing?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. If there was, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Speaking of conversations, what is your audience talking about? Are they discussing your products or services? If so, are you aware of what is being said?

And if you’re aware of it, are you responding? In real-time?

In a Vocus-hosted webinar this week by David Meerman Scott, he stressed that the ‘real-time’ response is what is needed. Because if you don’t see what’s happening in real time and respond accordingly, you’ll get left behind. Or run over by the steamroller.

So when it comes to tradeshows, yes, it’s great to have a strategy in place complete with a bunch of tactics that you intend to use: tweeting out your appearances, posting video interviews, demos and testimonials and launching a bunch of cool visitor photos to Facebook. This is all important.

But are you aware of what your competitor down the tradeshow aisle is doing? Do you know that their customers are going crazy over a new product they just launched? If so, did you insert your company into the conversation in a light-hearted way steering some of those tweeters and bloggers and Facebook-posters your way?

It’s not about all the tweets or videos you post. It’s about getting the attention of your audience in a place where they live.

And when it comes to responding to the pertinent tweets and Facebook postings, as Scott said in the webinar: ‘Speed and agility are decisive competitive advantages.’

Peter Shankman went off on social media marketers this week in a ranting post. I chewed over the post along with the webinar from @DMScott, did a little mashup of those thoughts along with my own and came up with a list of reminders as you prepare to bring social media on board for your tradeshow marketing efforts (thanks to Peter and his readers for a few thoughts and phrases here):

Awareness – what is the conversation about regarding your products and industry?
Add value – don’t just try and get more followers to increase your numbers; what of value are you really offering those followers?
Know the difference between social media and social marketing
Be available – break the ‘impenetrable wall of stupid’ that seems to surround most companies
Why? Make the connection with your customers by telling them WHY it matters to you and them
It’s not about YOU. It’s about your customer.
Twitter, Facebook, et al are TWO-WAY, not ONE-WAY communication platforms
Engage. Respond. Repeat.
Operate in the NOW. Not the past. Not the future.
Social media are tools. Real-time is a mindset.

photo credit: t3rmin4t0r

September 22, 2010

Coolest Tools I Use

I love productivity tools, and love sharing them with friends and colleagues. I got to thinking the other day that I’ve never actually compiled a list of those tools and posted it. So here ’tis: some are old friends, some are brand new tools. All of them help me do what I need to do with my online and offline world.

So…in no particular order or preference (all links open a new browser window)…

Online:

Freebinar.com: Do free webinars for unlimited audiences, follow-up with attendees and registrants. Download data from the webinars.
Freeconference.com: Ditto for teleconferences.
FedEx print online: Only had to use this a few times as I can usually print elsewhere, but on those occasions this service has knocked me out with how easy it is to use. Upload files, tell ’em what you want and when you want it, and go pick it up.
Photoshopsociety.org: I realize that my Photoshop skills are lacking – but this membership site has proven to have the goods with tons of tutorials, downloads, web and WordPress templates and more.
Bluehost website hosting: All my sites are hosted by BlueHost.com. Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited domains, thousands of e-mail addresses, one-click WordPress install and updates, and more bells and whistles that you can every use. All very easy. Great customer service when needed. And dirt cheap.
Aweber and Ratepoint e-mail marketing: I’ve used Constant Contact, which is a solid service. But they didn’t have a few items that AWeber did. I was pitched RatePoint one day and checked it out. I use it for my Tradeshowguyblog.com newsletter; I use AWeber for everything else (CommunicationSteroids.com, DigitalAudioWorld.com and others).
Eventbrite.com: Got a live or online event and want to track attendance, sell tickets, mine data? It’s all here. I’ve used it a couple of times and was very pleased. Looking forward to using it again.
Feedburner: If you have a blog, be sure to burn your feed with Feedburner. Tons of additional stats and tools with this free Google tool.
YouSendIt: Need to send a large file to someone that doesn’t have an FTP site? YouSentIt.com does it for free for most files.
WordPress: The best (in my humble opinion) blogging platform around. Tons of customization options.
Google Chrome: Chrome has taken over Firefox as my favorite web browser. It’s faster; the search-in-address-bar feature is easy, and there are more and more themes, plug-ins and extensions available all the time.
Google plug-in page rank status: check the Alexa ranking of any website you’re on with a single click.
Carbonite back-up plus iPhone app to access any document at home or work from anywhere. My favorite new cool tool!
Google Calendar (and syncing to home and work PC’s); with Google Calendar iPhone app. No matter where I update a calendar from, it populates across all calendars. I also use ACT! which syncs with my Outlook calendar at work, so I see everything on all calendars no matter where I input it.
HARO: Peter Shankman’s HelpAReporter.com is tops in connecting sources with news (and blog) outlets. Free.
GoToMyPc: remote access to your computer from anywhere you have a ‘net connection. Just remember to leave your computer ON!

Software:

Software995 to create and edit and combine PDFs. They have a free version, but if you spring for the few bucks you don’t get sent to their website after each PDF you print.
Camtasia screen capture program: Version 7 kills. So many different ways to use it. I produce video, screen captures and more with this intuitive, easy-to-use tool.
Filezilla: free FTP software, easy to use.
Adobe Audition: multi-tracking audio recording software with more effects than I’ll ever use.
Photoshop / Picasa: Both are great for manipulating photos; Picasa has an online storage and sharing tool; PhotoShop is the king of photo manipulation.
ALZip for creating compressed files for emailing or uploading.
AudioShell and MP3Tag for editing MP3 ID tags. I’ve used AudioShell for years with Windows XP. With my new Windows 7 box, it doesn’t work, so I found MP3Tag which does the trick. Not as neat and unfussy as AudioShell, but workable. I only hope that the folks at SoftPointer make it work with Windows 7 64Bit soon!
Skype: I’ve used it off and on for years, and with my new Windows Life Cam (below) it’s becoming more of a regular thing.
iTunes: when iTunes first came out I was a big Winamp fan. Years later I can hardly recall Winamp.
UltraEdit: A super-powered notebook text editing tool. On steroids. I’ve used this for a few years and can testify it’s a great program. Not for everyone; you have to get used to how it works, but for creating simple text-only copy for copying and pasting to other documents it’s a great tool to avoid the underlying coding issues you often get with MS Word.

Hardware:

Flip Video camera: bought this a couple of years ago and love it. Easy to care, easy to use with a single stop-start button; it creates digital files that are easy to edit and post on YouTube or your blog.
ScottEVest coat – high tech clothing. Ran across this thanks to Peter Shankman. The best travel clothing. More pockets than I can use. Even lost my wallet in my coat once. Knew it was there, couldn’t get it out for five minutes until I found the right zipper.
Microsoft Lifecam (hi-def): My friend Tony Marino turned me on to this cool webcam which I’ve had less than a month and love it. Great quality, easy to use, powerful microphone built-in. About $55 if you look around.

What cool tools do you love? Please share!

September 20, 2010

Do the Yelp Dance!

You’re at a tradeshow, it’s time to close up the booth and head out for dinner and drinks. Maybe catch a Tweetup. Or maybe it’s still several weeks to the tradeshow and you want to schedule a Tweetup. How do you find a good place to meet, or to have dinner and drinks?

Try Yelp. They’re quickly building a reputation as an information provider that offers reviews of businesses – from people that have patronized the business. From Yelp’s website: “Yelp allows consumers to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and lets business owners share information about their business with their customers. Simply put, it’s word of mouth–amplified.”

Word of mouth – amplified.

This works from two directions: if you have a business that’s near a convention center, you’d better be listed on Yelp. If not, it takes a few moments to set up an account.

If you’re a small business, you’d better be looking at building a customer community program this year. Starting building an email (and SMS) list so you can offer specials and promotions to those customers. If you’re at a tradeshow or convention, Yelp is a great resource: on a recent vacation I used Yelp to track down a number of restaurants that I never would have otherwise found. All were worthwhile – some more than others – but each Yelp review gave insight into other customers’ experiences and thoughts.

Of course, Yelp can be a double-edged sword if you’re a small business. Treat a customer badly and you might create a firestorm of negativity – deserved or not. With new location-based and customer-review services popping up, it’s going to be a harder line for businesses to walk.

Besides Yelp, your business should be visible and listed on Google Maps and Facebook. Consider looking at newer and not-so-well-known platforms such as FireEagle, Loopt, Gowalla, or Rummble or any of another hundred or more LBS-services.

With more and more people going mobile, the niche-oriented businesses such as Foursquare and Yelp will become bigger and bigger players. Not only can you use them to connect with people, find a great restaurant or coffee shop or tire store, as a business you’ll find a competitive advantage by being first to be found by that small but growing number of people using the services.

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