In the early days of search engine optimization, the pitch that many companies used was very appealing. “We’ll get you listed on thousands of search engines so that everyone can find you.” Today, this seems like a ludicrous statement. There’s only three real search engines that account for 97% of the search traffic and it’s been like that for some time, but back as recently as 2008, many companies were still pushing automated search engine submission as their primary selling point for search engine optimization. The same thing is happening today, only with social media. There are companies out…

The social media explosion means that it’s easier than ever before to keep in touch with old friends and to hook up with some new ones at the same time. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great for sharing news too and the majority of users will happily head online to announce details of a new job or a new arrival in the family. Both of those sites, Facebook in particular, are great for sharing your vacation with others. It’s a perfect opportunity to show off your skills as an amateur photographer and to let your friends know of all those exotic places you’re visiting — but is it just your friends…

One of the biggest problems faced when businesses try to use social media as a marketing tool is that there are simply too many social media sites. A day doesn’t go by when I’m not asked about this new site or that old site and whether or not they can be used is marketing. Most can. However, most simply do not have the reach to make them worthwhile. For the majority of businesses, if they stay focused on four current social sites, they’ll have the vast majority of their marketing covered. Some big sites were excluded. It’s not that Tumblr doesn’t have its place or that Foursquare is useless. It’s that the…

It has been challenging for Foursquare to make money. The popular location-based check in app has made news, generated buzz, and been the subject of purchasing and partnering talks since it became relatively popular amongst the mainstream in 2010. The only thing it hasn’t done is generate a substantial amount of revenue with its efforts. Their latest attempt to enter the world of the profitable is Promoted Updates, a service whereby businesses can push their listings to the top in a way similar to promoted Tweets on Twitter. When a user opens the application, their mobile device’s GPS system…

As a smart consumer, you’re probably aware that you’re being “managed,” but what you might not realize is what big business this management has become. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) process has evolved to become so intelligent, that your local florist remembers your anniversary before you do, and we could all do with a little help in that department, couldn’t we? Here’s a breakdown of how businesses keep tabs on you and why it is in your best interest.   What is CRM? CRM involves the use of software and apps to organize business processes involving the customer and to track…

Kevin Rose has always been known as an “ideas guy”. His ventures haven’t always paid off as well as they could have with Revision3, Pownce, and Milk all selling for less than many would have thought and with Digg dropping out of prominence in the social news arena, but he’s tasted success with all of them at one point or another. Google is banking on that by moving him to Google Ventures after trying him out on the Google+ team for a short stint. Rose has had success in picking winners with a portfolio that has include Twitter, path, OMGPOP, and Foursquare. Three-year-old Google Ventures claims to have…

Merchant tools on Foursquare are free and the company claims to want to always keep them that way. It’s challenging for Foursquare to make money when they don’t charge their 750,000 businesses for their listings and they definitely won’t charge the 20,000,000 on the platform to be able to use it, so they’ve chosen to generate a bit of revenue by speeding up the process through which businesses can get verified and utilize Foursquare’s tools. It all comes at a cost. Granted, it’s not much. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Foursquare Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"][/caption]…

With the recent purchase of Instagram, Facebook now has the capability to control a vast majority of the social media world. They control the most written content on the web and now they can control a huge part of the online photo world. So if foursquare was next on the Facebook shopping list at what heights could Facebook reach? Foursquare is the ultimate way for people to get deals, to find places to shop/eat, and it’s a great way for businesses to increase their online exposure. When people check-in to a certain place, their status is then sent to their Facebook Timeline or Twitter page. Their…

Your service is probably pretty fly if you’ve hit ten million users, and Foursquare as of Monday has become such a service. Foursquare, in case you’re dead, is the darling of the location-based social networking party, and has hither and yon become a great service for both consumers and businesses alike. Now, of course, how many of those ten million are actually using their Foursquare accounts – mine, for instance, exists as little more than an verification email – but any way you slice it, it’s still reason to tip your proverbial hat. Foursquare was even nice enough to do up this slick little animated…

The location-based social network Foursquare announced today that they had broken the 8-digit user mark. To commemorate, they created the infographic below that visualizes the growth over the months. They wrote on their blog, “One of the most amazing things about building Foursquare has been seeing a tool we designed for our friends turn into something now used by over 10,000,000 people.” …