1) At least 1 meaningful professional relationship.
2) Measure Professional Pages use.
3) Measure Website Traffic from Facebook.
4) See how Facebook Pages has effected the search results for terms Derek Hanson and Derek Live.

If you want to take the poll can visit it in the link i provided on Linkedin.

If you are using Facebook in a personal way and are having success I would love to hear from you. Send me a comment and perhaps we can draw from your expertise.

Foursquare is probably the hottest geotargeting site out there. People check-in to locations and win badges of cities and store fronts. With people volunteering their whereabouts give marketers a picture to what customer buy and travel habits to commonly visited locations. It also allows for businesses to engage in their customers. It is mobile marketing that is free. I wanted to highlight a few uses of Foursquare that were common and some outside of the box uses.

1) The most comment use is for companies to reward their customers for checking into their business locations. The payout comes in the form of the customer winning the mayor of the shop or simply checking in receive something free or a discount. Some companies simply thank their guests for stopping by. Either way it gives a personal touch point for those customers.

2) Cities have started using Foursquare and creating badges for their historical sites or special locations throughout the city. It is like having a city guide to give you an idea of places to go and see. The city, like Chicago, gives locations to visit and as the tourist visits that city badges are awarded for completion. It also gives the city tourism some visibility and feed back about its effectiveness.

3) Companies use it at conferences to engage people. Some companies like Intel have used the medium to award special badges for people who visited different booths selected by Intel. SXSW used it as a scavenger hunt to award tickets to those who visit the most music locations.

4) Nonprofits use it to raise money. P&G has partnered up with some charities to donate money when products are checked- in. Every time a customer checks-in a branded product money is donated to the charity. It is a mutual relationship for both the product company and the charity. The product company gets a touch point for it’s product while the nonprofit gets a donation. The end result for P&G is increased sales.

These tips should help you with creating innovative ways for using Foursquare. I suggest this tool because it offers brand awareness and advocacy. The more visibility your company has the more sales of your product or services.

Are there any ways you have seen Foursquare used not mentioned here?

1) Whistling for a Taxi. Why couldn’t we simply tweet “#taxi 5th & Main.” No need to raise your hand or whistle but simply tweet and soon you’re whisked away.

2) Auctions. What if instead of raising your hand during a bid you simply tweeted. 2k for the bidder @dereklive. Can I get 3k?

3) Deals. Flying deals online. Some models like Woot have a deal a day and Amazon has several. What about low priced deals offered only on Twitter in real time. First 100 products sold to those who tweet #awesomedeal.

4) Stock Quotes. Real time stock quotes that tell you stock prices as they happen. I know there is software for this but I could see people using this with a Twitter client.

5) Ordering. Why not order Take Out or Coffee on the go. A local coffee shop could set up a hashtag for people to order. A reply to the tweet will give the customer the idea that their beverage will be ready for them. To keep from getting unwarranted beverage orders simply have specific hours tweeted orders will be received or the customer has to announce they want the service.

6) Reservations. Dinner for two, Friday, at six. @favoriterestaurant

7) Radio. Why not have dual listening contests. The tenth caller receives cd and the 1st tweet #themusicrocks wins. Or they could take Twitter questions in place of phone questions. This gives a greater pool of questions for shows limited by time constraints.

Social Networking At Hotel Deluxe

Last night was the Social Networking Event Old School Party hosted by SEM Portland. I had a great time meeting marketing professionals from the Portland metro area. Met some fantastic people including a former classmate from my marketing classes I took at Portland State.  I also met several industry leaders in search marketing from Anvil Media, Engine Works, and Amplify Interactive.  I love meeting new people and getting to know those that are related to my industry.  Networking is a great way to connect with people in your field.  Having these connections may pay off in the future.