Monthly Archives: January 2010

Huzzah! The location-based social network Foursquare is now available to everyone, everywhere.

I’ve already declared my inevitable Mayorship of the East Village Jimmy John’s. (Who’s going to challenge me?) Others have made their claim on Mars Cafe, which will certainly be a hot spot. I also expect the tweets and check-ins to be flying from Raccoon River during Friday night’s Des Moines Tweetup.

Oh, if you don’t know what Foursquare is yet, please refer back to this earlier post.

So, what do local businesses need to be aware of? First, your customers are going to broadcast that they’re at your location / store / venue. Be ready for this by being findable. Go ahead and add your business as a location before someone does it for you. Earlier I used Foursquare’s web interface to add Lava Row. Just click on “add things” in the top navigation menu and then click “add a new venue.” Fill out the information including address, cross streets, etc., and you’re good to go!

Foursquare is emerging as a platform for businesses to reward their Mayors (people who “check in” the most often) with special deals and discounts – loyalty-based marketing at it’s finest. For more information about Foursquare’s beta advertising platform, check out Foursquare for Businesses.

How will you get creative with your business on Foursquare?