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Category Archives: Howto
How to claim multiple locations on foursquare
If your company has a large real estate footprint (translation: multiple locations) and you’d like to claim them all on foursquare, doing it one by one certainly isn’t a good use of your time. Here are a few tips for getting started and staying efficient.
Norah Carroll recently assisted one of our clients with the process of “bulk claiming” 370+ foursquare venues in one sweep. She found that the claim process itself is relatively easy, but there’s a lot of homework that needs to be done beforehand to make sure your location database is up to par. Here are a couple of things you need to include in your database before you submit it.
Have your foursquare user ID ready
The person responsible for claiming and managing all the venues will need to have a foursquare account set up first. Log in to your account and view your profile – the URL at the top contains your user ID. For example, my profile can be found at foursquare.com/nathantwright and my user ID is nathantwright. If you haven’t synced your foursquare and Twitter accounts, your ID will be a random number.
Twitter handles and phone numbers
Foursquare attaches phone number and Twitter information to venues, so make sure you include it. (And, it’s useful to your customers.) If your locations are empowered to run their own Twitter accounts, make sure those are referenced. Or, you could just used the main brand’s Twitter handle. Generally, just make sure all the information in your location database is up-to-date before you submit it.
Latitude and longitude
Yes, this level of detail is required for foursquare’s bulk claim process. If you’ve ever verified your locations through Google Places, you’ll likely have this information. If you don’t, GPS Visualizer is a handy resource that can convert multiple addresses into GPS coordinates.
Once you have all of this pulled together, you’ll need to request an official bulk claim worksheet from foursquare. You can get started by visiting the network’s merchant platform page.
Now, get claiming!
Twitter rolls out Project Retweet
Last Friday I discovered that Twitter’s new retweet feature had been activated in my account. Much like Lists, they are slowly rolling this out to all users, so be patient and you’ll discover it soon. For those who haven’t seen it yet, here’s a quick video description and howto on the new feature.
What are your thoughts on the new retweet functionality? What interesting things could you build with this being integrated into the Twitter API?
How to get serious about public speaking
Photo credit: Terry Anderson Photography
Two years ago, public speaking isn’t something I imagined doing a lot of in my career, or even enjoying. Fast forward to today, and in fact quite the opposite has happened: I do a significant amount of it and I actually look forward to each and every engagement.
For those who are considering getting more active with public speaking, or maybe even thrust into a situation where it’s required of you, I wanted to create a post that serves as a guide for getting comfortable, getting better, and getting more gigs. Let’s get started.
Do it for free for one year.
This exact bit of advice was given to me by Drew McLellan when I was just starting out. I stuck to this motto and accepted every opportunity thrown my way – large and small. This kept me highly visible and I slowly built up a reputation network, a few connections here, a few references there, and so on. Today, public speaking is one of our services and makes up a significant percentage of our revenue. If compensation is your end goal, remember that you need to earn it first. Nobody invites you to speak and hands you money just because. If you do a good job, word will spread, and opportunities will come your way.
(Oh yeah, it’s cool to keep taking free gigs. Often times high exposure will beat a paycheck. You get to build your own filter.)
Learn from others.
I recently attended BlogWorld Expo 2009, and while the content was excellent, I learned just as much about speaking styles (and improving my own) by studying some of the individual speakers. Jeremiah Owyang‘s solo session taught me how to keep focused on connecting with the audience and their needs, putting less reliance on slides. Patrick O’Keefe demonstrated an amazing ability to lead an efficient panel discussion and keep each panelist on task and topic. (Not an easy task when Robert Scoble is one of the participants and wants to show off Twitter Lists!)
Go out and observe other speakers. Figure out what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and how you can adapt some of what you learn into your own presentations.
Prepare for questions.
Honestly, Hillary and I spend more time preparing for (and trying to anticipate) tough questions than we do buttoning-up the presentation itself. If you can’t answer your audience’s questions, chances are likely you won’t be getting many more speaking opportunities. Think ahead about their specific challenges and fears, and try to predict them. Have case studies in the hopper and be flexible. (This gets easier and comes more naturally over time.) Remember, they’re looking to you as the expert, so be ready to step up.
Be ready to adjust on the fly.
Despite all the time and effort you put into preparing for a speaking engagement, the needs of your audience may not fit into the exact framework you assembled. For example, let’s say you’re giving a Social Media 101 presentation, and multiple audience members really don’t get the benefits of having a LinkedIn account, and they want you to help them dig deeper. Be ready for this. You’ll also need to stay aware of how much time is left and what to skip over. Always come prepared with more ammunition and inventory than you think you’ll need.
Meet as many people as you can.
This one’s a no-brainer. Call it old-school social networking. Get to know the people who run conferences and professional organizations. The more people who know about you, the better. I recently spoke at the MIMA Summit but made a point to get to know Jennifer Kane (a major decision-maker). Ideally, this will help me get invited back next year.
Give them proof.
If you want to seek out bigger speaking opportunities, you’re going to need proof that you’re good at what you do. Document your speaking gigs with video, photos and share your presentations on Slideshare. I’ve organized all of my material, plus some references, on a speaking page that I often refer people to. I patterned my page after Chris Brogan’s, which is awesome. This gives anyone thinking about hiring you an idea of what to expect.
Create opportunities for others.
My very first speaking opportunity was actually handed to me by Mike Sansone, who had a conflict and couldn’t make it. Along the way, you’ll come across gigs that aren’t a good fit or just don’t jive with your schedule. This is your chance to recommend someone else – maybe somebody who is just getting started but knows their stuff. This is good karma. Use it!
Be entertaining.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Even if you’re the most knowledgeable person on the topic, you can easily bore a room to death if you don’t show any personality. Make fun of yourself. Tell a funny story. This will help you make an instant connection with the audience. You’re there to inform, but you can also entertain.
Wrapping up
So, there you have it. Mr. Brogan and Owyang also have a ton of smart, insightful things to say on this topic, some of which overlap with mine. I’d encourage you to read those posts, as well.
What are your suggestions and tips on how to get started? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

