What this is, however, is a post about BEYOND the how-to and more of the WHY…

For a business, it can be used for marketing and advertising and leveraged as a customer loyalty tool. I personally think it’s silly to not be using Foursquare to enhance one’s marketing but that’s just me… It’s free marketing, it’s useful, it’s timely and cultivates loyalty. An amazing amount of loyalty… I visited a coffee shop over 20 times to try to regain my “mayorship” which would yield me no benefits aside from the satisfaction of knowing I was “mayor”… Imagine the power if that coffee shop had some incentive to BE Mayor, like the current Starbucks campaign? But I digress…

In fact, Foursquare shares that these ways four ways it can be used for:

1. “Easy Tools to create engaging specials”
2. “Promote in-store specials”
3. “Real-time venue stats”
4. “Promote specials across the mobile experience.”

You can read more on these here. http://foursquare.com/businesses/

Here are the four ways that I use Foursquare.

1. Keep track of whereabouts BETWEEN appointments on the calendar… You would be amazed at how many things one does (or places we go to) between the scheduled morning meeting and afternoon meeting… Wouldn’t it be nice to know all the things you really  do each day?
2. Track my mileage - No matter how hard I try, I fail at consistently writing down my mileage… Now, I can track my whereabouts and have an actual, printable log of my calendar and addresses so that I can route my mileage for tax time using Mapquest or Google Maps. No more stressing about whether my calendar shows all the details I need.
3. Get tips on local do’s and don’ts. When you pull up Foursquare, you can see a list of places around you. Often, I will pull up the listing for a local restaurant or hotel and get very valuable, uncensored and genuine feedback, such as dishes to order or stay away from, warnings about busy days and other tips you might not know otherwise…
4. To facilitate chance encounters with my network. This one has been so valuable that I considered making it an entire post of it’s own. When you access Foursquare, you see where other people have checked in. If you are traveling, it shows if other people in your network have checked in at nearby locations… Almost every time,  I end up finding another person in my extended online network who is in the same city at the same time. This can sometimes turn a personal trip into a business trip if you can coordinate and have a legitimate business meeting. Also, I have found others in my network at the airports at the same time… as well as people at the same coffee shop. This helped facilitate a business meeting once where an upcoming speaker for my organization and I had been emailing back and forth over the course of the week to get together. I was working at a coffee shop and noticed he checked in! He had literally came in, ordered and left… but when I Saw the check-in, I contacted him immediately and he turned back and we got tohave our meeting right then and there…

Do you use Foursquare? How do you use it? If you don’t, what’s holding you back?

photo credit - DP Styles

Here are 7 ideas that you can do relatively quickly to maximize the next 10 minutes while having a profound impact. By doing them, you’ll nurture your network, build your brand, and help you maximize your time.

1 – Send a thank you to someone... it could be for a previous referral, introduction or just to thank them for being in your life. Make sure to include WHY you are thanking them.

2 – Introduce 2 (or 3, if you are feeling adventurous) people and make sure to include why you think they should be connected.

3 – Update your LinkedIn profile, whether it be with a new picture or expanding on your current services, or simply by updating your status bar. This will help you be top of mind with your contacts as this will appear in their updates news feed. (If you don’t use LinkedIn, now would be a great time to start. It’s very powerful!)

4 – Comment thoughtfully on a blog post written by someone in your community.

5 – Reach out to someone you’ve lost touch with and schedule a time to get caught up, such as an informal coffee. Email is great but pales in comparison to the value of meeting with someone in person.

6 – Reply to that email that you keep putting on the back burner… You know which one I’m talking about.

7 – Take your eyes away from the screen, look at the wall so that they can get a rest, stand up and STRETCH!!!!!!

Do you have any suggestions of things for me to include on my next list of 7? Do share!

• Wayne Sutton put it best – Always be charging. What electronics are you carrying that you can’t live without? Bring its charger!  I now travel with my iphone charger no matter what. This will help you in the long run by not having to panic over a dying phone or have you desperately seeking to borrow someone’s charger.
• Get an extended battery pack for your smartphone.… and take that charger with you, too. I use the Mophie Juice Pack Air. Based on how much you are doing with your smartphone, you will probably run out of juice at some point. Better safe than sorry. This has saved me and kept me connected on numerous occasions.
• Use Twitter, LinkedIn and other online forums to find people going to the same events or cities to maximize your trips. Reach out to them, connect ahead of time and make plans to meet. This helps create a sense of community so that when you arrive, you have friends… or at least new friends in the making.
• Foursquare is great way to track your whereabouts for tax reporting plus get tips at the same time. You can also see nearby places that are “trending” so in the pursuit of where to grab a bite to eat or where people are congregating, Foursquare makes it easy to find them.
• Carry a light 3-pronged extension cord and make instant friends wherever you go in search of power. You will know the people looking for power by those with eyes wandering up and down the walls in seek of an extra outlet. Reach out to them and offer that they share your cord – they’ll be shocked by your offer and you’ll instantly start chatting. This is a great trick for introverts.
• If you have the room, put a tennis ball in your bag. It’s GREAT for massaging aching arches after a long day of walking.
• Bring your own water bottle and healthy snacks to save on overpriced food. Trailmix is tasty but weighs more than you think and after a long day of walking, even a 2lb laptop will feel heavy on your shoulder.

This is just a handful of tips… If you are looking for more, here are some other tips I shared from my South by Southwest (SXSW) experience… There will be more in upcoming posts as well.

What tips help you save time, money and make friends? Please share your sage advice  below!

When one sees that iconic circular logo or a box that is pastel blue or anything with the repetitive LV monogramming on brown fabric, one often knows instantly what brand is being represented… And it creates a feeling, memory or other form of association.

And now, like it or not, right now you are a brand… You are 100% BRAND YOU. In fact, regardless of what you are selling, people are buying YOU first. And just like T & Co, Mercedes Benz and Louis Vuitton, you too can apply their branding approaches so that when people mention your name, see your name or see a color or logo, an intentional chain reaction occurs.

Here are 3 big brand strategies that solopreneurs, freelancers and small business owners  like you and I can apply to help us stand out in the marketplace.

1. Color Branding.

Tiffany and Company has ‘Tiffany Blue’.. And yes, it’s actually trademarked.

Louis Vuitton often utilizes the signature brown Damier and Monogram Canvas materials, both of which were first used in the late 19th century.

And it is no surprise that I like pink. What has happened as a result of the pink accents on my Twitter page, on my business cards and on my website is that when I meet people (or see others I know) and fail to wear pink, people almost feel betrayed. They say “I can’t believe you’re not wearing any pink.” Now, people in my network bring me pink items, such as a pen, or give me fun things like  hot pink silly putty from the promotional item company, Swag Club.

2. Customer Experience

All three of these brands have separated themselves from the competition by consisting providing a certain kind of a customer experience. Go into any location and you will be treated with an elevated sense of prestige because they know that you don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The same goes for the interactions you have with people in your network and strangers. If you constantly treat people with respect, intrigue and the willingness to help, they will sense this sentiment of generosity and openness and that will relay to how they recall you and your interaction. This is KEY when building your brand.

3. Know your ideal customer.

It’s so easy to market to everyone and anyone but if you were marketing to your ideal client, there is a greater likelihood of them buying… and that IS what you want, right?

Ask yourself:

What does your ideal client look like?

How much money do they make?

What are their pains and how can you solve this for them?

Where can you FIND your ideal clients?

These brands know who their target markets are, they know what they respond to and they will stop at nothing to maintain the level of quality and prestige that goes along with their brand so that when their ideal clients are ready to buy, they are there ready and willing to make them feel loved… and want to spend.

How can you take this information and apply it to brand YOU?

Take some time today to think about your color (or visual branding), your customer experience and your knowledge about your ideal client.

Are you really doing everything you can to stand out from your competition? Are you really going to the places where your ideal clients or are you waiting for them to find you?

What things do you do to brand yourself,  stand out from the competition and stay top of mind?

The ratio of of laptops, smartsphones and video cameras to people is staggering. I can’t believe were not creating mass amounts of radiation.

While I have yet to “learn” new things in the panels I attended, I’ve gathered some great soundbites that I can use in presentations but even more, I’ve made new and solidified existing friendships. This is what it’s ultimately about. Taking your online contacts and turning them into offline relationships. Those who know me know I’m totally in my element.

I have met some incredible people, such as Charl Pearce, a programmer with Microsoft, my very first friend after stepping out of the airport and taxi-buddy and Lindsay Burck with LAB and I’m rooming with two of the funniest people I’ve ever had in my life - Dina Riccabonno and Steph Lichtenstein. I Would share pictures but as I write, I am importing 3,060 pictures from the last year and a half back onto my Macbook Air so I cannot access those pictures. Therefore, I will save the narrative for another post.

Instead, I will post several observations that I had on day one… I am confident this list will grow with each day of this 5 day interactive media extravaganza.

Observations:

1 – Schedules are futile. You will go with the flow of the people you meet for the most part. It’s good however to have an idea of what panels and events are happening and what you’d like to see/hear in case you have the opportunity.

2 – Texting is much more reliable than Twitter. Make sure you get actual contact information and not just twitter handles.

3 – Bringing snacks and water bottle was a money and time saver.

4 – Write your Twitter handle on your nametag. I do it at all conferences and it has been very helpful in connecting with online friends and making new ones.

5 – Don’t be shy and just talk to people – that’s what most people are here for!

6 – Groupies are so 1990’s hairbands and boybands. Resist the urge to be a fawning fan and just be normal and have a normal conversation versus a praisefest.

7 – Going out at night is overrated! While it’s fun to say you were somewhere, it’s better if your feet and head feel great to take on the next day!! I struggled with this one yesterday feeling like I really “should” be out at the parties and reminded myself that I came for the panels and networking.. It’s hard to have meaningful interactions when the people you are talking to are drunk or you are yelling over the music.

7.5 - Bacon is the food of choice here in Austin. I thought I was getting chicken fingers and it turned out to be captain crunch coated chicken fingers in a bacon-inflused waffle cone with bacon guacamole. If you’re not a bacon addict, prepare yourself for it to be in very unexpected places. I saw someone eating chocolate covered bacon Thursday night at Frank where they proudly have a sign that says “PORK MILITIA” on the wall.

Moral of the story? Make sure you figure out what the preferred food is of the city you are going to so that 1 – you are in the know and 2 – can plan appropriately if it’s not your thing.

Are you a conference goer? What tips do you have?

But one thing is becoming scarily common -people who receive referrals, whether for business or strategic introductions, are ignoring a vital component of this process – and that is to show appreciation for the effort that someone put in to help YOU. Even more, which is shocking, overlooking the importance of saying (minimally) THANK YOU for providing revenue-generating referrals. Even if they haven’t generated revenue, the need to show gratitude still exists!

Referrals are an act of generosity. They are not obligatory.

Think about the last 6 months… Have you received any introductions to potential alliances? What about referrals? On the flipside, have you gone out of your way to introduce people? Have you intentionally looked to create profitable referrals between others?

And most importantly, when’s the last time you showed someone appreciation?

Now would be a good time to get caught up on thanking those who impacted your success. Remember, late is better than never because it isn’t just the thought that counts but letting people KNOW you appreciated it that does.

Here are 7 ways you can show appreciation:

1 – Saying Thank you

2 – A small gift as a token of gratitude such as a giftcard to someone’s favorite coffee shop or a Blockbuster card for a movie rental.

3 – Greeting Card

4 – Giving a referral back

5 – Providing a set of movie tickets

6- Offering to take someone out for a meal (depending on the value or impact of the referral)

7 – Sending someone a cookie or fruit basket. (remember, you ARE trying to show appreciation!)

What other suggestions do you have to creatively show appreciation?

Do you have any personal stories about appreciation (or the lack thereof?) Please share!

Touchy topic #1

Talking while other people are presenting. I see this happen all too often during business meetings, networking events and even at conferences. It is NEVER OKAY to have a full-fledged conversation in “whisper” mode while someone else is presenting. Period. Either write notes or text but don’t talk. It is SO distracting and flat out disrespectful. You don’t want to be remembered as that person who talked the entire time, do you?

Preventative measure:
just don’t do it. DO NOT DO IT. And if you are doing it and someone has the guts to ask you to not talk, please don’t scowl or talk poorly about them. Be a professional and accept that you were being so loud that someone had to say something. It’s not personal.

Touchy topic #2

This has to be the most uncomfortable thing possible for me to discuss… And that is bad breath. I bet you can think of at least 2 situations recently where you encountered dragon breath. Can you remember the person’s name? What about where you were? I can think of at least FOUR situations over the last 2 months where I had to speak with someone with horrendous breath… This can greatly affect your reputation! I’ve seen 3 of those 4 people since the first incident, 2 of them have chronic bad breath, and now I somewhat avoid them..

Preventative measure:
Always have gum or mints with you and make sure that YOU are proactive in preventing it. This is VERY important when networking!!!

If you are coffee drinker or a smoker, this ESPECIALLY applies to you.

What are some touchy situations that you’ve had to deal with? Have you ever had to address the above issues with someone? How did you do it and how did it go over?

“Don’t hand someone your card until after you have introduced yourself, shared what you do and hopefully developed some rapport.”

If you do, you run the risk of them losing their focus on you, looking at the card and trying to read it while you are starting to speak.

It’s instinctive to want to hand someone our card or brochure when introducing yourself as it reinforces your name and maybe depicts an image of what we do. It’s especially tempting when other people around you are doing that and you are simply going with the trend.

Next time you are introducing yourself to someone, take note :

At what point are you handing out your business card?

Is it at the beginning of the interaction or the end of the interaction?

Are you taking notes on the back of your card? You can provide this to them as a helpful reference about your conversation and make the card exchange more meaningful.

What things have you found worked (or didn’t work) when introducing yourself to keep the other person engaged and actually hear (and understand as well as retain) what you are saying?

I love to ask about the concept of visibility when talking at events. When the audience is posed with the question of “what is visibility”, naturally, many answer that it’s “being seen” and yes, in a sense it is.. However, visibility is about much more than that.

Merriam-Webster defines visibility as “the capability of being readily noticed”…

Let’s re-read that. It is “the -capability- of being readily noticed.”

Understanding this and applying it was instrumental in me being able to quadruple the size of our previous business through online and offline networking. Why? Because I was intentional in making sure that I was in as many places as I could be both online and offline so that when a prospect was ready to “see” me, I was there.

In fact, it got to a point where people used to say to me “Taryn, I have a referral for you but I knew I would run into you during the week and wanted to give it to you in person.” They knew they would see me and counted on it, why? Because I was intentionally visible.

It is often discussed that consumers buy on their timetable and not on ours… The same applies to business networking and referrals. The trick to capitalize on this is to be everywhere you can so that you are always top of mind so that when the opportunity arises for you to capitalize on a moment, that you are there, ready to be noticed.

That being said, just because you are out networking does not mean that you are capable of being readily noticed. Imagine people who are on Twitter but only update once every few days. Do you think they are demonstrating that they have the capability of being readily noticed?

Do you know that person who goes to a networking event once in a while yet wonders why they can’t get business referrals? Or why it is that they are not often remembered? What about that person who is on Twitter or Facebook and feels that they are pointless and they cannot grow their businesses that way? Consider their posting habits or their event outreach…

Are YOU struggling with some of these concerns? It might be time to look at your own online and offline strategy and ask yourself the question  “am I truly visible?  Am I easily noticable? Am I accessible and memorable?”

If the answers are no, then you too might be inadvertently practicing the art of invisible networking…

Now that you know that, what are you going to do about it?

“If you rescue someone, they will love you forever.” Bonnie Ross Parker

Now, I am sure you can see the various ways that this can be applied in life and business… In this instance, she was referring to when you are at an event and you see someone standing alone… There are always people like that at functions… In fact, you might have been one of them at some point.

Her point is that, if you introduce yourself, make them feel welcome and even try to introduce them to some others at the event, you will surely stand out. This will make all the difference in their experience and they will also be open to learning more about you because you went out of your way to make them feel welcome. In addition, there is a great likelihood that they will not forget that experience because of how you went out of your way.

“Why show up [to a networking event] if you don’t want to be remembered?” – Bonnie Ross Parker

Have you ever had an experience where an individual went out of their way to make you feel welcome? Have you ever “rescued” someone?  What were the results of those experiences?