Google Tablet vs. the iPad

The New York Times announced that Google would be making a tablet to compete with the iPad. This will be an interesting competition as Google has really only made the HTC phone and has yet to make a computing device.

The competition will be exciting.

Do you think Google will be able to make a tablet that competes with the iPad as effectively as their Android platform does against the iphone?

Twitter Bought Tweetie, Developers Shivered

Today Twitter bought Tweetie for an undisclosed amount of money. Developers have recently been concerned over the acquisitions that Twitter has been making. They are concerned that Twitter may be getting too big and encroaching on their businesses, making it hard for them to compete.

Do you think Developers are justified being concerned over how big Twitter is getting?

Foursquare for businesses

Mobile devices have changed the way we communicate with customers in infinite ways. With the many different App Stores that both mobile device makers and cell phone service providers have created, we are noticing that there are many new tools that by default could be perfect workhorses for promoting your business. I would like to highlight Foursquare which is a website and a mobile application for smart phones.

I installed Foursquare a few weeks ago and have been avidly using this app to geo-tag my locations around Portland. Whenever I enter a new business or office, I pull out my phone and check into Foursquare. Because I linked the app to my Facebook and twitter, when I check in to a business, Foursquare will make a post on my social networks. After each check in I get points. More points are awarded to new locations being checked into and for people who check into a location without a mayor. A mayor is the person who checks into a business the most. The more times you check into a location, the more points you get for that location, which in turn means you are going to stay mayor. The reasons people want to be mayor of a location is a blog a different kind of professional should write.

After using Foursquare for a number of weeks, I have become more and more excited about the possibilities that this app brings to the table.

Facebook/Twitter Notifications

As I have talked about on many occasions, the more exposure you can get for your business on social networks, the more successful your business will be. When someone checks into your location on Foursquare, they are essentially giving a positive review to the hundreds/thousands of people they are following.

This is a notification on Facebook from Foursquare

Not only does Foursquare tell people they checked in at your location, but when someone clicks the link, they will be brought to the Foursquare page for your business. Here you will find how many times people have check in, the amount of unique visitors, the address of your business and a whole host of other info.

Creating marketing strategies around Foursquare

I have been suggesting that my clients and I sit down to discuss marketing strategies that involve the unique features Foursquare provides. Some businesses have already started using the app to bring in more business. Some companies have extended a discount to whoever is the mayor. Some stores will extend discounts to customers who have checked into their business a certain amount of times. Another cool technique that is catching on is to link a discount to a charity. Say, if a customer comes in and shows that they checked in on Foursquare, you might give $1.00 to a charity.

Foursquare is an exciting new tool that was made to help people social network better. Why not implement this tool into your marketing strategies?

Facebook is teaming up with the big internet companies

AOL, Yahoo, CNN and Facebook are all in cahoots to make our interent experience more enjoyable. Since Facebook has the most personal information about it's user's real lives than any other company on earth. Even Google wants to gain access to Facebook's grasp of what really goes on in peoples lives. Thankfully, for now Facebook is holding true to it's original stance on protecting it's users by guarding the things they don't want people to see. All in all, their security features have always made me feel safe and comfortable on Facebook. In a recent news release to their users, they informed us that Facebook would be joining forces with the above named companies and will continue to keep our secrets.

Whenever I hear that Facebook is teaming up with a company, I get concerned that they will harm my security in some way. Possibly join forces with a "good" advertising company and sharing all our demographics, comments, thoughts, emails, who knows.

Mostly these new partnerships will be to improve your experience on these other companies websites. They mentioned that they would be integrating AOL and Facebook chat services. This last feature they mentioned is the one I think will be the most exciting. CNN and Facebook are going to bring us a more social Presidential inauguration using Live Stream.

Facebook was started by Harvard Students and grew out to other higher education institues. It has an incredibly intelligent and wealthy user base. At it's core, Facebook is a tool waiting to be tapped in the Right way for political uses. I am not a programmer or a politician, but I am a creative thinker. In the future, I guarantee you will see social networks being integrated ever more into politics.

In closing, I would like to thank Facebook for saying "We don't share your information with advertisers unless you tell us to (e.g. to get a sample, hear more, or enter a contest). Any assertion to the contrary is false. Period."

We will give you $100.00 cash

Poor Boy Possibilities would like to announce that we are launching a new promotion where you could earn at least $100.00. Here at Poor Boy Possibilities, we manage social networks and design websites for businesses and non profits.

In the spirit of growing our client base, we are putting in writing that we will give you $100.00 cash for every lead you sponsor that results in the signing of a 1 year contract.

Do you know anyone who needs help marketing their business online? Send us their contact information or have them get ahold of us at one of the links below.

poorboypossibilities@gmail.com
http://facebook.com/poorboypossibilities
@poboypossible