Location based marketing is a cross between gaming and marketing. It’s really brilliant actually because it’s a unique and fun way to engage your customers. You can get your customers to promote your business in return for bragging rights. Pretty cool, eh?!

Here is a list of the top 7 Location Based Marketing Tools to get you started:

1. Foursquare – This is a no brainer. Foursquare is the market leader in location based services and one of the big names of LBM. Foursquare is free to use and set up for your business. Foursquare also has the largest established user base of any mainstream location based service.

2. Gowalla – Another strong contender in the LBM space, Gowalla also has a substantial user base and offers a “city pages” where you can feature specials and deals for customers to browse online, a great way to showcase your offers to new and perspective customers.

3. Facebook – Facebook is involved directly in the LBM space with Facebook Places, which allows you to set up a a location page for your business. Facebook Deals is a new Facebook platform that lets you offer specials and reward programs to customers. Facebook’s Fanpage is also a great way to keep your fans updated about your latest specials.

4. SCVNGR – SCVNGR is a smaller location based service that is up and coming. With the help of some recent VC invesments and a big deal with coca-cola, SCVNGR has definitely put itself on the map. Given the lack of users, its hard to get as much traction, but keep an eye on this service.

5. Geotoko – Geotoko is a third party LBM platform that allows you to monitor your location based marketing campaign across multiple locations and platforms. With an easy to use and sleek interface, Geotoko is a great way to manage your LBM campaign in one place. This service does cost money so keep that in mind.

6. Place Punch – Place Punch is similar to Geotoko and offers another platform to monitor your LBM campaign from one place – the software isn’t quite as sleek but its a little cheaper than Geotoko. Both services offer a free trail so give them a shot.

7. Twitter – Twitter doesn’t have a specific location based component that lets you offer deals to customers, but its such a powerful platform for customer engagement and PR that it needs to be integrated into any successful LBM campaign. You can use twitter to broadcast your LBM campaigns to customers and generate buzz about your latest check-in special.

One-on-one Social Media Marketing Coaching

This 3 month coaching program will get you on the fast track to getting more customers and make more money with Social Media Marketing.

…you’ve got to join now to start reaping th rewards. Get Started Today!

Questions? Call 1-408-717-2614

To get your business found in the search engines, part of our process is to post your content to social media sites. This includes micro blogging sites like Twitter, status pages like on Facebook, but also to social bookmarking sites, and article sites.

Generally speaking, it takes several hours to open all the accounts and fill in the profile information.

Would you like to have this done for you? I can have all the accounts listed below, opened for you for only $75.00

When I distribute your keyword targeted content, here is where it goes:

Twitter

http://twitter.com/

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/

Facebook Pages

http://www.facebook.com/pages/

MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/

Ning

http://www.ning.com/

GTalk Status

http://www.google.com/talk/

AIM Status

http://www.aim.com/

Tumblr

http://www.tumblr.com/

LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/

Identi.ca

http://identi.ca/

Brightkite

http://brightkite.com/

FriendFeed

http://friendfeed.com/

Plurk

http://www.plurk.com/

Jaiku

http://jaiku.com/

Blogger

http://www.blogger.com/

Plaxo Pulse

http://www.plaxo.com/

LiveJournal

http://www.livejournal.com/

Bebo

http://www.bebo.com/

hi5

http://www.hi5.com/

Xanga

http://www.xanga.com/

WordPress.com

http://wordpress.com/

Custom URL
(No URL – it opens ping.fm)

Delicious

http://delicious.com/

Friendster

http://www.friendster.com/

Koornk

http://www.koornk.com/

Diigo

http://www.diigo.com/

YouAre

http://youare.com/

Multiply

http://multiply.com/

Yammer

http://yammer.com/

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/

Utterli

http://www.utterli.com/

imeem

http://www.imeem.com/

seesmic

http://seesmic.com/

Laconi.ca

http://laconi.ca/

Present.ly

http://present.ly/

Vox

http://www.vox.com/

TypePad

http://www.typepad.com/

ShoutEm

http://www.shoutem.com/

StreetMavens

http://www.streetmavens.com/

myYearbook

http://www.myyearbook.com/

Radar

http://radar.net/

Photobucket

http://www.photobucket.com/

Posterous

http://posterous.com/

Yahoo Profiles

http://www.yahoo.com/profiles

Tagged

http://www.tagged.com/

MerchantCircle

http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/

Yahoo Meme

http://meme.yahoo.com/home/

You now have an affordable, easy, turn-key solution!

Blogging / Search Engine Optimization
2 key word targeted blog posts and distribution to 45+ websites to support SEO efforts.
These efforts get websites on the first page of Google and the other search engines.

One time Set Up Fee: $75 to open all the social media accounts
For a list of accounts, CLICK HERE

Blog Posts – 2 keyword targeted articles
Distribution to 45 Social Media Sites
Cost: $150 / Monthly

Daily “Micro Blogging” Messaging

Twitter and Facebook are the top micro blogging sites, but there are many more.
We do 2-3 messages per day, but these are mostly “value-”add tweets, not obnoxious self promoting links. Of course we sprinkle in links that drive traffic to the main site, but the focus is to provide interesting and helpful information.

We also track how many times each link is clicked on so you know what your customers are responding to.
Cost $125 / Monthly

Help your customers find you. Start getting more website traffic and more customers today!

Contact Arlina Allen
Call: 408-717-2614
email: socialmediamgr@gmail.com

I suggested she ask herself the “8 Great Business Development” questions.

Here they are:
Who has done this, or something similar to this, and done it well?
Of all the people I find who have done this well, which of them share my values, work ethic and life goals?
What were the key moves these people made in order to have success?
Who are the deep experts, enthusiasts and influential people in this area?
Where do they hang out, so I can go meet them?
What are the decision criteria used by decision makers for selecting products or projects? (most relevant for things like book deals, television shows, getting venture capital or being chosen for guest posts on popular blogs)
How can I apply this learning to my own business planning?
What are my key moves in the next month, next quarter and next year to get me to my goal as quickly as possible?

Answering these questions should get the creative juices flowing, bring you the missing piece that has been holding you back and connect you with the right people who can catapult you to the next level.

Sometimes it’s just a slight shift in perception that changes the entire trojectory of your business.

Soooooooooo, what are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!

The overall idea to keep in mind is that you are writing to help your target market. Provide valuable information that your prospect can use. When someone is searching for an answer, if you don’t answer it quickly they will look to someone else.

Before you read the list below, a couple things to mention. All tweets should be 140 characters or less, and write the tweets in a notepad or .txt file so you can upload them into SocialOomph.

1) Tips that will help your target market. Add “for more tips, please visit http://www.yoursite.com”.

2) Quotes – People love to re-tweet quotes, so include your favorite ones.

3) Resouces links – What kinds of tools do you use? Where should your target market go to find more information that will help them?

4) Current industry news stories – What is going on in your market? Show them you have your finger on the pulse

5) Blog posts – Give them a reason to visit your site that doesn’t include selling them something. Let them know when you write a post and ask them to re-tweet.

6) Videos – Add training videos you have, or links to videos that will educate your prospect.

7) DO add in some links to your website, especially to your newsletter. I often use the 20:1 ratio, meaning, 20 value add links to 1 self promotional link.

Don’t forget to cross promote! Add links to your other sites so people can connect with you!

Hopefully this will get you going. Once you have your 140 charater tweet, shorten your links through Bit.ly so you can track how many clicks you get.

Once you have a list of 50+ with shortened links through bit.ly, then you can upload them into Socialoomph through the “Scheduled Updates” –> “Bulk Upload” function.

You can schedule them to go out in a variety of ways. I typically make sure that 2-3 go out daily.

After you upload your messages, be sure to track responses through monitoring tools like Hootesuite.com

Happy Marketing!
Arlina

Let’s start with how to open a channel.

How To Open A New Account In SocialOomph

1) Log in
2) Look on the left menu
3) Select “Social Accounts” –> Add New Account —> Add Ping.fm

4) Name the account

5) Go to Ping.fm http://www.ping.fm (sign up for a free account if you have not done so yet.)
6) log in
7) Under “Services / Tools” look for “ Application Key”
Copy application key
9) Paste into Socialoomph where it says “Ping.fm Application Key”
10) Under Default Posting, select “micro blog”
11) Hit “Save”

Once you create the channel, then you can bulk upload your micro blogging messages.
I typically create about 50 messages with helpful tips, quotes, resources and links to my offers.
I use bit.ly to track the clicks.

I would not schedule more then 2-3 messages to go out per day, otherwise you go from expert to spammer. People have a threshold as to how many message they want to see from you, so just be mindful of that, or they’ll just tune you out.

Look for my next post with more details on how to write the micro blog messages and how to track them.

Happy marketing!
Arlina

Automate Your Social Media Messaging

Have you ever ended the day only to realize you barely made a dent in your “To-Do” list? I cannot tell you how many days I have had that ended just that way. From customer service, to marketing, to learning about new ways to increase sales, small business owners have way too much to do (unless, of course, you outsource to us!).

I do have one warning before you get started…Have a plan! It is so important to have a set social media strategy so you don’t end up getting lost in the world of Facebook or Linked In. Haven’t we all done it? We log in to simply check messages, only to look up an hour later and think, now there’s an hour I’ll never get back!

Social Oomph is a great way to distribute all your content to all the social media sites all at once. You can automate your micro-blogging messages, like Twitter very quickly and set it up for the month. It’s so great to set it up and just sit back and watch the emails and phone calls come in!
There are a few steps to follow, so to make it as easy as possible, I created a video for you to show you exactly how I do it. That way you can see the steps in action and pause the video when you need to.

You can check out the video here on my YouTube Channel:How To Use Socialoomph To Automate Twitter

Put this strategy to good use, and you will see an increase in traffic and sales! Please leave a comment on my video channel and let me know what you think.
Happy Marketing!
Arlina Allen

• Announce the new menu or drink specials of the day
• Promote a happy-hour event or special restaurant event
• Start a promotion called Twitter Tuesday
• Solicit ideas for new menu items or specials of the day on Twitter.
• Offer a special prize for people who follow you on Twitter by a specific time and date, to be entered to win a free bottle of wine or gift certificate.

There so many simple and fast ways to use Twitter for Restaurants. Get your copy of  “Twitter for Restaurants”.

You’ll discover solutions to the three most common problems facing all restaurant owners:

1) Slow Nights
2) Not Enough Repeat Customers
3) Filling Early & Late Dinner Service

This simple program will help restaurant owners:

* Increase Busniess On The Slowest Nights

* Increase Repeat Business

* Fill More Tables During Early Dinner Service & Late Dinner Service

* Decrease Advertising Expenses

* Enjoy More Free Time

Can you imagen how your life will change once you solve these persistant problems?

Are you ready to make these dreams a reality?

Find out more by clicking the link below:

http://socialmediarestaurantmarketing.com/blog/twitter-for-restaurants/

Happy Marketing!

Arlina Allen