A New Business

So everyone wants to know what's next.  Last year it was Twitter, the year before was Facebook, before that YouTube, MySpace, Google, and on and on.  The next big thing is Foursquare.

But wait.  Foursquare is not going to be as big as Twitter or Facebook or any of those others.  The Foursquare technology is not what I'm going to rave about here.  Sure it's fun, it's cool, it's one of those things where you say, "of course - why didn't I think of that?" or "of course, what took so long?"

The innovation that Foursquare is bringing is the platform for restaurant, club, and bar owners to finally track their best customers.

If you are reading this, you probably fall into two categories.  The first is my friends and family.  The second is people that are interested in what I have to say about marketing, social media, etc.  As I have found out recently, because I'm talking about Foursquare constantly, most of my friends and family members have not heard of Foursquare.  The people in social media on the other hand are probably saying, "Foursquare - that's old news."

Either way, you'll get where I'm going with this once I explain.

There is a revolution going on right now for the hospitality industry.  For decades you only had a few ways to promote your venue.  Yellow pages, direct mail, television commercials, print ads, and the big daddy - reviews in newspapers and magazines.  Predominantly one way communication.  Other than that, you just hoped for good word of mouth.

But that's changing at a breakneck pace.  There is Foursquare.  Foursquare is an app you download for your iPhone or Android phone.  Every time you go to a restaurant or bar or even a gas station, you check in on your phone. If you go there more than anyone else, you get crowned "the mayor" of that particular location.  It's fun for the whole family.  (Or as one of my friends says, "who cares - I'm bored already!") There are several Fanscape employees who are battling for the mayorship of the sandwich shop across the street, and it's fun to see their names every time I walk into that place. But it's not about them.  It's about that sandwich shop.  The owner of that shop now has the ability to know who his most loyal customers are.

Now, one of my people actually told the owner of that shop about Foursquare and he said, "that's great.  I don't understand that Internet stuff.  I make sandwiches."

Two years ago I heard the same story when one of my other employees told the proprietor of a local bbq restaurant that he should pay attention to what people were saying on Yelp.  That guy said, "Yelp? What's that?"

Which is why I am so excited.

There's a new business here.

All of you recently unemployed people, listen up.  There is a business here for the taking.  Be the person that goes to all the local joints and says, "hey, I can help you increase your sales."

There is a battle going on right now.  Yelp, CitySearch, and Google are all vying to be the default place that people go to read reviews and determine where they want to eat.  Meanwhile OpenTable, Zagat, Chowhound, Gayot, Urban Spoon, and a dozen others are all trying to grab a piece of that pie (excuse the pun) as well.

Add the App battle between FourSquare and Gowalla (and there are more coming) and this becomes clear.

There are a ton of ways to help stores (using that term generically to represent every place that sells something including food, products, gas, clothing, etc.) gain notoriety and ultimately customers.

Thanks to all of the social media outlets that I'm referencing here, word of mouth is now open for the world to see.  If you own a store, you can see what people are saying.  If they say the service sucks, you can fix it.  If they say the food sucks, specifically your burgers pale in comparison to your competitor down the road, you can fix them.  If people say they love your place, you can reward them.

Take all the money you are spending on old world advertising and put it into hiring someone to manage your social media presence.

But you, store owners, don't know how to do this.  You know one thing, how to make that sandwich really well.  And that is where you are going to concentrate.  So you need an expert.

Cut to the hard working entrepreneur who will soon knock on your door and tell you that they can do this for you.  Because it's going to happen.  There is going to be a new industry that will be created out of this need. Trust me on this.  It kills me that I can't do this myself.  But my business has grown beyond this service.  I can't work for $500 a month and a piece of the revenue that I drive into your store.  But there are people sitting out there that can.

So quickly to both you the store owner and you the person wondering how to make a living doing something new and innovative - here is what I see...

1. List - Make a spreadsheet with a list of all the Internet / Mobile places you are going to use (Yelp, Foursquare, etc.) there are probably 10 core ones and 20 overall
2. Listen - Spend a few weeks reading everything being said about you
3. Plan - Make a plan on how you want to address:
1. Negative Reviews
2. Positive Reviews
3. Rewarding fans and frequent customers
4. Rewarding people that bring others to your establishment
5. Fixing recurring problems that you identify from reviewers
6. Pro-active promotion of your establishment (i.e. encouraging people to talk about you via social media)
4. Budget - Determine both a reasonable amount of money you the store owner can afford to spend and you the marketer can afford to charge.  Also figure out a a rev-share model where the marketer is incentive to drive more sales. 
   

Then give it a shot.

This is a work in progress.  There is no formula yet.  There is no price or rev-share model identified either.  You just need to try this.

But you the store owner who tries this now will have the edge.  Because your competition has no idea how to do this.  But they will figure it out.  Everyone will.  So get the head start.  First mover advantage is vital.

And you the guy or gal trying to figure out what to do next with your life.  Go get this.  If you build it, the business is limitless.

And think about what this is.  It's all about making people happy.  It's about listening to people who want to talk about the places they love.  It's the opportunity to make people feel appreciated. 

Go to it.  Have fun!