Category Archives: Social Media

Social Media

What is FourSquare, CheckPoint, Gowalla and Location Services?

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What is FourSquare, CheckPoint, Gowalla and Location Services?

This is the number one question my social networking connections ask me about. They see short posts on my Facebook or Twitter accounts and wonder what those check ins are all about.

Using my smartphone and software applications, I access location based services and let others know where I am.

  • A smartphone is a handheld computer with much more functionality than the basic cell phone.
  • Apps are software programs than run on smartphones. Download apps from your phone store.
  • Location based services use global positioning systems (GPS) and software on smartphone to locate the user’s position and deliver specific content based on the location.

Here are the location based services I use most often to check in and why I use each of them.

WeReward

With WeReward, users earn points, which can be converted to cash. When you are at a location, search for the business name using the free app. Check in by taking a photo of the business or using the product. The app will indicate the requirements for each check in.

Feel free to leave a comment or tip about the location when you check in. You can also earn points for using products or downloading apps.

I like this app because I can earn $30-$50 a month by checking in at the places I visit during my normal day. Money is deposited directly into a PayPal account.

WeReward Location Based Service
WeReward Location Based Service

FourSquare

Check ins with FourSquare earn badges and bragging rights. Those who check in the most often at a location become the Mayor. Users leave tips for others about great deals, places to park or nearby businesses.

Businesses are marketing to customers using FouSquare offering specials to those who check in. At some restaurants, a check in will earn a free appetizer with your meal or a discount.

The FourSquare Mayor of the business is a best customer and can be rewarded with special “Mayor only” discounts.

Gowalla

Users check in at location and earn virtual items they can collect or trade at other locations. One of the fun things to do is post picture from your favorite spots or share tips about locations.

What I like about Gowalla is that I never know when I will earn a virtual item. It is fun to collect and swap the trinkets as I run errands.

Checkpoints

Which Checkpoints users earn points for checking in and scanning the bar codes of products at stores. Purchasing the product is not required. Each product you scan is worth a specific number of points.

What I like about Checkpoints is the points I earn can be converted for gift cards at companies like Home Depot and Apple. When checking in, coins are earned which can be used to play a virtual slot machine or scratch off card game.

Checkpoints:  Sign up using my code “aprilmwilliams” to get extra points.

Shopkick

With Shopkick awards points when checking in at locations. Additional points are earned by scanning the UPC code of specific products in the store. There is no requirement to purchase these items.

You can earn virtual stamps and badges by using your account.

What I like about Shopkick is points can be converted to gift cards for retailers like Best Buy, Macy’s and Target.

Are you using other location based services? Click on comments and let us know which apps you use.

Social Media

Using Your Website and Social Media to Drive Club Membership

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Would you like to use your club website and social media tools to drive Toastmasters or other club membership? These free tools work both for individuals and club leaders.

I am speaking on this topic at the District 30 Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI). For those who cannot attend, you can download a copy of my presentation

Using Your Website and Social Media to Drive Club Membership.

How is you club or group using social media to get the word out?

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Social Media

Internet Marketing Intensive Series

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

April M. Williams
CyberLife Tutors
(414) 502-7745
http://www.cyberlifetutors.com
INTERNET MARKETING INTENSIVE SERIES

SHAH CENTER IN MCHENRY HOSTS SEVEN PART INTERNET MARKETING SERIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALGONQUIN, ILLINOIS – June 8, 2011

The Shah Center in McHenry hosts a seven part Internet Marketing Intensive series of classes for small business owners. Learn the basics of online marketing and see how you can integrate this powerful tool into your overall marketing strategy. From planning to implementation, this series is the must-have for every small business.

The sessions taught by social media coach April M. Williams of CyberLife Tutors and Michael Bissett of Yellowbird Marketing. You get nuts and bolts practical applications so you can use these tools now. Best of all, most of these tools are free for you to use!

Series 1: Th July 7, 14, 21 6-9 PM

Session 1: Marketing Plan Session 2: Marketing Channels and identifying Prospects Session 3: Search terms, Domains, and Branding

Series 2: Th Aug. 11, 18, 25 Sept. 1 6-9 PM

Session 1: Website development
Session 2: Traffic Builders &Monitoring tools; keystrokes and analytics
Session 3: Integration & Branding
Session 4: Multimedia approach to marketing

For additional information, or to register, please contact the Shah Center at (815) 455-6098 or sbdc@mchenry.edu.These sessions are offered to through the Shah Center, a part of McHenry County College and the Small Business Development Center. The Shah Illinois Small Business Development Center is located at 4100 W. Shamrock Lane McHenry, IL 60050.

April M. Williams, a nationally recognized speaker, author, coach and blogger actively leverages the power of social networking tools. April is President of CyberLife Tutors and shows clients how to leverage their strengths to enhance their business. April published a book “Social Networking Throughout Your Career” and has been featured in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, Project Management Institute, Savvy, Business Journal, CBS Chicago and Nations Restaurant News.

April 08

ABOUT CyberLife Tutors – Serving McHenry County, Northern Illinois and surrounding areas to promote business through low cost, high impact marketing, building relationships and driving results.

Visit our CyberLife Tutors events calendar for information on upcoming events.

Social Media

Using Your Website and Social Media to Drive Membership

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

April M. Williams
CyberLife Tutors
(414) 502-7745
http://www.cyberlifetutors.com
USING YOUR WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO DRIVE MEMBERSHIP

District 30 Toastmasters Leadership Institute presents “Charting Your Course” for all members, officers and guests on June 18, 2011.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALGONQUIN, ILLINOIS – June 7, 2011
District 30 Toastmasters Leadership Institute “Charting Your Course” education sessions will feature author and executive coach April M. Williams. Her presentation “Using Your Website and Social Media To Drive Membership” in your club is back by popular request.

Attendees will learn ways to make the most out of their web presence including a website, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and Twitter to build awareness for your club and boost membership numbers.

April will also be part of a panel of experts for the session “How to Be a World Class Club Coach.”

Education sessions will be held from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm on June 18h at the Hilton Rosemont 5550 N. River Road Rosemont, IL. 60018.

“Collaboration is one of the most powerful tools available to us. It begins when we share what we know, ” said Toastmasters Area Govenor Linda Eenigenburg. “Attending TLI educational sessions benefits the speaker by providing the opportunity to employ speaking and leadership skills. More importantly, it benefits the audience with the open exchange of thoughts, experience and ideas. Collaboration – it’s a powerful tool!”

With over 5,000 first level connection, April knows how to leverage LinkedIn and maximize the power of her network. Visit April’s LinkedIn profile to see her client, coworker and partner recommendations.

These sessions are offered to Toastmasters members and their guests at no charge. Register by online. For more information, contact Summer TLI Dean Brent Anderson at D30tli@yahoo.com.

April M. Williams, a nationally recognized speaker, author, coach and blogger actively leverages the power of social networking tools. April is President of CyberLife Tutors and shows clients how to leverage their strengths to enhance their business. April published a book “Social Networking Throughout Your Career” and has been featured in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, Project Management Institute, Savvy, Business Journal and Nations Restaurant News.

April 08

ABOUT CyberLife Tutors – Serving McHenry County, Northern Illinois and surrounding areas to promote business through low cost, high impact marketing, building relationships and driving results.

Visit our CyberLife Tutors events calendar for information on upcoming events.

Social Media

Use WeReward Location Based Service to Earn Cash

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Do you have a smart phone? Iphone, Android or Blackberry? If so, check out WeReward.

WeReward is a location based service where you can check-in when you visit stores, restaurants, gas stations, museums and other businesses anywhere in the United States. This free application is similar to location based services like Gowalla or Four Square.

WeReward uses global positioning systems (GPS) to locate you and businesses around you. You search for and select the businesses you visit.

Are you wondering what is different about WeReward? You earn points which can be converted to cash when you check in at locations. Yep. Cash. The amount of cash each check-in is worth varies.

There are also tasks you can complete and products you can try for cash. For example, you can earn cash for taking a picture of your taco dinner you make at home. Your favorite restaurants are all here too.

If you are visiting these store and retail shops and checking in with location based services, why not check in with WeReward and get paid? Click on my affiliate link below to learn more.

Sign up with my affiliate link, then leave a comment here if you want my free tips on how you can make the most of your WeReward account. Just ask for WeReward Secrets and I’ll send you an email.

Dorothy Tucker, CBS Chicago News, interviewed me about WeReward, a location based checkin app. Check out the interview on CBS Chicago.

Sign up for WeReward using my link http://we.rw/p1yFb/ then email me or leave a comment and I send you my secrets to getting the most from WeReward.

WeReward Location based App
Earn cash with WeReward

 

Want to learn my favorite secrets to getting the most from WeReward? Download my tips here:
April’s Secrets to Getting the Most from WeReward

Social Media

LinkedIn Celebrates 8 Years and 100 Million Members

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LinkedIn celebrates it’s 8th birthday May 2011. The company has grown since LinkedIn started out in co-founder Reid Hoffman’s living room in 2002. LinkedIn says their official launch date was May 5, 2003.

LinkedIn is now an important business networking tool and sales prospecting tool. When I teach my two hour “LinkedIn for Business” seminars, students are surprised by the features and functions within LinkedIn which they we not aware of. Almost all students recommend a longer or follow up session.

LinkedIn becomes more powerful as a networking and sales tool as your network grows. When I first joined LinkedIn, I found it was not useful to me. Once I began to connect with others, I was able to unleash the full potential.

LinkedIn social_linkedin_button_blue_128
LinkedIn

It is not uncommon for me to get calls from prospects who find me in LinkedIn then call to inquiry about working with me. They read my posts and watch my contributions and become interested. Then they view my accomplishments and recommendations on my LinkedIn profile. This is “attraction marketing” working for me.

Keith Warrick, fellow BDPA LinkedIn group member told us how to find out what member number you are when you joined LinkedIn. Keith was a fairly early adopter of LinkedIn, and member #1,551,555.

I am member #2,303,036, joining on April 1, 2005. Thanks for this tip, Keith.

To find out your member number, click on PROFILE and View My Profile. In the URL address, you will find a number after id – that is your member number.

What member number are you out of 100 million current LinkedIn members?

Social Media

How to gain influence on Twitter? Focus

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Do you wonder how to gain influence on Twitter? Amy Gahran gives advice in her article “How to gain influence on Twitter? Focus”. As she notes, influence is more than the number of followers you have. Tweeting on a single topic is more likely to gain influence among followers.

Influence follows followers. If you do not have followers, no one will hear your message. Start by building a solid base of followers and you will grow you influence as you tweet  messages.

Grow your Twitter Influence
Grow your Twitter Influence

We wrote our tips on how to Magnify your Message With Twitter and enjoy our readers success stories. Check out the ways we show you how you can build your twitter following quickly with our six step approach.

Take our challenge, build your Twitter following to over 500 followers.

Twitaholic is one site where you can measure your influence on Twitter. Here is my ranking for my location. Today, I rank #2 in the Chicago area.

Other tools I use include Twitter Grader from Hubspot where my rank today is #3 and Klout where I rank “Specialist”.

Note, rankings change day to day. How do you rank? What do you think of these tools?

Click on the word COMMENTS above to log in and tell us your Twitter name so we can follow you back.

Social Media

McHenry County Business Daily Twitter Paper

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Are you interested in McHenry County and businesses in McHenry County? Get the latest news in one place. The McHenry County Business Daily Paper published daily, brings you news from McHenry County businesses through their Twitter feeds.

Visit the McHenry County Business Daily Paper for your free subscription and keep up with the latest in McHenry County news. SEE SAMPLE BELOW


Are you a McHenry County business who wants to be included in the McHenry County news? Send us a message on Twitter @aprilmwilliams or click on the word “Comments” at the top of this article and ask me to put you on the list. We will add you to the list and your tweets will appear on the McHenry County Business daily new.

Mchenry County Daily Busisness News
McHenry County Daily Business News
Social Media

Share Your Facebook Fan Page Here

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I met many McHenry County business owners at the Facebook class I taught last night. This is the first of four social networking classes in the series at the Shah Center in McHenry. Next up are classes on Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn.

During the session, each participant set up a business page. One of the questions was “How do I get more Fans for my business page?”

CyberLife Tutors Facebook Business Page
LIKE our CyberLife Tutors Facebook Business Page

Here is one way to build you business page “LIKES”.

Click on “comments” at the top of this article and tell us the name of your Facebook business page so we can “LIKE” it. In “website” field, enter the link to your customize Facebook profile URL we created in class last night. My custom profile URL is http://www.facebook.com/aprilmwilliams.

Once you have more than 25 ‘LIKES’ on your business  page, you can create your custom Facebook vanity URL for your business page.  Go to http://www.facebook.com/username to select and set your URL.

I will be sharing more Facebook tips on our blog. Be sure you do not miss a article, sign up for our Enews and Updates in the box on the right side of the page.

Thanks for sharing. Please stop by our CyberLife Tutors Facebook page and add us to your page’s “favorites”.

Social Media

How To Get Started With a Blog and Blogging

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Have you wondered about blogging? What is a blog? What will a blog do for me?

We will be talking blogs here over the next several months. Be sure you do not miss an article, sign up for our Enews and Updates in the box on the right side of the page.

Blogs can help you in your career. How?

  • Find your audience
  • Let others know about your products and services
  • Allow you to stand out above the crowd?
  • Find the easiest way to interact with your readers and potential readers?

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more information on how you get get started with blogs and blogging to move your career forward. Can’t wait? Contact us to get started now.

"Where Are You Today?" travel blog
“Where Are You Today?” travel blog http://www.aprilmwilliams.com

Do you have a blog? Click on “comments” at the top of this article and tell us about your blog. Let us know your topic and leave a link to your blog.

How often should I blog?