There are also perks from local businesses for dedicated Four Square users as Mashable reports:

Every popular venue has a mayor — the person who has visited the most in a given time period, and mayors are often entitled to perks like free coffee or sandwiches, depending on the place. At the very least, mayorship equals bragging rights, and many a Foursquare user has been unwittingly caught in an epic mayor battle.

I have to wonder if Four Square goes too far in terms of virtually eliminating your privacy.  On the flip side it bridges the gap between virtual relationships and the real, face-to-face ones that are fast becoming a thing of the past with the advent of Facebook and Twitter.

Foursquare is a social network that actually gets you out of your cave and into the real world with other living, breathing people. Once you nail a few basics down, it can add exponential value to your social life. Oh, and did I mention the free sandwiches?

“I’m not sure it [social networking] hurts bands that don’t do it, but there’s no question it can help the ones who do,” said TopSpin CEO Ian Rogers. And some networks (Facebook, Friendfeed, Twitter, etc.) reach not only interested fans, but also their potentially interested friends. “The connection to fans … turns a casual listener into a fanatic,” added Rogers. “It makes them marketers of your art, in many cases, since those fans are plugged into not just you but networks of other similarly-minded individuals.”

If social networking can turn a musician into a rock star, imagine what it can do for your business.  Expand your “listener” base, build your fan club – Get Started today!

When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.

One day, I’m walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, “Do you have a dollar for four quarters?” He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.

Then he turned to me and said, “can you spare a quarter?”

What a fascinating interaction.

First, he engaged me. A fair trade, one that perhaps even benefited me, not him.

Now, we have a relationship. Now, he knows I have a quarter (in my hand, even). So his next request is much more difficult to turn down. If he had just walked up to me and said, “can you spare a quarter,” he would have been invisible.

Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.

Interact first, sell second.

After reading the above, I started thinking about how this applies to Kayne Interactive and what we are trying to achieve for our clients. We are after all an “interactive” company, so interaction is key to our business.  And with the rising popularity of blogs and social networking, there is no better time than now to evolve your marketing campaign into an interactive format.   Traditional media is one-way communication.  You broadcast your message to a limited audience and receive little to no feedback as to who was reached or the impression that was left.  Interaction on the other hand is two-way communication.   Blogs and social networking encourage a community of people to interact with one another from the comfort and convenience of their homes and offices.  The reach of your message is global, the potential size of your community is limitless, and your reader is engaged and ready to listen to your pitch (and provide feedback if they are so compelled).  All this for less than the cost of running  a traditional newspaper ad!