Intro to Foursquare, Yelp and Gowalla to pump up business

Okay, I’ll admit it, I get intrigued easily when a couple of people mention a new restaurant or store and tell me how great it is.  It makes me want to check it out so I can see what all the excitement is about.

That’s why I’m very intrigued by the possible business uses (especially small business uses) that have and can emerge by the GPS-powered APPs like Foursquare, Yelp and Gowalla.

For those not familiar, these are APPs that you can download on your phone and because they are tied into the GPS, you can immediately tell your friends that you collect on those APPs where you are and what you are doing.  When you do that, you earn points, get badges, can become “the mayor” of that location and give feedback and reviews.

On the surface they sound like fun games.  But for small businesses like restaurant, retail and entertainment outlets, they could mean serious business.

Here are some of the reasons why:

• Mobile:  These APPs are designed to be used on your phone when you are at the location.   By encouraging people to “check in” while they are their business owners get free publicity.
• Viral:    Each time you check in an alert comes up on the mobile devices of your friends and it also registers on the application.  So when I check in from a restaurant or store, all my friends know it.

Critical mass:  As a business owner, the more I can encourage people to check in from my location, the more buzz about my business that’s created.

So as a business owner what can I do to encourage people to participate?

• Signs or table cards:  Are you on FourSquare?  We’d appreciate it if you’d check in.  Thanks.
• Real life rewards:  Besides getting your badge or virtual mayorship, why not offer folks a free drink, cookie, or special for those who check in.
• Free WiFi:  Make it as easy as possible for folks to use these APPs while they are at your location.

Foursquare has even begun offering “Foursquare specials,” that pop up when you check in.  Business owners can register those specials and when someone checks in near their locations, the special pops up on their phone.  Cool.

The bottom line is these games now serve as easy ways to get local, viral publicity for your business that you don’t have to pay for (at least not yet).  It’s all about knowing they exist and encouraging people to use it, check in, and give good reviews.

Kyle Lacy offers up five ways for businesses to use Foursquare in this post as well.

If you have any more ideas please comment below.