Typically, users turn to these applications to:

• Conquer boredom: Apps like Foursquare allow people to communicate with others in the same location. Rain delay at a sports event? Connected users can complain about the high cost of snacks and uncomfortable seating. Stranded at an airport? It’s easy to hook up with others in the same predicament.
• Gain recognition: Many of these apps recognize frequent contributors or participants by recognizing their “achievements”. For example, Foursquare users can earn badges for different check-ins.
• Explore: Let’s not forget, location aware apps help users find local businesses, hotels, restaurants, and other places of interest. In addition to the entertainment value, these applications really help people find what they need.

Privacy

As popular and helpful as location aware apps can be, there is a huge risk when they are used. Broadcasting your whereabouts opens the door to a host of privacy related issues that many people don’t even think about when they fire up these applications:

Big Brother

Tracking, of course, is an inherent part of such technology. Use of which could be leveraged for surveillance purposes. As Carnegie Mellon University Professor Lorrie F. Cranor, who conducted several studies about privacy issues and location-sharing technologies, stated in her testimony to Congress:

“Due to the way cellular technology works, for example, the widespread use of cell phones enables round-the-clock surveillance of citizens. It is important that the storage of individual location data be minimized and protections be put in place to limit when it can be disclosed to the government.”

Cyber Stalking

Cyber stalking was made popular when social networking was making its climb. With location aware services, cyber stalking can be taken to a whole new level. Broadcasts can be used not only to follow victims, but gather information about their likes, interests, hobbies, and anything else that can be useful in their pursuits.

Exposed Irresponsibility

Just as GPS devices have been used to track an employee’s movements while on the clock, location aware services can show an employee, or spouse, to be somewhere other than where they should be. An employee who calls in sick can be exposed when a location aware broadcast shows them to be at the ballpark.

Please Rob Me

When a user broadcasts their home address for the world to see, a few of these people will catch on that when the user checks-in somewhere else, they are not at home. Criminals who understand how this works can easily pick targets where they can be assured that the resident is not at home. Making this even easier are sites like pleaserobme.com that lists Foursquare users that have checked-in somewhere other than their home address.

A matter of trust

When it comes to trust, technology works in reverse. While most businesses spend years trying to establish a brand and consumer trust, people genuinely throw all of their trust into a new technology. It isn’t until the dangers are exposed that they begin to question the faith they have put into it. This can be seen in how people have reacted to Internet technologies over the years.

At first, the Internet was considered a reliable resource. “I read it on the Internet,” was a mantra that was soon mocked as people began to realize that not everything that was published online was factual, or safe. When social media came along, people had no qualms about posting the most intimate details of their lives for others to see. That is, until employers started browsing these sites to get a better glimpse into personal lives of their prospective employees. Now, young adults are growing less trustworthy of posting everything to social media sites.

As time goes by, people will grow to become hesitant before allowing their exact location to be broadcast for everyone to see. As that trust factor diminishes, location aware apps will begin to adapt to the culture of their users. It is the hopes of many application developers that the industry self-regulates since there is growing talk of the need to create standards and regulations to govern these applications. However, until that time comes, users need to take responsibility.

Some things to consider when using location aware applications are:

• Know how the apps you use collect and use your information.
• Look for clear opt-in/opt-out procedures. If they don’t exist, don’t use the app.
• Know the app store’s certification policy. Does the store check the integrity of the app and how it handles data or do they just allow any app created in their store?
• Know where data collected by the app migrates to. It is one thing to collect your information, but what the company does with it after they have it is another story.

Smackdown: Consumers Privacy vs. Advertiser Revenue
Time: Friday March 12, 2PM
Hashtag: #smackdownprivacyrevenuet

The panel premise that the FTC could ban all forms of tracking consumer web activity is a nice but alarmist hook. Still, it is true that the FTC is being more aggressive in policing online activity and the assembled panelists should provide advertisers some clear insights into compliance issues.

Panelists include:

• Alan Chapell, President, Chapell & Associates
• Alison Pepper, Director of Public Policy, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
• Jordan Mitchell, Vice President of Data Intelligence, Rubicon Project
• Ingrid Sanders, Director AdAdvisor,  TARGUSinfo

Crime Scene: Digital Identity Theft
Time: Friday March 12, 3:30PM
Hashtag: #digitalidtheft

The theft of digital identity is often easier and sometimes more damaging than identity theft offline. As social media mixes more with ecommerce this will become a larger problem. Learning methods to make that ID more secure is valuable information. Hopefully Bill has the sense to not make it too pitchy.

Panelists include:

• Bill Morrow, Chairman & CEO, CSIdentity
• Aaron Strout, CMO,  Powered.com

Eight Ways to Deal with Bastards
Time: Friday March 12, 5PM
Hashtag: #8waysdealbastards

As the saying goes, no one ever has a good day in customer service. This is especially true when, let’s face it, some of your customers  are inevitably  bastards. This session offers a few copeing mechanisms.

Panelists include:

• Bryan Mason, Founder, Small Batch Inc / Typekit
• Jason Shellen. CEO & Founder,  Thing Labs
• Lori McLeese, Chief People Officer,  Room to Read
• Karen Walrond, Founder, Chookooloonks Media

Big Brother in Your Brain: Neuroscience & Marketing
Time: Saturday March 13, 11AM
Hashtag: #bigbrotherinyourbrain

I’m a science geek, so when you mention the word “neuroscience” in a panel about marketing I’m ready to jack in. The concept of using MRIs to analyze brain activity when exposed to different marketing stimuli is very interesting. So is the brewing battle of math (analytics) vs. creativity; somehow I don’t see the two concepts as being mutually exclusive. All the makings of a great session!

Panelists include:

• Roger Dooley, VP Digital Marketing,  Hobsons
• Gary Koepke, Co-Founder, Modernista!
• Eric Kogelschatz, Co-Founder, shark&minnow
• Dr. A.K. Pradeep, President/ CEO, NeuroFocus
• Dr. Danielle Stolzenberg, PHD, University of Virginia

Sleeping Giants: Digital Awakens TV and Media
Time: Saturday March 13, 5PM
Hashtag: #designemergingmedia

Giants always follow the money. Or the beanstalk. Digital has now proved that  there is money to be made online, that it is sustainable, and can draw large clients; therefore, it should be no surprise that the giants of traditional media are paying attention. Sponsored by Razorfish, who should know a thing or two about the whims of giants, the session will take on fundamental impact digital will have for advertisers and marketers.

Panelists include:

• Domenic Venuto, Managing Director of Client Solutions, Razorfish
• Andrew Pimentel, Director of Account Planning, Razorfish

Selling Subculture Without Selling Out
Time: Sunday March 14, 12:30PM
Hashtag: #sellingsubculture

Having worked with Jones Soda online marketing efforts for nearly four years I know full well how difficult it is to balance the need to post large sales numbers with the imperative to protect the brand/consumer relationship. This session provides some guidelines on how to hit those numbers without selling out.

Panelists include:

• Richard Nash, Founder, Cursor
• Raymond Leon Roker, Founder, URB Magazine
• Molly Crabapple, Founder, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School
• Jeff Newelt, Comics Editor, SMITH Magazine
• Gala Darling, Founder, iCiNG

Online Advertising: Losing the Race to the Bottom
Time: Sunday March 14, 3:30PM
Hashtag: #racetothebottom

We spend a lot of time in this industry thinking about “how” and “where” to advertise. The concepts of building real relationships with publishers, making sure the advertising is doesn’t take away from the content, and respectfully dealing with the audience are all topics that are usually just paid lip service. Glad to see this session challenging us to change the way we think.

Panelists include:

• Jim Coudal, Principal, Coudal Partners
• John Gruber, Founder, Daring Fireball

Open Science: Create, Collaborate, Communicate
Time: Monday March 15, 9:30AM
Hashtag: #openscience

Ok, I will admit this made the Top 10 because, well, as I stated earlier I’m a science geek. Ever since I interviewed Scott Maxwell for Gnomedex two years ago I’ve been fascinated about social media’s ability to pry open the doors of previously sequestered industries. It will be nice to see what progress NASA and others have made since then.

Panelists include:

• Ariel Waldman, Founder, Spacehack.org
• Dr. Kirsten Sanford, Ph.D, This Week in Science
• Jessy Cowan-Sharp, Collaborative Web Technology Developer, NASA Ames Research Center
• Natalie Villalobos, Community Manager, Google
• Tantek Çelik, Computer Scientist,  Microformats.org

Web Series 2.0: Big Campaigns on Digital Dollars
Time: Monday March 15, 11AM
Hashtag: #bigcampaigndigitaldollars

Big campaigns don’t always require big dollars. In the social space it is about smart engagement. Smart advertisers are turning to producers and content creators to help maximize their budgets. This is the perfect panel to find out how.

Panelists include:

• Melissa Fallon, VP of Television and Emerging Media, Davie Brown Entertainment
• Chris Hanada, Co-Founder, Retrofit Films
• Milo Ventimiglia, Co-Founder, DiVide Pictures
• Wilson Cleveland, SVP & Director, CJP Digital Media
• Andrew Hampp, Reporter, Advertising Age

Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0
Time: Tuesday March 16, 11AM
Hashtag: #kivakillnonprofit

New fundraising models are changing the ways donors can interact with nonprofits. Kiva, of course, is one  a leading example of success from  such a model. While I don’t feel that the Kiva model will hurt the majority of nonprofits, I do feel that they will need to adapt to new methods of outreach to successfully maintain their donor base.

Panelists include:

• Skylar Woodward, Designer/Lender, Kiva
• Ruth-Anne Renaud, VP of Women’s Philanthropy & Interactive Marketing, Opportunity International
• Milo Sybrant, Online Fundraising Manager, Amnesty International USA
• Michael Cervino, Vice President, Beaconfire Consulting
• Katie Bisbee, Executive Director, DonorsChoose.org

Hope you get back to your hotel in one piece and you enjoy the sessions at SXSW 2010.

It turns out that I was underestimating the enterprising drive of Twitter and now Foursquare users. In June of 2009, there was much talk about how a Twitter user suspected his tweets lead to a robbery of his house. Such robberies are possible since the user’s home address is still publicly available via the domain registration of one of his web sites.

I often wondered when (not if) someone one would create a service to highlight the risky behavior of announcing that you weren’t at home. Fast forward to February 2010, and someone finally did it. PleaseRobMe.com is live. The site blatantly looks like a satire, and the creators explain that they made the site to point out the folly of people’s actions. Unfortunately, the information on the site appears legit (you can search Foursquare and Twitter to see the source of the updates), showing people broadcasting that they are away from home. Finding home addresses are not so difficult to find: simply try this search to get a list of people’s addresses, and then you simply need to watch people’s status.

While the Twitter user mentioned in the start of this post has a business, the information people are revealing create the wrong kinds of opportunities. Making it easy for criminals to find and rob you is not the fault of the service, but it does reveal that common sense doesn’t keep up with the new social media technology.

So I end this post with a thought. What are the business model opportunities here?

a) Businesses marketing on Twitter and Foursquare announcing special hours and and ‘on-the-road’ promotions?
b) Businesses offering to catch and correct users who self-reveal risky information?
c) Criminals who are looking for an easier time casing homes?
d) Writers who point out risky behaviors?
e) Other

Please comment, especially if you are one of those who likes to reveal that they are not home.

Don’t underestimate the importance of Pepsi’s promotional strategy. It is representative of what other advertisers are considering this year. Previously, I reported that Procter & Gamble is ramping up its Facebook presence.

It has taken the big guys a while to catch on to social media, but it looks like the floodgates have finally opened. PepsiCo North America’s Marketing VP, Ralph Santana, sounded like a social media convert when he told Financial Times, “We’re living in a new age with consumers. They are looking for more of a two-way dialogue, story-telling and word of mouth. Mediums like the digital space are much more conducive towards that.”

Facebook clearly recognizes that it is on the leading edge of the digital advertising revolution. The company is working with media researcher Nielsen, renowned for television’s Nielsen Ratings, to measure Facebook’s advertising effectiveness.

According to Financial Times, ad agencies are excited about Facebook’s promotional potential, too. Rich Gagnon, chief media officer at Draft FCB, sees Facebook as an important media outlet with the ability to reach more than 350 million people in one place. Even better, Gagnon says, Facebook can provide targeting capabilities based on demographics and interests.

The most exciting potential for advertisers using Facebook, however, may actually be Facebook Connect, which was introduced in late 2008. At last report, Facebook Connect was available on more than 15,000 websites. This set of APIs lets users “bring their identity and connections everywhere,” says Facebook.

Facebook Connect can do things like enable its users to share an advertiser’s website content with their friends, who then click back to the advertiser’s site. Tools like Facebook Connect represent a way social media can be seamlessly integrated with everything from websites to mobile devices.

Jesse Pickard, a social media specialist at digital agency Razorfish, blogged about Facebook Connect a year ago. What he had to say then has a lot of relevance to advertisers today:

“With a one-click login to Facebook Connect, websites have access to an unprecedented amount of user data. Using this data, sites now have the ability to redefine the way they display user generated content.”

“Although Facebook Connect isn’t an advertising buy, it can accomplish the same goals as one (and in an unintrusive manner).  Brands can get their content into Facebook’s viral channels by letting visitors post news feed stories, status messages, photos, events, and more without leaving the website.”

Of course, advertisers have a variety of social media options available to them in addition to Facebook. Similar tools to Facebook Connect also exist, such as Google’s Friend Connect and MySpaceID.

All of this bodes well for online marketing. Big advertisers are legitimizing social media by finally including Facebook in their strategic marketing plans. They are realizing that the opportunities to make use of sophisticated social media have never been better.

Maybe for his haircut to have been truly prohetic Tracy Porter should have added Facebook.

Before he got into the nitty-gritty of this year’s outlook, Google announced that revenue was up 17 percent in Q4 2009 ($6.7 billion) and up $23.65 billion for all of 2009 (for a net income of $6.5 billion).

Where does Google go from here? Right in our pockets, it appears. The release of the Nexus Phone made a splash, but Google is concentrating on the red meat of advertising and search to really make its mark in 2010, especially on mobile devices.

In 2009, Google saw mobile search increase 5 fold. The advertising that goes along with mobile search is even more specialized for customers. According to Senior Vice President of Project Management for Google, Jonathan Rosenberg:

“The new formats, the targeting tools and the reporting we are giving to advertisers (are) making a difference. Click to call, letting advertisers target specific high-end devices or carriers (we are) seeing improved monetization across mobile.”

This goes along with the trend Google has shown in strengthening its geo-specific local search results and the goal of getting answers to search result question to the user quicker. The feature is especially appealing to marketers as more consumers are using their phones to research the pricing on a possible item before buying.

Beyond mobile, Google is banking on a boom in its revenue from display advertising, which goes beyond the AdWords/AdSense model to more enriched advertising content.

Said Schmidt: “We have said is that our next huge business is display. If I were to talk about absolute numbers that would be No. 1. But smaller ones (revenue growth opportunities are) growing faster. No. 1 there is mobile. We have a lot of evidence that people are moving towards data-friendly mobile devices quite quickly. 2010 will be a year of significant mobile revenue growth.”

Display advertising is growing market for Google as the integration of DoubleClick, which was acquired in 2007, has finally been completed. Coupled with DoubleClick’s vast inventory the type of  reporting Google Analytics is able to provide is very appealing to marketers. Especially when combined with interactive, call-to-action display ads (ie, click here to do this, go to our web site or become a part of our social network), there is a lot of area for expansion for Google. Google has already rolled out more ad templates to make it easier for small businesses to get into the game and is eager to have video powered display ads as well through YouTube which is the de facto leader in the space.

So it looks like the new ecosystem Google is building for 2010 and beyond will focus on display ads powering the revenue picture in a what that AdWords has done since Google’s beginning, along with a more local-oriented, geo-savvy search on mobile, with faster and better answers and targeted advertising that gets as specific as the device being used as the search.

It’s a plan that can fit in the palm of your hand, but one that Google is banking on for this year and the years ahead.

For example, if you search for a “Chinese restaurant” and you are standing in Tulsa, the first result you get is going to be the restaurant closest to you. It won’t matter how maxed out with metadata the Chinese restaurant in Oklahoma, Des Moines or New York City is, it won’t overcome the geographic data of the local diner next door. In Google’s thinking, when people Google for a restaurant, a plumber or a veterinarian, they are looking for someone near them to call for services.

Google has also beefed up its Local Business Center, which allows businesses to provide specific information to appear on the Google Maps feature. Google looks to have all intentions of turning its map into the world’s most comprehensive business directory, answering not only where a business is and what it does, but also taking care of the tip-of-the-tongue issue.

“What’s that place across from Grandma’s house that sells lawn furniture?” There’s an map for that now.

Question is will there be enough mainstream adoption of local search? This is what points to Google’s bet on local to be spot on. As smartphones reach critical mass, more people outside of the die-hard technology crowd will make this their default search tool for things near them if they see it as viable alternate for directory assistance. To back its bet Google will use Android to push not only its offline strategy but its online strategy; this should become top of mind to marketers as Google seeks to win the war over local.

What the Google Local push speaks to is the growing granular nature of information on the Web and how it’s now just as valuable (if not more so) to know who are your businesses neighbors as it is to hit No. 1 in SERPs.

States have started looking at these bills as a way to make money for their states in times of economic and budgetary turmoil. In California, arguably the state with the most financial troubles, Governor Schwarzenegger understood the effect that this bill would have on the entrepreneurs and jobs in his state and vetoed the bill.

Last night Governor Bob McDonnell delivered the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address. The full video of his response is below, but I wanted to call attention to some of his words in that response that clearly shows that he must follow Governor Schwarzenegger’s example and veto Bill 660, if it makes it to his desk. He said the following:

“Here in Virginia we face our highest unemployment rate in 25 years, and bringing new jobs and more opportunities to our citizens is the top priority of my administration. Good government policies should spur economic growth and strengthen the private sectors ability to create new jobs.”

And then Governor McDonnell followed that with the following at 1:49 in the video below and aired throughout most of the morning news broadcasts this morning:

“We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation so America can better compete with the world. What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kills jobs and hurt the middle class.”

Virginia Senate Bill 660 is a policy that will discourage entrepreneurship in Virginia. If enacted, the innovative entrepreneurs in the state will be dropped by the same merchants that the state hopes to obtain taxes from and the potential tax gains will be more than offset by the loss of revenue from these entrepreneurial businesses and the employees they are forced to fire.

There are many Internet marketing and advertising companies in Virgina that earn their living through Internet advertising. They do not sell merchant products, nor do they even know who their customers are. These businesses earn revenue through advertising for out-of-state merchants. Upwards of 90% or more of their revenue comes from out-of-state merchants. Large advertisers like Overstock and Amazon have already put Virginia affiliates on notice, that if this bill progresses they will stop working with these entrepreneurial companies in Virginia, like they have in EVERY state that this Internet advertising tax has been proposed. Those large advertisers are just the tip of the iceberg, many merchants will stop working with these entrepreneurial companies in Virginia, because we have seen it happen in New York and every other state where this advertising tax has been passed.

Please Governor McDonnell, we hope that you will help us ensure that this bill never reaches your desk, but if it does, please veto it. Don’t allow Virginia to enact a policy that squashes entrepreneurship and innovation in your state by piling on more taxation that will kill jobs and hurt the middle class of Virginia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

P&G has long been known as a marketing innovator. The company was, of course, among the first sponsors of “soap operas,” but more recently, P&G has used every media imaginable to relentlessly push its brands. That’s why it’s more than curious that P&G has been somewhat late to the social media party.

In fact, in November 2008, Ted McConnell, P&G’s general manager of interactive and innovation, told a conference in Cincinnati, P&G’s hometown, that he was anything but enthusiastic about Facebook. “What in heaven’s name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend? …I don’t think everything every consumer says to someone else and writes down is somehow monetizable by the media industry,” McConnell said.

My, Ted, how things have changed. Little more than a year later, P&G just announced that it has opened a Silicon Valley office specifically to “help develop social-networking systems and digital-marketing capabilities,” according to Advertising Age. Venture capitalist David Hornik, who met with P&G executives, reported that “P&G’s explicit goal for 2010 is to assure that each of its brands has a meaningful presence on Facebook, and they are willing to pay dearly for that. …[P&G leaders] view Facebook as a must-have for digital advertising and brand building.”

When P&G does anything, it does it in a very big way, so this latest move is clearly signaling that social media is to be taken seriously by P&G – and therefore by the whole marketing industry, which follows its every move.

Interestingly, on the very same day that the P&G story broke, Advertising Age also  reported that Clorox (a P&G arch-rival) was seeking a full-time in-house legal counsel to focus on social media. This is yet another sign of how important social media has become to big marketers. A Clorox spokesman told Advertising Age:

“Social-media channels are a growing focus for consumer communication and stakeholder engagement for our brands and company. As a newer communication channel, the application of existing laws to this medium is evolving. For those reasons and the rapid pace of communication in the Web 2.0 world, we’re seeking an attorney to focus on social media as well as talent rights.”

Maybe it doesn’t seem like such big news to hear that Procter & Gamble and Clorox are finally focusing on social media, but it matters. These guys are now drinking the social media Kool-aid. When you see companies of this size and stature going full-speed ahead with the likes of Facebook, you know mass adoption of Facebook as a business marketing medium for all CPG companies, and all marketers for that matter, is just around the corner.

As we wrapped up I told him that while it was a good education, he might not want to be quite as direct as I am.

You see, I don’t like dealing with bad sales people. I’ve done sales. Of course, I think that just about everything includes sales. Are you applying for a job? Then you’re selling yourself as the product. Do you think your company should release a new product or service? Then you are selling that internally. So we all need to be good at sales.

What makes a good salesperson

First, know your business and the product you are selling. If you don’t know it better than the person you are selling to, your sale will be based on luck, not skill. I hate when I know more about the product than someone who cold called me to get me to buy something I already know I don’t need.

Second, know your prospect’s business. If you can, know it better than they do. If you have too broad of a target market, focus where you can and then ask questions for those whose businesses you don’t know. Don’t try to sound like you are an expert at something you are not. I hate when I know more about the product than someone who cold called me to get me to buy something I already know I don’t need. [Yes, I know I repeated that.]

Next, don’t be scared to tell your prospect about your business and be honest. “Sign up at our website” is not a sales pitch. That’s a trick to get e-mail addresses to impress an executive who doesn’t understand the difference between hot and cold prospects.

Finally, don’t use buzzwords and, if you are required to, be able to explain what you company does without them. Jargon often means nothing. Sometimes it means different things to different people. If you can’t use simple words to describe what your company does, I’ll figure you have no clue.

Walking the floor

Affiliate conferences have a few types of exhibitors (forgive me if I miss any and just add a comment below):

• Affiliate networks
• Service providers
• Stores / Merchants
• Publishers / Affiliates
• Outsourced Program Management firms

The inspiration for this article was affiliate networks. I’m not talking about the majors. I’m talking about all of the CPA networks. We typically add one network per year. I used to ask about URL structure (buy.at failed that one recently so miserably we probably will never work with that network), automated feeds on at least a daily basis and product feeds. Now I found I have a new set of questions.

Sign up at our website

Name 3 stores or services in your network we need to have on our site.That sounds like a simple, basic question that anyone should be able to answer.

Some networks either can’t or won’t answer it. #SRSLY?!?

Either they don’t know the stores or services I should want or they just want me to sign up for their network. If they think having another inactive affiliate will do them good, they should just make up fake accounts. What’s the difference?

Simply put, if you can’t rattle off 3 stores that we need to have on our site, we assume you don’t have at least 3. If you tell us stores that are on numerous networks (including CJ, GAN and/or Linkshare), we don’t need you.

We work with thousands of stores and you want me to add yours? OK, tell me what they are. You can’t? OK, no soup for you! NEXT!

What types of stores do you have?

This seems to be another tough question. This is where the buzzwords really start to jump out. This is where I start asking the questions that I don’t recommend to Casey. In most cases, I found that the offers were the type where a user signs up for an incentivized offer and gets charged $9.95 to their cellphone every month and has trouble unsubscribing. Uh, we won’t put those on our site. We like having long-term value to our members.

If you have to hide what you do, there is a problem.

Why the networks won’t talk to me at Affiliate Summit

There you have it. I think CPA networks will throw their swag at me to keep me away. I gave away the secrets on how to make them say what they really do. Try asking. It’s a lot of fun when you get into it. My greatest hope on this topic is that CPA networks can and will answer these questions for you and that you find lasting, profitable relationships. Short of that, I hope you have fun!

In 2010, the marketers who embrace “plus” opportunities will weather the economic storm and enjoy lasting success. Here are some of the primary “plus” areas to consider this year.

Is social media part of your plan?
What’s the best way to make use of it for your business? You need to evaluate which social media tools to use, what strategy to employ, and how best to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.  Ask yourself a lot of tough questions about social media.  Do “fans” translate into sales? Is the time you spend with social media paying off? Are your tweets helping to boost awareness and response?

Are you positioned to take advantage of the new, more sophisticated world of real-time search?
Both Bing and Google now have relationships with Facebook and Twitter, and Google recently struck a deal with MySpace. It’s all designed to provide immediacy and relevancy to search. Search results pages will be increasingly dynamic and information will stream into the pages as it becomes available in real-time. How does that affect your business? Getting more of your information out there via blogs and social media will be more important than ever – and using relevant keywords will be crucial.

Where are you on the video spectrum?
The online video market has exploded and will continue to grow this year. Amateur videos populate news websites. Celebrity videos can destroy or launch careers – Susan Boyle became an Internet sensation and sold close to 3 million albums as a result. Using video to publicize, promote, and advertise an online business will become a standard practice, and you can’t afford to be left behind in this key area.

Have you discovered mobile advertising?
According to eMarketer, mobile ad spending will grow from $416 million in 2009 to $593 million in 2010, reaching over $1 billion by 2012. Mobile and social media are quickly converging. The youth market lives, breathes and eats holding onto their cell phones. The rapid development of apps for smartphones creates a prime business opportunity, even for small businesses.

Are you stuck in an old ad model?
Combine the influence of social media with real-time search, then add in video and mobile advertising, and you see a very different advertising model emerging. Chances are paid content and advertainment will become more effective than standard banner and text ads. You’ll need to be ready to provide high-value, relevant information in a smartly packaged format if you want to one-up your competitors.

Yes, this will indeed be an exciting year. Are you ready for it?