A location based social network is all about the check-ins and it looks like Gowalla failed to comprehend this essential fact. The result is that that this geo-social app is shutting down and while its founders and team will be joining Facebook, there is no doubt that the app failed and failed big time. On the other hand, its rival Foursquare went ahead of Gowalla a very little time ago. It was so far ahead in its check-ins as compared to Gowalla, that there basically was very little rivalry to speak of.

So, what went wrong with the geo-social app and that too, so quickly; after all it was only launched in 2009? The reason can be traced right back to the genesis of Gowalla, and its focus on design rather than functionality. As compared to Foursquare, there was absolutely no doubt that, it was far ahead when it came to design. It was visually appealing, offered good looking badges and all in all looked very pretty. But the problem was that it just looked pretty. It wasn’t a blend of form and function, but focused on just one core element – Design.

Another reason that contributed towards its failure was that it was based in Austin, which did not have the kind of urban density that helps a mobile social app build a better network early on in its life. It just couldn’t get the critical mass to power its popularity. It severely lacked the hometown advantage. Think about it for second. Why are you using a particular social app? It is because your friends are using it and so are their friends and so on and so forth. The point is that people use only that app that connects them with more people. This is essentially what Gowalla failed to do and set in motion a chain of events that led to its shut down.

Mistakes were made at the conceptualization and development levels and it suffered big time.

But that wasn’t it. Gowalla came across as a very complicated site to use. It tried to offer a whole lot of features very early on, which confused people. Instead of attracting as many check-ins’ as possible, it put many people off. Yet another reason contributing to its failure was that it couldn’t get the big brands to lend their brand equity. This also contributed to its downfall. The reasoning is pretty simple. Why would I want to join a geo social app, if I can’t find deals offered by the big brands on it?

Every expert, industry watcher or investor will have different reasons why Gowalla failed. But in its failure lies the kind of learning that will help founders avoid making the same mistakes that this location based social network did. It’s always important to focus on functionality rather than the only putting focus on visuals. It can be summed up in one simple sentence – Always remain true to your purpose.

Facebook and Twitter marketing have become so important in a very short period of time. Your profile on Facebook and Twitter can make or break your business in some industries. For example, the major record labels will rarely even consider a new artist, unless they have considerable activity and followers on Twitter. In some ways, social media is taking away the importance of the individual, and the importance of who they really are.

At the same time, this is the world we live in, and so we need to market ourselves carefully, and we need to market our companies carefully. Social media is not limited to Facebook and Twitter, and it is important we make the most out of our social media profile, and marketing strategy. Here is a look at some of the common mistakes made by small business with social media marketing.

Irregularity

Social media requires regularity. There is no point being all over the place one day, and disappearing for a week. It will take time to build a following, and it takes consistency. There are a number of software packages that can help you manage this timing. You might not have those intelligent comments when you need them, so you can put them down and schedule their release… at the same time, you need to be current, and so managing that is also important.

Personality

Having a personality is extremely important on social media. Even the biggest and stiffest corporations need to free up they way they deal with people. It is important to have a set of guidelines for your SMM (social media marketers), and to let them do their job.

Spelling

Just like writing skills are important with articles for SEO, writing properly with social media is extremely important. You can use accepted shortened writing, but whatever you choose, you need to stick with it. Creating a style guide is essential.

Sales Talk Bores

Sales talk on social media is very boring. People are not looking to buy or be told something is the best thing since sliced bread by you, about you. Let others do the talking for you. Social media should be informative, witty, and most of all fun. An excellent example of Facebook marketing is ‘Mayhem’. Insurance marketing with a twist, and the attention it creates is unbelievable.

Limiting Sites

Facebook and Twitter are not the limit of social media marketing. LinkedIn is very good, and Google+ will grow into something very useful, despite all the current negative publicity. The most important fact about social media marketing on Google+ is the simple fact that, it is owned by Google. What better way to influence your Google Ranking?

Over Linking

Are all your social media sites linked, and overly linked resulting in your same comments going out repetitively to a number of sites, and all those people who may see them? Mixing up your social media activities will ensure you do not bore your viewers. If you are wondering who to speak to for help with Facebook, Twitter and other social media marketing, the answer is simple.

SEO agencies know the ins and outs of the interent, Google, and they are the ones who have the experience and concrete knowledge of how to get the job done. Internet marketing produces real statistics to show you what is really going on. Don’t be fooled by some ‘creative agency’ which is suddenly presenting itself as a social media guru

Social media plays a very important role in today’s world. One cannot ignore the influence it has on each and every one of us, and the scope it offers to carry out personal as well as professional relationships.  Moreover, we are able to share our thoughts, promote our work and get all the required updates on social media.

Advantages of using social media for business purposes:-

Quick and easy communication

Social media is lightening quick. If you have something to say and want it heard immediately, social media is the place for you. You can send and receive messages within seconds. It is a revolutionary medium and much faster than any other tried before.

Reach

Social media encompasses millions of people from every culture and part of the world. So, the information you wish to share truly reaches far and wide.

Awareness, introduction and promotion

It is the best medium to spread awareness on your product. You can use it for introducing your product and also for promoting already existing products by putting ads.

Easy updates

If you bring about changes in your product or brand, you can immediately put it up on social media; within seconds, everyone will see it. This is much faster in comparison to our older methods of putting ads on newspapers, magazines and passing about pamphlets.

Easy Feedback

Moreover, people will be able to provide you with immediate feedbacks by posting comments, and you can to reply to them quickly. Older methods take a long time to get the message out; moreover, receiving feedback becomes very difficult and next to impossible.

Helps improve strategy

By receiving quick feedback and watching how people are reacting to your business strategy, you can go ahead to make changes and improve it

Easy sales

On social media, one can generate an easy way to sell their product via online shopping.

Having understood the various advantages that social media provides to business, there is no reason why you should hold back your brand. However, there are certain things one should keep in mind while using this medium.

A few tips on using social media for business purposes:-

1. Always understand what your customer wants and needs. Frame your strategy and ads accordingly.

2. Post ads on sites that are popular to your type of customers.

3. Lure the customers to take interest in the ad and tempt them to know more.

4.  Ask the customers to share the ad with their friends and associates.

5. Use easy and most popular languages for your ads.

6. Ask for feedback by providing a space for comments on articles or a feedback form.

So go ahead and try using social media to promote your product and gain more customers. It is a great opportunity; do not let it pass by. Social Media is the face of a new and changing world, do not get left behind!

Every year brings millions of new advances in web design, so trying to determine which features are simply fads and which will be essential to the continued success of your website can be a challenge for any website owner. Over the past couple of years, web design has risen to the challenge of preparing websites for mobile devices and incorporating the rampant popularity of social media and these factors continue to influence web design in 2011.

Facebook has a lot to answer for when it comes to advances in web design in recent times, with the “like” application spreading across all manner of websites, but mobile phones have also had an influence on contemporary web design with QR Codes coming to the forefront. While there are many new web design features emerging every day, here is a quick look at what is currently on top:

1. Social Media

One of the most essential web design features for 2011 will be the integration of business or product Facebook accounts with any other social media accounts, and the addition of a live-streaming Facebook feed box to the website. This syncopation of Facebook activity with the main website will allow site visitors to “like” content on your website, such as videos, new products and images, quickly spreading this information in a viral manner. Simultaneous feeds generated to and from other social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn have the capacity to drive even more traffic to your Facebook fan page and your website.

2. QR Codes

QR Codes have been one of the top web design trends in online marketing over the first few months of 2011. When displayed on posters, billboards, stickers and other promotional materials, they tend to inspire curiosity in potential customers and are compatible with one of our other top tech toys – the smart phone. The web design for the mobile site launched by the QR Code should include links to your Facebook fan page, as well as basic company and contact information. This will generate traffic to your Facebook page, which can be linked to your website, as described above.

3. Blogs

So this isn’t exactly news for 2011, but a blog is something that no web design should ever omit. Not only do blogs provide an interactive and personal point of connection with potential customers and an ideal platform for presenting regular updates on new products, services and company developments, they can include links back to your Facebook, Twitter and any other social media pages to provide additional exposure to those feeds. Of course, if well written and posted strategically, blogs will also work as a highly effective search engine optimisation strategy.

4. Video

Video is becoming increasingly popular on media sharing sites such as GoogleVideo and YouTube so incorporating video in your web design is a must this year. When produced correctly, videos are lively, entertaining and informative, meaning that they are a wonderful way of holding the attention of potential customers and easier to absorb than blocks of text. Videos are also very search-engine friendly and can be shared across social media and media sharing sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For all job seekers, here’s a great news for all you people as you can now make use of social networking so as the please the recruiters with your positive skills and with which you will surely be persuaded first and will be given a chance to get recruited, but before that you need to follow some of the top 10 social networking tips which are the must to follow. So, let’s proceed and see on what are the top tips which need to be followed by all job seekers in the social world in the due course of this article.

Complete your profile:
First things come first, you will have to ensure that you complete all the details in your profile like name, place, schooling, details, college, place and also some other critical information very carefully and you need to make sure that you have updated your age as well as this too sometimes plays a very crucial role in deciding on what is the exact talent the recruiters are looking for. Also include key accomplishments along with the key educational milestones which will make recruiting simpler and easier.

Let the Recommendations work:
Always try to impress the top bosses out there in the social networking world. If you managed to do this, then that’s it just tell them about your passion and dream then they will recommend you for the job and the work in that company which will then be mattering a lot as after all the top bosses are recommending you, so the impact of the recommendation will be really higher.

Try to be transparent:
Always ensure that you are transparent in your work rather than cooking up the stories which will do no help and in fact will land you up in trouble when they will know about the same, so always put your image as a real one without any wrong additives. Also most importantly you can even mention about your look outs in the social world so that accordingly you will be given what you have always deserved for your talent, and never hesitate to show up your talent in the social world, be it twitter or the facebook or any.

Quality is important than quantity:
Quality is what will matter than quantity, so always try to put up a good quality talent rather than showing up the waste quantities as that will surely do no good to you. Always ensure that you are showing up what you have got rather than showcasing in numbers, simple and crisp will be what mattering a lot than the quantity. So, also keep in mind that doesn’t link to the strangers so as to just simply boost the numbers as this one will be the weakest connection.

Start the conversation:
Rather than waiting for a conversation to begin, just simply start the conversation in your own style and manner and being the first with POV on an industry issue of the day makes you look informed and also authorative. Always ensure that the topic which you start to speak is a valid and the strongest rather than talking which is just senseless and has no meaning.

Ask questions:
Always try to ask questions which are general ones and are more impactful rather than using the personal questions again and again. Always ensure that the questions are not harsh and also always try to get an advice from the people which will leave a good impression that you are listening to them.

Be Responsive and Responsible:
Being responsive and responsible is what both counts, so always ensure that you are responsive as well as quick when asked about the advices and also the insights which will send the signals and message out that you are an effective listener. So, be a joiner and take the advantage of the industry which will elevate the profile which will guide you to the future.

About the Author:
Chetan Bhawani is a dentist, a web hosting adviser and a tech blogger at several tech blogs. Check out his favorite instant domain name checker which also reviews the best domain name registrars.