That’s no way to connect with someone. And while there are several solutions in the iTunes App Store, WorldCard Mobile by Penpower Technology Ltd. has long been a favorite iPhone app.

Snap a photo of any business card and the information is automatically transferred into your contact list. It almost seems magical. While it will work on older models, WorldCard Mobile (currently $6.99 in the App Store) is not recommended for iPhone 3G and the fourth generation iPod touch and older because the camera doesn’t auto focus.

iPad users, there’s a version for you too built just for the iPad called WorldCard HD (currently $14.99 in the App Store). Looks great with all that extra screen real estate.

If you’d prefer to take a test drive before you buy, the lite version is free (LINK). Most of the features are there, but you’re limited to a few scans a week.

The only trouble I had was the occasional business card with a tough to decipher font. Sometimes I had to take the photo a few times, but if you have a lot of cards and are looking to save time, this is a great solution.

And it’s OK if you don’t have an iDevice. WorldCard Mobile is available in the Android Market and for Windows Phone.

The year is still young. If being better organized was one of your resolutions, WorldCard is a quick win.

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Foursquare is a location-based social networking app and website for mobile devices that allows you to keep up with what your friends are doing, discover and rediscover what’s nearby and unlock deals. Foursquare users, often called players, do this by checking into a venue when they arrive and competing for the mayorship, which is the person who checks in most often over a set period of time.

Businesses can, if they choose, offer discounts and deals to people who check in, people who become mayor or both.

Here’s an example. Say you own Smith’s Soup and Sandwiches on South Second Street. You can use Foursquare to entice customers to check in and compete for the chance to unlock discounts. You could offer a customer who checks in 10 percent off their bill and provide something bigger – like a free grilled cheese sandwich – to the mayor. (Side note: If you own a sandwich shop and don’t have grilled cheese on the menu, you should strongly consider adding one).

Why would you want to be a part of the Foursquare craze? Simple. According to the company, nearly 15 million people use Foursquare worldwide. More than 1.5 billion check-ins have been recorded since the network launched in 2009, and millions check in every day. Plus, more than 750,000 merchants have claimed their venue – the page customers go to check in, interact and claim discounts and prizes.

Back to the grilled cheese for a second. If my friend is mayor gets a grilled cheese sandwich just for using Foursquare, he’s likely to tell his Foursquare-playing friends and so on. It’s word-of-mouth combined with gaming that sells itself. That’s why businesses can and should be creative with the kinds of discounts and deals they offer. The more they stand out, the more they’ll be talked about.

Foursquare offers a free set of tools to help businesses and brands best utilize the platform for their needs. If you’re not ready to jump in, I recommend finding a similar business or competitor using Foursquare and see how it uses it. That might just open your eyes.

The post Foursquare: Good for business, good for customers appeared first on 435 Digital.

Your choice. Assuming you picked the second, here are 10 types of tweets that will help you be a Twitter superstar in no time.

Boring
Snore. Tweets that give Twitter a bad name such as “I am eating a sandwich.” This type of tweet is uninteresting and doesn’t encourage interaction. Twitter started this trend by asking the world a boring question: “What’s happening.” They should have started with “What has your attention?” That could be the difference between tweeting “I’m eating a sandwich” and “I need your help to find the best burger in Chicago.” Which of those tweets interests you more?

Introductory
Introduce a Twitter user to either another user or a group of people. Example include: “I’d like everyone to meet @soandso, who is new to our team here at the Tribune” and “Hey, @Suchandsuch please meet @soandso, who is also an avid golfer.” Introductory tweets are a great way to build community quickly on Twitter.

Spammer
Trust me. You don’t want to be viewed this way. Spammer tweets aren’t necessarily tweets that come from an automatic spambot feed. Sometimes, spammy tweets can come from a user who only seems to shill for his or her own projects or products. An often cited formula for avoiding being a spammy twitter user is to follow the Rule of Thirds: Talk about your own products a third of the time. Share other links and ideas in your niche for another third. In the final third, reply to people, answer questions and ask questions of your followers.

Quote
Consist of an attributed quote and that’s all. Example: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on – Robert Frost.” This type of tweet is common, but should be used very sparingly because it generally does not encourage interaction with others.

Retweet
Retweets (or “RTs”) are simply re-sharing the content sent from another user. These can be done by hitting the “retweet” button to share the original tweet and automatically source the tweet (“RT @scottkleinberg Today…”). The retweet can also be accomplished by sharing a link obtained from another user, recreating a version of the tweet, and including “MT (modified tweet) or via @username” in the tweet.

Marketing
Let’s talk about these. In and of themselves, they are harmless, straightforward communication about a product, deal or brand. For example: a hardware store twitter account could tweet “This week only: all BrandX paint and rollers 50% off” and that would be an example of a marketing tweet. The problem arises with marketing tweets when that is all or the majority of tweets posted by a given account. This isn’t likely to be a problem if the tweeter follows the aforementioned Rule of Thirds. Sticking with the hardware store example: this account could also share how-to guides and tips, relevant industry news, and address customers service and/or advice questions. Everyone buying paint wants to know how to get it out of the carpet.

Giveaway or Benefactor
Tweets giving “insidery” info on deals, freebies, contests and other giveaways. Most giveaway tweets are designed to go viral by being widely retweeted to share the information.

Link
Tweets sharing links to compelling or entertaining articles, images or blog posts. Such links can be original content from the user, or outside content he or she wishes to share with followers. Be sure to mix link tweets with other types of tweets for maximum impact.

Question and Answer
User asks a question of his or her followers and this hopefully results in answers. Question tweets can range from rhetorical questions (which can be entertaining, but generally aren’t extremely useful because they do not encourage interaction) to polling followers about product and purchase recommendations (Buying a new dishwasher. Any recommendations?)

Customer service
Can be either from the customer raising an issue with a service or product, or from a company acknowledging a widespread customer issue, or working to satisfy an individual customer’s issue.

Watch “30 Second Social,” the web video series hosted by Scott Kleinberg and Amy Guth, for more tips and tricks about Twitter and other forms of social media.

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