Have you heard? Facebook is set to roll out their very own location-based check-in service. You read that right. Facebook is creating their very own version of Foursquare or Gowalla or whatever other location-based service the kids are using these days.

Mashable, my personal favorite source for all things social, published today a field guide to using Facebook Places. But, the question remains, will you actually use it?

According to the Mashable poll, 28% of people who voted (1,253 out of 4,476) said yes, they would. Twenty-nine percent (including yours truly) said maybe.

It’s true, I love Facebook and it’s true, I might use Facebook Places, but there are few obstacles standing in Facebook’s path towards social world domination.

The first obstacle is that Facebook is a little late to the location-based game. I’m not saying it won’t work, I’m just saying this isn’t something new. Both Foursquare and Gowalla have been around since 2009 and each has a tremendous following, though Foursquare seems to have the edge with 5.6 million venues, more than half a million users and 22 million check-ins as of about April 2010.

The second is that both Gowalla and Foursquare allow users to link to Twitter and Facebook. So, if my Facebook  page is already being updated with the location-based service I use, why would I switch to some beta-location application available only on Facebook? (Although, I must commend Facebook for playing nice since they are allowing Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah and Yelp to link and push information back.)

The third is that currently, Facebook Places is only available on iPhones or smartphones with HTML 5 and Geo-location capabilities. Facebook plans to roll out Blackberry and Android versions, but haven’t yet announced those dates. I call #blackberrydiscrimination on that!

On the other hand, there are quite a few cards Facebook holds in their hand that may prove to be advantageous. The first is that Facebook is, by far, the most utilized social network. Facebook has more than 500 million monthly users who regularly adopt far sillier applications (ahem, mafia wars…farmville), so what’s one more?

The second is that Facebook Places is the new, shiny object. And, you know how people love those.

So, the question remains. Will you use Facebook Places?

I have been interning at FSC for three months now and to say I have learned a lot is truly an understatement. Forget about filing papers, making copies, or running for coffee, (mundane tasks many interns are forced to do) from day one the gals at FSC have treated me as an equal assigning me “real” and even important tasks.

When I started interning at FSC I thought I knew a lot about the world of social networking. I mean I am on Facebook and Twitter but after just a few days with social media Gurus Tiffany Starnes and Andy Kutcher, I realized I had a lot to learn. Who knew how powerful Facebook and Twitter are in the world of business? And Google Tools, do you know how powerful they really are? Here at FSC, I learn something new about all of these things on a daily basis, as well as valuable lessons I can take with me wherever I may go and I find that particularly rewarding.

I won’t bore you by telling you all 782 things I’ve learned from the fabulous FSC Divas but how about just a few.

1. Listening is the first step to success.
I’ve always been told I’m a good listener by friends, teachers, and employers but at FSC I learned to listen in a whole new way known as social media monitoring. In the world of social media there is no such thing as “set it and forget it.” People are always talking and it is extremely important to know how and what to listen to. There are specific resources that help do just that. Before my internship, I was aware of several of these monitoring tools, Google Alerts, Social Mention, Twitter Search but there are many I had never even heard of! A few months ago if you asked me what Radian 6 was I would be clueless. Now I have begun to understand the power of such tools and how to use them to my listening advantage.

2. Even Little Mistakes are Big Mistakes so Always Double Check Your Work
No one likes to make mistakes and FSC has taught me to check and double check my work. Previous to my internship I thought of myself as a great editor but when it came to 140 character Tweets and status updates I continuously made mistakes (and sometimes still do). I don’t know if it’s because 140 characters seems so short or when editing my own work I skip the mistakes but I know one thing, it is frustrating. My advice to interns everywhere is to slow down, read and reread your work.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; just don’t ask the same question twice.
Have you ever worked at a job or internship where you were scared to ask questions? I know I have but it is through asking questions that the most learning occurs. Everyday I ask Tiffany and Andy a ton of questions and I’m not the only one. In our big social media room we all share, everyone asks questions and we work as a team. Just remember at the end of the day you’re participating in the internship to learn about the job in a hands-on way so the more questions you ask, the better.

4. All ideas and opinions are valuable and should be expressed
I think this may be the most valuable thing I have learned at FSC. It should be of no shock to anyone who knows the gals of FSC, that they are brilliantly creative and I’m not going to lie, that is a just a tad bit intimidating. However, they motivate me daily to think harder, better, and more imaginatively than anyone else in my life. My internship here has not only been about completing tasks I have been assigned, but also working towards pushing myself to new ideas and insights.

5. The best work is done while listening to Lady Gaga.
Although shocking, I am aware that not all people are fans of Lady Gaga but in the social media room at FSC she is worshiped. Before my internship began at FSC I was quite a fan of Lady Gaga but was unaware of just how powerful her music could really be. Tiffany and Andy swear by her hits such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance” to help motivate and get the creative juices flowing and after just a week they had me sold. Skeptical, check it out for yourself. You may just be surprised at the strategies you come up with!

“This is what the client wants…” – Freddy Rumsen
“We have an image to uphold as an agency, and the work we’ve been doing is very different from this.” –Peggy Olsen

Although none of the gals around our office look like Peggy Olsen (probably more like Betty or Joan), working with women who are breaking ground in the Web 2.0 world, we often find ourselves in similar situations to those on Mad Men. Pushback from those clients who know they need to be online, but just aren’t sure how, why, or what to do when they get there. In most cases, we have provided the answers to these questions within our initial visit or pitch, but now that the money is being spent, they often want to try to fit what they have been doing offline for years, neatly into a pretty little box and do the same things online. Well buddy, I’m here to tell you, that ain’t how we do it.

Yes, collaboration between traditional marketing and your online presence should be succinct, but to think that you can just pump out the same old tired message as a tweet, or post a JPG of your latest print ad campaign to Facebook and get all the leads in the world, then you obviously missed a major portion of that pitch we gave.

You, business owner/client, know exactly what’s needed to determine the success of any marketing effort – increased leads, bigger profit margin, or exposure. By arming the online marketing partner you’ve decided bestow the management of your pay per click campaigns, the creation / execution of your social media strategy (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc) and he/she who updates your web site – they all  need to be made aware of offline advertising campaigns, pr efforts and current promotions. By empowering these partners with the information, they stand a much better chance at providing you with the intended result – success .

But during this quest for more, remember a few key lessons:

• Be open to suggestion
  This is probably nothing like any campaign you’re company has done before

• Back talk is encouraged
  It’s called engagement for a reason. People talk…they share the good and the bad. Don’t just listen, pipe in with sincerity or a solution to their issues. Don’t spew the same old sales push. Say thank you, ask what was wrong so you can rectify. If you allow them to continue the conversation without you, nothing good will come of that.

• Red Tape
  Your company may be uncomfortable allowing certain messages. But when things happen, you need to be prepared to pounce. While a well crafted message can be persuasive and compelling, if an industry or brand related story is out there and growing in popularity by the minute, sending a message up the chain for approval that could take hours, maybe even days means you have already missed the boat. Create a protocol allowing for best judgment along with guidelines especially for those in the medical, legal or similar fields that have compliance issues to deal with

• Rewards
  Give back to those who follow or friend you; we’re not talking handouts and freebies, unless you are feeling generous, more like the gift of meaningful content. Educate or even entertain your minions with industry news, top 10 lists, or even a link to a YouTube video that has very little to do with your overall goals, but still might invoke a chuckle.

So what are you waiting for? Dive in. But if you find yourself at a point where you just don’t know what else you can do, step aside and let some Mad Women handle the online push; but be sure to stay out of their way…you might get “stilleto’ed”.

(Now if I can only figure a way to work a Trueblood reference into a professional blog post, hmmmm)

In case you’ve been under a rock, Old Spice recently did a great YouTube effort fielding questions from the world wide web to be answered in quick  quirky quips almost instantly by hunky spokesman Isaiah Mustafa. It is currently #1 on You Tube and worth a watch. (Warning: Time suck is unavoidable.)

Alyssa Milano, in true social media rock star fashion, responded and an interweb romance sprouted.

But in order to continue their video dating, Milano issued a challenge: Donate $100,000 to help oil spill relief in the wetlands. You can watch the Alyssa Milano Old Spice response here (and not on YouTube because it has been removed. Um, huh?)

This efforts shows that Old Spice understands social media. Their response to this challenge will be interesting to watch.

I would love to see them make a donation. Even more I would love to see Old Spice leverage its momentum and fan base to create awareness by asking their community to take action. Maybe offer to match funds in an online donation campaign? Auction off items from their spokesman’s world travels?

What do you think? What should Old Spice do?

Recently, I went to a presentation about Facebook (entitled Facebook for Small Businesses). As many of you know, I love Facebook, especially Pages. I love Facebook Pages so much that I will talk to anyone at any time about anything that has to do with Facebook Pages and small businesses. So, you can imagine my surprise, shock and anger when this particular presenter at this particular presentation said the Pages weren’t good for small businesses and that Facebook Groups were better.

Excuse me? What did he say?

I asked, multiple times, why this person thought groups were superior to pages; what benefit did they offer that pages didn’t? Am I missing something? Enlighten me! Give me a reason! He couldn’t. And that fired me up! Not only could he not provide any validation or backing for his statement but he had just told a group of 20-something people that they shouldn’t be using Facebook Pages. Oy gevaldt!

So, I am here to tell you Facebook Pages are great for small businesses and, in fact, are designed to help the small mom-and-pops compete with the giant behemoths like Coca-cola and Nestle.  I’m just saying, Sucre, a locally owned and operated chocolate confectionery in New Orleans, didn’t get 1,000 loyal fans in less than a month because Facebook Pages suck.

Facebook Pages were designed and created for businesses, they’ve grown since they first appeared, but businesses are still the primary user of Pages. I’m not saying Groups aren’t good, but they don’t offer some of the aspects that Pages do. To prove this I’ve developed what I like to call “The Facebook Account Smack Down.” We’ll go through four major parts of what you’d be interested in seeing, as a small business, on your Facebook account – engagement, reach, customization and measurement.

Engagement: Both Pages and Groups allow the owner or administrator to customize the wall settings. With that, the owner/admin can choose how much or how little fans can engage and they can decide what fans can see. However, the settings on a Page are far more detailed than on a group. Regardless, this round is a tie and we’re at an even 1-1 for Pages vs. Groups on engagement.

Facebook wall settings for Pages (left) and Groups (right)

Reach: Facebook Pages can be seen without a Facebook Account. That is to say that my 95 year old grandmother can visit www.facebook.com/NewOrleansOnline and, without a personal Facebook Account, she can peruse the page as if it were any other website. But then again, she can do that with Groups, too. That’s an even 2-2 for Pages vs. Groups.

What both a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group look like without a personal Facebook Account

Customization: Facebook Pages allow the use of tons of different applications, most notably Static FBML, which allows the administrator to customize and tailor the Facebook Page to fit the needs of their audience and fit in alignment with their brand and messaging. Not to mention that Facebook Pages can have a customized or “vanity” URL (as long as you have 25 or more fans). So, not only can my grandmother see your Page without a Facebook account, but she can sign up for an e-newsletter, listen to a playlist, look at photos from Flickr, watch videos from YouTube or view a menu – all through various Facebook applications. Groups can’t do that. That’s 3-2 in favor of Pages.

Just one example of a vanity URL and the different applications a Facebook Page can used

Measurement: By far the greatest advantage Facebook Pages have over any other Facebook account (groups or profiles) is that they offer Facebook Insights. Insights, similar to analytics, allow to administrator of a Page to see their fan demographics, the number of interactions on their page, the number of active fans and more. This allows the administrator to discover their actual audience (compared to their target audience); learn what messaging works and what doesn’t and Insights help to develop a strategy for moving forward with Facebook. As of today, there is absolutely no way of measuring fan demographics or interactions with a Group. I’d say this round, easily, goes to Pages.

Facebook Insights offer analytics about visits, interactions and fan demographics

That makes the score 4-2 in favor of Pages. Based on this information alone, that’s enough evidence that, for a small business, Facebook Pages are the way to go. I don’t want to say I told you so, but…

So that’s my side of the sotry. I like Pages, but what do you prefer?

Come back next week for more tips, tricks and insights from the Gals at FSC!!

Just in case you hadn’t noticed the world’s leading search engine, Google (with 72% of the world’s searches) recently made some changes to how it serves up search results. Although these alterations have been in the works for quite some time, and those in the search marketing biz got a sneak peak back in August 2009, the latest flavor of Google’s search index hit nationwide in the US around June 10, 2010. It’s name – Google Caffeine.

Did you notice it? Probably not, though you may have noticed subtle changes to SERPs (search engine results pages) like very recently released news stories popping up atop the page, links to related YouTube clips, sprinkles of Twitter conversations related to your search, just to name a few.

But why? Why did Google have to go and change?
The easy answer; because you did.

You changed the way you accessed information and how quickly you expect it.

You keep creating content, adding new and exciting stuff to share with the world.

You want your news, and you want it now!

It’s all about you, and so Google changed for you. (Well and a little for them too.)

Relevance is the Real Reason
(Yes, it’s still all about you)

Understanding that Google is built completely on the basis of delivering the most relevant content based what you are searching for – but now you want it faster than immediately, including the absolute latest and greatest data you can get your hands on – enter Google Caffeine.

The basics of how Google finds and ranks the pages it delivers hasn’t really changed, it just has more to chose from, and is doing that much faster than before.

Here’s how it shakes down:

• Before: It used to be that when you built a web site and wanted to be listed, you would submit your site to Google inviting their crawler, Googlebot, to visit your site and catalog bits and pieces of what you had to offer. This could take weeks, sometimes months for you to show up in a Google search, even when you searched on your own brand name (I’m talking to some unnamed folks who use “Home Page” as your title tag – grrr). A big part of getting to the top with less of a wait was the inclusion Let’s not forget the other factors that play a part in this quest for top position, including, but not limited to quality inbound links, keeping content fresh, and so much more.

• Now: The same basic rules apply. If your page is filled with quality content supported by the right mix of meta tags that speak to that content, the likelihood of showing up as relevant  is still a part of the equation. However, the number of sites you are now competing against for relevance is growing exponentially as Google is indexing or adding these to its catalog of the web at a much faster rate – inclusion has literally gone from months to minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, spiders are still searching for quality, but with almost immediate inclusion of press releases, articles, Facebook posts, tweets and other instant information, there is a bigger pond to fish in for relevance. So the cozy #3 spot atop the search results page that you have held tightly for a few months, maybe even a few years could quickly slip away, if you haven’t been tending to your online presence.

So the question arises, what do you do to compete with the barrage of new competition?

Ultimate Inbound Links – Social Media Sites

Many businesses struggle with introducing social media to their overall online plan; they feel they should be there, but are unsure of the benefits. Now I’ll leave it to our Director of Social Media to sell you on the “feel good”, customer service, brand ambassador building elements of having a succinct social media plan; I’ll go straight to link popularity (defined by MarketingTerms.com as the “measure of quality and quantity of sites that link to your site”) and its effects on your organic search rankings that participation can garner for you.

If your business is active on Facebook, using LinkedIn to network, and sharing tips of the trade along with industry related commentary via a blog, you probably haven’t seen much of a slip. But be sure to keep taking steps so you don’t lose ground by ping’ing (alerting sites that you’ve added a blog post) sites like Technorati, Blogger, Google and Digg. This allows you to take advantage of some of the most powerful inbound links a site can have (and if you’re already thinking this way, we may need to chat about getting you on the FSC team).

Social media sites garner millions of visitors per month, are constantly being updated with fresh, relevant content in any number of industries, and are continuously getting top rankings in Google for any number of searches. By including your content, you’ve made some killer inbound links from these highly coveted referring sites. Kudos!

Make Sharing Fun (and sometimes Sexy)  to Increase Search Relevance

While you are pushing your own posts and brand out there, don’t forget your loyal blog reading, FB Fanning audience (even if it’s limited to co-workers and your mom). Be sure to add buttons for sharing to make it for others to promote you, share your valuable insight with their peers  or widen your reach through sites that group based on industry through recommendations by users of Stumbleupon.

Google Caffeine has officially raised the speed of search. Time to wash and wax, check your engine, and get in the race.

Don’t Panic. But, Twitter is not really that big.

So, you’ve heard about this Facebook thing, right? Well, we love Facebook (most of the time) but sometimes even we don’t realize just how big it’s gotten. Did you know that Facebook gets more than 45% of the visits to social networking sites from the US Market Share, according to Small Business Labs and, Facebook has continued to grow year after year; currently, Facebook is fourth in terms of audience size and first in terms of time spent in comparison to other websites like Google, Yahoo! and Wikipedia.

Yet, many businesses don’t seem to use Facebook to its full potential, partly, perhaps, because they don’t know how.

The greatest thing about Facebook is that it’s Free, but it’s also changing and providing more and more opportunities for small businesses to directly compete with the big boys every day. Here are a few (mostly) free applications that will help pump up your business’s Facebook page.

My Poll – Facebook Polls are the easiest way ever to conduct a little free R&D. If you’re looking for what your big brand advocates want, what you’re consumers enjoy most – ask. My Poll is a great way to gauge what you’re audience likes, feels and wants from your product or service.

Open Table – More than 13,000 restaurants use Open Table to make reservations on their website, so why not use it with Facebook? The Open Table application allows people to make reservations directly from Facebook, all you need as a restaurant is an Open Table account.

MixPod – Say you’re a city known for its music, or a venue planning an upcoming benefit concert (ahem, New Orleans or Gulf Aid, anyone?) Why not give your fans a taste of the music to come with a playlist on your Facebook Page? We recommend MixPod, it’s one of the sharpest and most extensive playlist applications on Facebook and it allows you to search thousands of songs and custom create a playlist.

Selective Tweets – On twitter? Connect your Facebook Page and Twitter Account using the application Selective Tweets. This allows you to update your Facebook Page from twitter by including #fb at the end of tweet. Selective Tweets is called so for a reason, this allows you to choose what you want on Facebook without cluttering it with hash-tags, and @-mentions.

Static FBML – This is the most technical of all the Facebook applications but certainly offers tremendous reward. We always say that businesses should treat Facebook as a second website and what better way to do that than creating a customized landing tab for your Facebook Page? A little bit of HTML knowledge and some Facebook Markup Language (FBML) knowledge is needed for this application but, which just a little help, you can get it.

Facebook Advertisements – Want to increase brand awareness? Want to increase sales? Want Boost your fan-base? Want to target women, who are between the ages of 25 and 35, who live within 50 miles of the Greater New Orleans area who enjoy white wine and chocolate? Well, there are approximately 1,880 potential members in that target audience and you can reach them with Facebook Ads starting at just $1.00 a day.

So, whether you’re a Facebook Pro or new to the game, we recommend checking out some of these Facebook Applications to help boost your Facebook community.

Ani DiFranco performs at the GulfAid benefit concert for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill efforts in New Orleans, La., Sunday, May 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Bird covered in oil caused from the oil spill.

FSC Interactive is proud to say that the Gulf Aid Relief Concert was a tremendous success, raising over $300,000! Proceeds from the concert, which took place May 16^th in New Orleans, raised funds to help stop the oil from destroying our wetlands and provide financial aid to affected fishermen and their families as the vessel continues to gush thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico every day. The Foundation’s first distributions are going to the fishing community most impacted by the shutdown of activity in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes.

The concert was headlined by John Legend, Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, and Ani DiFranco and other local New Orleans musical favorites at the famous Mardi Gras World. FSC worked at spearheading attendance by making and distributing thousands of posters on top of utilizing social media, which proved to pay off. “With little time to plan, we really had the challenge of spreading the news of the concert and its importance to as many people as possible. It was wonderful to see how many people turned up to show their support,” says Adele Tiblier, FSC’s Director of Interactive Strategy.

The oil spill has been a daily topic of aggravated conversation here at FSC for weeks now, as we continue to be bombarded with heartbreaking stories and images of dead birds, sea-life and devastated fishermen and their families. Determined to help in any way possible FSC has worked hard to raise awareness about the severity of the oil spill and the importance for everyone to support Gulf Aid’s cause. We were the  “Ground Team” as we call it,  for the Gulf Aid Relief Concert, spreading the word the best way we know how through Twitter and Facebook of course! Here at FSC we continue to communicate to the world, through social media on a daily basis, how severe and devastating this tragedy truly is.

FSC's Andy Kutcher participating in Grand Isle's Crawfish Eating Contest.

New Orleanians are continuing to support Gulf Aid efforts around the city. Grand Isle Restaurant, located in the New Orleans Central Business District, is doing their part to help the cause by holding “Crawfish Boil Wednesdays” and “Fish Fry Fridays” every week with proceeds going directly to the real Grand Isle, Louisiana. Grand Isle, LA is just one of many fishing towns being devastated by the oil spill.

Yesterday, May 26^th Grand Isle, with the help of FSC, kicked off the summer long event with a 5lb. Crawfish Eating Contest.  Our own Andy Kutcher bravely went up against five male competitors and did an amazing job! The contest was $20 to enter, with proceeds going to Grand Isle fishermen and their families. If you love seafood, why not get out there and show your support for Gulf Aid at Grand Isle.

If you are interested in helping, donations can be made by texting GULFAID with a space followed by the amount you want to contribute to 27138 (ie; “GULFAID 10″ to”27138″), by logging on to www.gulfaid.org or mailed to Gulf Relief Foundation, a 501 C3 non-profit corporation located at P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009, that supports organizations focused on wetlands/coastal environmental issues and the regional seafood industry.

St. Bernard’s Women’s Rebuild Week is May 24-29 and the ladies of FSC Interactive are proud to be part of the 250 women leaders taking part in the rebuilding of New Orleans homes that were damaged by Katrina. The event which draws volunteers from across the country, provides women leaders an opportunity to help and inspire women impacted by the disaster, almost five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The FSC team will be closing our office and dedicating our whole day Friday, May 28, to the rebuild and are excited to be a part of this community changing outreach program.

In partnership with the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) of the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, female volunteers will rebuild 20 homes in the Greater New Orleans area from the ground up. That means participating in all phases of the rebuilding process including hanging insulation and drywall, painting, flooring and installing doors and windows. You geaux girls!

The St. Bernard Project was started in March 2006 by Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney with a mission of creating housing opportunities so that Hurricane Katrina survivors could return to their homes and communities. Inspired by the St Bernard residents’ collective spirit, openness and fierce desire to rebuild their lives and community, Zack and Liz dedicated themselves to creating an organization that would provide vital resources and support to families. The St. Bernard Project’s programs and goals are directly driven by the needs expressed by the community members.  It has been over four years since the non-profit, community-based organization was started and its success has been unparalleled.

Home damaged by Hurricane Katrina

Women’s Rebuild week is a great opportunity to give back and have fun while also meeting and connecting with other great women. “Giving back to the City of New Orleans is an important aspect to any local business, and we are excited to donate time and energy to such a great effort in rebuilding the New Orleans community,” says McKenzie Coco, owner of FSC.  St. Bernard was especially devastated and rendered 100% uninhabitable after the storm. Houses gutted. No floors, shoddy electrical work, and barely functioning kitchens, was not only a nightmare but a reality for many families including Kwame and Dominique, who call St. Bernard home. For the St. Bernard community every house built is much more than a new home but a cherished treasure for families who lost almost everything and FSC is pleased to be a part of this effort.