So is mixing messages ever a good idea? I’ve had my Foursquare and Twitter access off and on – I still can’t figure that one out, even after I wrote this post, “Foursquare or Stalkersquare?”. What do you think? Do you use sites like ping.fm to update all of your networks or use them all differently? Which go together like chocolate and peanut butter?

Now I really appreciate honest, no BS feedback, but one more thing that is also interesting. Aside from impacting business relationships, when does this stuff impact personal or family relationships? Because unfortunately, the message didn’t start out with, “How’s the family” or “Seen any good music lately?”

So what do you think, mix your updates or keep them separate?

Now we have some new social networks that popped up – Gowalla, Foursquare, Brightkite, even Google Buzz. These are social networks that share your exact location, using GPS technology, to your friends on Facebook and Twitter. You can earn badges and points if you “check in” to more places, so it’s like an addicting game (if you buy into it). When I first saw a status update or tweet saying, “I’m at Starbucks” or “I’m at the Safeway on York Road” I thought to myself, “WHO CARES!” Why do I care if you’re at Starbucks, Safeway, or Shell Gas Station? What does that do for me?

Well, before I trashed this idea, I had to hop on Foursquare myself to see what it’s all about. After all, there are some pretty bright guys invested in this company, including Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey. I wanted to find out what’s there from a marketing standpoint. I assume that they will find a way to make money from this. Once you know where someone is, you can market to them through their mobile device in all kinds of creative ways.

Since being on Foursquare, and even before joining, I saw a big problem with this concept. Then came the site that affirmed my paranoia called Please Rob Me. The site is basically a live stream from Twitter titled “Recent Empty Homes” and those people are labeled as “New Opportunities”. I am so glad that this site is out.  Read what they say on their “why” page:

Hey, do you have a Twitter account? Have you ever noticed those messages in which people tell you where they are? Pretty annoying, eh. Well, they’re actually also potentially pretty dangerous. We’re about to tell you why.

Don’t get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome. Services like Foursquare allow you to fulfill some primeval urge to colonize the planet. A part of that is letting everyone know you own that specific spot. You get to tell where you are and if you’re there first, it’s yours. O, and of course there’s badges..

The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home. It gets even worse if you have “friends” who want to colonize your house. That means they have to enter your address, to tell everyone where they are. Your address.. on the internet.. Now you know what to do when people reach for their phone as soon as they enter your home. That’s right, slap them across the face.

The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.

Foursquare and other similar sites fill the self-promoting way of the status update and tweet. People LOVE to say “I’m at the beach” or “I’m on vacation” so others can see how cool they are and what an exciting life they lead. These sites feed right into that need. I found myself doing it in New York City last week. It was sooo cool of me to be at Radio City Music Hall watching a concert while all of you were home watching The Bachelor. Guess what? It’s stupid! My wife was home alone. In the jewelry business, it would be extra stupid for a salesperson to tell anyone where they are.

One other thought that is not addressed on Please Rob Me goes out to women who are telling us guys where they are all the time. Now, I’m a happily married man and a good person. But there are a lot of sick people out there! If you’re an attractive woman, do you really want every guy on Twitter to know where you are so they can happen to just show up to see you? Or even worse to hurt you?

Maybe I’ll eat my words and these sites will be the next Facebook, but remember that the internet is full of stalkers, criminals and psychopaths, so use some common sense here people!

What do you think of these sites?  Are they game changers or a stalkers heaven?

When I very first started on Twitter I was @ronniediamond.  I have developed that nickname among some friends, always getting the, “Hey Ronnie Diamond!” when I walk into the room.  Didn’t mind it.  But Diamond is an actual last name of someone, so I thought of another.  I came to @diamondbuyer, in hopes that it would help me in search.  I’m not sure that it did, but I do know that I’ve always felt a little whorish about it.  It’s kinda salesy too and not that cool or edgy.  So I figured that I would do what most other smart people do on twitter and just go by their name.  Plain and simple.  I’m pretty happy with it…I think.

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

Of course, I reserved @diamondbuyer as well.  Maybe I’ll make him into some sort of diamond buying character…or not.  Who knows the right answer here?  Twitter is pretty new so there are no right answers.  But like Lennon/McCartney say,

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.”

So I am me.  Or I Am The Walrus.  But the walrus was Paul, so that answers that question.  Maybe I’ll change it a few more times.  Does it really matter anyway?   Please share your twitter name thoughts.  I would love to hear them!

“I am a fan. I will say pre FB, who would have thought I would be a fan of a jewelry store I have not even been to. Or even just a jewelry store for that matter..Yet I know the history of the store, and watched the footage. Prince on the big screen etc..Even Ron’s Strat…
PS..Ron, go for a Gretch Nashville next…Heaven on Earth!”

There you go.  It’s not about shoving product down people’s throats.  It’s not about selling yourself all the time.  It’s about being yourself and showing everyone your brand and what YOU are all about.  Whether it’s next week or in 10 years, if this guy is ever in the market for a diamond, I think I’ll be on his list.  And even better, maybe we’ll have a jam session!

Here are a few rules that Facebook set for Fan Page URLs:

1) You must have at least 1,000 fans.  So for our Diamonds and Gold pages I was good to go.  My Samuelson’s store page is not ready yet.  Truth be told, all I have to do is cross promote the Samuelson’s page with my Diamonds page and I’ll get to 1,000 easily.  But it’s not all about numbers.  It’s about QUALITY of fans too – especially for a local business.

2) Generic names like “pizza” and “flowers” may not be used.  Well, that was a big one because my original thought was to get facebook.com/diamonds – so that idea went out the window.

There were some other trademark rules, etc that didn’t apply to me, so at 12:01 I went right for our fan pages.  I will say that Facebook did a great job and made it very easy and user friendly just like the rest of their site. The first name I chose was “Diamonds” even though I knew it was not possible.  I had to do it.  Of course that failed and I went to Plan B.   We got facebook.com/diamondfans.  We also own the URL diamondfans.net so it’s perfect.  The Diamonds Fan Page and our website (in development) will match.  Then I went to our “Gold” page and got www.facebook.com/goldfans.  So that was taken care of.

The next URL to grab was my personal account.  I thought about that one for a while.  Twitter name (for now) is diamondbuyer – how about that?  No good – Facebook is personal – I’ve always thought diamondbuyer was a little cheesy anyway, and Twitter URL’s can be changed (unlike Facebook).  I tried just ronnie, but that was not available – I’m sure a Facebook employee grabbed that one.  So I saw rsamuelson – that seemed ok.  But I just couldn’t pull the trigger, and then, poof, rsamuelson was gone.  So I just went for, what else, my name!  God forbid the other Ron Samuelson, Huntington Beach Realtor, (who owns ronsamuelson.com) should get it.  I crush him anyway and I already knocked him off first page google results.  So I got facebook.com/ronsamuelson and I’m happy with it and done!

So that’s my Facebook Vanity URL story – what did you get?

From the Baltimore Business Journal:

Ron Samuelson, CEO of Samuelson’s Diamonds in Baltimore, uses Twitter – a communication service emblazoned with a  bird logo – to spur business and attributes much of his success of the year-old account to the service.

Samuelson also has used Facebook and personal blogging to reach customers who would otherwise see him as just a guy sitting behind a counter, pandering diamonds.

…

Samuelson’s shop of 10 employees was starting in 1922, far from the days of tweets and Facebook fan pages.

“The crowd I do business with now are very tech-savvy, so we have a full service Web site too, where we drive all our traffic,” Samuelson said.

From JCK Magazine:

Facebook’s personal nature is one of the things that draw people to it. Samuelson feels it’s important for a page to have personality. “One customer who friend-requested me said, ‘That’s so cool. You are just a regular guy who plays guitar,” notes Samuelson. “And that is what sales is—you find something in common with somebody.”

From MD Daily Record:

After 87 years and three generations of selling engagement rings, the Samuelsons are trying real estate development on for size.

The family-run business, anchored by a retail diamond store at the corner of West Baltimore and North Paca streets, is teaming up with Baltimore County developer David S. Brown Enterprises and Washington-based firm A&R Development to return a key downtown Baltimore block between the University of Maryland and the central business district to its former glory as a “thriving downtown area.”

Where did they find me?  A PR firm?  An ad agency?  Did I give them free diamonds?  NO!  From MY BLOG and TWITTER FEED.  So all of you business owners out there need to get on the bus and take the ride.

As Jerry Garcia said, “The bus come by and I got on, that’s where it all began…”

1) He thinks he’s too good for me. He’s got a big fancy store – I’m just a young punk.

2) He’s in his fifties, older and did it by accident.

3) He’s sees me as a threat – taking his customers away through the internet.

4) He didn’t like my facebook page – maybe the girls in bikinis offended him.

Well, I like to think it was #3. If so, he’s missing the boat. He could learn from me as I could from him. In the jewelry biz, a lot of guys are very secretive about their business. They don’t want to give away trade secrets, don’t want to share information, learn from their competition. In the digital world, it seems that everyone is willing to share ideas, through meetings, summits, trade shows, blogs, facebook, twitter, etc.

So what’s the next move? Should I ask him why he dissed me – or should I let his path cross mine one day and see what he has to say? Please comment and tell me what you would do…