Facebook mobile now includes a feature that lets you to tell your friends when you are visiting a specific business location. Facebook calls this “checking-in.”  This means that you can use a smartphone device to receive a list of local businesses in your area and subsequently “check in” at the one you are frequenting.  This “check-in” is then visible to all of your friends through your newsfeed and a posting on your personal Facebook wall.  Businesses are taking advantage of this new concept and adding certain deals and specials that are available only to those people who have “checked in” to the specific location.  With a constant increase in the number of mobile Facebook users, we can’t help but wonder what effects this will this have on local SMB owners. Some of the early participants of Facebook Deals included 24 Hour Fitness, Alamo Draft house Cinema, American Eagle Outfitters, Chipotle, Gap, Golden State Warriors, JC Penney, McDonald’s, and Starbucks.  Gap was one of the first to advertise their Facebook Deals through commercials. The first 10,000 customers to “check-in” to the Gap location received a free pair of jeans.  This got people lined up at 8 am to take advantage of the Facebook Deal.

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I was surprised at first when I read this, but given the proliferation of Smartphones, it’s actually not that hard to believe. Even my 64 year old father uses a Blackberry and my 10 year old nephew has an Iphone.  Yelp has become the trusted go-to resource for anyone searching for local businesses. In June 2010, Yelp announced that every 5 seconds, someone uses their mobile phone app to call a local business.  During the month of May, Yelp for iPhone had over 1.4 million visitors.

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