4square clings Sparkler display

This is a close-up of Charlie with his favorite blue Foursquare Cling Sticker proudly displayed in the background on the glass door.

Here it is - the key to making "shop local" work for the small business community - Foursquare and the Foursquare Cling Sticker. Come experience the magic with a check in using your cell phone at the Ting's Thai Kitchen Restaurant in Hidden Valley Lake, CA.

Ting's Thai Kitchen and Foursquare want you to come and benefit from all they have to offer. It's easy to do. Just come to this restaurant in the Hardesters Shopping Center of Hidden Valley Lake and don't forget to bring your cell phone and laptop computer with you. After all, this restaurant is also a Wi-Fi hot spot.

Any storefront that relies on foot traffic to stay in business should have a Foursquare account. Why? Because Foursquare is focused on rewarding foot traffic for showing up. People use Foursquare because Foursquare gives them positive strokes. Say what you will, but people do like positive strokes no matter how old or young they may be. Even positive strokes that are issued automatically matter.

Until recently, that positive stroking required a cell phone user to physically visit the Foursquare venue and use the cell phone's GPS feature to do a Foursquare checkin. But today, by capturing either the QR code or the red bulls-eye image in a Sparkler Display Card (see below), even the Foursquare "checkin" process becomes automatic. It is no longer location specific. You no longer have to be in a specific restaurant to do a checkin that registers you as being there. With the right programming preceding a checkin, you can be anywhere in the world and do a checkin. How is that possible? It is possible because both the QR code and the NFC tag are responding to a web address and programming code that can not only be monitored and tracked, but changed remotely.

I will even go so far as to say any business - whether it has a physical storefront or not - can benefit from becoming a Foursquare venue. Why? Because you no longer need for people to physically show up at your doorstep. Instead, they can virtually show up by capturing the QR or NFC code of a Sparkler Display Card. And, a Sparkler Display Card works wherever a cell phone works, because a cell phone is what activates its coded information.

Would you like to make "shop local" idea REALLY WORK for a storefront venue? Here are several options:

1) Become a Foursquare venue and place a Foursquare Cling Sticker (as you see Charlie McFarling has done) on the inside of your front door looking out.

2) Encourage patrons to check in and posts tips and to do's on your Foursquare site.

3) Request a Sparkler Display Card (see the template here) and place it in an acrylic display. (Please be advised once the Sparkler card is placed in the acrylic display it cannot be removed. The display card has two vinyl stickers attached to it. When the vinyl comes in contact with the acrylic it automatically forms a vacuum seal and cannot be removed.)

To order your Sparkler Display Card, send only two dollars in postage in an envelope that includes your return address on the back of the envelope to:

Lamar Morgan
Attn: Sparkler Display Card
4701 NW 30th Street
Coconut Creek, FL 33063

Becoming a a Mayor of a Foursquare venue is not difficult. But, it may take more perseverance than you care to deliver. However, as you might imagine, it is a great deal more difficult to become a Super Mayor. Becoming a Super Mayor means you qualify for 10 mayorships in a single day. Nevertheless, it happens all the time. And, I should know. I am a Foursquare Super Mayor.

For those interested in becoming a Foursquare Mayor - and possibly even receiving the Super Mayor badge - I have created a easy way to proceed. But first, you must join Foursquare. To do that, you must visit Foursquare.com and freely enroll.

While it is true the idea with Foursquare is that you physically visit every venue where you desire to become the Mayor and "check in" using your cell phone and the free Foursquare app, it is also possible to remotely check in to any location worldwide that is a Foursquare venue(provided you know the location) using an online computer. Just follow the instructions at Foursquare Mobile.

Since all you need to qualify for the Super Mayor badge is 10 mayorships in a single day, I have taken the liberty to provide you with some "ready-to-go" links. The links listed represent both well-known and unfamiliar Foursquare venues across the nation. Do not be surprised if some venues are harder to qualify for than others. It all depends upon how much competition there is for the badge. However, once you have a Foursquare account, all you need do is "click the link" to check in.

I recommend you "check in" three times-a-day per venue to speed up the mayorship process. But, don't just become the Mayor of a venue. Take advantage of the opportunity to build a relationship with the venue. Add a "tip" or a "to do" to the actual Foursquare web page as well. And, when you do post a tip or to do, don't hesitate to you the website link option.

Please know I will be changing the links to this module from time-time-to-time. Now, if you prefer to go out and seek your own Foursquare venue, you are more than welcome to do so. However, if you want an easy way to be a Foursquare Mayor or Super Mayor, at venues across the nation, this is it.

Check in - Walt Disney World (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
Add a "Tip" or "To Do" - Click here

Check in - Ting's Thai Kitchen (Hidden Valley Lake, CA)
Add a "Tip" or "To Do" - Click here

Check in - Fox News Channel (New York, NY)
Add a "Tip" or "To Do" - Click here

Due to concerns for spam, Squidoo limits the number of links to the same domain name for any one Squidoo lens to nine links. Therefore, for more Foursquare links for faster mayorship approval, visit Foursquare mayorships.