Alliance Blog Reviews

Is it hip to be square again? Maybe according to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. His new startup, called Square , is a mobile payments (credit card processing) system that appeals to small businesses. But is he targeting the right customers? I think we’ve all heard rumors of a credit card reader for the iPhone—and this is it. A small, white plastic cube plugs into the audio jack of an iPhone or laptop (with software planned for Blackberry and Android). It scans the card, geotags the transaction and emails a receipt to the buyer. And just to be clear, Square is an app for merchants , not a way for individuals to electronically zap their bucks into the nearest Starbucks to pay for their latte. And that may be the problem, too—because the product isn’t designed for big retailers like Starbucks. Its users will be smaller vendors, “who don’t qualify for accounts with traditional credit card processors because the would be deemed ‘high risk’ by these companies,” as Read Write Web puts it. According to the CEO of competitor Billing Revolution, Andy Kleitsch, that’s not going to be enough of a market, and bigger vendors just aren’t going to be interested in the product. RWW also notes the potential for fraud: Square will also have to deal with potential fraud. While we don’t know the exact details about how Square will operate, chances are that the company will have to keep a large reserve in an escrow account with the credit card processing companies that power Square’s back-end. Anybody who sits on a pile of stolen credit cards, Kleitsch pointed out, could use Square to run up charges on these accounts. Once the defrauded credit card owners dispute these charges, Square could be left with a large bill to pay. However, one would hope they’ve taken precautions against this. While Square’s website contends that processing card payments is “difficult, requiring long applications, expensive hardware, and an overly complex experience,” Kleitsch says that a payment terminal is typically free, with $20/month + 2% of all transactions as the monthly fee for the service. (While Square’s service is free, last time I checked, an iPhone runs $200, plus Square’s hardware investment, plus a monthly fee—AT&T’s$60 data fee. Ouch—unless you truly already need the iPhone for your business.) Although one of their examples is of a local coffeeshop (of which Dorsey is a part owner), Dorsey appears to be targeting vendors even smaller than coffeeshops as well—vendors that may or may not have brick-and-mortar establishments, like artists or flower carts (another of the examples on their site). What do you think? Does Square have the potential to take off—and if so, with small businesses or just micro ones?

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Twitter Founder Turns Square (with Mobile Payments)

On Twitter, you have 140 characters to play with. Most people stick to the 26 letters, 10 numbers, half a dozen punctuation marks and currency signs. Fact is, underneath your fingers there are a treasure trove of characters to make your tweets more interesting, shorter & more colourful. By making your tweets stand out, you will get more people actively reading them because subconsciously your eyes are drawn to them. If your tweets are useful (and I’ve no reason to doubt why they should be), you should end up with more clicks on links, more retweets and generally more twitter love. Here’s a few of my favourite special characters that I like to put in Tweets. I explain how to get them on the most common form of keyboards – the US Keyboard Layout (which is used by the most of the western world). If different, I will also include the UK keycode, between them that should cover most of the keyboards in English speaking countries, but if English isn’t your native language, these may be different . The characters are there, but you’ll have to dig to find them. 1. The Ampersand How To Get It: Press Shift + 7 When Should You Use It? This character is very simple, as it shortens the word “and” to 1 character, saving yourself two characters in the process. 2. The “At” Sign How To Get It: UK Keyboards – Shift+’ US Keyboards – Shift+2 When You Should Use It? Used all the time in emails, the @ sign can also be used for events (for example, the show begins @ 7pm). Saving yourself one character in the process. 3. The Asterix How to Get It: Press Shift + 8 When You Should Use It? This is one I use all the time for emotions, verbs, basically what I am doing. If I’m writing **smiles and nods**, I’m smiling and nodding. This is great in conveying how I feel about things, as well as emotions that are difficult to convey such as sarcasm. 4. The Music Symbol (Joined Quavers) How to Get It: Hold Alt & Type 14 When You Should Use It? I’ve begun seeing this more and more when people are talking about music & songs they are listening to, particularly when using services such as Last.fm & Spotify . Often people will post music recommendations, followed with joined quavers, to show that it’s a musical link. It’s a great idea to do this, as it can be a text based warning to users, by saying “this link is a Spotify link, so a song will automatically play when opened”. This’ll stop users opening music links when they really shouldn’t be. 5. Hearts How to get it: Hold Alt & Type 3 When You Should Use It? The obvious place is by sharing a link that you love, or a twitterer you love, or anything you “More than like”. This negates the old

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8 Characters to Make Your Tweets Sparkle

Did you know that Marketing Pilgrim is more awesome than Google? Seriously! I can prove it! Google has just announced that Google News is now more mobile friendly –meaning it will recognize that you’re viewing the site from your iPhone, Droid, etc, and serve you a page optimized for your phone. This new version provides the same richness and personalization on your phone as Google News provides on desktop. Our new homepage displays more stories, sources, and images while keeping a familiar look and feel. Also, you can now reach your favorite sections, discover new ones, find articles and play videos in fewer clicks. If you are an existing Google News reader on desktop, you will find that all of your personalizations are honored in this mobile version too. Here’s how it looks: So, how are we better? We had a mobile-friendly version of Marketing Pilgrim up WAY before Google did. Point your iPhone to www.MarketingPilgrim.com and you’ll find a streamlined version of the site: See? We.Are.Better!

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Where Marketing Pilgrim Leads, Google News Follows!

By Kalvin “Dr. Kal” Chinyere, M.D. of Dr. Kal’s Weight Loss Tips . Follow him @DrKal . TwitPic is an excellent application that further boosts Twitter’s usefulness. However, so many people use TwitPic incorrectly. Tweeters use TwitPic to tweet pictures of their children at Disney World or pictures of their grandmother at her 100th Birthday Party. C’mon! Your kids are not that cute, and your grandmother??? I don’t even want to see a picture of Halle Berry when she’s 100 years old. Using TwitPic as if it were Flickr is similar to using your iPhone as if it were an iPod. You are missing out on all of its capabilities. Below are 10 ways to use TwitPic to improve the quality of your life and the lives of those around you. How to Use TwitPic Weight Loss Pictures: Use TwitPic to chronicle your weight loss. Every Wednesday is Weigh-In Wednesday. Have someone take a picture of you and Tweet It! Sharing pictures of yourself will motivate you and your followers. Funny Pictures: Use TwitPic to spread laughter across the Twitterverse. If you see something funny, take a picture and Tweet It! Laughter decreases stress and this will lengthen the lives of your followers and help them lose weight. Drunk Pictures: Use TwitPic to improve your vision. You are out on the town and you have been drinking heavily. You meet someone who you find extremely attractive. Before you get into a cab with the attractive stranger, take a picture of them and Tweet It! Have your followers review the picture. There is nothing wrong with waking up to Ugly Betty, as long as you were not thinking you went home with America Ferrera. Food Pictures: Use TwitPic to get food advice. You are on a diet and you are unsure if you should eat something. Take a picture and Tweet It! One of your followers may convince you not to eat it. They may also just give you the nutritional information so you can log it properly. Blind Date Pictures: Use TwitPic to set up better blind dates. You are considering setting up one of your friends on a blind date. Before you take the plunge, take a picture and Tweet It! Make sure you send it to your followers that know your friend. Let the Twitterverse decide if you should continue with this “hook up.” Cheat Day Pictures: Use Twitter for memories. You are on a diet and it is time to eat your weekly Cheat Meal. Before you devour your food, take a picture and Tweet It! The picture will serve as a positive reminder for the rest of the week. If the food really looks good, send it to @FoodPorn also. Five-Second Rule Pictures: Use TwitPic to destroy the five-second rule. Your food just fell on the floor. You are thinking about enacting the five-second rule. Stop it. You are an adult. Instead, take a picture and Tweet It! Let the Twitterverse decide if the number of hairs and dirt particles exceed the eating threshold. Rash Pictures: Use TwitPic for medical diagnosis. You have a rash, but you don’t have health insurance. Don’t cry. Instead, take a picture of your skin disfigurement and Tweet It! There are thousands of physicians on Twitter, including myself. If we cannot diagnose your rash, at least your picture will serve as a warning to anyone considering dating you. Sanity Pictures: Use TwitPic to prove your sanity. You just saw Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, Notorious B.I.G., Elvis, Tupac, Santa Claus, or Pauly Shore. Take a picture and Tweet It! Now when you tell the story, your followers will not have you put in a Twitter Straight Jacket. Neighbor Pictures: Use TwitPic to bond with your neighbors. You just saw your neighbor “making out” with someone who is not their spouse. Take a picture, but DON’T Tweet It! Instead, use the picture to extort money from them. If they refuse, Tweet It! Hopefully, you now understand how to unleash the full power of TwitPic and you will save the pictures of you kissing your dog for Flickr. These are the ways I use TwitPic. If you have better methods, leave them in the comments. I’ll steal them, claim them as my own, and use them in my next post. Photo by Shermeee © 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips . 10 Better Ways To Use TwitPic

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10 Better Ways To Use TwitPic