LBS LATAM 2010

Location Based Social Networks – Building a Framework of Best Practices for Appropriate Business Models that Makes Money

In November I started a list of Location Based Social Networks (LBSN) – and in my first post I wrote “The question is how many of those will be alive next year…” Sadly to say, today (February) I started to update the list with those that are already closing or on their way to close.

My answer then was simple, only those with a solid revenue model and clear value proposition will last. Let’s take a first look on what makes a solid revenue model and services that have clear differentiators.

Profit is the only objective. What is the reason we create a new service or put a company together? The only answer is “TO MAKE MONEY”. Any other reason you may think or find is secondary. The source of that money is your customer. The way to get that money (legally) is by providing them goods, services, and solutions. The products and services are not the objective of the company, they exist only as the conduit to get your customers money by providing them something valuable they need and that keeps them happy.

The Business Model IS the differentiator. I may sound extreme here, but what differentiate services and makes them successful is not technology, but their business model. Take a look at the (now) 80 Location Based Social Networks on my list. I don’t believe there is much technological difference between them. Bottom line, only those that will succeed to generate revenues will survive.

Marketing, Business Dev and Sales (MBDS) are a key part of your Business Model. Review the list of LBSN and continue with the following exercise. Cut and paste the message excerpts from their websites WITHOUT the name of the company. Read the document the day after and try to identify who is who. If you are one of the owners of those companies, I dare you to pass the list through your employees and see if they can pick their own company from the list. Close your eyes and imagine taking a goldfish from the water tank and leaving it on the table. That’s your company without MBDS.

Business Models are NOT cross-market portable. Many of the LBSN base their hopes in implementing successful WEB2.0 business models, ignoring that the WEB and Mobile environments are completely different. Messaging in the WEB is free but mobile text messaging cost money. WEB mail has no charge but pushing your email to your blackberry carries its own costs. Even Voice is free over the web (skype, jaxtr, etc) but that’s far from being the reality in the mobile world. Ignoring this and other differences result on a distorted view of customer acquisition costs and wrong operational expenditures estimations that lead to “…We had an amazing and unique technology but we run out of money…”

There are other components in the framework, and each one of the elements here presented has its own subcategories, questions and connectors. Want more info? Quid pro Quo, leave some feedback of value for me and the other readers (or just pay for it). As you may see blogging has also its own business mode

Twittelator – Location Based updater for Twitter on iPhone

URL: http://www.stone.com/Twittelator/index.html

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Excerpt from the website : “…
Twittelator Pro complete iPhone twitter client by the creative folks of Big Stone Phone Company

Twittelator Pro is a new application for your iPhone that you can download from the App Store on your iPhone and begin following people and posting Twitters & photos.

And if you are in an emergency, simply click the Emergency icon to create a Tweet with a map of your current location!”…

weNear – Location Based Social Network – mobile framework

URL: http://www.wenear.com

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Excerpt from the website : “…
weNear is a location aware mobile application that will keep you connected to all your favorite people and stuff when they get nearby.
weNear delivers your messages to nearby people. weNear lets you grasp opportunities once they are nearby
weNear has a server with robust API that enables developers to create a variety of location aware applications.

Get Involved and start building your own applications using weNear”

Spot Adventures – Satellite Based Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.spotadventures.com

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Excerpt from the website : “…
SHARE YOUR ADVENTURE NOW
record record record

* Track and share your adventures with family and friends – or with the entire world
* Search adventures and plan your next destination
* Meet other interesting adventurers
* Add cool map widgets to your blog or website
* Automatically GeoTag your photos using GPS

… “

Pocket Life- Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.pocketlife.com

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Excerpt from the website : “…
Pocket Life puts your Social Life on the Map
Pocket Life let’s you communicate with your friends, share your location, favourite places and photos via the web or from your mobile phone
* Share your location: Let people know where you are and find your friends to meet up
* Complete privacy:Be in full control of when and who you share your location with
* Find and share:Discover the best places nearby and share your favourites
* Keep in touch:Have your contacts’ latest information, send photos and messages …. “

iCloseBy- Location Based Social Network – iPhone application

URL: http://www.icloseby.com

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Excerpt from the website : “…
Walk by any hotspot and your iFob will light up if there are other iFob users inside. Sit down in any hotspot, and iFob will become your beacon, sending out a local signal which says you might want company. Or set your copy of iFob so it just listens, showing you the other iFob users while letting you chose whom you might want to chat with.
BROADCAST YOUR PROFILE »

With iFob there are no requirements and no logins. You change your profile instantly, as often as you want…. “

Qlique – Location Based Social Network – Games and activities

URL: http://www.qlique.com/

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Excerpt from the website : “…
Qlique’s unique games and activities promote lively exchanges while connecting you with people who are nearby and have common interests… “

MAPme- Location Based Social Network map sharing

URL: http://www.mapme.com

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Excerpt from the website : “…
Create a Map of your favorite places, travels or destinations
Start a Community map where everyone can add Locations, Pics & Videos
Share your Map with your friends or the whole world… “

Findbyclick – Location Based Social Network map sharing

URL: http://www.findbyclick.com

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Excerpt from the website : “… We want to build a community of people interested in sharing location-based information for the mutual benefit of all. For others, it is a way to share memorable places: a great place to eat, a hot vacation destination, or a special place to watch the sunset. FindbyClick is a place where you get to tell the story…. “

Fraced- Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.fraced.com

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Excerpt from the website : “… Fraced is a social network, which offers an easy way to stay simply connected with your friends. We don’t offer 100 various features, but instead we let the user stay focused on the main thing – communication with friends. Here is how… “

UPDATE: Development stopped due lack of funding

Excerpt from the website : “… We regret to inform we are not able to support and develop Fraced social network any further. Since we do not get any financial support, our personal contributions are not enough or too small to constantly deliver you a qualitative, reliable and entertaining service…”

Quiro – Location Based Social Network based in Germany

URL: http://www.myqiro.de

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Excerpt from the website : “… Qiro, the essential helper in your everyday mobile life

Where can you meet up and what fun things can you do together? Where can you meet up and what fun things can you do together? Just ask, Qiro can tell you about more than 1 mio interesting places and things to do. Just ask, Qiro can tell you about more than 1 million interesting places and things to do. With just a few clicks you can find restaurants, cinemas with the current movies schedule, exciting events and much more. With just a few clicks you can find restaurants, cinemas with the current schedule movies, exciting events and much more. If you’re away on business, Qiro shows you different traffic alternatives (rent-bikes, train stations, etc.), where the next ATM is, hotels or even the next wifi hotspots to surf the internet or download information. If you’re away on business, Qiro shows you different traffic alternatives (rent bikes, train stations, etc.), where is the next ATM, hotels or even the next wifi hotspots to surf the internet or download information. … “

Location Based Social Networks – Is Privacy Overrated? Rules for a New World

I’ve juggling with the idea of writing about location based social networking privacy issues for many weeks. From any side I tried to approach this issue I remained with more questions than answers.

I considered starting with the Fourth Amendment, even though GPS technology didn’t exist in 1791. Not entering into a legal discussion my first impression is that the emphasis here is on personal security. That’s when I remembered my first digital camera and my wife being terrified to put pictures of our kids on the web. It wasn’t about privacy, but about the reasonable expectancy of keeping our kids secure and avoiding people delving into our lives.

I believe this is the paradox of social networks in general and those based on location in particular. I want to make my information public but at the same time I want to keep the information secured (actually not the information but myself).

Looking over the other side of the table, the value of a social network resides on the information you provide. The lack of privacy is one of the pillars that sustain the business models of many, if not all, social networks. When privacy issues are raised, we usually ask what the companies are doing to protect their customers. Expecting the companies to protect your privacy is like expecting the cat to safeguard the cream; this is the fuel for their business. It’s not the companies that need to protect the information, rather YOU the customer.

I reviewed the privacy policies of more than 20 location based social networks and personal locator devices. I recommend you to do so before you start posting When and Where you are doing your What and with Whom. But if we separate the concepts of Privacy and Security, I don’t think the Location Based Social Networks companies are the problem. Technology is usually neutral, users aren’t.

Personally I don’t mind if a company, in exchange for a service, collects information about my habits, locations, and other details IF before using that information ALL personal identification is completely deleted AND is never used to sell something back to ME. The fact I’m a public person and I share information, is not an invitation to invade my space. My space is on invitation ONLY. Once we agree on this principle, we can start talking about other technological barrier and safeguard such as location acquisition and capture, location notification and accuracy, location information accessibility, location history control, location ownership, etc.

Today as in 1791 Privacy and Safety are really a concern and privacy advocates have a central role in corporate LBS

Without any doubt, the accessibility of GPS technology is leading us to new types of communities and services. People participate in a virtual world without borders; People are part of virtual societies, sometime bigger than the population of many countries. Maybe “We the People” needs to virtually govern ourselves and establish the new social conduct standards for a completely different world.

So, where do you stand?

More on Business Models for GPS navigation devices, Location Based Social Networking and RFID applications

Sundays is usually posting day, today I’ll take a different approach.

I believe one of the most important results in a post is the readers’ comments. They enrich and bring new perspectives to the initial approach. Skipping over those comments and the exchange of ideas is like ordering a banana split and eating only the ice cream.

I would like to refer you to the readers’ contributions on my post on business models for navigation devices combined with social networking. There, new applications were exposed, a few questions remained unanswered (wireless guys, your input please), and there is an amazing exchange of observations on what is Presence Marketing – how to use it combined with Location Based Social Networks, the extension of RFID applications, and Privacy concerns (my next topic).

My remarks on CES and notes on the Privacy Factor on new business models can wait a day or two.

I encourage you to read the comments to the end and most important, leave yours.

I have nothing more to say but THANK YOU!

Press HERE for the post.

Four Marketing Executives on Location Based Technologies

I have the privilege of belonging to MENG, the Marketing Executive Networking Group. MENG is a national network of top-level marketing executives.
Last week I asked four senior marketing executives from the network how Location Based Services and Technologies will affect their practices.
Without more introduction, here are their shots.
…

— CONTINUE READING THIS POST —

Expert contributor profiles

Bucley Brinkman

…

Peter Kemp

…

Jonathan Paisner

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Mike Wittenstein

…

Footprint History- Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.footprinthistory.com/

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Excerpt from the website : “… Footprint History is a great way to track, share locations and communicate with your friends.

Start using our free service by following these steps…

* Create an account – Either create an normal account and find your friends, or add the application to your facebook profile.
* Leave some footprints – Either by clicking on the map and setting your location or using live tracking software on your mobile device.
* Start sharing your Footprints – Only you and the friends you share with, will be able to see your Footprints and track you.
Footprint History is available through Facebook…

UPDATE: May 2009 – Looking for funding / for Sale

I notice a few weeks ago (April/2009) a header stating “For Sale”. I tried to contact the company to learn more about their application and offer my help. Haven’t heard from them. Since then the title changed to “Looking for funding” but since that includes a buying outright is the same. STILL OPERATIONAL and works very nice in Facebook.

FROM THEIR BLOG “… We’re looking for funding to take the application to the next level and will consider all offers on the table including buying outright.If you are interested in learning more please contact…”

Skobbler – Location Based Social Network – German Site

URL: http://beta.skobbler.de/

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Excerpt from the website : “… Ob im Web oder unterwegs: mit skobbler findest Du immer die richtige Location. Hast Du Dich erstmal entschieden, führt die Handy-Navigation Dich zum Ziel.
Im Web findest Du nicht nur Bewertungen zu Clubs, Restaurants oder Bars – hier kannst Du Deine Entdeckungen auch gleich mit Deinen Freunden teilen.
…
Skobbler is a Germany based LBSN – allows you mobile phones navigation, find frends and Points of Interest.

Nowhere- Location Based Social Network – German Site

URL: http://www.nowhere.de/

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Excerpt from the website : “… Locate your friends with your mobile
and discover where they hang out – New! Locate yourself or others via mobile and look the site up on the map
…

Tripit- FUTURE Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.tripit.com/

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Excerpt from the website : “… TripIt is a personal travel assistant that automatically organizes all your travel plans. TripIt is free and makes it easy to…

* Quickly organize all your travel plans — flights, lodging, cars, trains, cruises and more
* Automatically get itineraries with all your plans, weather, maps, restaurants and more
* Easily access your itineraries via paper, email, personal calendar or mobile device
* Share your trips and see where you overlap with friends and colleagues
…

Note: FUTURE LBSN are based on your plans rather in your current location

whereyougonnabe – FUTURE Location Based Social Network

URL: http://www.whereyougonnabe.com/

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Excerpt from the website : “… whereyougonnabe is a service which helps you meet your friends more often. You tell us where and when you will be doing things in the future (where you gonna be?), and can see when your friends will be close to you. It’s a great way of keeping up with what your friends are doing too. You can view information on maps in very flexible ways, both in a browser and using Google Earth. …

Note: FUTURE LBSN are based on your plans rather in your current location