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You all speak to heaps of people during the day. Some come through and have their functions, parties or dinners with you whilst others might promise to buy those tickets from you next month or are still unsure of something and they will “get back to you next week.”

We decided that you might be a bit sick of having these just go to waste. So we upgraded the “Edit Contacts” section to include an area for you to set notes and reminders so that you may contact this patron again in the future.

Just because you might want to.

The complaints were already on the rise and the day had to come.

From “too many irrelevant posts” in the news stream to “hate it when people post things which are annoying” to the ever growing privacy issues plaguing Facebook’s platform, somebody was bound to to do something about it.And although we all knew Google was working on something, with the failure of Buzz and Wave, nobody really expected much from them other than to serve as a small little chink in Facebook’s Goliath-like armour.

The largest social network in the world now has a competitor. And it looks pretty damn good!

A few weeks ago, Google announced their new social product under the name Google+. “A new way of sharing online”, is how their slogan is marketed across the blogosphere. For now (and to much booing and hissing), it is currently only available for anybody who has a Gmail account (although at the time of writing they may still be overburdened with requests as the newest social network on the block has already hit 20 Million users) but shortly the Google+ Project will be available for all to use.

Whether you feel it is way too late for somebody to be taking a chunk of the now 750 Millions users on Facebook or whether you think that for every Coca Cola there needs to be a Pepsi, there’s no denying that visually and aesthetically, Google+ performs incredibly well!

In many cases, you’ll find a humongous amount of similarity to what you’re currently familiar with, yet you’ll find some of the features in there fix some long-time pain points which users have found in Facebook. More specifically to privacy and the way in which content is shared.

As one commenter put it:

“I’m really looking forward to trying this out, and here’s why:

With Facebook, I felt as if I was on this huge football field with all of my ‘friends.’ I could lean in to whisper with a friend here and there, or even put on some face paint and huddle together with like-faced friends to form a group. But everyone could still see me, and I could see them – I just had to peer down the field. I can’t really say things to my group that I’d normally say in private because with all these people on the field with me, someone would certainly overhear us!

With Google+ the structure is different. Rather than a field, it’s more like a big building with many rooms. Each room can be decorated and tailored to a specific group of friends who hang out there. Best part is once I’m in the room, I can close the door and be myself! I can go up two levels, change hats, and walk into a different room.

In summary: Google+ lets me fully engage my various social sides, whereas Facebook never really let you as you were always in the eye of the public. “

Only time will tell whether all this will result in something that is better and simpler to use, but in the meantime, you can check it out in action here (and just as a side note, this is probably one of the best tours we’ve ever seen done online) or you can take a look at our description below along with the embedded videos.

Other than the general look’n'feel frame of it with familiar components such as the stream (news feed), the main components are Circles, Sparks, Hangouts & Huddle. If you want to see some reviews, check any of these for an in depth analysis.

We’re looking forward to seeing more of Google+ as it unrolls out to the general public.

In the mean time if you have a Gmail account (and it is available), head over to plus.google.com and give it a test drive. Let us know what you think.

*Image courtesy of Skatter Tech

Mobile is big. In fact, huge! It’s an incredibly fast growing computing sector and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In short, we’re all madly reliant on our phones.

In parallel with that is the popularity of online video. Marry the two up and you have videos of your venue/event in the palm of your patron’s hands.

It’s been a bit cumbersome to put a whole YouTube link in your SMS messages as anybody who regularly sends will know, there is only a small amount of screen real estate that you can use up (160 characters to be precise) before you move in to double message land (also known as the land of the brave or those which forget to see how many characters they’ve used up.)

So we have a solution for you. Use a URL shortener.

A URL shortener such as Bitly cuts down a long link like this (http://www.facebook.com/myguestlist) , in to something like this (http://on.fb.me/ouvEIZ)

Which means you can save on character space in your SMS messages.

For the time being, you just need to head over to any URL shortener page, copy/paste your link and it will spit out a shortened link for you.

We’ll shortly be integrating it right in to your emails/sms so that any of your links can instantly get shortened for you.

Guestlists from here, guestlists from there, promoters today, different ones tomorrow yadda yadda yadda.

We’re constantly informed of the numerous approaches venues around the world take to organising their lists and their team of promoters. And as much as some won’t want to admit, there’s actually not a huge difference in them all (even though every third venue operator/head promoter will let us know that they are not like all the other venues and they do things differently. Hi guys )

In any case, there is one common element amongst the nightlife scene. And that is the way in which PRs /Ambassadors/ Promoters work. Multiple venues, open lists, revenue sharing of door/bar etc. The mechanics of it all, are rather similar with only some minor tweaks here and there required.

Yet, there’s still a bit of confusion since one promoter crew may work for multiple venues, submit multiple guestlists and have various different scenarios in regards to comp tickets, free giveaways, taking care of the right people and having them on as VIP amongst many more.

So we created the Promoter Hub (or the PR Hub).

An app for lists to be submitted and tracked by a promoter for multiple different venues and different scenarios. Currently in beta, you can head over here to find out how it all works and if you’d like a free demo to play around with, you can request one by letting us know here.

What does it do?

The PR / Promoter Hub allows promoters to submit lists for one or multiple venues. Once the night is over, the promoter can then view stats about their lists in terms of who arrived, who didn’t, male/female ratios, free vs paid patrons and so on.

Why should I use it if I already do this?

The tool is designed so that you can eliminate emails and sending guestlists through emails. It’s messy, untrackable, unreportable and doesn’t allow for working in a smarter, more organised and accurate way.

It leaves the door open for mistakes to be made (in some cases purposely as well) and it doesn’t provide an accurate indication of promoter and sub-promoter performance.

Together with the use of the iPad app, the PR / Promoter Hub solves this problem.

Does it cost anything?

Nope.  All that a venue will need, is to authorise which promoters they want to use the system, and that promoter or PR agent, can then submit lists any time they like. They will come to the attention of the venue in real time, and be stored in their Guestlist section ready for syncing to the iPad.

The tool is currently in beta so we’re welcoming any feedback or suggestions you may have after using it so that we may continue to bridge that gap between promoters, venues and what actually happens on the night or at the event.

Hope you enjoy using it

NOTE:

Other ways for guestlists to be submitted:

- From a Facebook app on your Page

- Directly from your website via a form

- Promoters can SMS them through to a dedicated SMS number (which also saves that person’s information to your database)

- Mobile app (http://m.myguestlist.com.au/)

- The “Create a new guestlist” button in MyGuestlist itself.

- Importing of a spreadsheet in to MyGuestlist.

As long as you don’t just have it emailed to you and you’re not working directly from a bunch of unorganised emails and missing out on data growth and valuable stats, most other approaches to guestlist submission are possible. Whether it is directly from your E-Newsletters, on your Facebook Page, your Website or even on an iPad itself.

We’re going to be a little bit  ”Captain Obvious” with this one and share some obvious, yet still interesting facts about a little experiment we ran about a week ago.

Monitoring the usage of the iPad app with its new features, we found some of gems.

We decided to take a small sample size of data from guests and patrons that were being checked in at particular venue/s (somewhere in the world) and analyse the data. Here’s what we found from a small sample size of 63,605 people who were checked in:

One of these things is not like the other

Now, if only we could tell you where this might be

We always talk about viral competitions and effective ways of boosting your database size. And just about every single time in that conversation, you’ll hear the word “competitions” come up. Although, what we mean when we think competitions and what you might see somewhere else (e.g Fill in your details for a chance to win a trip to <exotic location here> may not be the same.)

Let’s take a look at a very specific example here:

Case: To create an engaging competition spread over a website, E-newsletters, Social Media & in-house.

Aim: To engage with potential customers and grow both the traditional database as well as the Facebook fan base.

Outcome: Reached 29,387 total entries in to the competition

MyGuestlist assisted Kimberley Accommodation in crafting the site, competition and the elements/mechanisms involved in allowing the competition to be shared virally amongst users. This includes a collaboration of both old and new web technologies to allow for maximum exposure.

Click on the image to check out the competition video

It all started on March 14^th 2011. A new destinational tourism promotion was launched to the Australian market featuring a prize of an all expenses paid holiday in the Kimberley’s to the value of $25,000.  Running until April 20^th, the campaign generated massive response from the Australian market.

The promotion attracted 42,532 visits to the the competition website in just one month, which features Kimberley marketing information, and showcases one particular self drive itinerary reinforcing Broome as the gateway to the region. The growth rate and conversion of entries was the astounding figure, which increased by up to 1100 entries per 24-hour period. The promotion website has experienced a superb signup conversion to entry rate of 66%. The mechanics behind the website coding allowed entrants to become ambassadors for the competition, by way of inviting at least three of their friends to join them on their Kimberley experience. From those referrals, the conversion rate spiked to 78%.

By competition close the Kimberley Dream competition saw a staggering 29,387 people enter!

It is for this reason precisely, that we always encourage you to get involved in interactive competitions. Sure you may not have 30k that come through (unless you’re damn excellent at your execution like the way these guys were), but we have a number of different options for competition structure/mechanics and can allow you to produce very nice, organic boosts to your database and as a result your customer base.

Get involved!

We will be scheduling a one hour maintenance period on Tuesday, 21 June @ 11pm (Australian EST - Click here for your local time).

During this time, MyGuestlist will not be available for use.

The rise of the “Like” button on the web has been phenomenal.

And there is no denying that it is important to have a solid, engaging Facebook Page with interested fans and none of the crap of just tricking/forcing people in to being a part of your little piece of the Facebook pie with no real tangible benefit or reward. The key words in the topics discussed in the plethora of other articles online seem to be listen and deliver value, excitement, humour, suprise and interest.

But let’s break that down a little:

1) Listen and respond to Positive & Negative comments

People are talking about you. Whether you want them to or not, they are out there and they are talking. Some of it may be good and consist of how they had a great night at your venue or event, whilst others are furious at your door policy, the lack of service they received from your staff in venue and the price of a particular item amongst other things.

If anybody expressed some of their thoughts (whether positive or negative) offline, you sure wouldn’t just ignore them and carry on your way but actually listen and act upon what you’ve just heard. These comments are not so different online and most certainly deserve your attention. Here is a list of reasons on why you should have your social radar on at all times and be listening/watching it all as well as what you may be able to uncover:

• People may want re-assurance or have a particular question about something at your venue/event/business. You should be there to address their needs and wants.
• Monitor complaints and react immediately. Catching something early can prevent it from escalating and can increase the level of customer service you exhibit to your customers.
• Get access to people who are expressing that they have a want or need for a product or service your venue/event/business provides. If you can find it, why not be the first (or the best) at offering it?
• Competition. Based on chatter and keyword searching, you will be able to accurately pick up on new competitors emerging in the space and be the first to know on their traction, movements and allows you to anticipate future strategies which as a result, may directly influence your own.
• Identify influencers and socially connected individuals. This can help for you to monitor their movements in the scene as well as possibly reach out to offer/propose a working relationship with them.
• Recovering from disasters and crises which may be happening in the social world without you being privy to its existence. (For example, it’s a very common occurrence for us here at MyGuestlist to notice negative feedback/comments spoken about a particular venue or event without said venue/event’s knowledge. ) Avoid this and be in the know.

2) Understand Facebook’s EdgeRank formula

Similar to Google’s PageRank, EdgeRank is the algorithm that Facebook employs to determine what content  is relevant and important to users. So unlike emails (which are pushed to us irrespective of anything else), a large variety of factors contribute to EdgeRank’s ranking system and how likeable/relevant a particular post is.

At all times, understand that you’re competing with all other brands and your fan’s friends for attention so what you talk about needs to be something that your fans will find interesting. This is a win/win because it means that users aren’t spammed with irrelevant, sales-heavy messaging and it also means that you as a Page admin and marketer, need to stay on top of your game if you’d like to persist with having content which rates well.

Our tip: Use photos and videos, keep the text short and drive as many Likes and comments as possible using some of the points we mention below.

3) Become a community/portal for your Fans and provide real value without asking for anything back

Whether it’s information on something new, a giveaway based on the input/entry of a customer or some tips’n'tricks on how to get that particular dish right, do not hesitate to become a place where your patrons come to not only dine, entertain themselves or boogie away on the dance floor, but also an online resource that they are engaged with on a consistent basis.

Here’s an example you can follow:

Create a blog for your site. Write one article per week (this should take you about 30-45 mins to write and edit). At the end of each month you will have about 4 articles or so to put in an E-Newsletter to share with your customers. By doing this once a month (including interviews and features based around the niche you hold in the industry), you have quite effectively eliminated that annoying “always selling” feeling (see #4 below) and have become a message in your customer’s inbox that they are glad to see and read.

Which leads us perfectly in to our next segment.

4) Don’t just sell yourself all the time

We don’t want to just see your drink and food prices all the time. Please do not tell us the same thing. Every. Single. Day. It is boring and does not provide any ongoing value to the person who’s “Like” you were initially fighting for.

Instead, try do a few “Meet the Chef” videos, How To recipes for cocktails and dishes, a snap of your latest dish or start a conversations about a particular topic that is related to your niche.

Follow some of these tips above, and we assure you that you’ll be on top of your game when it comes to operating your Facebook Page and will be growing your Fan base with a correct, legal and organic approach.

About a month ago, Facebook launched a new feature to allow photos to be tagged with a brand, product or company similar to the way you tag friends in photos.

This feature will be available even for those who haven’t people who haven’t as yet “Liked” the page and creates a lot of opportunities for page admins to execute interactive competitions with a twist.

Certain brands will definitely be ecstatic about this move. Think of a scenario where people tag themselves wearing a particular brand of clothes (let’s say Adidas for example.) All of those pics will then go to the Adidas Facebook Page and provide Adidas the company, with free advertising.

Other examples:

Coca Cola being creatively tagged

Brands, artists, celeb appearances can all benefit as well

*Images courtesy of Techcrunch & Mashable

A while back, sending out bulk MMS to your database was quite expensive (over 30c) and had a rather poor deliverability rate (at best 60% success rate). Now this has changed and we are proud to introduce Advanced MMS. A self serviced, high strike rate, low cost bulk MMS functionality to MyGuestlist.

Some of you may have noticed the new addition in your accounts already yet may have been a bit confused as to how it all works. Let us explain.

MMS stands for Multimedia Message Service which similarly to SMS, allows you to broadcast messages to other mobile phones irrespective of carrier. Unlike SMS though, it also allows for video, audio and images to be pushed through in bulk so that the recipient can receive and consume more than just plain text on a screen.

It is not new technology in any way, but is something we restrained from getting in to simply due to the poor cost and deliverability factors which attributed to the lack of success in MMS campaigns. Now, all this has changed.

You’ll now be able to send your flyers, event videos, venue promo videos, special offers, discounts, coupons in bulk to all or just certain segments of your database.

Based on our tests (like always) we find it works best when wrapped around something interactive and/or a competition for your recipients. A “Name this new ____” or “Rate this new ____” or “secret password hidden in the video”.

Ideally, as we always instruct, the more engaging the better. If you just do a plain old broadcast without asking for any input or spark of creativity to be included from the recipient, don’t expect them to be engaged with the content for too long.

Maybe try do an interactive response based MMS where you have a short little clip of something happening or somebody talking (in relation to your business) and ask the recipient to choose between 3 options on what happens next? Not too unlike the popular Hunter Vs Bear video on YouTube from last year (which is a fantastic example of an interactive video that can be done for your business)

All in all, we advise you give it a shot and measure your performance from the campaign. Price depends on the volume you will be sending as naturally, higher volumes have a lower price tag attached to them. Following the easter break we’ve seen some great response rates from these already when done right and would definitely recommend you take a look at introducing interactive competitions, funny clips and interesting relevant content (not just the same old “me me me” ones where the only thing you pitch are just upcoming events) to your subscribers