By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine

Make a New Year’s resolution to focus on social media platforms that work for you and your business. When I say work, I mean platforms that you’re comfortable using, enjoy updating, and that help you make authentic and meaningful connections with your sphere.

For author and communications coach Carmine Gallo, that platform would be foursquare.

Gallo became a believer when he was introduced to the app by his publisher about two years ago. Gallo has an insatiable interest in all things that improve communication. He’s also the author of The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs.

Gallo started using the foursquare while on a business trip in New York after a presentation in Hoboken, N.J. He was searching for a place to have dinner, so he opened foursquare to see if it could help. Just around the corner was a restaurant called the Energy Kitchen offering free coffee. “Foursquare opens up a whole new world for you because businesses are using this mobile medium to attract you with incentives,” he said. “I walked into Energy Kitchen — had never been there before, never heard of it before — and it was just fabulous!”

After traveling home to California, Gallo ended up calling the marketing director of Energy Kitchen to pick her brain, and it became the first interview for his book, The Power of foursquare: 7 Innovative Ways to Get Your Customers to Check In Wherever They Are, which was released in November.

When planning for the year ahead, Gallo says think mobile. Foursquare is a good place to start — especially if many of your clients are using foursquare, too.

Gallo chatted with the Weekly Book Scan to provide a window into his foursquare evangelism. Here’s what he had to say:

Can you explain how foursquare works? Continue reading »