Refillable Facebook Cards Can Carry Multiple Balances at Different Stores

Facebook’s ventures into the real world continue. This time, it’s actually a pretty darn nifty idea.

Users can order gift cards that are mailed to the recipient. These cards can be used at multiple retailers – Target, Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, or Sephora. The balances are separated, so if they receive a card from one person for $100 at Target, the same card could also be used to give them $50 at Jamba Juice.

They’ve offered gifts for a while, though I haven’t heard how effective they’ve been. This should help to improve the effectiveness thanks to the tangible presence of a card. It’s refillable and only one is sent, so if multiple people give gifts, the totals are all added to the same card.

A few things need to happen for this neat innovation to take off:

• More retailers have to get on board. They offer digital gifts to various places like Starbucks – these should also be allowed on the gift cards.


• They MUST promote this. Facebook is notorious for understatement of the cool things and overstatement of the minor things (Graph Search was a big deal?).


• Gifting needs to be easier. Right now, it’s hard to figure out how to send someone a gift if it isn’t their birthday. There should be a “Send a Gift” button on every profile page.


• Businesses should be able to send gifts to their fans. This could be huge and I’m a little surprised they didn’t make that a possibility from the start.

If they can do those things, this might be their first entry into the physical world that actually turns up some revenue. If not, it will fade away into the realm of forgotten promising projects that didn’t get enough attention.

Related articles

• Facebook Is Rolling Out A New Kind Of Gift Card


• Introducing the Facebook Card, a New Type of Gift Card


• Facebook Gift Card Announced


• Facebook launches Facebook Card, a reusable gift card that works at multiple retailers


• Facebook Unveils The “Facebook Card,” A Reusable Gift Card That Holds Multiple Balances From Different Stores


• Facebook launches Facebook Card, a reusable gift card

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/refillable-facebook-cards-can-carry-multiple-balances-at-different-stores/

Retail Social Media Top 10 [Infographic]

Social networking sites have provided companies with a platform to reach their consumers in a new, fresh, and efficient way. Retailers are one industry that has jumped on the social media bandwagon, however, they all are not on the same playing field. Let’s take a look at what retailers are the top dogs on the various social media sites.

The top ten retailers on Facebook are: Walmart, iTunes, Target, Victoria’s Secret, Amazon, Macy’s, Kohl’s, American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Best Buy.

Next we have Twitter. The top ten retailers in this social category are: iTunes, Whole Foods, Victoria’s Secret, Dell, Verizon, Urban Outfitters, Target, Amazon, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Toys R Us.

Check out the infographic below presented by Retail Customer Experience to learn more about the top retailers in social media and see if your favorite retailer made the cut.

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/retail-social-media-top-10-infographic/

If Google+ Opens Up its API, It Might Just Beat Facebook

Google+ is making moves. Many are saying that it’s not the ghost town that it was believed to be less than a year ago. It’s technically bigger than Twitter. Communities were a nice addition (if you turn the notifications off) that seem to be taking off. The future looks brighter than ever for Google’s 547th attempt at getting into social media.

They have one major flaw that they still consider a strength. By keeping their API access limited, they’ve been able to keep most of the automation, some of the spam, and all of the posting problems that Facebook has to deal with on a regular basis due to their integration with just about everybody. You can post to Facebook using literally thousands of different apps, websites, and methods. On Google+, you can only post through the tiny array of approved tools like Hootsuite and Viral Heat. It keeps them safe and protected, giving them a limited number of entries to monitor as they grow the service.

It also holds them back tremendously.

Facebook may be too open when it comes to posting. Still, Google+ is definitely too closed, at least from the perspective of growth and content. By not integrating with popular sites and services like Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr, they are limiting the ways through which people can post. Facebook allows these and so many other services to post directly on Facebook, to share content posted elsewhere, and to share the Facebook posts themselves on other networks. Google+ does not.

Take Pinterest, for example. With a click of a button, pins can be posted on Facebook and Twitter while they’re going live on Pinterest itself. It’s a great way to promote Pinterest posts and keep the content flowing on Twitter and Facebook. Without Google+ integration, there is very little chance of exposure there. Google+ cannot help expose your pins and Pinterest cannot help to put interesting content on Google+.

They know this. It’s part of their plan, and while I’m not in a position to make recommendations to Google, this is one that seems to stand out in glaring fashion. Will they ever start integrating? Probably. Are they ready to do it now? Absolutely. In fact, they were ready a year ago. They seem to be creating a “premium” social network in many ways. Elitist. It’s working from certain perspectives, but at some point the idea of having “the cool kids on G+” will wear off. It has to. The spread is rapid, but not as rapid as Facebook’s despite them being much larger at this point.

If Google takes the measured step of slipping in integration with other apps, they will be able to hit the tipping point of adoption that has still evaded them despite their growth. They are service is only big when you look at the right numbers, and even the “right” numbers are misleading. People are spending a great deal of time on Facebook every day, more than they’re spending on Google+ in a week, even a month. They have the users. They just don’t have the integration or interest level to make them more mainstream.

Google+ will succeed. Their direction is pretty solid, but it’s flawed. They’re doing well, but they could do much better to open up, even if only a little at a time.

Related articles

• Google+ Surpasses Twitter…at Least on Paper


• Google+ Grabs the Number Two Spot for Active Users on a Social Network


• Google Looking for Developers to Test New Google Drive API Features and Build Apps


• Pinterest Testing New Features To Keep Users Interested


• Google+ is now the second most popular social network after Facebook


• Twitter Is Finally Preparing To Release Its Advertising API In Q1, Say Sources

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/if-google-opens-up-its-api-it-might-just-beat-facebook/

The Right and Wrong Way to Build Your Klout Score

See on Scoop.it – Dealers

There are plenty of articles that discuss Klout tips out there. Thanks to recent changes in the way that Klout scores and operates, I get the opportunity to write one of my own!

From Soshable:

It’s the only thing I understand about internet marketing that has absolutely nothing with driving traffic, generating leads, or making sales, yet a day hasn’t gone by in a long time during which I am not asked about how to do better on Klout.

If it is to be, then so be it. Let’s talk Klout…

See on soshable.com

via WordPress http://jdrucker.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/the-right-and-wrong-way-to-build-your-klout-score/

One More Reason to Condemn YOLO

Don't embrace "YOLO". Don't let your friends, kids, students, siblings, or anyone you know embrace YOLO. There are definitely religious reasons to oppose it, but the fact that it represents encouragement of idiotic actions should be enough to make you want your loved ones to avoid it.

Five men are dead in a car accident that happened moments after the driver Tweeted "yolo".

Is that the reason? Is this the example that should shock kids (and adults) into condemning the concept? No. Common sense is the real reason. What happened to Ink2flashyy and his friends is just a tragic tale to drive the point home.

As I posted on Soshable:

I’m angry about this. I feel sorrow for the families of the victims. I have fear for my own children, not because they embrace YOLO (one of them said she preaches “OLOY” to her friends – “Only Losers Obey YOLO”), but because the poor choices that people are making as a result can harm the innocents who are not being stupid but are caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's the Last Week of the Dealers United Deal. Are You In?

In case you missed it, this is the last week of the Dealers United website deal for August. Included in it are options for discounted SEO services, plus a month-to-month website offering using the amazing KPA Connect platform.

Car dealers would be wise to take a look at the deal and move forward with taking the next step in improving their digital marketing. Deals like this are rare.

As I posted in Soshable:

This deal is exceptional in many ways. As car dealers become accustomed to challenges they face with their website vendors, having one with a proven track-record and measurable search engine success is at the top of mind for the most web-savvy and aggressive dealerships. In the end, it comes down to 3 things:

Read more.

Neil Armstrong Didn't Like Exercise

I don't want to make it seem as if I'm trampling on the memory of this great man, but it should be noted from a quote he once made that exercise wasn't high on his list and his reasoning is actually pretty sound. He lived to the age of 82.

"I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises." ~ Neil Armstrong

The Saddest Place on Earth

How can they do it? How can they be so crass and uncaring to not allow puppies OR ice cream cones. There is only misery here. Nothing more.

Checking Out the New Blogger

I couldn't tell you when the new one went live or what it's all about, but apparently Blogger is all new and has a better interface than ever before. I'm avid on both Tumblr and Wordpress but I've never really gotten into Blogger. Today's the day.

Here's a picture. How does it look?

Getting Back into Blogging about... Me

Originally, the whole idea behind a "weblog" was to give people who weren't traditional content publishers an opportunity to express themselves. The phenomenon grew from a place for people to rant to a full-blown source of news for many.

I have always been a niche blogger in that I create blogs based upon whatever topic I want to cover and write from there. This particular blog was supposed to be a place where I could talk about more personal issues as well as place links to stories and other forms of media that I enjoyed.

I got away from the concept mostly based upon personal bandwidth that wasn't enough to keep up with everything happening professionally. After a long spell of writing only about those niches that appealed to me professionally, it's time to switch gears and revise the good-ol' personal blog for JD Rucker.

That's me. More to come.

* * *

Read more about me here or feel free to contact me at JD Rucker.