Friday, July 21, 2006

We are ready to try something new, are you?

There must be a little hole, a dark musty hole, where software people grow. Maybe it is a cave. It smells like pencils. When you go into the cave, you'll hear moaning that sounds an awful like "software code" talk. You can't understand what they are saying, but you go deeper into the cave. What are they doing down there? Your flashlight barely illuminates the walls of the cave. You are nervous, because software scares you. Then, all of a sudden, the room opens up and you see all the software people. They are dancing, having fun and some are watching Star Trek. They see you and invite you in. They offer you some non-alcoholic wine spritzers. Then, they ask you, "How can we help you expand your website potential, FOR FREE?"

As of late, I've figured the above scenario has to be somewhat true. It is remarkable! Free and easy to use technology continues to emerge into the market. Almost everyday a new product emerges. When it comes to marketing, these products are powerful enough to expand your reach into the internet, WITHOUT ANY COST OR WORK INVOLVED! Has internet marketing totally shifted from the have-not's to the have-it-all's?

This morning, I decided to test out a little piece of technology. It is called the Frappr Mapper. The idea behind the service is to visually show you and your friends a created network of contacts. Each "friend" is represented by a little bubble on a map of the US. The map may also be regional. Below is a picture example of the Frappr Mapper.

I decided to take a quick tour of Frappr Mapper to see what it is all about. I mean, why not participate and learn from all of the free technology?

Setting up the service took no time at all. I went to the Frappr site, created my account, copied some code and posted my map.

As a restaurant owner, the value of mapping your location is HUGE! Let's face it, the prospect of the yellow pages directing a new customer to your restaurant is close to zero. A lot of folks don't even know where the dang book is anyway. However, they do know where that $2000 computer is

Why not try out something new. If you have ten minutes to spare, try setting up a Frappr Map on your blog, or website. It doesn't have to be the front page. You don't have to publish it. The whole idea is to get the internet to work for you!

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