MergeLocal

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Simple pleasures (Taken with Instagram at Steve's Automotive Express)

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Kimchi yakisoba! (Taken with instagram)

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Hollandaise madness (Taken with Instagram at Side Street Cafe)

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Interview with Michael Wong, MergeLocal

Are users willing to check into local businesses with another, mobile check-in product? That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. We caught up with co-founder Michael Wong, who told us about how the company is looking to change the model for local check-ins, and also help businesses with getting the word out about their services.

Click Here To Learn More

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St. Patrick with creamcheese (Taken with Instagram at Side Street Cafe)

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A Free iPhone App That Pays Users Cash

iPhone users will now be able to rate their experience, post a tip, and check-in to their favorite places on multiple social networks in seconds from their mobile device. This may seem normal, but gone are the days of badges and coupons - Mergelocal wants to reward users with cash to drive word-of-mouth for businesses.

"Social networks and smart phones have changed traditional word-of-mouth for businesses. We’ve developed our app to allow people to quickly share their experiences at businesses with all of their friends and get rewarded with points that redeem for real cash", says Michael Wong, CEO & Co-Founder of Mergelocal. “Display ads are not effective on small mobile phone screens, so digital advertising must grow with the technology that’s available. Our app merges mobile, social and location based technology to create integrated social marketing campaigns for businesses, brands and events”.

The Mergelocal app is a free download for iPhone and launched with over 1 million restaurants and beauty salons that award points for check-ins. The points earned are redeemed through PayPal and users can cash out in $20 increments. The first 100,000 users receive bonus points for their first check in.

Some other notable features in the app include a way to get basic information such as phone number and directions for a business and also find which one of your Facebook friends is there or has been there in the past. Also, since the App is integrated with Facebook, users get 100 points for inviting friends to participate.

The Mergelocal Team is currently working directly with a small group of selected merchants and event coordinators to reward their visitors with larger point incentives and has plans to release self-service tools for businesses in the coming months. Businesses can create a word-of-mouth campaign by simply setting a daily budget and incentive for visitors much like the traditional display ad networks.

The Mergelocal team announced their launch at Silicon Beach Start-Ups App Demo Day at Coworks in Santa Monica, along with demonstrations of Parkme and Dog Boogie, to a crowd of app hungry iPhone users with incredible results.

After the show, the Mergelocal network came to life with check ins all over Silicon Beach.

“At first, I was a bit concerned when I saw the numbers. My first thought was an issue with our servers; but it turned out to be a rush of downloads and user check ins at local bars and restaurants”, Steven Elliott, CTO and Co-Founder.

The Mergelocal app can be downloaded at Mergelocal.com or directly through the Apple App Store by searching Mergelocal.

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Portobello burger (Taken with Instagram at Native Foods)

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Native Foods Cafe

Native Foods in Westwood, CA  just expanded and their new place is huge and very well laid out.   If you're not familiar with Native Foods, it's a vegan fast food restaurant.  I'm not vegan, but I eat there a lot.  So I hope that should count for something.  You don't need to be vegan to think the food tastes really good. My favorite is the Chicken Run Ranch Burger.  

The staff is extremely friendly and they seem to really care if you like what you're eating.  They'll tell you what's good and what isn't so good.  And I'm sure if you don't like it, you can return it for something else.  But give it a try...I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Is your Smartphone bloated with apps?

Is your smartphone bloated with apps? A report by nielsen says you’re not alone. But while there are more than a million apps available to both iPhone and Android phone users, the mainstays haven’t changed.

Smartphone has penetrated over 50% of the market space (only 38% last year).  This number is only going to grow as the demand for smartphones increases.  Are you apart of the 80+% that uses their apps over the web?

Check out the infographic below to see more of Nielsen’s numbers.

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Facebook and Integrated Marketing

Facebook is one of the biggest companies in the world, and by far the most popular and successful social networking website. If you've seen 'The Social Network', you watched Jesse Eisenberg depict a shrewd Zuckerberg who inevitably makes millions from his ingenious creation. Have you ever wondered how Facebook makes their money? The answer is in the advertising.   

You've probably been annoyed by constant ads that pop-up on Facebook when you're surfing through your friends' profiles. I know I have. Believe it or not, there are people who don't mind; who actually click those ads and pay attention to them. And it's because of these people (as well as those who pay Facebook to advertise) that this business is such a cash cow and why they are worth 100 billion dollars.  

Now, the world has gone mobile. That's not a problem for Zuckerberg and his Facebook empire - they just conformed their site into a mobile app. However, if more people are going mobile and less people are surfing the site and clicking on ads, what happens to Facebook's revenue? It drops significantly. But Zuckerberg, of course, has that covered. Or does he?  

In Facebooks most recent filling before their big IPO, tech crunch summarized it like this (http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/07/facebook-amended-s-1/):  

"Facebook announced it would now start monetizing mobile using Sponsored Stories ads. It now states its ability to monetize mobile in “unproven” rather than noting it does not advertise on mobile."

So to many a Facebook-er's frustration, ads have moved to the mobile app. It's not enough to keep people away from the app, and Zuckerberg did what he had to do. Still, these ads do not produce a substantial amount of revenue for the company.  As businesses go, its time for Facebook to reinvent its mobile platform to create revenue which is probably why Instagram and Glancee were recently acquired.   

But more to the point, what Facebook needs is integrated marketing. Take check-ins, for example. Facebook gives you the option to "check-in" to your current location and provide that it will be viewable by all your friends. And that's pretty much it. If Facebook were to give rewards (I'm talking cash) to their users for checking in, people would actually have an incentive to do so. It would be more fun, and each check-in is like an advertisement in itself. Facebook gets revenue, businesses get advertising, and users get money and have fun. Think of it as a web of sorts, where there's no middleman and everyone benefits.

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Build your own pizza at 800 Degrees

There's a wait but don't let that demotivate you from eating at 800 degrees.  The wait is well worth it!  Once you make it to the front of the line you choose your base pizza. they have a variety of different red and white pizzas so you'll definitely find something to your liking.. once you've chosen what kind of pizza you want then comes the fun part.. they have an array of toppings to add to your pizza.. keep in mind it's +1$ for each topping.. well worth it in my opinion.. especially since the base price of the pizza is pretty low. One thing to note is that their paper menu has a few more items than the menu you'll find on their wall. The truffle cheese bread is a must try if you're a fan of cheesy bread.  We saw another table with it and didn't know what it was and when we asked they told us that it's on the paper menu. I'm glad we asked because it was really good and worth it.  You could smell the truffle oil that they poured on the bread. If you're a fan of soda they have the new super cool hip advanced soda machine where you choose your soda and once you've chosen your soda they have a variety of flavors that you can add to your soda.  This is one of Mergelocal's favorite lunch spots!

Here are a couple pics of the pizza creations  you can expect to find at 800 Degrees.

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The ROI Of Social Media

Social media has captured the attention and awe of the marketing world with the promise of increased customer engagement and lower marketing costs. Yet behind the buzz lies the question of how to measure its success. With no standard means of measurement, it is difficult to decipher the value of different platforms and determine the true ROI of social media marketing. To make sense of the situation, MDG Advertising created an eye-opening video based on the findings and figures from its recently-developed infographic. Watch as we feature the facts, factors, methods and metrics that marketers need to know to understand the real return of social media.

For more information contact MDG Advertising today at 561-338-7797 or visit http://www.mdgadvertising.com

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Foursquare: What if the points actually meant something?

It seems that in this day and age, everyone is loving the idea of checking in to their favorite places and making sure their friends know about it. But what is it that people really love? Well, it must be the reward system.  

With a mobile app like Foursquare, people can get points for checking in to a bar, restaurant, airport, and pretty much anywhere else. You can even become the "mayor" of a place if you check-in often enough. This has the potential to turn into a very competitive game. Try to beat all your friends and make sure you have the most check-ins, points, and try to be the mayor of more places than anyone else.  

This is why Foursquare users are so drawn to this app. Getting points, badges, and mayor rights is fun - especially if you can compete with your friends. And not only is it fun, but it's addicting as well.  

Take out the fun, addicting, and competitive factors for a second. Because fun and competition can get tiresome if it's all the same and addictions have the potential to falter, especially in mobile apps when there's always something new and improved making a debut. Let's think about this for a second... what if the rewards points actually meant something?  

For example, with Yelp, a hefty amount of check-ins at the same place could grant you a certain percent off a small drink or get you an exclusive Yelp coupon code. Everyone loves discounted stuff, right? Of course they do! But what if you could get something a little more for your check-in?  

Here at MergeLocal, we know that fun and competition is important, but having meaning behind rewards points is equally so. The idea of the MergeLocal app is to forget the petty discounts and pay people (yes, actual money!) to check-in to their favorite places. Now checking in still maintains all of those appealing qualities: fun, addictive, competitive -- and it actually has a purpose.  

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In the mood for Korean Food?

Gushi is the go-to spot if you are in the mood for some no fuss teriyaki. This place is cash only, but there is an ATM nearby.  You're not paying for quality food here, you are paying for huge portions. One order of gushi can easily be two meals! The meat can be very dry, but that's no problem as long as you have a lot of their teriyaki sauce! If you get a meal to go, make sure to ask for extra sauce.  It's a great, quick and casual meal if it's a nice day out in Westwood. Seating is pretty cramped and limited

Here are some pics we took of our meals:

Kimchi Fried Rice:

Gushi Bowl

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Happy Mother's Day!

There is still time gents!  Ask these guys! Happy Mothers Day to the hardest working most dedicated people in the world. Love, MergeLocal

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Lovely LA food trucks!

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Has Your Morning Routine Gone Mobile?

Think about your day for a second. I'm sure your morning consisted of a good stretch, a cup of coffee, and possibly a hunt for the missing sock you lost in your sea of sheets overnight.

  Unless you're like me and you stumbled for your smartphone as soon as your eyes adjusted to the sunlight. My morning routine consists of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, you name it.

  It's like the morning paper for me. I get caught up with my friends and what they're tweeting or posting on various social networking sites. I even read LA Times articles via Twitter.

  What's the weather going to be like today? I'll check the weather app on my phone and find out. I do this every morning and throughout the day as well. It sounds obsessive, but how is that any different from walking out to your front yard, picking up the newspaper, and reading it over a bowl of cereal?

  It's not. Some read it on paper, I'm reading it on a mobile device. Point is, I need my phone in my every day life. If I really think about all the things I use my phone for, it really makes me realize how much I depend on it. Communicating with friends and family, looking up movie times and theaters, taking pictures, editing them, and sharing them, checking the weather, getting directions, putting important dates in my calendar, and abusing my google app likes there's no tomorrow. 

  With all of that said, I think it's agreeable that one of the main reasons people are so attracted to smartphones is that communication is so easy. You're always in the loop. Not only do I like to read about what my friends are doing, I also like to reciprocate and let them know what I'm up to as well. I'll tweet, share pictures, and I'll even check in to places on Facebook or Twitter. Checking in is fun. Mainly because you get to show off your favorite hot spots and tell all your friends why and how much you love them.

  Which is precisely why MergeLocal is perfect for me, and even more so than Yelp or Foursquare. Why? Because each check in gets me points. I don't mean points that get me %20 off a small soda or a free cupcake on your birthday at some adorable bakery in LA. I mean points that account for money. Yes, actual money! I get paid to go to my favorite places and tell my friends about it. Checking in has never been this fun!