To mark the occasion, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman met with local bloggers and social media marketers in Sydney to talk about the history of Yelp, some of the benefits to users and local businesses, and what lies ahead.

Some quick out-takes from this morning’s session include:

• More than 1,000,000 Australian businesses are already listed on Yelp.com.au and indexed in their mobile app
• Currently businesses from Melbourne and Sydney are included on Yelp Australia
• Roughly 80% of comments from Yelp users are positive
• The name Yelp comes from a combination of “Yellow Pages” and “help” – although they almost went with “Yocal”
• Businesses can use a toolkit to promote themselves and get setup on Yelp, and offer incentives and special offers to people who checkin
• Yelp users are fiercely competitive when it comes to earning a “First Review” status by being the first to review a business

Following my session, was an international keynote from Lee Aase, a fellow Midwesterner and the head of social media at Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota. Lee delivered a great overview of the Mayo Clinic’s experience using social media, which started with experimentation with podcasts many years ago. Some of the key take-aways from his presentation:

1. Proceed Until Apprehended: if you are an in-house social media practitioner or champion, it’s sometimes best to have a “proceed until apprehended” mentality. Take a pilot approach to social media and be willing to try new platforms and ideas to see what sticks.
2. 5,000 views from the right people can equal success: Lee shared a great example of video created by Dr. Ruben Mesa of the Mayo Clinic, explaining a relatively rare disease called Essential Thrombocythemia or ET. Whilst the video had approximately 10,000 views and the content was technical, many of the views were from patients who had the disorder and, anecdotally more than 50 other doctors reported seeing patients who had viewed the video.
3. If they are doing this so can we. One of the best arguments an in-house social media practitioner can make is to share examples of competitors or industry leaders who are doing something similar in social media. In other words, our competitors are active in social so we need to be, too!
4. iPhone: a reason not to ban social media in the workplace. Nearly half of the conference attendees raised their hands when asked whether their employers banned social media in the workplace. How do you make the case internally to raise the iron IT curtain? Lee brought up a picture of the iPhone, meaning that anyone today can access the social Web from their iPhone or mobile device – they’ll access it while at work anyway – so why not give employees smart guidelines that educate and empower them on best practices of using social media while at work.

Finally, a collection of links to some of the great work and resources from Mayo Clinic:

• In-Depth Explanation of Essential Thrombocythemia (ET)
• Know Your Numbers 8675309 Spoof
• Mayo Clinic Podcasts
• Mayo Clinic Connect Patient Community
• Lee Aase on Twitter
• SMUG

I couldn’t agree more. Now there are probably a handful of people out there who should NOT be on Twitter solely because of what comes out of their mouths on any given day – getting on Twitter would equate to a career limiting move! But those people should probably not be in PR.

And “being on Twitter” doesn’t have to mean Tweeting five times a minute, either. Some of the most interesting people who I follow only Tweet a handful of times a week but they’re usually sharing a great insight or pointing out a must-read article. And that’s OK.

If you’re in public relations, here are five reasons you should be on Twitter:

1. Media Are There: As of two years ago, there were more than 500 Australian journalists on Twitter and if you follow your favourite journo closely you’ll often find them asking for sources or story ideas. If you’re proactively looking for opportunities to get media coverage for your client Twitter is a smart place to be as you’ll find those opportunities and develop better relationships with journalists. All part of the core job requirements of any PR pro.

2. Trains You to Move Faster: PR in general moves fast. The thing I love most about Twitter is that it gets you in the habit of moving and creating content even faster. What’s trending one minute is yesterday’s news the next minute. In order to give clients great counsel and be one step ahead, we need to be on top of what’s trending on Twitter whether it’s to provide them with something to retweet, to share an insight on something that’s trending in the media or to inspire them to start participating as well.

3. Better Manage a Crisis: When I spoke at a travel industry conference in Taipei last year, I woke up to a massive rumbling at 6AM and saw my hotel room literally move two feet in either direction. It turned out to be my first earth quake – a 6.5. The first thing I did was went to search.twitter.com and looked for “earthquake” and “Taipei” – nothing. Checked CNN – nothing. Because there had been nothing on Twitter I half believed that it couldn’t have been an earthquake. Today Twitter is the first place media and consumers turn when there’s an issue – whether its’ a product recall or massive natural disaster. If your client or your brand is the issue then you need to be there in the conversation and getting your side of the message out – otherwise no one will believe you!

4. Cross-Business Collaboration:  The great thing about Twitter is that it serves a number of cross-business functions and gives PR an opportunity to use social media to improve ROI across the enterprise. For example, you might engage the HR department to use Twitter to recruit the next wave of talent. It might give you an opportunity to engage customer service to better manage customer feedback and reduce the burden on more expensive call centres. Or you might have a chat to the head of product innovation and talk about how to listen to what customers “wished” they could get from your brand.

5. Find a New Gig: We are hiring for a digital strategist and last Friday I was given what was billed to be a great CV by a recruiter. Even before opening the CV, the very first thing I looked at was her Twitter account which contained zero Tweets or even a profile picture. While she had to go into the “no” basket, you’ll position yourself well by at least being present on Twitter and if you follow hash tags like #jobs you might even spot an opportunity or two for yourself. (PS – interested? DM me for details).

Lastly, being on Twitter will allow you to explain what the hell a “hashtag” is – and how to use it an event. And if you want to follow a great hashtag check out PRIA’s PR Directions conference hash tag at #PRDir!

What do you think? Are there other reasons to be… or not to be… on Twitter.

Earlier today, Mike Boyd and I presented an updated version of the Marketers Guide to iPad for Business as part of Citrix Online’s Lunch + Learn series.

A few of the key take-aways from the session today:

• When it comes to getting an app approved by iTunes there are no guarantees in terms of time frames, though if you’re working with a company that understands app development and has a good track record then expect a relatively fast turn-around (roughly 4 days)
• Don’t bite off more than you can chew – in other words, don’t attempt to make your ipad app deliver too much by cramming too much information or functionality into a single app. If you have several business objectives pick the single objective that will deliver the largest business impact, or build multiple apps.
• Leverage existing resources and think about what existing content you already have in your wheelhouse that could be repackaged for audiences who prefer to view content via iPads and tablet devices – but then go above and beyond.
• More than 300,000 Australians are browsing the mobile web (as of May 2011, Nielsen Australia) – how does your organisation’s Web site appear when viewed from an iPad or tablet PC?
• Video, user-generated content, photo slideshows and games are common interactive elements found in some of the most popular ipad apps
• Before developing an app, audit similar apps in your industry and be sure to differentiate

Below is the news announcement, but we are extremely fortunate to have seven new talented and passionate word of mouth marketing experts on the team!

Ogilvy’s social media practice 360˚ Digital Influence, part of STW Group, has added another seven employees to its team on the back of significant growth and demand for social media expertise. Ogilvy will also unveil a further two appointments in August.

Since the April 2009 arrival of Brian Giesen, Regional Director of Ogilvy 360˚ Digital Influence, the practice has grown to 14 specialist practitioners. In that short time, the practice has seen revenue growth of 440%.
Graham White, Managing Director of Ogilvy 360˚ Digital Influence Australia, said the practice has experienced rapid growth from day one. “Our growth, both in people and financial performance, reflects the ongoing demand from clients across the Ogilvy Group for strategic counsel and the creation and execution of powerful social media strategies – integrated with other marketing and communications disciplines.

“We’re seeing clients continuing to push more funds into ongoing social media activity. As such, we are also adding two more hires in August to ensure we can fulfil that demand and continue to be at the forefront of social media and digital engagement in Australia.”

Ogilvy 360˚ Digital Influence also became the most awarded social media team in the region after winning ‘Digital Agency of the Year’ by the region’s highly coveted Holmes Report Specialist Agencies of the Year Awards in April. Giesen said the practice was extremely proud to receive this award as it recognised the consistent and disciplined delivery of outstanding work by the team.

“This is an excellent achievement which is particularly rewarding given the challenges of growing demand as digital influence skills and successful execution become increasingly important to all of our clients,” said Giesen.
“We’re thrilled to have another new wave of experienced talent joining us. They bring with them an array of knowledge and expertise in strategic digital planning, video content creation, analysis and analytics and community management.”

The seven new hires include two Digital Strategists and five Digital Analysts. They are:

Lachlan Hibbert-Wells, joining as a Digital Strategist from Daemon Group where he was a Digital Planning Director;
Megan Anhalt, joining as a Digital Strategist from US-based DoSomething.org, where she was Director of Media and Talent Relations;
Mitch Phillips, joining from OMD as a Digital Analyst to work across a number of the practice’s consumer and natural resources sector clients;
Gregory Tan, joining as a Digital Analyst from an online retail start-up in Melbourne;
Mark Redshaw, joining as a Digital Analyst after three years as a researcher and sub-editor at online business information service, IRD Group;
Melanie Vaz, joining as a Digital Analyst after working in Ogilvy PR since 2009. She is currently completing Award School through the Communications Council;
Nathalie Bulsing, joining as a Digital Analyst following four years as a microbiological analyst in The Netherlands.

Ogilvy 360˚ Digital Influence is Ogilvy’s industry-leading social media and word of mouth marketing practice designed to help brands in an era of changing sources of influence. It is part of Ogilvy PR Australia, a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.

We are on the hunt for a variety of positions, including Conversation Managers, Digital Strategists and for the right person to lead our team in Melbourne.

Check out the Ogilvy Australia Facebook page and click “work for us” to check out the positions available and to apply!

What’s responsible for winning  four Golden Globes and is used by more than 10 million Australians every month?

You guessed it, Facebook!

Please join me for our next training on Facebook for Business done in collaboration with Citrix Online and SmartBusiness.

The webinar takes place on 2 February at 12 noon Sydney time.  Sign up here (and invite friends!):  http://bit.ly/gcssyT

Last week, Jonathan Nguyen and I presented “Foursquare for Business” as part of Citrix Online and NETT Magazine’s Lunch and Learn series.

The following are several questions that were asked in the exit survey:

Q: That’s great to see you noticed the Oporto special – do you have any recommendations for our next one?
A: No problem! I liked the idea of offering a special after your fifth checkin. For the next time, you might think about offering a 1x special to the mayors of your stores. Or, as someone who’s addicted to your iconic classic chili sauce you might simply give away a free sauce to people for checking in once. (hint hint) The lower the “ask” (ie just check in 1x or 2x) the more response you’ll get from customers. Be great to see a case study down the road about whether you’ve noticed an increase in foot traffic to your stores as a result of the Foursquare promotion – might even make a great webinar!

Q: What’s the cost of using Foursquare for my business?
A: There’s generally no cost involved in using Foursquare. Creating a page for your business is free, as is adding a deal or special offer to your business’ page on Foursquare. Foursquare does charge for creating a branded landing page and customised badges… but to be honest if you’ve got a great incentive or reason for using Foursquare these paid options are often not necessary.

Q: When did Foursquare launch?
A: Foursquare was officially launched in 2009 at South by Southwest. Check out the About Foursquare page for their full history!

Q: Don’t forget Australia takes a while to catch on to things, the more we do, the more they’ll realise people want it. Catch 22 unfortunately!
A: Easy, killer! One of the things that’s impressed me about Oz since coming here is that we’re actually ahead of the curve more than people think. The MSFT Office Mayor Meetup was a bit of a world first, we’ve been the most facebook addicted country in the world for awhile (my favourite nielsen stat).

More to come… But if you have a question for us leave a comment below!

The wait is over! Finally, after many painful weeks of watching my US mates and colleagues use Facebook Places, it has finally arrived in Australia today.

I asked Jonathan Nguyen, one of the crack strategists on my team in Sydney, what he thought the impact of Facebook Places in Australia. Here is what he said:

So what’s going to happen to Foursquare? Who knows. The people who are using Foursquare today are roughly the same crowd that were using Facebook and Twitter about four years ago – not to mention the gaming advantage that it has with “mayorships” and badges. So there’s every chance that it will continue to grow in usage and popularity.

One big advantage that Facebook Places has, of course, is a natural audience of more than 9 million Australians who spend more than eight hours per month on Facebook. That’s quite a few checkins waiting to happen!