Business is going Hollywood. We caught the first glimpse of this a few years back when Donald Trump created The Apprentice. At that time, TV was the big medium (and still is) for getting video-based content out into the world. Trump was a well-established business person, and somewhat of a celebrity already. He was looked at as unique for his ability to infiltrate Hollywood as nothing more than a businessman.
Now, as time has passed, ONLINE VIDEO is picking up more and more steam. It’s allowing once unknown business leaders to become celebrities. It’s getting to the point that business leaders are becoming as popular as movie stars (well perhaps not yet, but soon, very soon). Chris Brogan is a HUGE business celebrity. He has a big-time following of business professionals and business owners. Same with Mike Michalowitz – The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Then you have guys like David “Siteman” Garland who is an big-time up & comer with his own online video show. All three of these business leaders use online video to spread their ideas and educate their readers. Thankful fans hungrily chase the next bit of news from, or about, their favorite business leaders. As their popularity grows within their own niche, their reach expands, and eventually these successful business leaders will hit a tipping point in their celebrity and they will become as Hollywood as Matt Damon and Rachel McAdams. By recognizing this trend, as a small business owner, or heck, a 12 year old middle-schooler for that matter, you have the opportunity to grow your local brand into BIG-TIME, SUPERSTAR BRAND.
The biggest key to the college student working on a side project, or business owner looking to grow her business, to becoming a star is their ability to use video to communicate their message, just as Hollywood stars use video to communicate their acting talent. Video, more than other content forms, captures personality and creates a deeper connection with the audience. Due to decreasing video production and distribution costs, everyone can become an online video celebrity. Do you have a crazy lead Chef at your restaurant that you’ve always said, this guy could have his own show? Well, give him his own show. Create a YouTube Channel and turn your lead Chef into the next Emeril Lagasse. Are you a quirky fashion designer with passionate ideas about the future of fashion in America? Create your own Future of Fashion Channel on YouTube and start blasting out videos about fashion. Do you walk dogs for a living? Start recording your “Doggy Adventures” and publish those videos to your YouTube Channel. Start educating dog owners about the benefits of exercise for dogs.
What I’m hoping to get across here is that there’s an audience out there for everyone, no matter what business you’re in. Start positioning yourself as the next big thing in your market. Capture your local market first – go Hollywood in your community, and then begin branching out. One great way to help your small business go Hollywood is through the use of online video, which shares many benefits with TV, for a small fraction of the costs.
What if FourSquare offered code for online businesses to serve up on their e-commerce website. The code would display a “Check-In on FourSquare” button on every page of the e-commerce site – think ReTweet button for Twitter. Now, whenever a consumer lands on a page within a website that she wants to share with her network, she can simply Check-In at the Website by clicking the FourSquare Check-In button. The code, like the ReTweet code for Twitter, would be open to large e-tailers like Amazon all the way to small blogs and e-commerce sites. 
Each and every time you produce a new blog post, a new video, or audio program, there may be some followers who find the content so off-target that they actually stop following your business online. The other day I was on Twitter and clicked on a link that was tweeted by one of my followers. The link brought me to his blog and I read the post. The post was riddled with assumptions, had spelling and grammar mistakes, and was simply uninformative. Just like that, I stopped following this individual on Twitter. If I had been subscribed to his blog, I would have unsubscribed. 
As a business owner, you are probably starting to see the power of FourSquare for business. The more people you get to “check-in” at your local business, the better. Basically those customers who check-in at your local business on FourSquare, just helped you market your business. The cost to you, $0.