The iPhone is not just a fun phone to have. It’s actually a great tool for business owners. Among the millions of apps available, there’s some that are very useful for businesses, especially if you are a small business owner who needs to stay on top of things. Since social networking has reached an all time high, it was only a matter of time before the need to stay connected through your iPhone became a must. The rise of social media has helped news spread like wildfire and in order to keep up with the newest topics, you’ll need to download these 10 social apps for your iPhone as soon as possible.

1. Facebook: The Facebook for iPhone app currently has 45,907,786 active users, a number that is growing every day. This app will allow you to keep up with your business’s Facebook fan page wherever you are. Check out your news feed, update your profile, check your messages and see what your fans are saying about your company all from your mobile phone.

2. LinkedIn: LinkedIn for the iPhone allows you to put your professional network in the palm of your hands, literally. Connect with over 50 million professionals worldwide in real-time. Imagine yourself walking into a client meeting with the ability to look up the profile of your new contact and make a permanent connection online. The LinkedIn app allows you to find the person, information or company that can help you close a deal and allows you to get the latest updates from your contacts, interact and respond to them any time from any location.

3. Hootsuite: Use your Hootsuite iPhone app to manage multiple Twitter accounts, update your Facebook profile and fan pages, translate Twitter messages from over 50 languages and schedule messages to send. You can also add geo-location coordinates to your tweets to let your employees and customers know where you are.

4. WordPress: Manage your company blog from your iPhone with the WordPress for iPhone app. Moderate comments and create and edit posts and pages quickly and easily from any location.

5. Foursquare: Keep up with your Foursquare account from your iPhone with this app. You’ll be able to see where your employees, friends and clients are in your city or surrounding cities. Get notification updates to your phone too. Also you’ll be able to view a social city-guide that helps you find nearby places that will reward you for stopping by or near. It’s easy to become the “mayor” of your favorite spot when you can update your account from your phone.

6. Twitteriffic: This Twitter app features a built-in browser that lets you follow tweeted links without leaving the application. Users can post tweets to their account, view other tweets from contacts and update a location. There’s a free (ad-supported) version as well as a paid version.

7. MySpace: The MySpace iPhone app allows you to stay in touch with your social network, send and receive messages, view your contacts and read their statuses as well as upload photos from phone.

8. YouTube: Browse and view millions of videos from any location on your mobile phone with the YouTube iPhone app. Access account favorites and playlists, search for videos, share and comment on videos and upload videos while on the go.

9. Mashable: This app allows you to keep up with the latest coverage from Mashable’s Web site wherever you may be. The Mashable app allows you to have the most current information on the Web 2.0 and social media world sent right to your mobile phone.

10. StumbleUpon: Use the StumbleUpon app to get the best stories on the Web sent right to your phone. Every time you click Stumble!, you will be shown sites that have been chosen just for you based on the preferences you set. You’ll also be able to see which sites millions of users recommend. Keep up with the best news in your industry with this app.

Using these social networking apps will keep you connected to the news in your industry as well as allow you to engage your employees, clients and potential customers, whether you’re sitting in traffic or sipping coffee brainstorming your next big business move.

When talking about the online marketing trends for 2010, most marketers have predicted location trends will be the future! Location-based Internet marketing is of great importance both for your search engine optimisation and social media marketing strategy.

Using location-based Internet marketing in search engine marketing strategy has become very important for businesses these days. Location-based navigation is greatly used among search engines and mobile device makers. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing are already using location features as to help you narrow down the results to the searcher’s country. They are looking to localize Web searching as to make it more relevant for the searcher and draw more regional advertising. It is also predicted that GIS Latitude and Longitude coordinates within web sites will soon become an absolute necessity for everyone performing e-commerce via the Internet.

Location-based Internet marketing is becoming increasingly important also for your social media marketing strategy! Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Yelp. WordPress. YouTube. Foursquare. Gowalla. Myspace. Constant Contact. They are all content-generating platforms that focus to some extent on location features. Facebook allows you to be part of a location-based networked (e.g. London, New York) and to search people based on their location. LinkedIn also allows you to specify your location as to make it possible for professionals from the same region to search you. The location feature is available for most social networks and they are all working as to improve it!

Two of the social networks which have taken their location-based feature to a new level, are Twitter and Foursquare. At the very beginning of 2010 Twitter introduced a location trend feature that allows users to follow local trending topics on Twitter. It is a great way to find out what people are talking about around the world and has got a great feedback from users.

Another social network that specialises on the use of location is Foursquare. Identified by Mashable as ‘the future Twitter’, Foursquare is a location-based service based on your Twitter network with an added layer of social game play.

Importance of Foursquare for Businesses:

* Use it to explore your neighbourhood and then reward people for doing so. It combines their friend-finder and social city guide elements.
* Use it as a game mechanics – users can earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favourites.

Location-based Internet marketing is one of the hottest trends at the moment and can be used very effectively by both small and larger businesses. When designing your social media marketing strategy and search engine marketing strategy, this new feature should be included. Please share with us your experience with location-based Internet marketing! We look forward to reading your opinions!