This is cool.  Read this post in TC: Foursquare Shows The Business Potential Of Location-Based Services

The idea is if you go to a place and check in with foursquare enough, you will be rewareded with free food, drinks, services, whatever..

What I like is this idea of tracking and rewarding users that help drive traffic to a location.  So how does foursquare drive traffic?  Simple.  When you somewhere and login via foursquare, a messages is sent out (to those who want it, I have it turned off myself) as to your location.. Bam!  Free adverts!  I have a feeling they will do better then just the ‘Mayor’ of a town getting freebees.  Perhaps the Mayor and the next 5 down or something.  Now THIS is a great use of social media to drive traffic.

Now here is the funny part.. This this NOT foursquares idea!  It came from the merchants. Since I can block the ‘push’ updates from foursquare, its total buy in averts.  I just may use foursquare a bit more in future if I can get rewarded for doing so.

Now for those of you who do not know what foursquare is; a quote from the site..

#1. Find Your Friends!

If you tell us where you are, we can tell you which of your friends are nearby. We call this “checking-in”. You can check-in from a park, bar, museum, restaurant, whatever.
Right now there are 3 ways to check-in:

+ Check-in using our hot hot hot iPhone app! [download here]

+ Check-in on your mobile browser at: http://m.playfoursquare.com (bookmark it!)

+ Check-in by texting 50500 (like this: @ Ace Bar ! Playing skeeball)

Of course, this works best when all your friends are on foursquare. To find your friends, click here.

#2. Points and Badges!

Every check-in earns you points! Interesting check-ins earn you badges. The more you explore, the more you unlock… you’ll see. 🙂

#3. Explore the City!

+ Think “urban mix tape“. We made a little system that allows you to track all the cool things to do in NYC – both the things you’ve done (your “Top 12”) and the things you want to do (your “To-Do” list).

+ We’re not looking for reviews here… Think less “the food here is top notch!” and more “Go here, do this” or “Eat here, order this” (for example: “Go to Dumont Burger, order the Mac and Cheese”). Remember, you’ve only got 12 slots, so fill ’em with the 12 coolest things you can think of in NYC.