Just recently Chris Brogan posted on Google+:

Mmmm. Yummy salad from Subway! (not an ad)

So what? Just a statement, nothing wrong right? Yep, we are in the same boat.
But some users thought they need to pin this post as an advertisement. I guess Chris knew that already before and tried to take distance with the addition: “(not an ad)”

The result: He had to mention it again and again: It’s not an ad.

It is interesting, as a public person you always have to watch our for your posts. What do you post and what do you mention.

Remember the big story about Chris actually making money in his life? Hint: Webinar!

I need to be honest and maybe I’m not making new friends but I had a very good laugh about that. I wonder how some other guys survive their day without making money…

Is a public person allowed to use a brand name within it’s posts? Do we see this as an advertisement?

Honestly, I don’t care! But it seems quite a lot other guys do care about this. Just a few seconds ago there has been a new post published by Chris.

It really seems some guys have uncircled him cause he told his followers what he was eating today…

Well, what should I say about this?

I follow his input and posts and I don’t care about mentioning Subway’s or any other brand in his streams.

What did Guy Kawasaki mentioned in one of his recent posts:

Last time I checked, this was my feed. I believe in freedom of feed. “

So let it be!

Let’s get inspired by those guys who we are following and leave the “Don’t make money!” or “Don’t mention the brand of your food” stuff behind us.

Right, I’m Nick Rock, I love McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, etc and I took position, now uncircle me. Oh wait, I’m not a public figure so you even wouldn’t care…

Let’s take an example: Foursquare lets you checkin to different spots and you are able to spread the word about this to all your foursquare friends and linked services such as Facebook. So all your friends actually know where you are at the very moment.

So what’s the story about Forecast?

As you may guess from it’s name, it creates a forecast of all your upcoming check-ins which is broadcast to all your Forecast friends.

Let’s take an example:

I’m going tonight to a Mexican Bar in Frankfurt and would like to have my friends joining me over there. So all I do is creating a forecast with the information that I will be there around 9pm. Now my friends will receive a push-notification about my upcoming checkin at Sausalitos (the Mexican Bar).

The app takes all necessary spot information from foursquare and it will show your favorite checkins as well.

You can leave a message to your forecast as well and your friends are able to communicate with you.

Here are some screenshots, courtesy of Forecast:

The idea is great and a fantastic addition IF:

• You have only close friends on foursquare
• You have friends on foursquare
• You don’t mind leaving some privacy aspects behind you

The service is currently in beta and invitations are only sent via foursquare friends.

One thing needs to be mentioned: If you have, let’s say, 20 friends on Forecast, there is a big chance that you will receive notifications again and again. To prevent this, go to the settings menu and just mute some heavy Forecast friends or those who you are not interested in.

The app is currently only available for iOS.
iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/foreca.st/id442637569

Let the spontaneous meet ups begin. What do you think about this new service?