How many times have you heard that phrase?  Whether it is your banker or Donald Trump telling you, location is one of the most important things to remember when investing in real estate or opening a storefront business.

Well guess what?  That phrase is now coming to the Internet and mobile phones.  I know, you are saying, Chris, what the heck are you talking about.  How can location be important when I am on my mobile phone.  Well it is hear and it looks like it is the next big thing.  Remember Facebook?  Remember Twitter?  Well remember this name....Gowalla.

Gowalla is a location-based social networking game that launched in March 2009. Gowalla uses a large catalog of virtual goods to encourage its users to go places and meet people.  Here is a quick video on how Gowalla works.

Over the weekend I watched a video by Kevin Rose, founder of Digg and WeFollow. Rose also co-founded Revision3, and Pownce (acquired by Six Apart).  Kevin goes into great detail on how he sees the power in apps. like Gowalla and Foursquare

Here is the video.

A few things I picked up from his video:

1. Location based tools are very hot with early adopters right now.  Just like Twitter and Facebook were.
2. Building a massive CRM database for all businesses, with a very power referral engine.
3. Gowalla uses GPS, so you don't even have to type in the location, it knows you are there.
4. Great way to see where your friends are without even calling or texting.
5. Businesses can really promote special deals and reward people who visit their location often.
6. Unlike Twitter where you share knowledge, Gowalla you actually share physical locations with friends.