The very first step to getting your brand started on foursquare is setting up an account. It seems simple enough, but there are three things you should pay attention to to make sure you’re maximizing your visibility on foursquare.

1. Put your organization’s entire name in the first name field. To protect user privacy, foursquare only shows a user’s last initial until you become friends with that user. The last name field, though, isn’t required. If you split your organization’s name, users who aren’t your friend will only see the last initial on your profile page, like Go Encinitas did in the screenshot at right. You don’t want users to have any question about who you are before they add you as a friend. Putting your organization’s name in just the first name field solves the problem.
2. Link your Twitter account to create a username. Foursquare user accounts that aren’t linked to a Twitter account get an ugly string of numbers for their user ID (like Downtown Muncie’s -103781 above). To make your profile easier for users to find, link it to your Twitter account from the foursquare Settings page.
3. Create a foursquare-friendly profile picture. If you simply upload your logo, foursquare will squeeze it to fit a 75×75 pixel square. This can create a squished look like Go Encinitas’ logo above. Create a square version of your logo for the best results. You’ll want to make sure it’s readable at both 75×75 pixels and at the 30×30 pixel size used in friend lists.

Do you have any other tips for brands setting up their foursquare profiles for the first time?

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