When you're searching for something on the internet you'll notice that a vast majority of the time the first or second entry on Google's search engine results page will be a Wikipedia link. To date, Wikipedia boasts an impressive 16 million articles, of which 3.3 million are in English. Currently, it is one of the largest and most popular reference sites available on the net. A large network of Wiki editors review all articles that are submitted and use a group approval system to determine if content will be published, or in some cases, banned.

Because Wikipedia is a wiki, anyone with access to a computer and a Wikipedia account can make edits to posted entries. It’s important to remember that jus because you post an article, you don’t own it and updates and changes can be made by others at large.

Although writing a Wikipedia article seems like an utterly simple task you’ll need to know a few basics in order to prevent your content from being deleted. Before you begin make sure that you’re writing from a neutral point of view (NPOV). The best way to approach a NPOV is to make your entry mirror what it would look like if you were to read it in a traditional encyclopedia. The content that you submit should be unbiased, verifiable, noteworthy and not breach copyright.

Wikipedia is a social community and it takes the content that users submit very seriously. If you’re not able to draft an article that follows Wiki’s protocols it will more than likely be deleted. The other thing to keep in mind is that not every brand, service or product can produce an entry that acceptable by Wiki standards for the simple reason that vanity, promotion and opinion are not looked upon favorably.

Before You Begin

If you’re still feeling optimistic enough to craft a Wiki article you’ll want to do the following first:

• Search Wikipedia to confirm that an article doesn’t already exist.
• Use alternate search terms just in case your article is labeled under a different heading.
• Determine if your article is verifiable and noteworthy before you begin writing it.
• Create a user account if you don’t presently have one.
• Aim for an article that is a minimum of 1500 characters, but no more than 4,000 words.
• Practice entering your article with the Wikipedia Sandbox first.

Actual Writing

Building your first Wiki article does take a bit of planning. You’ll want to structure your article so that it reads in chronological order. Next, make sure to gather your references and credible sources that you can cite to support what you’re saying. As you write, reference other Wiki articles by including links to them. This helps to substantiate your article and it cross-promotes other reference material on Wikipedia.

When you’re ready to submit your article to Wikipedia, you might be surprised to discover that you’ll need to use Wiki-style codes to achieve specific text attributes like boldface, italics and bullet points. Check out the cheat sheet so that you have an understanding of what needs to be input to achieve your desired result on the user end.

Even though Wikipedia sounds like a marketing dream come true you'll learn that it doesn't quite work the same way that a brochure or brand website does. Wiki entries are not promotional landing pages for businesses or individuals. Entries are informational and neutral and quite the opposite of a marketing tool. Once you make that connection you'll be able to assemble a solid piece that meets the criteria set forth by Wikipedia.

Word To The Wise

If you submit a Wiki entry and it gets deleted and then you make edits to the same entry and continue to resubmit in an effort to get it published, you run the risk of being permanently banned and blacklisted from Wikipedia. Instead of repeating the same mistakes read over the guidelines and look at current entries to get a better sense and understanding of what an entry should sound, read and look like.

From Denmark to Detroit, social media is a worldwide phenomenon that seems to be part addiction and part necessity. With Facebook's recent announcement that it's hit 500 million users and Twitter's move toward advertising with @earlybird it's becoming more apparent that if you want to get the word out about your business you need to step into the social media arena. However, all the excitement about social media doesn't mean much if you can't decipher what it means and what it's doing. Analytics to social media are like a compass to a navigator - if you don't understand where you're at you won't know where to go.

If the thought of analytics and numbers makes you shudder you're not alone. There are more people than not who feel intimidated by numerical data. The two toughest aspects of social media analytics are interpreting information and deciding what analytic tools best meet your needs. Fortunately, basic analytics doesn't require a PhD in statistics and the internet is filled with outstanding free tools and resources to help make metric crunching easy. So, if you can't afford enterprise-level services like Scout Labs, Radian6 or Sysomos, you'll want to check out some of the freebies below to help you get a grip on your analytics.

Blogs

Use PostRank to help rank your blog content and news and and to determine what your fans are reading, sharing and organizing. It also identifies what your most popular posts are in your RSS feed.

Think of BlogPulse as a search engine for blogs and their posts. It's similar to Technorati, but it provides additional views such as trending and conversations so that you can see search competitive topics and how other blogs are ranking.

Comments

Beyond standard search for keywords and brand names you’ll want to penetrate what’s being discussed in blog commenting systems too. That’s where YackTrack comes in. Simply enter your keywords or terms to see a nicely organized list that you can drilldown to get specific mentions from.

Branding

One of the more substantial branding tools available is Social Mention. It aggregates user generated content from across multiple social media platforms and streamlines outcomes into a very simple and easy to interpret web page. The one thing Social Mention doesn't do is show a report over time. A work around this missing feature is to create an Excel spreadsheet and manually enter daily data that you gather. Otherwise, it's a great (and free) tool.

Perhaps more of an entertainment tool rather than a true metric evaluator, How Sociable measures your brand's keywords throughout 32 different social media sites. There's some confusion around the 'visibility score' that How Sociable has developed and not all data appears to be accurate. For example, if you run a search on iPhone it yields a visibility score of 9,453 and a Google PageRank score of zero. Odd to say the least. Looks like brand visibility metrics might have a few glitches, but it’ still worth exploring.

Trends & Topics

Head over to Addict-o-Matic and enter a unique search term, brand or product name or just about anything and it will perform a search that delivers the buzz (or results) broken down by social media platform. It's a very convenient snapshot that let's you look at your social reach and the social sites where you have more presence in comparison to others.

Twitter

There are so many Twitter tools available that deciding which one to use can be a daunting task. For the purpose of benchmarking your brand against your competition, Twitalyzer is ideal. It shows you what social media strategies are working and what’s not, which makes it easy to adjust social media campaigns to maximize better results.

The power of influence is a core component in any social media campaign. Knowing who has better reach and strength and engaging with them can help persuade your audience to promote your brand. Klout measures influence as it relates to your brand through Twitter. You can identify which customers and communities are more likely to become brand evangelists and work with them to drive conversations.

Another hand Twitter tool is TweetStats. You can graph how many tweets per hour, day and month, as well as look at your tweet timeline and reply statistics. TweetStats is a fantastic way to track your level of interaction and look at areas that need improvement.

Google

Google Analytics (GA) may leave you feeling unnerved, but it actually does a tremendous job on tracking numbers and data. We'll save GA how-tos for a future post. In the meantime, use PageRank Checker to see what Google thinks of your site. Using a scale from zero to 10, with 10 holding the most authority, you can run a quick search to find out how you rank.

In order for GA to actually work on your website you need to install tracking code on each page that you want the Google bot spiders to crawl. To make sure that you've set-up your code use SiteScan to confirm that you've performed a correct installation. Although SiteScan and PageRank Checker aren't direct analytic tools they are helpful in gauging Google-related tasks and standards.

Competitive

Quarkbase has been touted as the ‘imdb.com for websites’. By entering a website’s URL you are presented with names of people associated with the site, traffic data, social popularity, site description and sites that are similar. This is one of the best free competitive research tools available. Data can be used to help you better position your brand and establish goals and objectives.

There you have it. Granted, there are so many tools, free and paid, that accessible on the web, we hope that this short list gets you moving in the right direction.

What are some of the other free tools that you're using? How do you make them work for your brand and what do you like best about them? Share with us.

A little over two months ago, the social network platform Ning made social media headlines when it announced that its longtime CEO would be stepping down and that its free service model was being nixed (don’t forget that 40 percent of Ning’s staff was laid off too). The company has officially announced its new tiered pay models to the public. Well, what if you’re someone who really enjoyed what the free version of Ning had? Maybe you’re a little disappointed that payment is required and you want to explore other options. Luckily you can. There are actually quite a few alternative platforms to Ning, but rather than bombarding you with all of them (save that one for a future post), let’s just take a quick peek at one of them. Today’s spotlight is on BigTent. The account interface to set-up BigTent looks fresh and clean. Plenty of support available online to help newbies get up and running in no time. The best part is that BigTent is free. No fees, just a place for folks to gather together which is why it’s worth reviewing. BigTent's positioning itself against Yahoo! Groups as a competitor and the contrasts are visually and verbally communicated throughout BigTent’s site. If you’re well-versed in Yahoo! Groups the transition to BigTent should be fairly simple. Here’s the skinny on some of its features:

• Buzz page - this is the main page that can be customized to explain what your group is about. You can include photos, videos, calendars and just about anything else to make it your own.
• Forum - organized by threads, members have the option of participating directly to a thread or by email.
• Polling - create a poll and get your members to weigh-in.
• Photos - post and exchange with group members. Always a nice feature to have.
• Filesharing - being able to exchange data through the site turns it into a communication tool that can be used in a variety of other ways.
• Group news - admins can publish announcements, send photos and share links through this feature and they can also send out updates to members directly to their emails.
• Events - complete event coordination can be handled from this location including, payment collection, volunteer assignments, sign-up members for the event and more.
• Shop - more than 30 retail affiliates are linked through this tab and members can purchase from iTunes, Benefit Cosmetics and Chico’s, just to name a few.
• Members - click on other member profiles to learn more about each other and connect with people who share common interests.
• Reviews & Classifieds - this is a place where members can share their opinions on products and services, as well as post items that they have for sale. Might not be a feature that every group needs, but it’s available if you want it.
• Subgroups - this helps organize and nurture the interest of group members. It’s a separate place to discuss and exchange ideas with the same functionalities as the Buzz page.

Some of the other features of BigTent let you collect group dues and manage the membership process, as well as increase membership by sending email invites and setting up a sign-up box widget on your blog or website for people to sign-in and join. So far, BigTent seems to be a good solution for Ning users who are wondering where to go. Again, there are quite a few alternative sites available and each has its pros and cons. The nice thing about so many options is that there’s something out there for everyone.

Let us know about your experiences with BigTent or other social networking platforms. We’re always interested in learning more.

Back in the early days of instant messaging (IM), users could only IM other users through the same IM platform. If you were using AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) then you could only chat with another AIM member. Thankfully, that's no longer the case. There are a variety of chat clients available that provide multi-client support to enable you and your pals to IM regardless of the IM service that they're using. Why would you want to use IM? For a variety of beneficial reasons. IM allows instant communication between people, which can save time and money. No long distance charges apply and it transmits information quickly to simulate the natural flow of conversation. It can reduce the amount of email sent, conference calls scheduled and IM is capable of holding multiple sessions with many people. IM can also be integrated into your existing website, which makes it a fantastic customer service tool. There are more than 80 chat client applications available and each one has its pros and cons. The list was whittled down based on social media integration, multi-client platform capabilities and number of supported chat networks. Knowing what chat clients are available and what some of their key features are can be helpful in determining what will be the best solution for you. NOTE: Most of these applications have mobile access from your handheld, however, not all mentions were included in this blog post. Here’s an alphabetical roll call that features six of the best:

Adium

Let me start with an apology to my PC peeps. The first chat client on the list is for Mac users only (promise that the remaining reviews will be more embracing of both operating systems). Adium started in September 2001 and has grown rapidly among Mac users in terms of popularity. One of Adium’s more notable features involves contact management. Contacts can be combined, which allows you to merge your contacts so that each one represents a person, not an account. A great way to keep things organized. Customizing Adium is accomplished through a suite of Xtras. Everything from layout and themes to sounds, emoticons and message styles. The sky’s the limit with Adium. One of the main reason for using Adium is that it integrates with Facebook Chat and Twitter. This makes it incredibly convenient to monitor direct messages from Twitter and IMs from Facebook through one central location. The Twitter Currently, Adium is 100% freeware and it supports more than 17 chat networks.

Digsby

By a huge margin, Digsby is one of the most comprehensive multi-client chat clients available. First off, it plays well with Windows, Mac and Linux. Next, its features are so robust that not listing some of the standouts would be a disservice.

• Chat with visitors and friends by placing a widget on your blog, website or social media profile
• Manage your Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP and POP accounts from Digsby
• Manage multiple conversations with tabbed windows
• Use a combined buddy list for all your contacts regardless of chat platform and rename them with an alias to eliminate hard to remember chat handles like ‘pinkbunny25’
• Audio and video chat availability (good-bye Skype)
• Complete customization with Digsby application skins and themes

Pretty amazing considering that Digsby has only been around since January 2008. So what can it do with your social media networks? Quite a bit. Digsby supports Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. You can receive alerts for new friend requests, messages and event invites, plus get a newsfeed of everyone’s status updates. The bonus of bonuses is that you can update your own status for all four networks with Digsby. A total of seven chat networks are supported including, Windows LIve, AIM, ICQ, MobileMe, XMPP and Yahoo! IM and Facebook Chat.

Meebo

The main difference between Meebo and the other applications reviewed is that Meebo isn’t really a ‘desktop’ chat client. It’s web-based, but can be used through a widget that users can embed in their blogs or websites, as well as the Meebo Bar, which is a gadget that lets users connect to Meebo through the base of a webpage. Meebo’s more of a pseudo-desktop chat client that's housed through your browser. Like the widget, it can be incorporated into the bottom pages of your website. Meebo is IM in a web page. Just go to the Meebo site, login and you’re instantly connected to all of your chat buddies through your Meebo account. The benefit of a web-based client is that you eliminate the hassle of software installation and you always have instant access to IM as long as you can find an internet connection. Meebo offers video and audio chat, as well as file transfer. You could potentially take chatting from something you do with friends to a fresh way to conduct business conference calls and meetings. It’s convenient and flexible.

• Because of Meebo’s online interface, it has an array of fantastic features that can’t be found with other desktop chat clients.
• Mobile access was mentioned earlier, but Meebo is built for iPhone, Android and other web-based handsets.
• Join Meebo rooms to meet and connect with new users, or create a custom Meebo room of your own and feature it on your website or blog. A super way to harness conversations about you and your business in primary place.
• Notifications are sent to an icon in your system tray so you’ll never miss anyone who’s trying to contact you.
• A snappy FireFox extension allows for easy integration of Meebo.
• Have a restricted computer (hardcore firewalls or an IT policing department on steroids)? The Meebo Repeater is a beta version of downloadable software that enables chat when IM access is restricted.
• Excellent analytic tool to monitor and track information about your site.
• Connect your Meebo bar to any social media site and drag headlines and links to share through those sites.

Last but not least, Meebo lets users advertise. You can see one of the ad options in action on the Meebo Bar and click it to see even more. You’ll need to contact Meebo directly to learn more about pricing and program options based on your budget and objectives. Meebo connects you to Facebook and five other chat networks. It would be nice to see Meebo offer additional social media site support, but for now you have access to the biggest of the bunch.

Nimbuzz

With Nimbuzz, users can choose to use it as a desktop chat client for Windows or Mac, a web-based client or mobile client. For users who aren’t looking for all the bells and whistles, or anyone who feels a little intimidated by choices, Nimbuzz is your solution. It’s incredibly lite, maybe too much, like  feather actually, as far as features go. In a nutshell, Nimbuzz supports around 12 chat networks, including Facebook and MySpace (at the time of this writing details on support for Twitter couldn’t be located). Nimbuzz also has a secondary service called NimbuzzOut that works as an internet phone service through their IM application. A better way of explaining this would be to call it Skype with fewer features and branded with a new name. There’s not too much more to share about Nimbuzz, other than it’s a plain and simple multi-client chat product. If you’re new to the world of IM, Nimbuzz could be a good starter application. Once you get situated you may find yourself wanting other features and you can always experiment with a new product as your needs grow.

Trillian Astra

Now it’s my turn to apologize to Mac users - at this time, Trillian Astra is only available for Windows, but a version of Max OS X is in the works. In the meantime, Mac users can still use Trillian and experience it through the web-based version. All is not lost fellow Appleheads. Developed by Cerulean Studios, Trillian Astra a real powerhouse in the desktop chat client realm. The functionality that it delivers makes it a truly outstanding tool and one that you’ll want to have in your social media arsenal. Trillian boasts 450+ features to help organize your online life. Facebook, Twitter and MySpaceIM have been incorporated into Trillian’s social media round-up. An added network that many users see as a ‘deal maker’ is the inclusion of Skype. Through its applications, users can place Skype calls, control group conversations, support multiple identities (nice for personal and business profiles) and work with file transfer protocols. Sweet indeed! Trillian Astra aligns more closely with Digsby. It has many features in common (not all) like support for more than nine chat networks and email capabilities. Customization on the surface is accommodated with plugins, skins and themes and usage management that enables you to optimize performance, have proxy control and hands-on identity and connection management.

VoxOx

VoxOx is one serious hybrid. It’s part Adium, Digsby and Skype all rolled into one interface. You can make phone calls, send IMs and emails, monitor social media, share updates and a whole lot more. A quick summary:

• Social networking
• Text messaging
• Instant messaging
• Voice calling
• File sharing
• Email
• Fax

VoxOx has also kicked it up a notch with their universal translator. Whatever you’re typing can easily be converted into the language of your choice. Check out the VoxOx list to see what countries are supported. Another swanky feature is the VoxOx Personal Assistant (VOPA). She’s the real deal and she also puts celebrity assistants to shame with her admin skills. She can screen your calls, eavesdrop on voicemails to see if you should pick-up or let it roll on through and coordinate fax pick-up. The VOPA also offers a ‘Stalker Feature’ and caller ID spoofing. The Stalker Feature let’s VOPA send out a busy signal, disconnected message or personal greeting recorded for any specific person that you’d like to avoid. Caller ID spoofing let’s you create a customized number that others see when you contact them. You could create something easy to remember or spell out something fun. Endless possibilities. Last, but not least, you can include ringback tones to identify clients, friends or family and set-up on-hold music when calls are in queue. Social media coordination with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace (hey, where’s LinkedIn?) let you share videos, pictures, update your status, chat with friends and reply to Tweets. Now that LinkedIn has opened up its API to developers, VoxOx may integrate this social network in the future.

HONORABLE MENTION

Pidgin is a free downloadable chat client that make is very easy to connect with just about anyone. Pidgin supports 17 different chat networks, however, it’s only available for Mac. It’s been around since 1998 and has more than 3 million users.

Hopefully this list of chat applications works as a nice resource that will help you manage your social media conversations more efficiently. Let us know about others chat applications that you're using. We value your feedback.

Tagging is a popular form of identifying various online materials by attaching words, or metadata, to categorize and describe them. This is beneficial because it helps index items according to common traits and it makes them much easier to find by people who are looking for specific things. Tagging can be applied to just about anything:  photos, videos, music, RSS feeds, even webpages. So, here’s an example of tagging. Let’s say that I have a picture of a lemon (apologies for using a pathetically simple example) and I’ve decided to upload to Flickr and share with the world. I add several tags to the image to make it easier to find, like lemon, citrus, fruit. Now with ‘geo-tagging’ things get kicked up a notch. Geo-tagging uses latitude and longitude coordinates to determine location-specific details in relation to specific items. Using the lemon example, geo-tagging would involve sharing the place where the photo was taken, like Florence, Italy. The great thing about geo-tagging is that it can actually be used as a marketing tool to increase business. Geo-based social media sites are sprouting up all over the internet. Knowing what sites are available and how to use them can be an entertaining way to boost repeat business traffic and get your customers to start buzzing about who you are, what you’re up to and, most importantly, where you’re at. a

Foursquare

Foursquare is one of the big dogs on the geo-based social media scene. Their user base is growing rapidly and it’s a perfect time to jump in and start using their services with a creative twist of your own. Check out How to Market Your Business With Foursquare for some great tips and a thorough explanation on how the social platform actually works. a

Gowalla

Next up is Gowalla. It's very similar to Foursquare in terms of premise and interface, however there are some differences that help set it apart. Gowalla users have to physically be at the location when they're checking-in. GPS verification and geocaching work together to verify that users aren't randomly claiming to be somewhere when they aren't. This is a plus for businesses because customers have to be in your establishment in order to claim a true check-in. So how can you use Gowalla for marketing? Pretty easily.

• Visit your Gowalla business listing and see who's checking-in and visiting your place. Because visitors can choose how they'd like to be contacted, like text, call or email, you have a direct connection to them. Reach out and let them know about your special events and unique offers available exclusively to Gowalla users.
• Take a look at businesses nearby. Connect with some of their visitors and let them know that you've noticed they've been in the neighborhood. Incentivize them by offering 10% off a service or giving away a free product.
• More interaction means more buzz. The purpose of sites like Gowalla is to share information with others. Make your place of business a great experience for Gowalla users and they'll spread the word quickly about you.
• Request a customized icon, or your business logo, for your listing instead of using the generic category images that are provided. It will help distinguish your business.

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Brightkite

The publicity machine may be churning out a ton of spin for Foursquare and Gowalla, but Brightkite has the largest user base among the three applications. Recently, it launched a new group texting tool that lets users communicate with a text message to groups as large as 100 people. It's like being able to hit the 'reply all' button in an email. Instead of having to conduct individual conversations, Brightkite users can rally the troops to meet at a local park for a BBQ or head downtown for some cocktails during happy hour. A super bonus - the service is completely free! No more costly text message fees from your wireless service providers.

• Brightkite is very keen on helping local businesses market themselves. They make it simple to sign-up with a page on their site. Once you've created your listing you'll want to start promoting.
• Print up some window decals and signage to let Brightkite fans know that you recognize them and offer special incentives. Post them conspicuously. Include the a Brightkite badge on your website's homepage. With a little HTML and Brightkite icon, you can post a welcome mat to notify online traffic too.
• Oscar Mayer uses Brightkite to track their Wienermobiles across the country on their hotdoggerblog. A super clever way of showcasing where their business will be so that fans can easily find them. Try implementing a local version for yourself. Let fans know what tradeshow or festival you'll be at, as well as your booth number.
• Advertise with a call-to-action. Special savings are good, but they're even better when you position them with a sense of urgency. Offer 25% off, but only during the hours of 3pm - 5pm on Thursday.

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Loopt

This application is a stand-out because of its compatibility with more than 100 handheld devices. Additionally, Loopt connects with all major US wireless phone networks, like Sprint Nextel, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and others. Might not sound like much, but the more gadget friendly an application is, the broader its audience base will be. Loopt is more than 3 million users strong and counting, which is interesting because this application doesn't include an entertainment component like Gowalla or Foursquare. It's totally game free. Loopt works based off what your friends are doing nearby and telling you what's going on around your current location. It even makes recommendations by looking at events and places that may be of interest and that are in proximity to where you are and what you're doing. A partnership with Zagat and Citysearch include reviews to make more informed choices.

• Your business can use Loopt to target someone who lives or works nearby and create promotions that can be redeemed by phone or optionally via e-mail or text message. This makes it much more convenient for people on the go.
• Set-up a digital raffle where the first 10 Loopt users who visit your location or write a super star review have a chance to win an free Visa gift card or iPod.
• I've said it a thousand times - social media is social. That means engaging with your audience. Posting and offering without interaction doesn't cut it. You have to reach out and talk to people. Tell them about your discounts, invite them to stop by and let them know that you value their patronage and support. A little sugar goes a long way.

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Dreamwalk

The easiest way to share what Dreamwalk is and how it works is to show you. Check out the video below for a quick overview. One of the best things about Dreamwalk is that its founders developed it for the purposes of digital advertising. From the moment it became a concept, the interest of the business owner was first and foremost. This theme is clearly reflected throughout their website which contains an abundance of information. Everything from 10 simple steps to get started to a comprehensive FAQ section.

Dreamwalk has made marketing your business an effortless process. They'll help you craft a campaign for your business or you can visit their idea center to get some inspiration and head out on your own. Either way, Dreamwalk is a great place to start testing your geo-based marketing initiatives. Use it as a starting point to launch your promotions or add it to your existing mix of geo-based applications. This is truly a great application.

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MyTown

This application is one of the most popular among users, partly due to the catchy game that it features. MyTown uses GPS-enabled Monopoly with real physical locations that lets users buy places and collect rent from others who check-in to those venues. Seriously - who doesn't love Monopoly? Unfortunately, compared to the other geo-based applications mentioned, MyTown offers that least amount of information and assistance to business owners. That's a major downfall since business is the driving force behind the application. Currently, business owners can see who's checked-in to their location and obtain their names. The downside here is that the names are pseudonyms or 'game names' so having this data isn't as helpful. Businesses can get involved in promoting their locations by contacting MyTown at:  merchants@booyah.com. For what it's worth, mention that you'd like to see business opportunities expanded and enhanced. Squeaky wheel gets the grease! So why is MyTown being featured if it doesn't seem to be business owner friendly? Well, it's friendly enough, just not bear-hugging-loveable like some of the other applications. As a business owner, getting in on the ground floor with MyTown could be a smart marketing move since it's not saturated with companies who are fighting for the same social space. Contact MyTown for details on how to integrate your business into their application. a

We'd love to know how you're using these services. Please comment and share feedback with us.

The best place to start is probably the most obvious. What exactly is a Twitter list? A Twitter list is a feature that allows you to organize your followers into lists, or groups. It's a great way to organize fellow tweeters into manageable categories for easy access. Getting started with building a list is very simple. There are a few helpful things that are worth knowing before you begin creating your lists. Once you've got some of the basics down, you'll be ready to use them as promotional tools to expand your marketing efforts. Let's start with some ground rules:

1. 1. Lists can be private or public.
2. 2. Twitter users can have up to 20 lists.
3. 3. Each list can have a maximum of 500 listees.
4. 4. List names can't begin with a numerical character.
5. 5. You don't have to follow someone to include them in a list.

Pretty straightforward. Making a list is a snap too. Click on your Twitter profile sidebar, select 'New List' and start adding. Look for the 'lists' button next to any profile, click and you're done. A new listee has been integrated. Pretty simple. Now on to the purpose of this post!

Spy Games

Well, maybe it's not quite spying - more like monitoring, or secretly listening. By creating a list that includes your competition, or similar brands, products and services, you can keep tab on trending topics and discussions. Tracking other tweeters is a great way to learn more about industry challenges and how others are facing them, as well as gain insight and a few tips on customer and client care. All of this is easily accomplished with a private list (remember, you don't have to follow someone to add them to a list).

List Optimization

SEO is everywhere, including Twitter lists. Giving your public Twitter lists appropriate and optimized names can position them at the top of the search engine results pages. So, put some careful thought behind what you'd like to name your Twitter list. Make absolutely certain that once you've decided on a delightful keyword combo you don't change your mind. Reason being is that once you change the name of your list, the URL of the Twitter list changes too. If that happens, you'll lose the tweeters following that list.

Creative Juices Are Sticky

Developing a list for your profile doesn't mean that it has to specifically relate to your business in every aspect. Why not spice things up by developing lists with a twist. First of all, it's unexpected and second, you're allowing yourself the opportunity to expand and engage with new tweeters. Building a list that sticks with tweeters and that's shared with others drives traffic to you. For instance, Jacob Cass' Twitter profile, @justcreative, is aimed at graphic designers. His list, No Blab Just Design Links, is in the Top 140 Twitter lists followed. It ranks as number 51 with 1,025 followers. It's a fun list and the name of it states exactly what it does.

Keep It Relevant

Think of your Twitter lists as extensions of who you are. Use them to build out and express what you can't say in less than 140 characters. As your follower base grows, so do their interests in discovering more about you. Compiling meaningful and purposeful lists that continue to keep followers engaged and that are related to their interests will position you as a credible and respected resource.

Share On Your Web & Blog

Put your list in the limelight with a Twitter widget. Go to the Goodie stash on Twitter and customize your List Widget. Choose the colors, size, featured list and a title and catchy caption. You can do a test run to see how the widget will appear to users before you grab the code to install on your website. Place the List Widget in a conspicuous place and start promoting.

Shameless Promotion

There's no reason why you shouldn't broadcast your newly created list directly to your fellow followers. After all, they're following you because they connect with who you are and what you're sharing. Schedule a tweet or two and share your list for others to follow and enjoy. Just send out your tweet using the following format: @<username>/<listname>

Get Listed

Don't forget to visit Listorious and add your lists to their directory. Listorious was created by Sawhorse Media to keep track of the growing number of Twitter lists that have been created and that are being created. This is also a great place to explore for ideas on assembling your own lists. When you add your list make sure to make use of the 'tags' feature so that Listorious users can find your list by subject and follow you through Twitter.

Toot Your Own Horn

Depending on what your list is about, when you build it, don't forget to include yourself.

Added Exposure

When you're added to someone's list, it's flattering. You're being recognized as someone that's sharing good information and it brands you as a resource. In turn, that makes you more credible, which is always a good thing. Starting a list of your own and adding specific people to follow has the same effect on them. It expands your circle of influence and builds up your network. What lists are you currently following? What makes them standout? Share your thoughts and comments below.

Over the past few years local search has been dominating the search engines. Google, Yahoo and Bing are seeing droves of people turning toward the internet to conduct searches for brands, products and services within their local areas. Just to give you an idea, published numbers indicate that more than 10 billion local searches are conducted each month. Clearly, local search marketing has enormous potential to attract a large share of customers to your website and business. Flipping through the Yellow Pages is a thing of the past. Web users are becoming more sophisticated with local search criteria. By including identifiers to make searches more focused to a particular location, the search engines are able to retrieve local information. As a business, if you're not using local search, you're losing out. Use these local search marketing suggestions to promote your business and capture your fair share of customers.

1. List Your Business

If you want to be found you need to go where people can find you. That means including your business listing in the local directories with Google, Yahoo and Bing. In addition to the listing with the big dogs, you'll need to expand your local listing circle and include your business with other sites too. This increases your online presence by making you more visible. Here's a list to get things started:  Citysearch.com, Superpages.com, Insiderpages.com, Yellowpages.com, iBegin.com and Brownbook.com.

2. Stake Your Claim

After you've published your listing you'll need to return to each site and claim your listing. This proves that you're the site owner and helps reduce spam activity and fraudulent posting. It often requires nothing more than a simple email verification or PIN activation via automated phone call. Make sure that you claim each listing so that you can make edits and changes to your listings in the future.

3. Keep It Consistent

Every local listing should feature the exact same business name. For instance, if you own a coffee shop, let's call it Beverly's Coffee House, then that's what each and every listing should reflect in the title. Don't abbreviate and call it Bev's Coffee on some and not on others. This is one instance where being exactly the same is a good thing.

4. Optimize-A-Go-Go

The SEO acronym has been tossed around more than a football during Superbowl. SEO stands for search engine optimization and it's a component of internet marketing that utilizes several techniques and strategies to build awareness of a website and elevate its ranking with the search engine. When it comes to your local listings, including keyword optimizing the areas that you can (company description, bio, etc.) can make a difference in the local search results that are returned.

5. Build Links & Include Citations

Links are pretty much just that - links to your website that are featured or placed with other sites. Citations are nothing more than mentions of your business or site. Through the search engine's eyes, links and citations are extremely valuable and heavily determine your ranking. Two sites that every business should take advantage of are Yelp and Merchant Circle. These user review websites are highly in the top 100 ranked websites (not bad considering there are more than 233 million active websites and counting) and that means that the search engines have determined them to be credible. You can use these sites to fill-up your citation satchel and having yourself listed with them helps with linking.

6. Request Reviews & Get Rated

As often as you can, as your customers to leave reviews and share feedback regarding their experiences. Of course we'd all love glowing, five-star reviews, but that's not always the case. There will be times when a disgruntled person will pop-up and express themselves. This is absolutely not a bad thing. Remember that while you can't control what someone thinks or has to say about your business, product or service, you can engage in a conversation and ask them how you can make things better. This goes along way in showing other potential clients how you respond and remedy situations.

7. Picture Perfect

You don't have to turn you local listing into a gallery at the Louvre, but including a few images and videos will spruce up your listings appearance. Although photos aren't necessarily what drives search engine ranking, people tend to click on local listings with imagery much more often than those without. Share your logo, a snapshot of your storefront or any thing else that might help you stand out.

8. Categorically Speaking

Most local listing sites allow you to describe what you do be choosing two to five categories. Some sites have extensive category lists that feature every occupation and industry under the sun, and others have only a handful. Limitations can make it difficult to choose what category you should be in. If this happens, try not to drill down to a sub-category and stick with the primary. For example, if you're a boutique shoe store, but you can't find shoe category, post yourself under retail.

9. Local PPC

Good ol' online advertising can supplement your local listing by featuring geo-targeted keywords. Pay per click (PPC) has incredible tracking and measurability that makes it easy to see what's working and what's not. The concept of PPC appears to be simple and straightforward, but it can be tricky to execute a good campaign. Do a bit of homework or consider seeking out the services of a professional to ensure that you're maximizing your dollars and ad listing locations.

10. Stay Positive

Local search marketing is the place to be for any business. Unlike SEO which can take a considerable amount of time to generate high-ranking results, local search does it differently. There's not nearly as much competition and result are based on your map location. Not impressed? Well, this might change your mind. Local map results are always at the top of the search result pages and that gives you the opportunity to be at the top of the pack and the page. Do you have other helpful local search marketing techniques that you're trying? Share with us. We want to hear from you.

The vast majority of people have pretty tall orders to fill when it comes to their balancing their personal and professional lives. There's a lot that needs to get done and we don't alway have enough time to do it in. It's a bit of juggling act and keeping all those balls up in the air can become exhausting rather quickly. From a business perspective, the challenges of fulfilling your daily duties, responding to clients and keeping up with the competition isn't always easy, and when you add another 'to do' like social media to the mix it makes it seem like a downright impossible task. Here's the skinny - social media doesn't have to be a burden. In fact, it shouldn't even be a dreaded endeavor. You don't need to push social media to the back burner due to lack of time. The great thing about social media is that it's easily accessible and with a little bit of focus and planning, it can be tackled quickly and easily.

1. Take Advantage of Technology

Being able to access the internet doesn't require a dial-up connection. Thanks to handheld devices, laptops and Wi-Fi you can grab a signal from just about anywhere. This portable accessibility makes it very convenient to pop-in and visit your social media profiles, make a post, send a tweet and monitor activity.

2. Use Your Down Time

Obviously, this is something that most of us don't have, otherwise there wouldn't be a need to share insight on how to make more time. However, when you really think about it there plenty of moments where we're not necessarily engaged in an activity or task. Think about all the times you've waited  at an appointment, sat in an airport, taken a cab ride or stood in line. Maximize those minutes and do a little social media networking. Every bit helps.

3. Plan It Out

It might be a business plan for your start-up, a grocery list for this week's meals or a travel itinerary for your upcoming vacation - what all these things have in common is they're really planning tools to help keep you focused and on track. Same thing goes for social media. Carve out an hour or two each week to plan out your schedule for posting, sharing tips and outlining what you want to accomplish. Create a social media calendar to get yourself organized and plan what you're daily activities in advance.

4. Focus On What Matters

You wouldn't play left field in a game of baseball and walk of the field during the game to check out what the hot dog vendor's got cooking. You need to stay focused on winning the game and that means concentrating on what's in front of you. Social media is full of distractions and temptations. If you give in to participating in every Facebook quiz that's sent your way there's a good chance that you aren't going to optimize your social media time. Look at the conversations that are important and build on them. Network with people who are going to make a difference in your bottom line. You're guaranteed to feel a sense of accomplishment as a result of your efforts.

5. Keep Calm & Carry On

There are no social media rules that state you must write a blog post each and every day. If you don't have time or skip a few days that's fine. Don't let it consume you. Take a deep breath, exhale and put some thought behind what you'd liked to share moving forward. We're all busy, including your fellow social media followers and all of us understand that sometimes that's the way things go.

6. Tame The Chaos

At times, social media can be overwhelming when you're trying to keep track of all those tweets, blog posts, diggs and buzzes. Using some of the online and downloadable tools that are available to manage multiple social media platforms can make the entire process much easier. There are sites that help with monitoring and others that let you schedule and plan your communications in advance. Depending on what you need, you can combine tools to optimize you efficiency and make you the master of your social media universe in no time. So what do you think? How do you find time for social media? Share your comments below. We'd love to hear from you.

Social media overdrive and can cause social media overload. The dizzying speed of communication on social media platforms makes it tough to keep up with. It doesn't matter if you're purely a Facebook user, a die-hard Digg fanatic, a LinkedIn addict or someone who uses all three, streamlining your updates and postings through one source can be a liberating experience. Fortunately, social media aggregation tools are becoming increasingly popular. Through online applications, widgets and desktop software, social media aggregators help condense your live updates and shares by providing a single location to broadcast multiple updates to. So, give your thumbs a rest and step away from your Twitter account (we've heard that Bag Balm is good for calluses). Take a look at some of the social media aggregation tools that are currently available and start freeing up some of your time.

Hootsuite

Not only is this one of the most robust tools available, but Hootsuite is continually improving it's interface and capabilities. This means that features you wish it had are probably only a month or two away from being implemented. This tool is web-based so there's no messy installation involved. Online access lets you login to your account from any location to update and monitor - very convenient. Hootsuite users are able to connect to multiple social media accounts from the application's dashboard. Presently, there's support for Twitter, Facebook Pages, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, Wordpress.com, MySpace and Foursquare - quite a line-up. Hootsuite is packed with features that enable you to customize, track and post in the blink of an eye.

 

Here's a rundown on some of what you'll find inside Hootsuite:

• Scheduling. Choose between live updates or pre-schedule posts and shares in advance.
• Customize URLs. Add custom link parameters for tracking clicks and gathering information on your audience.
• Files. Upload images, video and files right into your messages.
• RSS feed. Connect to your RSS and send your blog to your social media streams.
• Bookmark. Use the Hootsuite Hootlet from your browser toolbar to share pages and information quickly.
• Mobile updates. Handheld integration lets you keep up with Hootsuite from your iPhone.
• Tabbed layout. Create and customize columns that can be dragged and dropped in any order to your liking.
• Multi-column layout. Harness the clutter and organize your social streams into news, keywords, friends and more.
• Embeddable columns. Grab code from Hootsuite to embed search columns directly into your website.

It's only fair to say that it's our social media aggregator of choice. For others, Hootsuite is absolutely a tool worth looking into. Visit their site to read up on additional enhancements. a

Tweetdeck

Originally a popular tool for tweeters, Tweetdeck has evolved into a comprehensive platform that services Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. Built using Adobe Air, it has a blend of rich-technology and customizable features that end users will enjoy using. The Tweetdeck platform is available for desktop, iPhone and iPad. It also plays well with others so you can use it on your Mac, PC or Linux system. Like other social media aggregators, Tweetdeck has a column-style format that silos your information.

Tweetdecks features are extensive:

• Custom colors. Choose how you'd like your interface to appear and make it your own.
• Filters. Set-up your columns to show you only what you want to know.
• Notification. Get alerts for new tweets, mentions and direct messages. Excellent communication management feature.
• Follower. Decide who to follow or unfollow, as well as report spam and mark your favorites.
• URL. The bit.ly auto-shorten URL is incorporated for tweets and image uploads.
• Sync. Set-up Tweetdeck to suit your personal tastes and keep it that way regardless of whether you access it through your laptop or your handheld.
• Lists. Track your favorites and organize them into Twitter lists right from your dashboard.
• Trends. See what's hot with local trends and Twitscoop.
• Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts speed up your actions so you can maximize your time with Tweetdeck.

Tweetdeck is a free and powerful tool that has a large following and fantastic support. As the social media universe evolves so has Tweetdeck. People will find this to be an absolutely wonderful tool that will help them get back on track with their social media efforts. a

Netvibes

Netvibes is a web-based personalized dashboard publishing tool. The easiest way to describe Netvibes would be to call it a favorite webpage on steroids. Setting it as your browser's homepage allows users to create a customized hub that pulls all things digital into one central location. From emails received to weather updates, your Netvibes page becomes command central for everything that matters to you. Aside from a beautiful interface, Netvibes makes it very simple to position widgets and modules exactly where you want them with built-in drag and drop capabilities. Just grab what you want with your mouse and move it to a location on your Netvibes page and you're done. Additionally, tabs can be created to further organize and tailor your dashboard. This is a fantastic way to keep all things Facebook in one location and all things Twitter in another. Here's a little secret - if your employer has you on social media lock-down, you can use Netvibes to bypass the IT guards by connecting through your personalized tabs. Sneaky, sneaky!

So what can you do with Netvibes? We'll give you a little taste below:

• Social media. Manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as followers and friends from central location.
• Netvibes Smart Reader. Use this RSS reader to stream all the latest feeds to you in real-time.
• Tracking. Follow dozens of blogs, activity streams and Twitter conversations all at a glance.
• Personalize. Create your own personal dashboard and enjoy the web exactly the way you like it by choosing from 100s of themes and backgrounds.
• Widgets. With one of the largest widget collections available, personalization options with Netvibes are endless. Drag and drop to your heart's content.
• Email. Pull from web-based or POP email accounts and never miss a new message again.
• Share it. Invite friends, family, clients, co-workers or the general public to interact and view your Netvibes page.
• Infinite publishing. Multiple page publishing, WYSIWYG design tools, free hosting and full HTML support makes web everything a breeze.
• Community. Connect with other Netvibe users to expand your network and build your contact base.

Check out Netvibes and take a tour for a in-depth look at this tool. a

Yoono

Yoono is a social networking feed mashup tool. Mashup means an application or website that uses or combines information or functionality from multiple external sources to create a new service. Yoono is available as a browser add-on for Firefox or as a desktop application for Mac, Windows and Linux. As far as social media aggregation tools go, Yoono connects you to your social networks and messengers. It unifies your status updates into a single stream of information and lets you update your status across all your social networks at once. Social media sites that are currently supported include, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, FriendFeed and Flickr. Messenger services are available through Google Talk, AIM, Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.

Yoono highlights:

• Add-on or stand-alone. You can decide between integrating Yoono into your browser or featuring it on your desktop.
• Browse. Yoono is intuitive and learns what you like based on websites that you're viewing.
• Widget. Based on the webpage you're browsing, receive recommendations for other sites, news, videos, products, images and more.
• Social sharing. A bookmarklet allows you to share content, images and video from any site with your social network contacts.

There are similarities to other social media aggregators, like the the types of social networks you can connect to and the interface's column layout. For someone who doesn't need all the bells and whistles, Yoono is a great option. a

Flock

What makes Flock completely different from all the other tools reviewed is that it's a full-fledged browser. It's even referred to as the browser for social butterflies. Social media integration is what drives the Flock browser. Instead of having to share login information through separate channels, it can be contained in one spot with Flock. Definitely a thumbs up for preserving online security. On the other hand, because Flock is a web-browser, you might want to consider abandoning FireFox, Safari or whatever browser you're using, and making a complete switch, otherwise, you've got a browser that's only being used for social media aggregation. That's kinda like ordering a giant burger with the works and only eating the tomatoes.

Services included with Flock:

• Auto connection. Hook-up automatically with more than 20 of your favorite online services like Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Xanga, YouTube and more.
• Blogging. A blog editor allows you to compose blog posts online or offline for posting.
• Webmail. Instant notification of incoming messages from major webmail providers.
• People sidebar. Collect all your social media pals in one place.
• Web clipboard. Snatch, grab and collect links, images and other bits of info to share later with the clipboard feature.
• Feed reader. Centralizes all your favorite feeds into one reader to keep things organized.
• Customize it. Install your favorite FireFox extension and incorporate backgrounds and images to make Flock your own.
• Media. Quickly find and browse photos and videos from your favorite sites.

a

Profilactic

Next in the web-based line-up is Profilactic. Most people have more than one social media profile and that can make it a royal pain to jump from site to site, logging in and checking to see what your friends and contacts are up to. Profilactic has turned this task into a thing of the past. The core of its design is based on bringing everything together, and we do mean everything. You can pull blogs, RSS feeds and more than 185 online social sites into your Profilactic universe! Users interact with two functions. The first is the user's update feed and the second is a digest of what's occurring on all the other platforms. Pretty handy indeed. There's also an auto-clipping component that is similar to a digital scrapbook. Auto-clipping can be used to identify, tag and track social entries about the you or your friends. Plus, you can control what updates you want to receive based on importance.

Other features that can be found on Profilactic are:

• Badges. You can take your profile information and lifestream and integrate with your website or blog with one of these.
• Clean. Regardless of how many social streams you're pulling from, the interface is very neat and easy to navigate. Simplicity at its best.
• Lifestreaming. A true example of what lifestreaming is all about. Profilactic is a one-stop-shop that blends the whole process without a flaw.
• Post & update. Let everyone know what you're up to. Profilactic syncs to more than 10 social sites. One update across many networks.
• Free. Doesn't cost a penny. All you have to do is register with the site and you're finished. It's beyond easy.
• Convenient accessibility. Because it's online based, you can check-in as long as you have a connection to the internet.

Discover how Profilactic can help you organize your social media habits with a quick visit to their site. a

Socialite

For Mac users who are interested in social media maintenance and aggregation, Realmac Software's Socialite may be what you're looking for. You get the perks of having a downloadable application with a Mac-like design, clean and slick, combined with the power of managing your social media accounts from your Mac. There is a catch (isn't there always) - Socialite isn't free, however it is reasonably priced at only $20 per license.

You won't be burdened by columns or multiple windows. What you'll find is an uncluttered application that is easy to navigate.  So what do you get with Socialite:

• Google Reader. Even if you don't use GR you can still use the alternative RSS feed with Socialite.
• Social networks. Socialite supports Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Digg.
• HUD option. Known as the Heads Up Display, this pop-up box gives you mini-view of the status for all your peeps.

a Try Socialite out for free before you buy. The trial is a full-version and it lets you explore the functionality without having to purchase first. What are some of the social media aggregation tools that you're using? Any hidden gems that you'd like to share? Comment freely.

Despite all the hoopla surrounding Facebook and how its new privacy policy will effect members, the public is still hungry for unique ways to share information about themselves. If posting photos and uploading videos is leaving you feeling a little ho-hum, then perhaps you should consider joining Blippy. Unlike traditional social networking sites that focus on sharing contact information, photos and status updates, Blippy lets users share their financial information.

What's the 411

In a nutshell, Blippy is a service that lets members automatically share their credit card transactions as they make them. Not only will members see the amount of your purchase, but they'll also be privy to the place of purchase and items included in the transaction. Signing up is pretty easy and actually similar to other social networking sites with one exception, you provide your debit card or credit card information. Once you've established an account you're transactions are populated into the system and can even be cross-posted to Twitter.

Safe and Secure

According to a 2009 study conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, there were 10 million victims of identity theft in 2008 in the United States. Nearly half, or 43 percent, of all identity theft observed was through stolen wallets and physical paperwork, whereas online methods had accounted for only 11 percent. However unsettling these figures are they haven't stopped the thousands of people who are clammering to become members of Blippy. Founders insist that their state-of-the-art encryption will protect data from being stolen or reused.

So what's the hook? Why would you want to share financial information with others? Details regarding our finances have always been considered taboo in social circles. People aren't supposed to share what or where they're plunking down their cash. But with the advent of Blippy, discussing personal expenditures is no longer off limits. Society has always been curious about the lives of others -  think about reality shows or rubber necking a traffic collision - so it seems only natural that the fascination would continue with a stranger's personal finances.

What You'll Get From It

The most interesting aspect of Blippy is its most unexpected one. Instead of gasping at prices or snickering at purchases, members are actually exchanging details about great finds and super bargains. Even more common, is discovering places to shop that are off the beaten path and alerting others to special discounts to be found. Blippy can really be described as something similar to a tweet-feed based on shopping.

As a tool, Blippy has a ton of potential. For instance, a competition was created to see who could spend the least amount of money for an item using their debit card. The winner was able to buy a single Tootsie Roll using a credit card for $0.03. Organizations have the potential to fundraise and challenge supporters to out-donate each other. Along these same lines, stores could alert shoppers about local deals and make recommendations based on items previously purchased. Marketing firms could review spending habits to understand consumers and deliver targeted products and services that would be more appealing to them. The possibilities are endless.

In the meantime, trend experts predict that Blippy is the next big thing. Giving the world a sneak peek inside your wallet is definitely a way to channel discussion on spending habits and connect with other people with similar interests by way of spend pattern. Blippy is worth watching to see how it evolves and how it can become the next social media tool that can be used to catapult your business, product or service to the next level.