Postling is a web-based application for monitoring and managing brands on social media. It connects up to a variety of social networks, as well as provides tracking of keywords on the web, and tracking of RSS feeds (which can be hooked up to Google Alerts or searches). Postling is specifically targeted to local businesses who need to keep track of what people are saying about their business. Here’s my thoughts…
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Sep
24
2010
How-to: Use Netvibes for Social Media Monitoring
Keeping track of everything that’s going on can be a challenge — especially with social media which moves at the speed of light. Netvibes is a great way to get an eyeball on what’s going on, all in one dashboard. Plus, it’s super easy to set up and also offers customization options if the default isn’t quite what you want. Better yet, you can easily setup a dashboard for each subject you want to monitor, making it simple to switch between. Here’s how to setup Netvibes for your own social media monitoring…
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Sep
21
2010
What is a Twitter Hashtag?
If you’re on Twitter you may have seen people put a # in front of a word in their post. That’s what’s called a hashtag, and it makes it easy for other people who are interested in a topic to follow all the posts about it. Hashtags are similar to tagging a photo in Flickr… they help other people understand what the tweet is about, as well as applications that try to help make sense of the overall Twitter stream. How can you use Twitter hashtags for your business?
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Sep
17
2010
Twitter Measurement Tools
It’s important to measure your social media efforts so you can find out what’s working and how they’re helping you reach your business goal. If Twitter is part of your social media strategy, then there are a number of tools which can give you some Twitter statistics and measurement. Take a look to see if any of these can help you measure success in your social media strategy:
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Sep
13
2010
How-To: Setup Monitoring in HootSuite
A vitally important part of achieving success with social media is responding when someone does reach out to you. When you’re just starting with social media, this may seem like a pipe dream, but if you’re not watching for responses, you may miss them when they happen. As your social media presence grows, it’s equally crucial to monitor for mentions and responses so they do not become lost. I use HootSuite as my main Twitter application, which not only has monitoring, but also stats and scheduling. Here’s how to setup HootSuite to monitor Twitter for mentions, responses and keywords…
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Sep
08
2010
Social Media in an Hour a Day
You’re busy. You’re trying to run your business and you probably are wearing multiple-hats — marketing, accounting, sales, operations, etc. You want to use social media, but you don’t have a lot of time to spare. While social media can take a lot of time, you can get quite a bit out of it just by devoting an hour a day. Here’s how…
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Aug
30
2010
Review: SocialSeek for Social Media Monitoring
One challenge with social media is keeping track of all the conversations and times that your name or company name is mentioned. SocialSeek provides real-time results for news, topics, brands or keywords in a specific location or anywhere from either a desktop or mobile application. Search by keyword and location, or just one or the other. Save searches and view updated results automatically every 30 minutes. SocialSeek makes it easy to keep track of what’s being said about your company and brand.
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Aug
26
2010
Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
Ahh, social media. The golden ticket to increased profits and a life time of wealth. All you have to do is setup a Twitter and Facebook profile and start sending updates and magically people will start following and responding to you.
If you believe this, you’ve been lead down the wrong path. While social media may cost less than other marketing methods, it still requires planning, time and patience. If you just jump in without knowing what you’re doing and what you’re trying to accomplish, you may not get the results you expected, leading you to believe it’s all a huge waste of time.
Aug
17
2010
14 Ways to Spy On Your Competition
Competitive analysis is important to any business strategy. Knowing what your competitors are doing and how they’re pricing and marketing their products will help you figure out how to market your own products. Luckily, there are many online tools that can help you get a look (or spy) on what your competitors are doing.
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Aug
02
2010
The Wrong Way to Social Network
Social networking (using the social web) is about connecting with people — asking questions, having conversations — basically the same things you would do if you were talking in-person. Yet many companies still treat social media like traditional media — as a way to distribute marketing and advertising messages. While social media does provide a cost-effective way to reach a targeted audience for marketing, the real opportunity is in making personal and human connections with that audience. Here are some of the most commonly repeated mistakes I see when it comes to social networking and using the social web:
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