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A while back, I wrote about the best social media management tools for small business owners. I researched and reviewed a handful of the least expensive, most versatile options, but the comments included some lesser-known alternatives that seemed worth investigating.
I’ve taken some time to check them out, using the same parameters I used to gauge the initial set of tools. To restate, any tool considered must enable you to: • Schedule posts;
• Connect numerous social media accounts;
• Provide analytics;
• Shorten URLs. Among free and low-cost options, HootSuite is still the reigning champion, in part because its widespread use means there are many plugins and informational resources available.
However, there are some viable contenders for small business owners to consider...
January is normally the time where we look back on the last twelve months and decide what we want to improve. Cue promises that we’ll go to the gym more often, quit smoking, learn a new skill or language and so on. However, not only is it difficult to keep up any new changes, but the chances of you reverting back to your old habits increases with every new promise you take on. Therefore, whether it’s for yourself or for your business, a clear plan of action is required if you want to make these changes a reality. It doesn’t matter how ambitious or modest your ambitions are, so long as they’re important to you, that’s what matters. While it can be difficult to get started, all big aims start with small steps so keep these in mind when you’re putting your plan together....
Pinterest and Instagram have been two of the hottest social platforms of 2012. Their success has spawned hundreds of imitations, with developers (and investors) trying to get a piece ...
of the increasingly lucrative image sharing pie. We’ve even seen a mash up of the two in the form of the aptly titled Pinstagram (genius, I know).
But now its time to wrap your head the next emerging trend; video sharing apps (or ‘Instagram for video’ apps). The big question is, which one will emerge as the superstar of the pack? Well, let’s meet ‘the pack’ and then you can decide for yourself. Ready? Lights. Camera. Action! [Adam Vincenzini profiles 10 video apps worth exploring - JD]
Pinterest is a great social networking site, but it is definitely still young and lacking in some features. ...If you’d like the Pinterest experience but with more features, you can either use an entirely different Pinterest alternative, or you can try using one of these Pinterest-based tools.
This collection has a huge variety of tools, including ways to explore, discover, analyze and more. There are even a few browser plug-ins to really make your Pinterest experience worthwhile. These tools definitely give Pinterest a whole new layer of functionality and you’re sure to find at least one you don’t know how you ever pinned without. Read on to learn about 10 of my favorite Pinterest tools....
I don't know about you, but it feels like Google launches a new product every time I turn my laptop on. And these tend to fit into two distinct categories: 1. Incredibly useful 2. Incredibly bizarre Fortunately, most of these products are free so we're really not in a position to complain! After some lengthy research, I was surprised by how many tools Google has either developed or acquired over the years. So much so, that I thought it was a good idea to compile a list of the secrets of the Google product empire. Here they are...in no particular order......
Robin Good: Google Search Stories Video Creator is a free web service which allows you to specify up to seven queries that utilize one among Google search engines, and which then creates a video clip of those searches. Each one of the searches can be run against a specific Google search engine between Google News, Google Web Search, Google Blog Search, Google Maps, News, Products and Books. Once the video is ready and you are fine with it you can upload directly to your YouTube channel. Free to use. Examples: https://searchstories-intl.appspot.com/en-us/ ; Try it out now: https://searchstories-intl.appspot.com/en-us/creator/ ;
Via Robin Good
Managing social media, making public WiFi secure, backing up Gmail - there's probably an app for that, or a cool web tool, and you'll probably find it here. ...There’s an app for that—or cool web tool. Find tools to do all of the above and much more in this collection of helpful business, online and social media tools, apps and reviews.... [Just a terrific resource from the awesome Tom Pick - JD]
Visual content, curation and storytelling are the three emerging trends for 2012 when it comes to emerging niche social networks. Our recent Guide to Pinterest for Brands met with such a warm welcome that we're doing the same now for Tumblr. In this first part we're outlining what it is, how it differs from other sharing networks and how brands are already using it....
We've gathered a list of nine social services to keep an eye on as the location and taste graph spaces heat up. Few social services have enjoyed as much success as sites like Foursquare and Pinterest. However, companies are achieving recognition by applying similar social principles to their own niche networks. We’ve gathered a list of nine social services to keep an eye on. Like Foursquare, many incorporate location-based functionality, with the goal to connect people beyond the digital space — in real life. Other sites remind us of Pinterest, bringing users together around taste graphs and like-minded consumer habits. Whatever your preference, take a look at these nine buzzworthy social platforms. Do they represent the future of social?...
Here are some of the latest free online tools for accounting, social sharing, online portfolios, collaboration and content management. [A couple of new ones suggested by Kim Phillips - JD]
From a site that tracks your competitors’ social media activity to a platform that enables group tweeting, here are the week’s most buzz-worthy social media tools.
If you are a standard CoTweet user, you have probably heard that on February 15, 2012, ExactTarget will be replacing the free service CoTweet ... Below you’ll find a comparison of features and functionality across SocialEngage and other popular social media management tools in the interest of deciding which alternative is best for standard CoTweet users. The factors considered in this comparison include the ability to pre schedule posts, view messages and replies, as well as multiple user and team members support, and of course, pricing.... [Really valuable analysis - JD]
Vimeo today announced that the video sharing site has undergone a major revamp. The blog entry that announced the revamp revealed that the work had been ongoing for the past year, and that staff “tore Vimeo down, thought hard about every aspect of it, and created the new Vimeo from scratch.” There are dozens of new features on Vimeo, but the main changes were made in order to make the site faster and easier, with the focus being on the videos uploaded by users, while taking users’ feedback into account when creating the new features....
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One of the big themes of my Top New Social Media Tools from 2011 was the maturation of social networks like Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest as well as the trend of automation to auto-creation. As popular social networks continue to mature, gone are the days in which we post something and hope that it “sticks” or becomes viral. We can now take calculated risks and posting and sharing has become more intelligent and efficient.
2012’s social media theme centers around metrics, analytics, and tools that are helping us create deeper connections with consumers. Content is the underlying current that many are trying to navigate more successfully using the below list as their support team...
Social media provides the means and tools to find relevant influencers in your industry or niche. From them, you can learn, connect, utilize their communities. You’re in social business. Among the many things on your busy agenda, you need to research relevant influencers in social media.
From them, you can learn, connect, utilize their communities, and engage in conversation. You are also expected to advocate your brand, through storytelling and the publication of your professional/niche knowledge. To make your efforts in influencer research and content creation worthwhile, you then have to distribute your ideas and content.
Unless you want to spend all day, every day consumed in social networks – here are seven tools to help you efficiently engage in the processes of social business....
[Seven fundamental tools for social media efficiency ~ Jeff]
...Curating content done properly, IMO has its positives. I do it here on iblogzone, via my weekly speedlinks (weekly roundups). With so much information out there, this is one method where users are starting to see its advantages, due to its objective of “finding the best content about a certain topic”, combining them together, and letting like minded people to know about them. Really great to filter out the noise, and useless content.... Did you notice the words, meaningful, great information and credit your sources? That’s the essence of being a great content curator and nothing else.... [Useful article and great summary of seven free content curation tools - JD ]
Social startup Storify is capturing the imagination of journalists and brands... With the presidential elections underway and the Olympics coming up, this is a big year for event-driven journalism—and for social publishing tool Storify.
Storify built its name on enabling reporters, bloggers or anyone to aggregate status updates, tweets, links and YouTube videos and embed them into a blog-style, continuous-stream article treatment that can then live on a site of one’s choosing. The concept is fairly simple: capture as much content as possible on a particular topic from numerous voices across the Web in an easy-to-consume format....
Snapguide is a free iOS app and web service for passionate, creative people and DIY enthusiasts. Share and discover beautiful, step-by-step how to guides. Robin Good: Snapguide is a new free iOS app which allows anyone to create a step-by-step visual guide on just about any topic.
Guides can include text, images and video clips and everything can be authored directly on your iPhone but can be viewed on the web, tablets and phones. Finished guides can be easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and an integrated chat functionality lets you chat with people who share your interests. Free to use. Examples: http://snapguide.com/guides/ ; More info: http://snapguide.com/ ;
Via Robin Good
If you want a few tips on how to best create a great chat on Twitter, here are 15 hashtags that fit the bill.
What are the key social media tools that PR professionals need to go from bumbling amateur to results-driven superstar? Here are 12 of them. And all but one of them are free...
Save time creating content using these must-have tools for video, images and content creation. When most people think of creating content they default to a written blog post. But, more and more that should not be the case with infographics, images and video now playing a more important role in the kind of content that users expect. So, with the different content formats, what content creation tools are out there to help you create link worthy content?...
Nimble allows you to import your contacts from email and social media and connect contact information for individual people in your network... Where day-to-day communications used to take place in the form of handwritten notes and meetings scribbled in a DayPlanner, today businesses communicate with clients everywhere from email to tweets and Facebook wall posts. One service, Nimble, is attempting to streamline all of those communication channels into one, and help businesses and individuals create better connections with the people they’re trying to reach....
...there are other search engines out there, even if Google is pretty much the king, with ‘Google’ having becoming a commonly used verb- “I’ll Google it”. Of course there’s Yahoo!, Bing, Firefox, but a little bit of research has revealed many lesser known search engines. Here’s some of the most interesting ones, which are designed for specific purposes, such as increased privacy, safer searching, videos, maths and music....
What are today’s most popular social media tools? I proposed a short list on the Social Journalism Educators group on Facebook: Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Storify, Instagram, YouTube, WordPress. You’ll note (if you roll over and read the tooltip) that none of the links above go to the home page for that tool — instead, I have linked to useful articles that can help us understand how journalists use (or can use) each one of these particular tools. Then others in the Facebook group recommended the following sites and tools...
Learn how to create an editorial style guide that helps streamline your company's content creation efforts. Content creation is central to your inbound marketing success, but as your volume of written content increases, inconsistencies are also bound to arise. Whether due to lack of clarity in your own head about the style with which you want to write, or disjointed communication across the content creators in your organization, failure to decide upon and document accepted editorial guidelinesis a recipe for inconsistent messaging and an incoherent brand experience....
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