The best time-saving and management tools
1. To manage keeping on top of your blog reading and search monitoring:
Use a feedreader as your Internet browser homepage (like Google’s Reader or Netvibes.com). We can also set up your own dashboard for your business.
A feed reader lets you ‘get the feed’ of your favourite blogs and news sites and the feeds of your favourite searches from places like twitter search, and Digg and Delicious and puts them together on your browser homepage – kind of like your own customised magazine. You can skim all the headlines at a glance, click thru to the sites you want to read, and it updates as soon as new content is added; saving you time visiting lots of sites and doesn’t clutter your email inbox.
To ‘get the feed’, while on your fav site look out for the orange rss feed box and click on that (it will give you the feed address, or even allow you to choose your feed reader and it does the rest for you!). Or from your reader, type in the feed URL and it will retrieve the feed – easy!!
Once you’ve chosen your preferred reader, make it your browser home page (Under Tools / internet options on your web browser page) – and you’re away!
2. To manage Twitter and your Facebook wall:
Use either www.Tweetdeck.com or www.hootsuite.com to manage;
- Tweeting easily and efficiently (adding pics, shortening URLs, re-tweeting, replying, sending and reading direct messages, managing favourites and groups, monitoring searches and mentions)
- Updating your Facebook Business Page wall; send your message from tweetdeck!
- More than one twitter account
3. To schedule tweets in advance;
Use www.Twuffer.com or www.tweetlater.com – (if you use hootsuite you don’t need to worry about this, it’s build in)
4. To manage your email inbox:
Check your various account settings notifications to make sure you’re getting notified of just the necessary. Eg: On Twitter; when you get a direct message; On your blog; when you have a comment for moderation; On Linkedin; weekly updates of discussions for any groups you belong to
The best measurement tools
1. For your blog:
- If you’re using feedburner to burn your rss feed; check out subscribers and stats
- Blog grader gives you a report on all the important stats incl page rank, alexa and technorati rank
- Use google analytics for traffic stats and reports.
- Use google keywords tools to check on your keywords
2. For Twitter:
-Try twitstats for your stats.
- And twitgrader for all the important stats
3. For Facebook: use the Facebook ‘insights’ tool to see how your ad is performing
4. For all your activity: try SocialMention
The best listening and searching tools
1. For Twitter:
To find people to follow: Twellow or WeFollow or TwitterElite (at TwitterGrader to follow the best by location etc). Mr Tweet will inevitably show up and recommend people too.
To find ‘lists’ of people to follow: Go to Listorious
To search conversations: Twitter Search – for key words, phrases and hash tag searches (and follow your search by adding a column to Tweetdeck or adding the search feed to your feedreader)
2. For your blog:
Find blogs to read on blogcatalog, Alltop.com, blogs.com (top 10 lists), top marketing blogs , Digg, www.Technorati.com top 100…
3. For keywords on the internet:
Use Google alerts for email alerts of your chosen key words or phrases being used on the internet.
The best promotion tools
1. For Facebook: Use the facebook widget box; and add to your blog or website
2. For your Blog: Ensure you have an rss feed available, and if you use feedburner offer the feed via email too. Submit your blog to blog directories, Technorati and best posts to dig.
3. For Twitter: Use the twitter widget; and add to your blog or website
4. All; Add the ‘follow me on’ widget to your blog sidebar so people can follow you on twitter, linkedin and facebook. And add your URLs to your email signature, business cards, website, all your profiles….
Have you discovered any others? Or looking for a specific tool – tell us below.
