Anyone who knows anything about social media knows that there is a nearly endless supply of tools available (both good and bad) to assist you as you make your way through the Internet marketing world.
Choosing the right tool for the job can make all the difference.
After all, you wouldn’t put a new roof on your house using a butter knife, or use a screwdriver to spread peanut butter……..you get the point.
Choosing that perfect tool can be pretty daunting if you’re new to the game. If you are considering downloading any kind of social media software tools, then reviewing them first is critical. Tons of money is wasted on bum programs.
Tons of time is wasted finding out that it’s a bum program. Make sure that the person promoting the social media tool is a fellow blogger who can attest to and prove some level of success using the particular tool you are considering.
This tool will search for other blogs when you enter a keyword. Finding other blogs in your niche just became a whole lot easier.
Making competing with them a whole lot easier! Connect much more easily with other bloggers, trackback to any blogs that have posts matching your niche or area of interest.
Make the blogosphere a little smaller and more manageable with TrackBoost. Some have said that this tool has revolutionized the blogging world!
This is a tool designed to make coming up with new content quickly and regularly less of a chore. In no time at all, you can drag and drop content hits from other blogs right onto your blog.
No need to re-invent the wheel every day, use material you find in other places to keep your site fresh! Easily find and capture the content you need.
Save tons of time and get an endless supply of deep backlinks to your site by using this program. Submitting your posts to individual sites takes a tremendous amount of time; Web2Submitter makes it more automatic and streamlines the whole process for you.
Spend the time you have in more important places, and use this program to get your site and posts out there more quickly. You will have a lot more time to focus on your other marketing strategies and come up with more content, more ideas, and more profit!
The importance of using the right tools for mastering the social media world just cannot be stressed enough. You’ll learn, maybe the hard way, how to select and use the right tools for the job.
The blogosphere is very overwhelming to any newcomers (and sometimes to the veterans, too!) so make sure you consider your choice carefully. Saving time and money means more profit more quickly!
That’s why we’re all in this, right? Share your feedback and experiences with TrackBoost, Utility Poster, and Web2Submitter here! We want to know what you think!
In this installment of our weekly video series, we introduce you to the great free video syndication service at TubeMogul.com.
Watch as I upload a video to TubeMogul, syndicate it to a few video services like YouTube and Revver and then peek at the video tracking feature that allows you to watch your vids go viral…
Attention all social marketing mavens, consider the question above very carefully… For it has tremendous import into the future of your success or, if you’d rather… the success of your future.
Background
iPhone
Do I even need to explain… Apple’s revolutionary cell phone. Buy an iPhone today!!!
Chipmunking Notice the image to the right. Does this look like you or perhaps your friend or child as they feverishly focus in on their little phone or PDA, completing more text messages that breaths? Like a chipmunk with a little nut we hunch over our precious device and tap out little messages. That’s what you call chipmunking. (Warning: Please do not do an image search for this term with the Safe Filter off…trust me!)
Gphone
Google has announced that they too (surprise) will be offering an iPhone-like cell phone. But, of course, there is a twist. In exchange for low cost (maybe free) bandwith access to rich media (audio and video) the Gphone will automatically show those beloved ads Google is famous for.
SMS
According to Wikipedia:
Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short messages between mobile telephony devices. The SMS technology has facilitated the development and growth of text messaging. The connection between the phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of the world the term “SMS” is used colloquially as a synonym for a text message from another person or the act of sending a text message.
What Do They All Have In Common?
So what happens when you combine (a) one of the biggest product revolutions since the computer (b) a strange addiction that turns normal people into rodent-like fidgeters (c) an impending pandemonium for free mobile access and instant rich media fixations (d) a technology that has been adopted by all the big names to deliver information to your mobile?
One of the biggest opportunities for connecting with your prospect since the advent of email.
Think about it… Think about your own behavior.
When you find a resource, something that is, as they say, “speaking to the conversation in your head”, what do you do?
Well, if you are like most people, you want to connect with that resource and absorb as much information from it as you can.
If your resource-of-the-day was available in a nice mobile content stream, do you think you might get into the habit of browsing it say… in line at the super-mart, waiting for the greasy-handed oil change dude, sitting in the dressing room “waiting area” as your wife tried on hundreds of clothes, or at one of those boring staff meetings where the manager repeats the corporate mantra for 30 minutes.
I think you would…
Consider this too. We are all being conditioned to having access to what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. This includes the information we choose to consume and the communities we choose to participate in.
As SMS and the the new versions of iPhone, gPhone (and probably the Yphone -think:Yahoo!- is not far behind) bring us all closer to the content and communities we crave, your opportunity as a social marketer increases. This technology will unchain you from the clunky desktop (or laptop) and put you right into the pocket of your most targeted customer.
The Downside of Mobile Social Marketing
If you are your own reluctant webmaster then incorporating SMS technology into your website (or blog) is a bit technical. However, it is possible for you folks who may have went a little gray installing and configuring Wordpress to figure it out. (Video coming soon)
Fortunately, I recently came across a great new service which makes installing a customizable moble subscription option on your site much easier than you would think. The service is called FeedM8 and it is actually a breeze to set up and manage, compared to the two other services I have looked into.
The Future of Your Success
So go ahead, don’t wait for the masses of other bloggers to jump on the SMS bandwagon. Add your mobile subscription code and be one of the fast movers that see the social marketing opportunity before it’s tail hits you in the face.
Oh yeah…and don’t forget to sign up to the mobile version of Web2Center to see the FeedM8 service in action.
The social media marketing niche is full of hype pipers and hope dopes. Everyday I get a “product launch” email touting the latest Wordpress plugin, software app or marketing system, promising BIG traffic or quit-your-day-job ROI.
If you have been around (the internet marketing scene) for even a few months you’ll know just what I am talking about. I am at the point where I am more interested in the way the product is being marketed than what the prodcut is.
I have settled in to a few (mostly free) web 2.0 tools that make my social media marketing work.
So, shut up and tell you what they are already, right? Got it…
Video Syndication
The big gun in video submission is, of course, Traffic Geyser. This is a great service and, besides taking hours to set up and being priced on the high end, works very well at getting you and your silly videos plastered all over the web. However, recently I stumbled upon a free video submission service called TubeMogul that I like quite well, thank you very much.
TubeMogul allows for automated submission to the 12 big video sites all at once. The interface is super-simple. It allows you to add a title, description, tags and category setting to you video. And you can upload as many videos as you want for nada (FREE!).
Some of the new folks get confused here so let me briefly explain… Social media marketing calls for lots of “submitting”. One of the mainstays is submitting your post (your story, your article — whatever you call your content) to a social media site.
There are really 2 types of sites for post submission. There’s the social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and technorati which just want you to primarily submit a link and tag. There’s not much voting or browsing of these “bookmarks” going on after you submit.
Then there’s the social news sites like Digg and Propeller. These sites want your link and tags also but you will also need to provide a good description of you post and hope that other vote it up.
So, with that out of the way… On to the freebie.
I have used a few of the paid tools out there to automatically submit to both the social bookmarking sites and the social news sites and, in my opinion, the free tool at SocialMarker.com works better than all of them. You just input your post data, check the sites you want to submit to and arrow through the submissions. “That was easy!”
Keyword Research
Yes, I still do keyword research, I think it is important to keep track of your main keywords and look for variations as new topics come up. I use the free tool from the giant keyword service called Keyword Discovery. The free tool works great for bloggers who are not building 10,000 word PPC campaigns.
By far, the service I use the most is picnik.com. I always have to crop, resize, fix, etc. the images I need to use. This online editor makes it quick and easy.
Free Video Capture and Editing
Well, this may be a bit advanced for the new folks but just in case you are ready to stick your toes into the video pond, here’s a couple of free tools you’ll need.
First, you will need a good screen capture software. I like the tools from TechSmith, either Camtasia (V3 is free right now) or JingProject.
Once you have you fancy screen capture then head over to Jumpcut.com and start editing. This is an awesome free online editing software that should cost big bucks.
So, there you have it… The list is not long but, trust me, these free tools will get you f-a-a-a-r in your social media marketing endeavors.
You can try lots of other similar free marketing software, tools and systems; there is an endless number of them that’s for sure.
This is what has worked (and continues to work) for me. Enjoy!
We are testing a brand new monetization method here at Web2Center.com and I bet you can’t even tell. Yes, we have four banners pointing to our partners but that is not new.
No, this slick new monetization tool allows you to incorporate an affiliate revenue stream seamlessly into any blog (or static html site - if you are still stuck there… eeeek!).
All you have to do is a bit of configuration and then plop a bit of code into your header and…voila!…you have a quiet, stealthy monetization method that is completely unobtrusive and, in my opinion, adds value to a certain aspect (or function) on your site.
So, why all the secrecy?
Well the TOS (terms of service) for this monetization tool make you swear not to point directly to it so that you do not force artificial actions (and no, I am not talking about Adsense or Kontera–come on, do you think I am that far behind?!).
Treasure Hunt or… Not
Rather than me telling you directly about it, I propose a little treasure hunt.
Just browse around a bit on this page (hint: or any page on our blog) and try to find this new feature. Interact just a little and you will find it. Also, the “tool” is brand new so the level of relevance is not as high as it will be soon.
If you get frustrated, or don’t like treasure hunts… here’s a couple of links for direct explanation from the creators of the service.
If you read our post titled “Don’t Forget Your Niche“, you will appreciate the power of this tool. Social media monetization is about putting revenue systems in place that are not like roadblocks or slaps in the face to your visitors and subscribers.
If you find something that can quietly monetize an aspect of your site without increasing the advertising “volume” then you have a winner.
Let us know if you have found other methods that are quitly monetizing your blog and bringing steady revenue.
Notice the image to the right. Does this look like you or perhaps your friend or child as they feverishly focus in on their little phone or PDA, completing more text messages that breaths? Like a chipmunk with a little nut we hunch over our precious device and tap out little messages. That’s what you call chipmunking. (Warning: Please do not do an image search for this term with the Safe Filter off…trust me!)
Friday, May 30, 2008
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