Google Reader is the place for all your “just in case” info. Google Reader, despite recent changes to the product, remains the single best tool you can use to create your own virtual newspaper…
For over three years, I have been using the ‘homebase and outpost’ approach discussed below by Darren Rowse and it works amazingly well for me and my clients who use it. My blog has been ranked inside the top 50k in the US for over two years [despite Panda and other changes] which is a strong testament to the concepts Darren discusses here…
Storify is new on my list this year — I’ve only been using it for a month or so, but on one level, I think creating stories in Storify is what blogging should be. I use it to create stories like this one and then post them to WordPress for a more interesting post…
The story behind Storify, new real-time curation service
As of this writing, Google+ is still a wildcard. It experienced rapid growth over the summer only to plateau and decline in the fall. Most disturbing to me is the way that Google has removed key features in other tools like Google Reader to support the flagging Google+ platform leaving me to wonder is there any uber-strategy at all at Google. Even the pundits are confused by Google attempt to create a Facebook killer…
Right now, the primary benefit from Google+ seems to be the improvements that Facebook and LinkedIn have made to their products…
:-)
LinkedIn
One of the biggest tech stories of 2011 is the revitalization of LinkedIn. With their IPO in May and new features ‘learned’ from Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, LinkedIn may be the ‘most improved player’ of 2011 amongst major social networks…
I use twitter primarily to communicate with other twitter users, broadcast my content and search for content that others have shared based on the premise that if someone takes the time to share it, it must be valuable…
Twitter made some big changes in December including brand pages and a new layout that you can read about here;
I don’t make up these names — I just evaluate their effectiveness! Although personally I prefer to get my news via Google Reader, as a marketer email newsletters are a must. There’s a lot I like about MailChimp but perhaps the most important feature in my world is the fact that MailChimp will take the rss feed from your blog and turn it into an enewsletter automatically and publish on a schedule that you determine…
Some of my clients prefer AWeber because of the availability of phone support but I have always found MailChimp to be uber responsive via Twitter or email when I need help…
MailChimp has more basic autorespond and tracking features, but excellent spam filters that boost its deliverability rates. As our user reviews show, SMB customers value MailChimp’s ease of use and pricing.
Users also tend to find MailChimp to be more “fun” and cite its clean and modern user interface and quick learning curve. MailChimp has a host of modern features (merge tags, comments, inbox inspector, A/B split testing), and users find its social media features, API, and overall integration capabilities to be richer.
AWeber offers more support options, including phone support, which MailChimp lacks. MailChimp provides mobile support (iPhone and Android), which AWeber lacks.
With its service free for up to 2,000 subscribers and 1,200 e-mails per month, MailChimp has the edge in cost for a startup or small business with smaller e-mail lists and transmission requirements.
Monitoring; HootSuite, NutshellMail, Gist and SocialMention…
HootSuite
I use HootSuite to publish to my social media outposts, autopost to my social media outposts, track conversations and analyze metrics — it’s a great all around player in the social media and there’s even a free version for all smartphones. There is a cost associated if you monitor over 5 accounts…
NutshellMail is a nice, but not necessary tool that tracks social media activity and sends an email reminder 3 times per day by default. It’s free for now, but don’t expect it to stay that way long — ConstantContact is the owner…
I’m a Google Reader Rockstar, but even with all the power it gives me I still use Gist as a means of tracking information from a people-centric perspective. Good stuff!
I’ve been in love with Shareaholic for a long time. Why? I believe that Shareaholic is the ‘swiss army knife’ of social media. If the first commandment of social media is ‘share, share, share’, Shareaholic allows me to keep that commandment by always being ready to share, regardless of whatever browser I am using at the time. It works in all major browsers, but works best in Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox in that order. Here’s a short screencast I did on Shareaholic — you’ll see why it’s such a valuable tool to me…
As David Allen says “a mind is a terrible place to store things”. I keep my mind clear by using Evernote — it’s the glue that holds my data life together…
It helps me to keep my inbox looking like this thanks to Priority Inbox, Inbox Zero and Google Reader… Comment or ‘connect’ to discuss ho…
This is the first of a multipart series on getting content in and out of Google Reader. Part of this content is in preparation for an int…
I like to talk to you for a moment about thought leadership marketing and an important tool for making it happen… As Chris Brogan says “i…
Redesigns, feature adds, feature deletions, privacy changes, opt-ins, opt-outs, new tools for businesses, new apps, changes to apps, and …
Facebook pages are effective tools in promoting your business. They work similar to a website but have the added advantage of getting e…
Today we’re rolling out the new Reader design, and the Google+ features that we mentioned just over a week ago. Before the day’s over, al…
Google+ may be less than a year old, but New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan is ready to crown it a game changer. His latest b…
By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Google is ending 2011 with a cliffhanger: Will Google+ succeed? And if it does not, how much damage will t…
Twitter Guide Book is a one stop educational source for learning more about Twitter and how to use it including advice for beginners, b…
Free email marketing service from MailChimp. Design, send, and track HTML email campaigns with our simple tools. Get a fully functional…
Turn Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds into online newspapers in just a few clicks .
MarsEdit is a desktop blog editing application for the Mac. It provides an offline interface to most popular blogging systems. WordPres…
Creator of a multi platform note taking application for mobile devices. The site include product information, a company blog, and suppo…
If you can read and understand this… An alternative to manual browser activation is to add the following iframe code to the footer of you…
