Below are my slides from the presentation at Yoyomama. And further down are some links to online resources that I find helpful. Tip - if you click on the title of the presentation, you'll be taken to a page where you can download it.
Using RSS Feeds to Monitor Your Brand
Definition: RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. AND you can usually save a customized search as an RSS feed which is very helpful when you want to monitor what people are saying about you, your company and your brand(s).
Tools - Feed Readers:
- NetNewsWire (and other tools) from Newsgator (desktop)
- Google Reader (online)
- Bloglines (online)
- Feedburner - Measuring RSS Feeds
Tools - Personalized Pages:
Tools - Monitoring Brands, etc:
- Google News Search & Alerts
- Google Blog Search
- Technorati
- Icerocket
- AideRss
- Blogpulse
- Twitter Search (Summize)
- Radian6 (paid service)
- Techrigy (paid service)
Tools - Watching the Competition:
Best Links:
- RSS The Oprah Way
- RSS in Plain English - Common Craft (video)
- Dave Fleet - How to Set Up an Online Monitoring System
- What is RSS
- How to Track 500 Business Blogs in 10 Minutes a Day
- Monitoring Brand Dashboards - Why Every Company Should Have One
Blogging & Microblogging
Definition: A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Tools - Hosted Blogging Solutions:
Tools - Self-Hosted Blogging Solutions:
Best Links:
- Smashing Magazine's review of 10 Weblog Engines
- Blog Council Disclosure Guidelines for Corporate Bloggers
- Just for Fun - Video - I'm Blogging!
- Reading Blogs at Work
Definition: Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web. The most popular service is Twitter which was launched in July 2006. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
Tools:
- Twitter (most popular platform right now)
- Plurk (interesting alternative interface)
- Yammer (Corporate Twitter)
- Other Examples: Facebook Status, LinkedIn Status
- Tool for automated Twitter follows and other functionality - TweetLater
Best Links:
- Set Up a Twitter Listening Post
- Twitter Best Practices (Corporate Use of Twitter)
- 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
- Twitter in Plain English - Common Craft
Podcasting & Video Casting
Definition: A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added.
Tools - Podcasting:
Tools - Video Hosting & Sharing:
- YouTube
- Google Video
- Viddler
- BlipTV
- OverlayTV
- Seesmic - video microblogging
- TubeMogul - video posting aggregator
Best Links:
- What is Podcasting - Ask a Ninja
- Podcasting in Plain English - Common Craft
- Behind the Scenes with Common Craft
- PodCast Alley - Finding Great Podcasts
- Getting Started with Podcasting
Social Networks
Definition: A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services. Social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust.
Tools:
Best Links:
- LinkedIn in Plain English - Common Craft
- 10 Privacy Settings Everyone Should Know on Facebook
- 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn
- Why Can't I Find You Online - Protecting Brand You
- Facebook Marketing Resources
Photo Sharing
Definition: Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately). This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the use of online photo galleries that are setup and managed by individual users, including photoblogs. While photoblogs tend only to display a chronological view of user-selected medium-sized photos, most photo sharing sites provide multiple views (such as thumbnails, and slideshows), the ability to classify photos into albums as well as add annotations (such as captions or "tags") and comments. Some photo sharing sites provide complete online organization tools equivalent to desktop photo-management applications.
Tools:
Best Links:
Social Bookmarking
Definition: Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine. Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them.
Tools:
Best Links:
- Social Bookmarking in Plain English - Common Craft
LifeStreaming
Definition: An online record of a person's daily activities, either via direct video feed or via aggregating the person's online content such as blog posts, social network updates, and online photos.
Tools:
Best Links:
My Favourite Blogs in Social Media & Web 2.0
- Chris Brogan - social media and community strategy
- Mashable - Web 2.0 and Social Media News & Analysis (tool oriented)
- ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Technology Trends, Social Networking
- Jeremiah Owyang - Social Media & Web Strategist for Forrester Research
- Top 250 Blog Posts on Advertising, Marketing, PR and Media
- 50 Ways to Use Social Media, listed by objective
- 50 Steps to Establishing a Consistent Social Media Practice
- My frequently-updated eclectic list of current daily reads
Social Media Research
- Universal McCann's Report - When Did We Start Trusting Strangers (choose the link on the right hand column; when it loads into the main interface there will be a PDF download link)
- danah boyd - super smart - Viewing American Class Distinctions through Facebook and MySpace
- State of the Blogosphere - 2008 - Technorati
- How to Find Statistics on Social Media
- Tod Defren's ebook on Social Media Marketing
- Social Media Marketing Playbook from Capulet Communications
Last Updated: February 12, 2009