My Top 5 Social Tools

Managing several social accounts can be very time consuming, luckily there are many free & paid social media management tools out there that can help streamline your social activities, and make you more efficient when it comes to multi-management.

I am often asked which tools I use and find the most useful. Here are my Top 5 Social Tools + a few honourable mentions...

Bitly
Bitly is a URL shorter which allows you to effectively share and track your links. It tracks clicks, geographic location, and referrers; all important in understanding what your audience is looking for, where they are, and how they are finding you. What's great about this tool is that it is free.

Hootsuite
HootSuite is a Social Media Dashboard. It allows you to manage multiple social networks from one central website. The free version also allows you to shorten and track links, but statistics are limited to only 30 days, which is why I choose to use bitly.

MailChimp
MailChimp is an email delivery platform which allows you to create eye-catching email campaigns, manage your email lists automatically, and dive deep into your delivery analytics. Very easy to use, you can create campaigns with everything from an RSS feed from your blog, to your most recent posts Pinterest pins. Best of all the basic level account is free.

Wordpress
A website is the central hub. All social media platforms below should be well integrated into the website for seamless sharing and engagement. A platform like Wordpress allows you to integrate your website and blog, and has an easy to use Content Management System. To get the most of our Wordpress, I like to use the self-hosted option. Netfirms.com make it easy to implement with their 1-click-install option.

Google Reader
Google Reader is an RSS feed reader which allows you to follow all of your favourite business and personal blogs all in one place. It is also easy to add Google Alerts to track company & product mentions, and other keyword mentions from new sources, and blog sources. Best of all, it is free.

Honourable Mentions:

AddThis.com
Addthis.com is a sharing applet that can be installed on any website and blog. Signing up for a free account allows you to track what pages on your website are being shared, how many times, and on what social platforms.

Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free web analytics solution that gives you insights into website traffic and marketing effectiveness. It tracks how many people visit your site, how many pages they looked at, how long they spent on your site, how they found it (keywords), who is linking to you, where in the world are your visitors coming from, plus hundreds more metrics.

Twitter Plugin for your Website
This twitter widget allows you to display your most recent tweets in the sidebar of your website in real-time. It also allows your visitors to easily find your twitter profile and follow you.

Facebook Plugin for your Website
This facebook badge allows you to display your most “likes” and profile in the sidebar of your website. It also allows your visitors to easily find your facebook profile and makes it easy for them to “like” you.

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What are some of your favourite social tools?
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We're Going Digital!

I hear this one a lot. Small business signing up for social accounts because that is what they have been told they should do. You should be on twitter, you should be on facebook... yea yeah. But you know what? 50% of these business have no strategy when it comes to social media.

Don't forget about the a strategy.

{via Tom Fishburne Marketoonist}

Working from Home: The First 3 Months

Well folks, I made it through the first 3 months of working from home. It's almost equivalent to making it through the first trimester... at times it was uncomfortable, there was morning sickness (sick of getting up in the morning), and cravings (mostly for human interaction). On the flip side, it has also been liberating, fun, and makes me very proud of myself!

Here are the Top 10 things I have learned in the past 3 months...

1. You will loose track of time... What? I worked through dinner... again?
2. My mail is delivered at 10:45am, most days. On Fridays it comes earlier.
3. The train goes by my house a total of 6 times per day.
4. I am more organized at home, my tasks (& brain) don't jump all over the place.
5. I work better with background noise... unless I am writing an article, the TV is usually on.
6. I will never again underestimate the importance of a good, high quality office chair.
   
7. I hate filing.
8. I get to work with some awesome clients... including this one, this one & this one.
9. My lunches can be as extravagant as I want, now that I am not limited to a microwave.
10. Boy do I really save on gas!

Can't wait to see what next month brings.

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Do you work from home? What are some tips and tricks you have learned?

Behind the Scenes: Hamilton Food & Drink Fest

This past weekend I staffed the Mushrooms Canada booth at the Hamilton Food & Drink Fest. This is the show that I look forward to all year. The staff always do a great job of creating a fun, entertaining atmosphere which really produces "a night out" feeling vs. the typical "attending a consumer show" feeling.

I may have indulged in a little too much Thai food... as well as the coconut cream squares from Dyment's Bakery.

You can find all the behind the scenes footage on Facebook, as well as My Top 7 post on my blog.

Behind the Scenes: Toronto Wine & Cheese

This past weekend I staffed the Mushrooms Canada booth at the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show. It was a great crowd, filled with knowledgeable, food-savvy consumers - a wonderful opportunity to get face-to-face and hear their questions and comments.

I may have spent just a little too much time at the Purdy's booth and The Melting Pot... you guessed it, both were serving chocolate.

You can find all the behind the scenes footage on Facebook, as well as My Top 7 post on my blog.

Social Media Strategy 101: Define, Execute, Measure

"I have a Twitter account. A Facebook account. A Pinterest account. A blog.... oh, and a website."

I hear this one a lot. Small business signing up for social accounts because that is what they have been told they should do. You should be on twitter, you should be on facebook... yea yeah. But you know what? 50% of these business have no strategy when it comes to social media. That' right, no plan. No idea.

Social tools are powerful. Their power is alluring. But without a solid strategy it can waste time and money.

There are three major steps in developing a social media strategy:

1. Define: Define your audience. Define your message. Define your goal. Define the platforms. Define your metrics.
   
   
2. Execute: Create your social accounts. Integrate your accounts. Use all account. Establish yourself.
   
   
3. Measure: Measure your growth. Measure your engagement. Measure your visits & pageviews. Measure click rates. Measure social shares.

Everyone will interpret this in their own way, resulting in a strategy that is unique to your business. The point of it is; this simple task can create a more streamlined process for your social media efforts, in turn saving both time and money.

Practice safe social media, don't drive without a strategy!

Happy International Women's Day

Women rock. You know. I know it. So let's celebrate it! International Women's Day is a reminder to support and respect all the strong women in our lives, whether it be at home or in the office, our boss, mother, daughter or sister. We all work very hard at what we do, and we deserve recognition.

So, to all my fellow ladies who work soooo hard... You Rock!

Celebrating Women around the Web:

• Women Rock the World: And Not Just on International Women’s Day! | Small Business Trends
  
• Google Doodle (Pictured Above) | Google
• Women: Leading, Mentoring, Changing the Face of Business | Duct Tape Marketing Blog
• Happy International Women's Day | The Everygirl

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Who is the strong, female role model in your life?