Tools & Apps

“The reality today is you need technology to automate enforcement of social media guidelines and policies,” said Nexgate co-founder and CEO Devin Redmond. “Put guardrails on the roadside and let people go as long as the safeguards are in place.”[read more]

How does a business make their start-up come alive online without creating dozens of profiles for social platforms? Actions speak louder than words and these actions are best reflected with Instagram, Vine, and Pinterest, all three of which have plenty of benefits they can bring.[read more]

A source has leaked to TechCrunch that Facebook will soon unveil the addition of video to their popular and recently-acquired Instagram product. This comes on the heels of a publicized invitation to a June 20th event in which Facebook will launch a "new product."[read more]

It's no coincidence that the rise in social media coincides with a rise in importance of word of mouth. Social media is amplifying word of mouth referrals. I'm always interested to hear how other companies have embraced change over the past decade.[read more]

One of the ways to ensure that real fans are making use of your promotions is to have them install an application. You can develop a Facebook application that lets users join the promotion in an interactive and engaging way. Since this adds an action to the process of participating, it filters the crowd coming through.[read more]

In a sense, social media embraces a flagrant disregard for one’s right to privacy. The volume of information that is voluntarily posted can be staggering. The most avid social media user can conceivably be tracked throughout most of their day.[read more]

Best iPhone apps

The iPhone has become a much more integrated device for managing productivity. Recently, a new breed of iPhone apps have begun to hit the App Store that have more intuitive and sleek interfaces. After testing many, here are 11 of the best productivity apps that I've found for the iPhone.[read more]

For a company that spends gazillions of dollars on market research, P&G’s Rosie the Riveter concept test for the steam mop campaign seems to have been “Swiffered” under the floor, literally. Angry and immediate reprisal from women bloggers might have been averted had P&G and its ad team also run a social media concept test prior to campaign launch.[read more]

I love this infographic because of the examples of brands who use Instagram effectively. I think nearly everyone agrees about how effective images are for communicating online, and that Instagram is popular with Gen Z. It’s a pretty safe bet that Instagram will continue to grow in importance in the next few years.[read more]

Why was I paying for unlimited storage when I could have a terabyte of storage for free? I looked at the new site and, while I commend the Yahoo engineers for bringing it into 2013 to resemble Pinterest, MySpace, and other photo-rich sites, a lot of the simplicity I used to take for granted has been stolen away from me.[read more]

Have you ever wondered how people ran their businesses before they had modern conveniences like cell phones, laptops and the Internet? As smartphones and apps continue to advance in the technological landscape, it's even easier to manage your business remotely. Here are five must-have apps for any business owner.[read more]

Trying out Vine for Android? It's works fine but still has a few kinks. The best way to find people on the Vine Android App until the search feature is added and bugs are worked out is by locating another user you can follow who may have a first or second association with your intended target. Call up their profile. Locate your intended targets through their account.[read more]

Hootsuite Analytics

We use Hootsuite to shorten the links to our sales resources. Then, we create a custom report for that specific URL in Hootsuite. As we send out links to PDFs, videos, blog posts or whatever, we’re able to see the number of people that click on it. It’s simple really: make untrackable links trackable, and get a report.[read more]

Kevin Espinosa, Social Media Manager at Caterpillar 

I had a chance to sit down with Kevin Espinosa, Social Media Manager at Caterpillar to discuss some of the topics that you will see at the Social Shake-Up Conference. The following is a transcript of our conversation.[read more]

A new movement is being spawned by a kinship of people across the world, unified by a nonpartisan and unbiased social media ecosphere. Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people concerned about Monsanto’s unbridled insinuation of dangerous or questionable substances into the food chain joined in 400 cities to March Against Monsanto. The global protest called for stricter governmental GMO and GE controls and full disclosure of risk.[read more]

Want to make a difference? Not quite sure where to start? Want to take a simple idea and make it a global movement? It all starts with social networks.[read more]

Amnesty International created an engaging app to raise awareness about a prevalent issue at the heart of the organization’s mission: The commitment to the protection of human rights. The options to share the app with your social networks and to share your results are made available throughout the process. What do you think of this digital approach to raising social awareness?[read more]

Last week we spoke with Andrew Bowins, Marcy Cohen, and Jennifer Stalzer, Senior Vice President, External Communications and Senior Business Leaders of MasterCard Worldwide, who showed us how the Conversation Suite is helping inform businesses and enabling them to create more meaningful conversations with their customers.[read more]

smartphone as tricorder?

From computers to cell phones, some pretty amazing things that we take for granted today were an everyday part of the crew of the Enterprise. Some of the most recent developments I'm about to share might just blow your mind.[read more]

Socially Stephanie to the rescue!

In the inaugural post of our new social media advice column, social media pro Stephanie Frasco has some tips for Knackered Knitter in Nashville, who wants to know how to build up a social media presence for her knitting company...AND find time to actually knit.[read more]