(1) 15 Things You Need To Know About The #NewGooglePlus  from Just Ask Kim / Kim Castleberry

One of this week’s biggest stories was the major changes at Google Plus. If you haven’t taken a look at your Google Plus page(s) yet, be prepared for a major new look (some people are suggesting it’s a look that combines Pinterest and Facebook). We’ll be exploring the changes and new features over the next few weeks, but this is a great article to help you learn more about what’s new at G+.

(2) How Your Business Can Use the New Facebook Cover Photos from Social Media Examiner

Now that Facebook has relaxed the rules on Cover Photos (you can include calls-to-action, phone numbers, websites, “arrows”….any text, as long as it doesn’t take up more than 20% of the Image), you may find new ways to use your Cover Photo for marketing. Take a look at some great examples in this article.

(3) Instagram Marketing Ideas | 5 Tips for Growing your Business Exposure  From MediaNovak

Are you using Instagram for business? I am using my personal Instagram account to connect with people as myself  instead of the company, since I am the “face” of the company on social media accounts. But no matter how you are using Instagram – as a personal branding account or for your business’ products/services, these 5 tips are a great way to increase your exposure.   If you want to connect with me, my username on Instagram is terryleague  www.instagram.com/terryleague

(4) Facebook Ads vs Promoted Posts: A Side-by-Side Comparison from SocialMouths

This is a very helpful post that points out the differences between Facebook Ads and Promoted Posts. Several great charts list the Pros and Cons of each. Use this as a resource to help determine which form of advertising will work best for you, depending on your goals.

(5) Did You Already Pin This? Now You’ll Know! From the Pinterest official blog

Two major feature announcements this week from Pinterest: notification when you Pin something you’ve already pinned before (this will be so helpful!). And a new Send Pins to Friends option for sending a Pin directly to a friend/contact.  Both features are being rolled out, so you may not see it yet; but I’m excited to get them and think they will add a lot to the Pinterest experience.

Read more about both features on the official Pinterest blog: http://blog.pinterest.com/

(Bonus): Infographic – 7 Tips to Get More Followers on Twitter from AllTwitter / mediabistro

A really nice infographic for a quick reference on how to increase your Twitter following!

We hope these resources give you some great ideas for your social media marketing! If you found any great resources and want to share, please do so in the comments below or visit our Facebook Page.

Google Alerts

You receive an email update of the latest results (web, news, etc.) for the words/phrases you enter.  You can set up alerts for your name, business name, product name, keywords in your industry, topics for content curation, competitor names…any important words or phrases you want to monitor.

Go to google.com/alerts and set up as many alerts as you want.  Choose the type of results you want (you may want to start with “everything” and weed it out later), how often to receive the email alerts and how many (I suggest “only the best results”).

Enter the email address – if you set up a lot of alerts, you may want to consider creating a separate email to handle the volume or assign a specific folder just for “alerts” so your main email account doesn’t get overwhelmed.

TalkWalker Alerts

Use this tool as a companion or replacement for Google Alerts. TalkWalker even states they are “the best free and easy alternative to Google Alerts” when you sign up.

Go to http://www.talkwalker.com/alerts and fill out the form in the same way as you completed the Google Alerts sign-up page.

I’m using both Google Alerts and TalkWalker Alerts and in my experience, I get more results with TalkWalker. But a good deal of the TalkWalker alerts are not good “quality” results for me, so I’m going to continue to use both.

After Google’s decision to shut down Google Reader, there were some rumors that Google Alerts may not be around much longer either; I don’t know if there is any truth to that, but I think it’s a good idea to have an alternative in place or ready to go if you rely on Google Alerts now.

Mention

This tool works the same way as Google Alerts and TalkWalker (set up “mentions” for keywords/phrases), but it offers a few more options.

• Favorites – you can mark and save mentions: customer testimonials, positive feedback on articles, etc.
• Tasks – you can share an alert with another user and then assign a task to them: read, share or comment on a mention.
• Users – share your mentions with anyone, even if they are not a user of “Mention”.
• Social Accounts – you can connect a Facebook or Twitter account to a mention. You can also manage multiple accounts within Mention.

There are several plans available: the Free plan gives you 3 alerts, 500 mentions per month and 1 month of history. You can try their Pro Plan for free for 30 days and this gives you unlimited alerts, 50,000 mentions, statistics and data export options. If you don’t sign up for the Pro Plan after 30 days, your plan simply reverts to the Free plan.

Go to https://mention.net/ to sign up.

You receive your mentions in real-time, which you may find useful.

So test out one or all of these free tools to help monitor what’s being said about you, your brand or important keywords in your industry. Let me know if you have a favorite one here or another to share!

(1) 9 Ways to Become a Better Facebook Community Manager – All great tips, whether you manage your own Page or someone else’s. A resource to save!

 (2) Google+ Misconceptions: Why You Should Give Google+ a Try – Some great tips on why you can’t ignore Google+ ; summed up by this line “Let’s put it this way: if you use the Google search engine, then you use Google+.”

(3) 14 Steps to Generating Leads on Twitter – A great post on the lead generation  process, from Tweets to Landing Pages to Email Marketing.

(4) 7 Ways To Get More Engagement Out of Your Photos on Facebook – Helpful tips for using photos on Facebook!

(5) What to Write About: 25 Blog Post Ideas for Your Business – A list of some great ideas for your business blog. I suggest you save or print the list for reference later, when you get writer’s block!

Bonus: 5 Tips for the New Facebook Timeline for Personal Profiles – do you have the new Personal Profile Timeline yet? Kristi Hines shares some great tips in this article –  there are a few things like editing what “sections” appear, that you may want to do right away.

We’ll post more tips on the blog or Facebook Page as we look more closely at the Timeline changes.

But if you don’t have access to software to create your own images (or the time to learn how to use photo-editing applications), the free tool Quozio offers a quick, easy way to create and share image quotes.

Step #1: Go to a website that specializes in sharing “quotes”. Here are a few sources: brainyquote .com, quotegarden. com, quotationspage. com, and  thinkexist. com. You can do a Google search for motivational quotes and find more.

Step #2: Find a quote you like and highlight (copy) the text.

Step #3: Now go to Quozio.com. Copy your favorite quote into the text box and then choose one of Quozio’s ready-made images.

Backgrounds include photos and plain colors, so experiment to see what looks best with your quote.

Step #4: Once you’ve created your quote image in Quozio, share it with your social networks right away or save it to your computer/desktop, and then upload it later to Pinterest, Facebook or your blog.

A few notes:

(1) Make sure you give proper credit to sites where you find quotes.

(2) You can install the Quozio bookmarklet (found on Quozio’s home screen) in your browser for quick text highlighting on any site.

(3) You may find that some of Quozio’s photos/backgrounds are a little large for optimal viewing on Facebook (a size of 405 x 405 pixels works best for a post). Another one of my favorite free tools – PicMonkey – gives you the ability to Re-size a photo (in the Edit Photo menu). After you’ve created the image quote in Quozio, save it to your computer and then quickly Re-size it in PicMonkey (and then Save the new size). Then upload that photo to your social media sites.

For information on two other free tools that help you create image quotes, see our post on Pinstamatic and PinWords.

Give Quozio a try today and let me know how your image quotes turn out!

Top image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

(1) The Hidden Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Why Your Strategy May Be Working Better Than You Think – A great article! If you ever wonder if social media marketing is worth it, make sure you read #8. Mindshare with Lurkers, I’ve found this to be true many times!

(2) 29 Tools to Enhance Your Business Blog – A fantastic resource! You are sure to find some new tools for your blogging. Save this and try out a few when you have time.

(3) 3 Tips for Maximizing YouTube’s New Layout for Brand Channels – Good tips for this new layout, including tips on creating a “welcome” video.

(4) A Comparison: Facebook Ads vs. Promoted Posts – This is a very helpful resource! Learn the difference between the 2 ways to advertise, and check out the Pros/Cons chart.

(5) How to Write Interesting Content for a “Boring” Topic – Another fantastic resource to save! Helpful tips (and resources) on how to make any topic “interesting”. Great for business bloggers!

I hope you found some great tips in this week’s list! Check back next week for another social media wrap up!

(1) 4 Ways the Twitter You Know is Changing Forever – An interesting article from Convince and Convert on some changes on Twitter. Assigning a “high”, “medium” or “low” value to Tweets could be an unpopular change (we’ll just have to wait and see how it works). I’m looking forward to learning more about Nestivity (read the article for a link to get on the wait-list).

(2) 5 Creative Ways to Use LinkedIn Company Pages – There are some terrific ideas in this one from Social Media Examiner for using your Linkedin Company Page to drive traffic, engage your community or get leads.

(3) 7 Surprising Ways to Grow Your Business on the Twitter Vine – If you’ve set up a Vine account and are wondering what to do next, this article from KISSmetrics should help. From testimonials, to putting a face to your business, to user-submitted “vines”, there are some interesting ideas for you.

(4) Pinterest Launches Free Analytics Tool for Business Accounts – HubSpot has a great write-up on the new Pinterest Analytics tool. If you switch to Pinterest’s “new” look and verify your website, you will get this tool as well.

(5) Photo And Video Grid View For User Galleries Returns To Twitter.com – Check out your photo gallery on Twitter – it’s now a grid-based interface. This change might encourage you to upload more photos and videos (Vine?).

(6) Bonus: Google Reader Alternatives

If you are a Google Reader user (like me), then the announcement of Google’s plans to shut down Google Reader has left you wondering what tool to use in its place.

Kristi Hines has an in-depth article on three alternatives, in the article below.
Google Reader Alternatives: 3 Web Based RSS Readers to Manage Your Subscriptions

I’m also sharing this fabulous presentation from Ana Hoffman with plenty of alternatives:

(1) 16 Ways Businesses Are Using Twitter Vine

Have you tried the new mobile App, Vine? “Think of it as Instagram, except with videos instead of pictures.” Get some tips on how to use it for business in this article.

(2) 28 Easy Ideas For Visual Blog Content Your Customers Will Love

There are a lot of great ideas in this article; you’re sure to find some new ones that will work for your business.

(3) Case Study: How Keyword Research Works in the Wild 

Follow the steps in this case study for an in-depth tutorial on keyword research. Helpful resource!

(4) 19 Sure-Fire Ways to Amplify Your Social Reach

Terrific social media tips in this post from HubSpot!

(5) 5 Tips to Enhance Your Facebook Graph Search Ranking

Some important steps to take to make sure your Page has the best chance of showing up in the upcoming Graph Search.

We’ve been collecting the best resources we’ve seen on Facebook’s Graph Search: you can find them on our Graph Search Resource Page.

(6) Extra Resources:

Big news items this week were the updates made on Google Plus – and here is a great article click here . It highlights the changes (which go into effect immediately).

Also announced were upcoming changes to the Facebook News Feed.
We’ll probably be starting a Facebook News Feed Resource Page to keep track of these changes (roll-out will happen “slowly” according to Facebook).

For now, you may want to watch this video Behind Facebook’s News Feed Redesign click here and stay tuned to our blog and Facebook page for more resources, as we find them!

* How to set up a daily social media system that automates 75% of your activity and causes people to say “I see you everywhere!”

* The 3 Simple Things You Must Do Every Day to Build a Dynamic Social Media Presence

* How to easily find and share great content that builds your credibility and your audience – WITHOUT you having to write a word!

* How to authentically connect and share on social media in 15 minutes a day.

Click Here to receive the free download, plus be eligible for the  special bonuses (that expire Monday March 11, 2013)  for my new training program.

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Building a dynamic social media presence doesn’t have to take up hours of your time every day. With a few simple strategies and free tools, you can build your “social media mini-empire” in just an hour a day.

As a small business owner myself, I was faced with the typical time management dilemma on social media: it felt as if I spent hours on each site, without much to show for it. I wondered how other people seemed to be posting and interacting all day long, while I couldn’t get much accomplished in 3 hours!

Over time, I learned that using free tools to automate some of my social media, as well as focusing on a few strategic tasks, made a big difference in how I could connect with others in a meaningful way. I put a system into place that allowed me to leverage my time on social media and connect with my target audience. Now, no matter how “busy” I get, my social media systems allow me to continuously reach out to new people, help them in their business and grow my business.

On March 7th, I’ll be sharing some of my best strategies and some of my favorite free tools to build and maintain a social media presence on numerous sites. Lynn Ruby, owner of Ruby Marketing Systems, has invited me to be her guest on a free, live training call at 4 pm Eastern (the call will be recorded).

Click Here to Register

Join us to learn how to Build Your Social Media Empire in One Hour a Day. You’ll receive a training guide/worksheet to download and print out before the call. We’ll use the guide/worksheet as we go through the call together.

I hope you can join us for the call and when you register, submit your social media questions – I’ll be answering as many as I can in the time we have.

Basic information:

To create a List:

#1 – click on the arrow next to the “gear” icon on your toolbar and select  “Lists”

#2 – click on the “Create a List” button

You can create up to 20 Twitter Lists, with either a “public” or “private” setting. Lists set to “public” are open to Subscribers. When you add a user to a public List, they receive a notification in their Connect tab.

Here are 3 ways to use Twitter Lists in your business and marketing:

#1: Use Lists for organization:

Create lists for the topics you are interested in or the topics you share with others. For example, I share links and information on social media, so I’ve created a list for great sources, sites and people – Social Media, Tech News.

This is a public list so anyone can subscribe and start seeing Tweets from everyone on this List (you don’t have to Follow anyone on the List to see their Tweets).

When I find a new user who shares great content on any of the topics I’m interested in, I Follow him/her and then immediately add them to the appropriate List.

For example, here is an account I would add to my “Things to Do in Florida” List:

First, I’ll Follow them, then click on the arrow next to the icon and choose “Add or remove from lists” in the drop-down menu.

Then I’ll select my “Things to Do in Florida” List and add this account to it.

I’ll still see Tweets from FLStateParks in my Home feed, but I can also click on my “Things to Do in Florida” List to see Tweets from list members only.

Get into the habit of immediately adding any new accounts you Follow to an appropriate List and you’ll have your Twitter account organized in no time!

#2: Use Lists for market research and strategy:

Want to keep track of competitors on Twitter? Looking for potential clients or business partners? Create a private List to monitor their Tweets.

You do not have to Follow someone to add them to a Twitter List, so you can do your research and add the appropriate accounts to your private List. Down the road, if you determine that they are someone you wish to build a business relationship with, you can Follow them at that point.

#3: Use Lists for building relationships:

A fairly new List I’ve added is Thanks for the RTs & Shares. I plan on populating this List with users who share or Re-tweet my blog posts. I’ve made it a public List so I can give their accounts a public “shout-out”.

You may find it useful to create a public List for clients or business partners so you can give them a shout-out and share some of their content with your Followers (and potentially help them grow their Twitter community too).

These are just a few, easy ways to start using Twitter Lists. If you are using Twitter Lists in another creative way for business, share below or send us a Tweet at @SocialMediaLCS. We’d love to hear about it!