Recently I attended a meeting on Making The Web Work for You moderated by Podcasting Expert Sallie Goetsch. What I really liked about the event was that all the people on the panel were self-labeled “non-geeks” who run an online business or use online marketing–Web 2.0—to connect to prospects online and promote their business. Check out the list below of preferred online tools for social networking or promotions.
Below is a list created by Sallie Goetsch of the Web 2.0 tools these non-geeks had embraced to promote their businesss. In my opinion every service on this list is very user-friendly and designed for everyone to use—geeks and non-geeks. However several of the non-geek panalists shared that an experienced blogger set them up with a blog, showed them how to use it and turned over the reins to them.
Start 2009 by sampling a couple of Web 2.0 tools you might not be using yet.
DimDim (online meetings): www.dimdim.com
E-zine @rticles: www.ezinearticles.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com
FreeConferenceCall: www.freeconferencecall.com
Google Alerts: www.google.com/alerts/
Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics/
GoToMeeting: www.gotomeeting.com
HARO (media queries): www.helpareporter.com
iGoogle (feed reader): www.google.com/ig/
iSnare articles: www.isnare.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
SendOutCards: (send snail mail cards to your network) www.sendoutcards.com
Skype (free VOIP): www.skype.com
WordPress (blogging): www.wordpress.org
Yahoo! Alerts: http://alerts.yahoo.com
YouSendIt (send large files): www.yousendit.com
YouTube: www.YouTube.com
Yugma (web conferencing): www.yugma.com
I’d like to make special mention about a couple of these that might be relevant to this audience and you may not have heard of. If you are an expert at what you do and are looking for relevant press HARO (media queries): www.helpareporter.com might interest you. With HARO you can sign up to receive emails with lists of queries from reporters for stories. When you see a question in your area of expertise, you can respond directly to the reporter and help them with their research or quotes for their story. This site grew out of LinkedIn and is free to subscribe to.
Google Alerts: www.google.com/alerts/ was another free service participants raved about. If you are following a story from your industry or a company you wish to do business with, you can sign up to receive a “google alert” in your email box every time a new post appears about that company.
Yours, Karen