The tools and tips in the first two posts were definitely the starting points.  The referenced sites and materials which are included in the first two posts are definitely worth a visit and read.  Click here to return to the first post and here to return to the second post.

One very important key factor is STRATEGY.  To be successful and to learn/know your target audience and peers, you need to be aware of their needs and their interests.  By devising a strategy, you can determine these needs and target your goals more effectively.

Your strategy should include:

1. Social Media Presence – create your Social Media Presence by creating Profiles in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, etc.  There are numerous social media sites where profiles can be created, select the ones that best fits your needs. Search/see where your target audience has a presence.
2. Look, Watch & Listen – search the social media sites where you have profiles for keywords relating to your industy, your company name, competitor company name and groups that fit your profile.
3. Join the groups where applicable and watch the interaction. See what people are saying and asking – find out their needs and how you can help.  Begin to log this information for further research.
4. Search – search for blogs that are similar to your service or product.
5. Contribute – Contribute when you have something to offer that provides information or helps with a post or comment.

This strategy will help as you begin to explore social media and all that this encompasses.  So, now that you have a few strategy items, it’s time for action.  Below are a few tools that will help with the items listed above:

• Setting up your profile in Twitter – I recommend you visit http://www.twitip.com.  Read the information and sign up to receive the posts.  This is a great site that has a wealth of information that you won’t want to miss.
• http://search.twitter.com.  Enter keywords for your industry to see who is tweeting and what they are saying.
• Use a twitter tool – There are quite a few to select – TweetDeck (my personal favorite), Twitteriffic, Twhirl, Spaz, etc. Check out all of the available apps at http://twitter.com/downloads.
• Don’t forget to click on the link at the bottom of the page for the Twitter fan wiki.  Amazing applications listed here that will make your head spin with all that is available. So very cool.
• Facebook – you can search for a specific term in Facebook and select to narrow the results down by Group, Events, Applications, Web, etc.
• LinkedIn -   you can search for People, Answers, Jobs, or Groups.
• Alltop – an “online magazine rack” which is better than a magazine.  It is updated each hour with the hottest stories on any topic, category, name, etc.
• Google Blog Search – searching for blogs can be done by entering “blog” behind the search term in Google. As an example, if you want to search for blogs on WordPress – enter “WordPress Blog” and hit search.
• Technorati – good site that provides the ability to search blogs by various categories, words and view the top 100 blogs, most popular, etc.

These are a few strategy items and tools to get you started.  If  you have questions or feedback, please feel free to post comments or contact me.