The real-time web is a popular space for new tools.  Search, being among one of the most popular.

Sency, is a new real-time search engine designed to capitalize on the real-time search trend, and become the go-to resource for folks who utilize these types of searches.

Sency is not designed and has no intention to replace your Google searches.  It’s designed to give you better intel on events or conversations happening right now.  Google is used for general information regarding a subject.  Real-time search engines, like Sency, are designed to give you a pulse of what’s happening now.  Traditional search cannot provide this type of specific information.

Sency is a good place for getting a pulse on your brand, a competitor, or an industry in real-time.  Real-time intel can be very beneficial during events, a product launch, a crisis, and many other opportunities.

Key Features of Sency:

Perfect For Trend Monitoring

Sency is an efficient tool for monitoring trends and getting a quick pulse on a topic or brand.  I’m working with a local organic skin care start-up called Raw Element .  They’re new and not really sure what to tweet or blog about.  So why not type in a few searches that signal product interest like “Body Butter” or “Facial Scrub” or “Eczema”.  See what people are saying.  Look for popular links being passed around.  If there is a similar posts or links with specific topics that are popular, might be a good idea to write about that for the next blog post.

If you’re a brand and will be at the upcoming SXSWi…Sency is a great way to track moods and trends and what’s popular.  It’s a great way to give your team on the ground immediate information.

Spam Free

The problem with many real time search engines is that they’re easily fooled and manipulated by spammers.  If I’m a spammer and see that #NowPlaying is a trending topic, I can insert the hashtag into my tweet along with any link I want and disguise it with a URL Shortener.

Sency eliminates spam opportunities because when I search a trending topic, like #JournChat (a popular hashtag on Mondays) the results only show what is being said, not every individual link.

If I want to see what the most popular links are for a topic, I select the “Today’s Popular Journchat Links” tab.  This shows you what links are being mentioned the most per topic.

Content For Your Website

Possibly the coolest feature on Sency, is content for your website.  They offer a FREE widget for your website or blog that updates based on keywords.

What a unique way to update your readers and offer new information about a particular topic, directly for your website.  I’m looking into how I can incorporate this into RTM.  For an example, check out ThinkPress , they’ve incorporated the widget into their site (look in the top right corner)

So if you’re into real-time search, and if you’re not…try a few to see if you can find some benefits…give Sency a shot.  It’s a pretty cool tool and one I’ll be going back to.

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.  He is an avid blogger and active across the net.  He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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It’s a cliche, but one that rings true…do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.  Unfortunately, most of us need to work.

We all have passions, we all have dreams.  But most of the dreams we yearn seem out of reach.  They’re not.  Never before have we lived in a time with so many possibilities.  The impossible walls that once barricaded dreams to a select and lucky few, have now been lowered for the masses.

Utilize Social Media Tools To Do What You Love

I remember as a kid, sitting around a boom box with my friends and using the built in microphone to create our own radio shows.  It was a blast, but the only audience was us, and sometimes our parents whom we forced to sit and listen.  Times have changed.

No longer does a simple broadcast, regardless of how good or bad, remain shackled to the audience of patronizing friends and family.  The potential is now limitless.  The power of social media and digital tools have literally broken down the impossible walls of entry.

If You Wait For Your Dreams to Come to Fruition, Your Wait Will be Eternal

Like anything, these tools do not create talent, they do not promise success.  But they do guarantee unlimited potential.  No longer do the conglomerate media companies monopolize what we read, hear, and see.  In some cases, these new pioneers now have larger audience.

Think about this…Fail Blog’s You Tube Channel averages a few hundred thousand views the day it’s published on You Tube.  That’s almost double most of CNN’s prime time shows.

Social media tools have created the blocks, and now its up to you to build your own castle.

• Dream of being a radio talk show host…use Blog Talk Radio to create your own show
• Want to create your own television shows, start a YouTube channel.
• Have a band with no record deal.  No problem.  Put you music online and build your own following using Band Camp.
• Want to write a book…use Scribd and publish it youself
• Have amazing craft or design talent…put your products on Etsy.
• And the list goes on and on for every category you can think of.

Tools, often free, today allow you to bypass the old guards of the past.  If your passion is true and your drive is steadfast…do it yourself and acheive your dreams.  While your success may be big or small, the fact that you’re doing something you love and consistently engaged in your passion is reason enough to get started.

This is DAY 14 of my “28 Day Blogging Challenge“

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.  He is an avid blogger and active across the net.  He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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What Tools Are You Using?

One of the great benefits of social media, is it’s ability to be able to analyze results in real time.  No longer do you have to submit an ad…and wait for sales…and wait…and wait.  The setback with many of the traditional marketing mediums like print, radio, television, and even market surveys…is that by the time you realize how well you did, it’s already too late to change anything.

The only thing that analyzing something that has already happened will tell you, is if you’ve wasted a tremendous amount of time and energy or not.  Social media tools offer full capabilities to post, analyze results, and tweak where necessary.

I strongly advise spending some dough on robust tools, but for many business owners or especially individuals, the pricing model of these robust systems is not realistic.

So here are 5 FREE tools to help you master some of the most popular platforms of the real-time web.

Clicky Web Analytics

Clicky – Real Time Web Analytics

Google Analytics is fine, but the problem is that it’s not in real-time.  In comes Clicky to the rescue.  Clicky is an amazing tool that tracks your website data to the minute, literally.

Why is this helpful?

With Clicky, I know when the tweets I post are most effective and driving traffic to my site.  It helps me analyze what time of day the most traffic comes in and from where.  If I see that the majority of my traffic comes from Facebook from 2-4pm, I know exactly when to post updates with links attached.  I can also judge when I am not getting any traffic and if my current campaign is a flop.  This helps me readjust and change wording and rearrange the structure of post content until I can get a winning combination.  It’s an invaluable tool…and it’s FREE.     SIGN UP HERE

Tubemogul video Analytics

Tube Mogul – In-Depth Tracking, Analytics for Online Video

If you’re not using video for your social media marketing, start.  Video is proven to sell your products, even if no one is watching it!!  Seriously, read this…HERE (Thanks to Tim Jahn for the link)

TubeMogul is a fantastic and free tool to track all of your video content.

Why is this helpful?

• One upload to TubeMogul distributes your video to the most popular platforms like YouTube and Blip.tv
• It tracks viewing time of every viewer (Great measure to see the attention span of your audience)
• Syndication Tracking:  Track detailed viewing behavior that occurs outside of your website
• Location Based Tracking:  Track your viewed minutes by region (Look for patterns, if one develops cater your content to that location)
• Player Tracking Analysis:  Compare multiple video players

It’s a winner.  If you create videos, use this tool.

Facebook Page – Analytics

If you haven’t changed the way you use your Facebook Fan page, you might as well shut it down.  The new Facebook algorithm was a punch in the face to marketers, because in most cases your post updates are never seen by the high majority of your fans.  What’s nice about some of the new Page features for admins is that you can see exactly how many folks are viewing it.

Why is this helpful?

Because right now you have no idea if your Facebook Page is actually accomplishing anything.  These new tools will give you that info.  You’ll be able to see how many impressions you get per post, how many people “like” your posts, as well as how many people leave comments.  The Facebook algorithm is based on engagement, so use these new features to analyze what posts are creating the most engagement. (NOTE:these features are in Beta right now and not available for every page)

Twitter Analytics – Hoot Suite

So how do you know if your Twitter account is working? Is it measured by followers?  Is it measured by Retweets?  You don’t know.  Use the third party application Hootsuite to give your Twitter analytics the boost it so desperately needs.

Why is this helpful?

So you can monitor how, when, and why your marketing on Twitter is working.

• Monitor the number of clicks in the last 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or by date range
• Locate click hits by Geographic location
• Analyze and locate who the top referrers are, and what the most popular tweets were by clicks
• For each individual tweet, you can see the individual number of clicks

If you aren’t tracking how your activities are doing online, you never truly know if your time, money, and energy are actually creating any ROI.  Start with these five tools to take your social media marketing to the next level.

This is DAY 4 of my “28 Day Blogging Challenge“

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.  He is an avid blogger and active across the net.  He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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Much of today’s work can be done from the comfort of our own homes.  Telecommuting is becoming a much more popular trend and an easy way for organizations to save money on expensive office space, it’s also a great way to be able to accumulate better workers from a wider more talent pool.

But even in today’s mobile work environment, we must get in our cars and drive sometime.  And with the holiday season quickly approaching…road trips to visit family and increased car time are around the corner.   There are few things less productive than a road trip.  Just you, the open road, and your thoughts to keep you company.

I worked as an outside sales person for several years in large territories where it was common to drive several hours between customers and appointments.  So what can you do to stay productive while in the car or on a road trip?  Here are some tools that might help.

5 Tools for Staying Productive On The Road

- Podcasts: Rather than listen to the Black Eyed Peas on the radio, again…why not listen to something that will stimulate your business brain.  Podcasts are the perfect solution.

I’m not an audio book person.  I know many people love the format, but for me…it’s too hard to pay attention to someone talk for 8 hours and get through 350 pages of text.

Podcasts are a fantastic way to ABL (Always Be Learning) and the amount and quality out there is stunning.  Best of all…they’re almost always free.

Available on iTunes, there are thousands of podcasts waiting to be listened to.  And the great thing about them…is that they are hyper-niched.  Just type in an area of content you want to learn about and most likely several options will come up.  Unlike an audio book (which cost money) they are usually under an hour and easy to listen to.

- Jott (Or any Voice To Text Software): Ever been driving and an awesome idea for a blog post (like this one) pops into your head?  Well maybe it’s just me…but audio transcription software is a fantastic way to get things done in the car.

Jott is the perfect solution.  You can update, twitter, Facebook, Outlook, Google apps, and Blogging platforms like WordPress and Blogger.

So rather than crash your car sending text messages while driving, you can record some thoughts, and even post or publish them…all in the comfort of your car.  Subscriptions run about $10 per month. (this tool was also suggested by @tdhurst )

- Bluetooth Headset: With more and more states outlawing talking on the cell phone while driving…a Bluetooth headset is a basic necessity.  @thetristan recommended the Voyager 520 to me for this post.  Jott has an iphone and Blackberry app, as well

- YouMail: Not everyone or every client has your cell number, so many will still be calling your office number to get a hold of you.  YouMail is a free service that works with most mobile phones and carriers.

The handy service converts all of your voice mails to audio files, then sends them to you via e-mail.  Now you can stay on top of all of those fires that are brewing at your office.

- Internet Access (Starbucks Card): Sometimes you just need Internet access, and being on the road can make that difficult.  The Sprint MiFi solves this problem, but it does cost money.

A Starbucks Card solves this issue.  Unless you’re on the moon…chances are, there’s a Starbucks nearby.  If you buy a stored-value Starbucks Card, register it online, and use it at least once every 30 days, you can get the wifi in any Starbucks for free.  Besides, I’m guessing you could probably use the caffeine break anyway.

Get the Real Time Marketer Directly to Your RSS HERE

Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a social media and marketing strategist.  He also blogs about social media communities at AxeroPulse.com. He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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This weeks tool is the URL Shortener from Stumble Upon, called Su.pr .

What is it: Su.pr is a URL Shortener.  It’s does exactly what is sounds like, it shortens URL’s.

Why Should I Use it: Anyone using Twitter, needs to use a URL shortener.  Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet, therefore tweeting a previous post such as http://realtimemarketer.com/the-1-factor-to-a-successfull-blog-consistent-frequency-of-posts/ is impossible.

URL shorteners take these long links and shorten them.  Using Su.pr that link is now this http://su.pr/3Cu9aP and only 19 characters.  Long URL problem solved.

Su.pr is not the only URL shortner on the block, or the most popular. The two most popular URL shorteners are Tiny URL, which dominates with 75% market share and Bitl.ly , which comes in a distant second.

I traditionally use Bit.ly for most of my links I share.  It’s synched with my TweetDeck account and also provides basic analytics such as link hits and re-tweets.  But when sending out and promoting my own blog links, I use Su.Pr, and you should too.  Here’s why.

Su.PR Highlights:

• One-click posting and/or URL-shortening capabilities to both Facebook and Twitter.
• Analtyics:  Tracks clicks, retweets, stumbles, and reviews on StumbleUpon.
• Tweet later ability:  Su.pr allows me to post links at times when I’m not in front of my computer.  When I write a new post, I generally tweet the new blog post a few times during the day and once in the middle of the night while I’m asleep.  This allows new people from non-US time zones (Europe and Australia) to see my links.  Social networks are global communities and I have begun to make some great contacts in Australia.  (Tweetlater.com is a tool for this, but it has been flagged as a spamming device and can get your Twitter profile suspended.  I assume that’s why they recently changed their name)
• Recommended Optimal Posting Times: Certain times throughout the day and week are better for posting to Twitter to increase hits.  Su.pr tells you when those times are.
• Detailed Reporting and graphs for your posts.
• New: Advanced options for your own custom short URLs.

Increased Web Traffic:

Here’s the kicker…unlike using other URL shortners that only shorten links, Su.pr is synced with Stumbleupon.  This provides each link you submit to the StumbleUpon network.  Each link submitted can be voted upon by the StumbleUpon community, and if it becomes popular, your post hits can go through the roof.

With little to no effort, each link I submit from my blog usually receives an extra 80 to 100 hits in the first day from the StubleUpon community.  This is not a breathtaking result, but this is with absolutely no extra effort.  With a little more time spent on StumbleUpon, those numbers would increase dramatically.

Su.Pr Tips:

• Use the #StumbleMe hashtag and I’ll review your posts on StumbleUpon.  Read the directions here:
• Subscribe to others in the StumbleUpon network.  You can find me HERE, I’ll subscribe back.

Su.pr Setup Guide

1. Sign up for a free StumbleUpon account HERE.
2. Log onto the Su.pr homepage using your new StumbleUpon account HERE.
3. Go to the settings tab and sync your Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.
4. Go back to your Su.pr homepage and enter the comment and URL you would like to share with your Twitter followers or Facebook friends.
5. Select “Post”
6. Once you’ve made your post, you can immediately start checking stats in real time.

I use the Su.pr for my blog posts and have seem some success.  I hope you will as well.  What successes have you had with Su.pr or any other URL Shortener?  Leave a comment below!

Get the Real Time Marketer Directly to Your RSS HERE

Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a social media and marketing strategist.  He also blogs about social media communities at AxeroPulse.com. He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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This is a continuing post from How To Add Email Opt-in Options to Your Facebook Page

In the previous post, I went through exactly how and why to add an email Opt-In “Tab” to your Facebook Page.  The “Tab” is important for Page because it’s an easy way to let your fans know that you have an email list that you would like them to sign-up for.

The problem however, is that there is an extra step involed for them to do so.  Because your Opt-In box is located on a separate tab, people will need to click on the tab to locate it.

While this extra click may seem insignificant to you…it is a problem.  Any extra effort or steps what so ever…will create a barrier for some people.  Anytime you can eliminate steps for people, you’re in better shape.  Here’s how to eliniate that extra step.

Here I’ll be going through how to ad an opt-in “box”.  This box will be located on your Facebook page “Wall,” and for all fans to see when they’re on your page.  No extra effort required, no extra steps needed.

Luckily, this step is very easy to install and basically all of the hard work was completed in Part 1.

Step by Step Instructions – Facebook Email Opt-In Box

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Bring up your Facebook page.  On the bottom left of the Facebook interface you’ll see several options, and next to “application” you should see a picture of an “f” with what looks like a door.  That’s the “Ads and Pages” icon, click it.
3. A new page will appear.  Towards the top you should see “Ads Manager”, “Pages”, and “Help”.  Click the “Pages” link.
4. Locate the “Boxes” Tab and click it.
5. Scroll until you find the email opt-in box which you created.  Mine has been labeled “Get Discounts Via Email”.  Directly to the right is a pencil icon, click it.
6. Select “Move to Wall Tab”.
7. Click the “Wall” tab.  Scroll down till you find the box you’ve created.

And Boom, you’ve got yourself a new Email Opt-In box on your Wall.

Bonus:

If you have a personal blog or are a small business you may also want to include an opt-in box on your personal Facebook profile.

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Once you’ve logged in, go to the search box in the upper right hand corner and type in “Profile Box”.
3. Locate the application labeled “Profile Box” app and click on it.
4. Locate “Add to My Page” on the left side and click it.
5. A new window will open containing a full list of all of your Facebook pages.  Select which page you would like to add and click the “Add to Page” button.
6. After you’ve added the app, it’s time to add your code.  You’ll see a large space available for your HTML, copy the exact same code you used for your Facebook Page.
7. Select “Submit”.  If you wish to see a preview you can click that too.
8. Now it’s time to go to your profile, select “Profile” at the top of the page.
9. Once your on your own profile page, find the tab that says “Boxes”.  Click it.
10. Scroll until you find the box which you created.  Mine has been labeled “Get Discounts Via Email”.  Directly to the right is a pencil icon, click it.
11. Select “Move to Wall Tab”.

Done.  You’ve successfully added an email opt-in to your personal profile.

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a social media and marketing strategist.  He also blogs about social media communities at AxeroPulse.com. He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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The biggest social networking site on the Internet is Facebook.  After only 5 yrs, the site now has over 300 million users.  Your organization can not afford not to have a presence on Facebook for no better reason than…you need to fish where the fish are.  And this is where the fish are!

Many organizations have created Facebook fan pages, in fact , at the beginning of 2009 there were 620,00 pages.  You can view my FlashFiller page is HERE .

While a Facebook Page may be an excellent way to keep people up to date on what happens on their blogs or businesses, it can also be a fantastic way to way to add solid numbers to your email opt-in leads.  Most websites and blogs are designed to feature a section where users can submit their email address, but this strategy is often ignored on Facebook?

Why?  If you have synched your blog to Facebook, or inform “Fans” or potential customers with updates to your business…why would you also neglect to have your email opt-in option on Facebook as well?  The most common reason is simply that most users were unaware of this feature.

Since we’ve already established that this is where the fish are…Facebook can be a terrific source of new sign ups for your news letters, Free content, or whatever else you have selected to offer email subscribers.

I personally use Aweber for my business email list, but this particular service is not necessary for this post.  Any email subscription service with an HTML code option will work.

Of the few Pages I was able to find Email opt-in options, most were only used as a “Tab”.  Meaning, that Fans needed to click on the “Tab” in order to be taken to the opt-in box.  While I think this approach is sound, I think the better option is to place the email opt-in box on the main page.   I will provide instructions for how to do both.

In order to keep this post a manageable length, I have decided to make it two parts.  This is part 1. (Update: Here is Part 2)  We’ll focus on how to add an email opt-in option to a tab on your Facebook Page.

Step by Step Instructions – Facebook Email Opt-In Tab

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Once you’ve logged in, go to the search box in the upper right hand corner and type in “FBML”.
3. Locate the application labeled “Static FBML”.  It should appear first on the list.  (If you have trouble deciding which is the correct app, it has around 3.7 million users.  No other app on your search should be anywhere close)
4. Click the icon or the “Static FBML” text link.
5. Locate “Add to My Page” on the left side and click it.
6. A new window will open containing a full list of all of your Facebookpages.  Select which page you would like to add and click the “Add to Page” button.
7. After you’ve added the app, it’s time to bring up your page.  On the bottom left of the Facebook interface you’ll see several options, and next to “application” you should see a picture of an “f” with what looks like a door.  That’s the “Ads and Pages” icon, click it.
8. A new page will appear.  Towards the top you should see “Ads Manager”, “Pages”, and “Help”.  Click the “Pages” link.
9. Locate the Page where you added the Static FBML app, and select “Edit Page”.
10. In the Applications section, scroll down until you find the section that reads “FBML”.  Directly to the right is a pencil icon, click it.
11. Administration options will appear, select “Edit”.
12. Change the “Box Title” to something appealing that will get your readers attention.  My page is designed to distribute Real Time promotions so I chose “Get Discounts Via Email“.
13. Now, add your email opt-in HTML (You will find this at the service you use, mine is Aweber).  Note: for Aweber members, be sure that you use”Raw HTML Version”. Copy and Paste.
14. Once you’re done, select “Save Changes”.
15. Now, go back to your page. (top right should be a link)
16. Once you get back to your page, click on the tab with the plus (+) sign.  It will be aligned with your “Wall”, “Info”, etc. and choose the name of the Box Title you chose.

Congratulations…you have now added a Tab to your Facebook Page for your fans to sign up for emails.
This concludes Part 1.  Tomorrow I will go into how to create a “Box” on your Facebook Page with the same Email Opt-In.  See ya then!

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a social media and marketing strategist.  He also blogs about social media communities at AxeroPulse.com. He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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