Whether you’re embarking on a broader effort for personal or business reasons, there are a number of things that will help make the process go more smoothly. Some are must-haves in order to create key accounts.

Here is a recommended list of the top tools to set up, before you dive into the deep end of the social media spectrum:

Google Account

OK, you don’t have to have a Google account, but in my experience it will make your life much easier in several important ways.

Begin by creating a new account, specific to your social media campaign. In other words, unless you’re doing this strictly for personal use, do not associate your social media accounts with an existing, personal Google account. Instead, set up one tied to your organization’s name. In a few minutes, you’ll have the full arsenal of Google toys to enjoy.

Gmail:The first thing you’ll benefit from is a Google Mail (Gmail) account. This is both an ideal email address and a full bore system to use when setting up other social sites, for a couple reasons:

1. You can set up filters in Gmail to easily and automatically organize and archive emails. For example, you can create filters (Gmail’s answer to folders) for various types of social media sites, like Audio Sharing Sites, Image Sharing Sites, Social Bookmarking Sites, Social Networking Sites, etc. As you set up new social sites, you will specify how the emails you receive from each domain should get filed. You can also set up rules to forward certain emails, send auto-responses and more. It’s well worth your time to activate and learn Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts, too.
2. Many social media sites allow you to look up and connect to friends using your Gmail address. This is especially helpful if you already have an active Gmail account; if you don’t, think about importing your contacts into Gmail prior to expanding your social media campaign.

Google Docs: With a Google account, you also get the benefits of Google Docs. You can use this to create online documents and spreadsheets to keep track of all the social sites you join, including user names, passwords, profile information, answer to any “secret questions” for lost passwords, etc. Most importantly, you can share key information with specific people and set permissions on whether they can just view or edit items. I recommend creating a spreadsheet with multiple tabs for accounts like Microblogs, Audio Sharing Sites, Content Sharing Sites, Social Bookmarking Sites, etc. Notice how this structure can correspond to the same filters you set up in Gmail.

Google Calendar and Google Reader: In addition to Gmail and Google Docs, you get Gcal and Google Reader. Both are valuable. Google Reader is especially useful for subscribing to various RSS feeds, which the majority of social media sites offer in one form or another.

Yahoo Account

You might wonder, why would I need both a Google account and a Yahoo account? The main reason: you must have a Yahoo ID in order to use Flickr and Yahoo Video. For Flickr alone, it’s worth going through the hassle of getting a Yahoo ID. If you aren’t going to use Flickr, you can ignore Yahoo (and Yahoo Video).

When you sign up for a Yahoo account, don’t worry if the email address you want is taken at the main @yahoo.com URL; you can also try @ymail.com or @rocketmail.com (check for both options during the signup process).

Personal Information

Many social media sites are tied to a real person, as opposed to a faceless company. So you need to be prepared to designate or create a personal page or presence in many instances. For corporations and other entities, naturally this should be your CEO or another high-level person who will take responsibility for actually using the social channels you set up.

You will frequently be asked for demographic information when setting up social media sites, such as gender and birth date. You can’t skip it, though in some cases you have the option to show or hide this information publicly.

The essential personal details you’ll need to have on hand include:

• First and last name
• Gender
• Birthday (MM/DD/YYYY)
• Biographical information: I recommend a few variations of a bio or company description, one approximately 250 characters and another about 160 characters in length
• Interests: Common ones include your favorite book, band, city, movie, song, sport, TV show and website
• Company/occupation and role/title

Photo or Graphic

You will need a quality photo or graphic for your profile on most social sites. This will be used to create your profile image or avatar. If your purpose is social networking for a business, then use your logo or other promotional graphic; for personal networking, use a good photograph.

Your best bet is a square photo or graphic in the .JPG format, typically no larger than 2-4MB in size. Make sure you have several sizes and resolutions to choose from, such as a larger version of approximately 300×300 pixels and a smaller thumbnail of 100×100 pixels. A lot of the sites have built-in cropping tools, so you can always start with your highest resolution and scale it down. Having multiple options to choose from will make your set up experiences less frustrating.

Password Manager

Once you get in the groove of setting up multiple social media profiles, you’ll be entering a lot of passwords. It’s a very good practice to create unique, strong passwords for different sites.

Inexpensive software like 1Password (Mac) or RoboForm (PC) is a lifesaver. Both of the products mentioned will not only generate strong passwords for you, but also store these and auto-fill usernames and passwords later.

Also consider that some sites will only allow you to use letters and numbers in passwords. So a good one like #$ay@anything won’t work on one site, but will be fine elsewhere. Just another reason to have a password generator. If you can’t spring for $30-$35, at a minimum create several combinations of strong passwords that you can use interchangeably. (And good luck avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome as you tediously type your usernames and passwords over and over and over.)

Autofill/Copy-and-Paste Manager

Another time- and finger-saving device is software like Jumpcut (Mac) or ClipMagic (PC). These will store text items you copy to your computer’s clipboard, making it much easier to paste in long usernames, passwords, bios and other information as you move between social sites.

The Patience of Job

Be prepared to spend a lot of time as you sign up for social networking sites…set up your profiles…fill in a gazillion annoying captchas…upload and resize photos…and verify new accounts by email. As you progress, you will also need to make note of all URLs, passwords and other pertinent details in your Google Docs. You must stop and do this at the same time you complete the setup of each site, or else run the risk of forgetting vital information and locking yourself or your company out!

Finally, a comfortable chair and good lighting will help, too. Signing up for dozens of social sites is frankly a boring and laborious process, but it’s worth the effort in the long run.

Do you have any tips for software or other essential information to have on hand when signing up for social networking sites? Please leave them in the comments below.

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Social communities and social networking applications are all the rage these days. But many people—particularly companies trying to take advantage of online tools to attract attention, create connections and build credibility—are unsure what to do. What are the steps you need to take to use online social networking techniques and tools effectively?

It boils down to achieving FAME. The aim is not necessarily to become a celebrity, but simply to have a good roadmap and rules to guide your efforts. However, with enough strategic planning and work, you or your company just might get famous!

F-Framework

Successful social networking begins with a solid framework. This means determining the goals you want to achieve, before you start plunging in haphazardly. It’s no different than building a house, or crafting a good marketing strategy.

Architects use paper blueprints to represent what they will build in the physical world. Similarly, web developers create digital site maps showing what pages a website will contain and what features it will provide. Do the same in identifying your social networking goals. How will it impact your existing website? What types of information are you looking to share online? Who will be responsible for setting things up, contributing content, and monitoring and responding to comments? How much money and time should you budget?

A great way to brainstorm and visual your goals is to use a mind mapping tool such as Mindmeister.com. This will serve as a more effective reference vs. a written plan that rarely gets reviewed.

To get you started, I have created a comprehensive Social Networking Framework as a mind map, complete with notes and links. (Click here if you’re interested in signing up for a Mindmeister account.)

A-Action Steps

Once you have your high-level goals in mind, determine what strategies and tactics you will need to use in order to achieve them. Are you looking to create a place to share information and solicit feedback? You might consider creating a blog…a membership forum…a social networking site…a Twitter account…a Facebook or Linkedin page…or a wiki (or all the above!). Do you want to share audio content? Perhaps a podcast is in order. What about distributing videos? You’ll want to set up accounts on YouTube and other major video sharing sites.

There are dozens of tools available, depending on the types of engagement you are seeking. With proper goals in mind, it makes it easier to choose from the myriad options. Just a few of the areas to explore in terms of ways to reach others include:

• Blogs
• Content sharing (text, audio and video)
• E-Learning
• Events
• Podcasts
• Social bookmarking sites
• Social media press releases
• Social networking/social community sites
• Text messaging
• Webinars
• Wikis

Use your mind map and Google Docs to create and store site addresses, usernames, passwords and information for all of your profiles.

As your build up your network of sites and resources, it is also important to develop specific action steps to help keep content fresh and “synchronized,” so to speak. You’ll want to repurpose content and reach as many people as possible. As an example, when you add an article to your blog, you should have as next action steps to send out a message to your Twitter followers, update your community “status” messages (using a service like Ping.fm) and add a brief description and link to your next e-newsletter.

M-Measurability

It’s critical to establish upfront how you will gauge the success of any social networking strategy you employ. If you are setting up your own social networking site using a tool like Ning.com, how will you measure success? Will it be by the number of registered users? The frequency of comments? For audio or video files, will it be the number of times they are listened to or viewed, the number of times they are shared, or actions taken as a result?

There are a lot of ways to measure the success of social networking activities. With Twitter, for example, you can search keywords in real time, set up keyword alerts and track how many times someone clicks on links you share. There are many more ways to analyze Twitter alone. For blogs and websites, tools like Google Analytics and HubSpot will give you a wealth of statistics. For blogs, sites like Backtype and Trackur will let you monitor the blogosphere and other places to see what’s being said about you or your company. This is essential to stay on top of any negative comments and respond quickly to protect your reputation.

E²-Execution + Engagement

The “E” in Fame rests on both execution and engagement.

Ask any great coach, and they will tell you the best plan will fail without superior execution. To do social networking well, you must have dedicated people and processes. Without the right people in place (and support from the highest levels of your organization), you won’t generate the quality and quantity of content necessary to stay relevant. Likewise, the lack of formal processes will at best yield inconsistent results, and at worse lead to internal conflicts and high abandonment rates.

Execution in social networking is all about truly engaging with the communities that you belong to or build. You must be open, honest, proactive and responsive at all times. Andy Beal, co-author of Radically Transparent, says, “At the end of the day, your best bet is to maintain a really good character.” If you are unresponsive, intermittent or misleading, the results will be negative and could seriously damage your reputation and credibility.

Recommended Reading

For more information on social networking theories and tools, and how to use them to your advantage, I recommend the following books:

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologiesby Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customersby Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directlyby David Meerman Scott

Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Onlineby Andy Beal and Dr. Judy Strauss

Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!by Paul Gillin

What Do You Think?

I welcome your comments on the FAME social networking model.

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Copyright © 2009 Web Business Freedom, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

With the advent of the Web 2.0 movement, many sites began to provide a better experience. Finally, web developers had some decent tricks up their sleeve to make sites more usable. Coupled with our fast Internet connections, web usage shot through the roof and upended traditional media habits.

But an even bigger shift is happening. A growing number of websites and software tools now allow non-developers (99.9% of the population) to express themselves online, quickly, cheaply and non-technically. Now, there are more ways for the average person to tell the entire world, or a select group of friends, who they are and what they are doing, 24 hours a day.

And with all the economic uncertainty going on, now is a great time for people to think about how they present themselves online, personally and professionally. In many respects, WebYOU.0 is about building and enhancing your personal brand on the web.

It’s not enough anymore to have a paper or PDF resume; prospective employers are also likely to Google your name to get a sense of who your are. Do you have a personal website? Are you on any social networking sites? If so, what kinds of information are you posting (which is a reflection of your personality and judgement)?

Finally, if you’re looking for a job and aren’t actively using some of the tools available, you could be selling yourself short and missing out on opportunities to connect with people who can help you.

If you already have a job, then substitute “prospective customers” instead of employers, and the same principles apply. Are you missing out on attracting potential new business?

With all the above in mind, here are some of the ways you can use WebYOU.0 to reach out to others, both from a personal and a professional standpoint.

www.[YourNameHere].com

Registering a domain is nothing new. But in WebYOU.0 terms, it’s now becoming more common for individuals to register their personal name. It’s cheap and relatively easy to register a domain, using a service like GoDaddy.com, Network Solutions or PairNIC. Even so, I’m still surprised how few people think to do this. In terms of your personal brand, it’s imperative to own your name as a URL. If you have kids, by all means get their domain names, too, as early as you can. The longer a period of time you register the names, the better the pricing is.

After securing your personal domain name, it’s important to use the registrar’s service to redirect the domain to your personal resume, blog or website. Make this a priority, so your page isn’t parked with one of those useless “coming soon” pages.

In the same vein, be sure you to use a personalized email address, preferably yourname@yourdomainname.com, or as close to your real name as possible. Ditch your goofy nickname, and do yourself and prospective employers or clients a favor by using a responsible, grown-up email address! At the very least, get an address with your full name at Google, Yahoo or another respectable provider.

Blogs

Blogging is clearly one of the most powerful techniques available for anyone to share their ideas and opinions. According to Technorati, there are more than 175,000 new blogs created every day.

No wonder. There are a lot of free, easy-to-use sites that can have you blogging in minutes. Try WordPress (my top pick), Blogger or Tumblr, to name a few.

And remember, you don’t necessarily have to blog (verb) to have a blog (noun). Some people creatively use blogs as digital resumes. If you go this route, simple turn off any pages that suggest it’s a true blog, otherwise it’ll look stale if you’re not regularly posting updates. Other tools like Google Sites will let you build a simple site without the blogging part.

Microblogs

For an even faster, less demanding way to share information, consider one of the “microblogging” sites. These typically allow you to send text updates of roughly 140 characters or less, from your computer or cell phone. You can also send hyperlinks to websites and photos. Twitter is perhaps the best known of these services, along with others such as Pownce and Plurk.

As with your domain name and email address, use your real name and not a pseudonym or nickname. You’ll come across as more professional and make it easier for others to find and connect with you.

Rather than putting all your virtual eggs in one basket, sign up and create basic profiles (including a good photo of yourself) at several of these sites. Then, use an all-in-one site like Ping.fm or Hellotxt.com to update your status everywhere with a single message. This includes updates on the larger social networking sites (see below).

Online Resume

In addition to using a blog as a resume, your might consider a site like VisualCV or Carbonmade. These make it super easy to create a page with your relevant expertise and experience.

I’ll grant some older professionals (40+) some slack if you don’t have a blog or an online resume yet. But for younger people in general, and especially college students and recent grads, you have no excuse. Sadly, many colleges and universities still don’t help students do this. As an employer myself (now with my second company), I’ll tell you straight up: if I have a job or internship opening and you don’t have a decent digital resume, forget it. Every other person who does has a starting advantage over you.

Social Bookmarking Sites

Sites like Digg, Delicious, Reddit and Stumbleupon are ideal for saving and sharing websites you like. To be a good WebYOU.0 participant, you need to help others discover useful information, just as they’ll help you do the same. Plus, saving your bookmarks to the web, in various places, lets you access them anywhere.

Social Networking Sites

There are now dozens of quality sites that exist to help people connect with their “friends” or business colleagues. Some of the better ones include Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo.

Set up accounts with your real name, a quality photo and a profile. Often, these services will assist you in determining if any of your existing contacts are already a member; if not, you can invite friends, family and professional colleagues to link to your account. After settling into these services, take time to search for and join any groups related to your career or personal hobbies. If you don’t find one, it’s easy to start your own!

Keeping tabs on what your friends are up to is one of the primary benefits of these social networks. To make this process easier, consider signing up for Friendfeed or SocialThing. They will let you to see all of your friends’ updates and shared online activities at a glance.

Business Networking Sites

Business networking sites are essentially social networking sites for working folks. They are crucial for building a professional profile, finding jobs or employees and even inexpensive research. Check out Linkedin, Plaxo, and XING.

Wikipedia has a good, comprehensive list of social networking and business networking sites.

How Are You Using WebYOU.0?

What are some of your favorite tools and techniques for building your personal or professional presence online? Where do you see WebYOU.0 heading?

I think the implications are staggering, from a personal and professional standpoint. There is a growing gap between people who are using the web to share portions of their lives online, and those who aren’t. It’s the Digerati vs. the Digilliterates. And WebYOU.0 is changing the rules of communication for companies big and small, as people band together to vet their frustrations and opinions about products and services, in real time. That’s another benefit of using many of these services; if you have a gripe, chances are good that a company might be listening and will respond directly to you.

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