BlogCatalog

Here's a little shopping secret for you: when you sign up for sale email alerts, you know about hot fashion sales before everyone else does. Rather than sign up to receive the email newsletters of various retailers and wind up with many emails in your inbox, you can instead sign up for sale alerts through a third party provider and receive the bargain information of all your favorite retailers in one email. Best of all, the service is FREE.

There are two top services that provide great fashion sale information: Shop It To Me and ShopStyle. At Shop It To Me, the service locates your favorite brands on sale in your specific size. Just create a profile at Shop It To Me and select your favorite brands, retailers and your sizes. You then receive daily or weekly (depending on your preference) Shop It To Me Salemail which lists the sales of your favorite brands and designers in your specific size. So, let's say you love Diane von Furstenberg, as I do, then when a DVF dress in your size suddenly goes on sale at Nordstrom, you receive an email from Shop It To Me Salemail. Pretty cool, huh? My Shop It To Me Salemails have led to some awesome bargains including Diane von Furstenberg, Custo Barcelona, MICHAEL by Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Free People. See the sample Salemail below.

ShopStyle is a wonderful fashion search engine. Sorry, Google, but when I'm shopping for a cute pencil skirt, I type "pencil skirt" into ShopStyle's search engine and get way more awesome options. But if what you seek are sales, then you must sign up for ShopStyle Sale Alerts. As is the case with Shop It To Me, you have to set up a profile including your favorite brands and sizes. Then set your email preferences and you're good to go. My personal Sale Alerts bargain finds include Juicy Couture and Betsey Johnson. Check out the Sale Alert email example below.

So, which is better and which sale alert service should you sign up for? My most sincere advice is to sign up for both. While some of the selection overlaps, I have found that the two services offer a sale selection with more differences than similarities. If you truly want a vast amount of sale information and bargain finds, then you would do best to sign up for both Shop It To Me and ShopStyle. You won't regret it, and you'll find your wardrobe growing and growing with great designer bargain discoveries while still saving money.

Sometimes it can be cumbersome to update your status on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin by having to visit the individual sites.

Your readers want to stay connected to you in various ways and some prefer different outlets.  You have to make sure that if you create a social media stream for your users to follow you, then you need to continue to use it so you don’t lose your reader’s interest.

I am a part-time blogger since I am also a full-time stay at home mom and involved in various organizations.  Even though I am considered a “stay at home mom,” it seems like we are never at home!  So staying connected in different outlets took a lot effort, but not any longer with HootSuite.

HootSuite
HootSuite is first and foremost a Twitter toolbox that has received rave reviews for many of its features.  HootSuite was recommended by many probloggers at BlogWorld 2009, so I decided it was worth trying out and I have never looked back.

Some of its features I love include:

• Easily RT, DM and Reply by selecting the username and the appropriate icons
• Ability to schedule updates
• Shorten a URL quickly and easily
• Provides analytics to track links clicked
• View the conversation for @replies

Other Features I Haven’t Tried:

• Ability to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
• Feed RSS to Twitter automatically
• Import Existing Lists and Create Lists
• Easily upload photos and documents

HootSuite Works with Facebook, Linkedin, and Ping.fm
HootSuite updated its application at the end of November to allow you to provide current and scheduled status updates on Facebook, Linkedin, Ping.fm, and Twitter.

I have been using this feature for about a week and it has not only saved me time from going to various sites, but it allows me to stay connected and be more active with my readers and friends.  Now I can update my status in Twitter, Facebook Fan Page, and my personal Facebook account with one application.

Will all updates go to all streams?
You can be selective in which stream you want your updates to be posted, so something that you would want to go to your personal Facebook update, won’t automatically be posted in all streams.  When you enter your status update, you select the icon for which stream(s) you want that to be posted in.  You can also update all of them with the same status.

Can you view your Facebook Friend's updates from HootSuite?
Yes, and with pictures!  After you import your other social media streams (ex. Facebook) into HootSuite, you will see Tabs for the different streams.  Click on a tab and you can view the wall status updates of your friends and can make comments to their updates.  You can also rename, add, and delete tabs.

It Gets Even Better…
You can easily add your social media stream as a column in HootSuite so you can see your Twitter and Facebook info on the home screen.

The Downfall…
There isn’t an iPhone application for HootSuite yet.  If we could just get this awesome application on our iPhone then I would have no more excuses for not staying updated.

Do You HootSuite?
Just give HootSuite a shot if you haven’t already fallen in love with another Twitter Toolbox.  I have found that it saves me time and I love its organizational structure.  Hopefully you too will find it useful.  If it doesn’t work for you, then at least you have nothing to lose.

Many people are living in the land of tweeting, but I started using Twitter a few weeks ago.  I am enjoying it more than I thought I would.  At first I was intimidated and didn’t think it would work for me. Getting your thoughts out in only 140 characters seemed really short to me at first, but I have learned to chat within those limitations.

Using Twitter can play a key role in marketing your blog or your business. It helps you keep in touch with other bloggers and friends, connect with your current readers, discover new potential readers, promote blog posts, and learn about events, sales, and updates.  When you send a tweet that your followers like, then they re-tweet that to their followers and thus you are exposed to many more people than you would have been otherwise.

Not only can you use twitter to communicate and post information, but you can search for keywords and see what others are talking about.  This tool might help you when you are looking for blog post ideas and topics.

After reading and following the blog Twitip.com, I realized that I needed a custom twitter background to go with the design of my blog.  This way when someone checks out my twitter page, they see a page that represents my blog.  Some people will find you first through your Twitter name, and you need to brand yourself on your twitter page so that they know where to find your blog.

Many sites provide templates to purchase and some for free, but I wanted a theme that went with my blog.  SearchForBlogging.com gave easy instructions on making your own twitter background with the specific image sizes. I used an image editing program and made a background using images from ChattyGal.com.

Twitter Background Sites:
Below is a list of a few of the many twitter background template sites.  Some of the sites offer free backgrounds and backgrounds for purchase. Many also offer custom background packages.

• TwitterBackgrounds.com
• Twitter Image
• Twitter Gallery
• TweetStyle
• My Tweet Space (also includes Free Twitter Follow Me Buttons)

Other Tips:

• Picture & Logo: Include a picture of yourself and the name of your blog in your profile.  People like to see a photo of the person or something related to the brand of the blog, like a logo or caricature.
• Bio: Make sure you include a bio on your twitter profile page so that people can learn quickly if they want to follow you.  You can use your bio to optimize keywords for your blog.  Your bio is limited to 160 characters, so choose your words wisely.
• Twitter Lists: Mashable.com has a nice post on how to use and create twitter lists which allows you to organize the people you are following.  I currently haven’t used twitter lists, but I can see the importance of them as my list grows.

Do you have any other tips and ideas that you would like to share or have discovered?

View my new twitter background for ChattyGal.com and start following me @ChattyGalBlog

Humanized is an interesting company. Their core philosophy and focus do not conform to a specific kind of software, but to a specific way of software. I know that sentence doesn't seem to make much sense, but it really does. Humanized makes software, unfortunately so far, not much software, that is humane in it's user interface.

I know, I promised you a Blogger's tool you'll love, and I will fulfill that promise, but I need to lay some groundwork first on why you'll love it.

Quasimodal interfaces are Humane

The thing that really sets this tool apart is the use of quasimodes, which are modes that require you to take constant action to keep open. When you hold down your shift key and type a few letters, for instance, RSS you have just utilized a quasimode, because the text would only continue to be in uppercase letters as long as you hold down the shift key.

Modal Interfaces Aren't

On the other hand a modal function is something that is "sticky" like the caps lock key. You press it and it stays in uppercase text mode until you press it again, whiCH CAN SOMETIMES MAKE THINGS COME OUT NOT QUITE RIGHT, if you know what I mean. How many times have you typed a whole sentence or even a whole paragraph, only to discover that you were in the wrong mode, and then had to retype it in the correct mode?

That sucks, right?

Two Birds With One App

Well, what if you could eliminate that problem completely and at the same time gain access to a neat little piece of software that can spell check in any window on your computer that you can type text into? What if it could count the words on any window on your computer, period? How about if it also did nearly a dozen other neat little everyday things that right now require you to switch modes from what you are currently doing, then switch back again? And if you could do those things as easily as you can hold down your shift key and type RSS?

Enso Words does just that.

Enso Words is a quasimodal, universal spell checker that also does a bunch of other nifty things like word counts, cutting, pasting, copying, changing case, solving math problems, and, with an add on, several search launches as well.

To engage Enso Words you hold down your caps lock key with your left pinky finger and type a command. Not some cryptic command either. The command for spell checking is [ [capslock] spellcheck ], though typing [ [capslock] s ] also activates it in the default configuration. You only have to type as many letters as bring the command you want up. As soon as you release the caps lock key, the commend currently selected is executed and you are returned to where you came from. if no command was selected, you simply return to where you were and it's like nothing ever happened.

Imagine, you'll never tyPE A CRAZY ALL CAPS SENTENCE AGAIN. And you can count words and check their spelling anywhere you can read or type them. That's a useful little tool for a Blogger!

Try it out, it's free. Drop a comment and let me know what you think when you've given it a try. I love it over here.

While the amount of mind-blowing, awe-inspiring new tools to play around with in the exhibit hall at BlogWorld Expo this year was a little lacking, I found a few tools that I think will be pretty helpful to bloggers.

1. wetoku: A tool from Zentium, Inc.that brings the talking head experience to your blog, wetoku makes it super-duper simple to record an interview online, save it and embed it on your blog.

What is required to record an interview? Well, at least one participant must have a wetoku account and both participants must have a webcam. To get a wetoku account just go to wetoku and sign up. To get a webcam...well, if you really don't know how to get a webcam contact me personally because you probably require more assistance than I can provide through this blog post ;)

Once you are signed up for a wetoku account, recording an interview just requires you to log in and click the Start Interview button. Then--unless you want to mess with the advanced settings--just title your interview, name both participants and click next. You will be provided with a invitation URL to send to your interviewee. All the interviewee needs to do is go to that URL and they will appear along with you on the weotku screen. Once you are both there, just click the red record button under the interviewer's screen and after a 3, 2, 1 countdown the recording will begin.

After the recording is finished, you will be sent to a new screen where your completed video can be viewed and the embed code for the interview is provided. Simply grab that code, pop it on your site and just like that you have a nice clean interview up on your blog. Like I said, it's super-duper simple! Here's a quick interview I did with Austin about the new BC dance we're developing Disclaimer: The dance is still pretty rough and we're both crappy dancers, so bear with us:

The only issues we had with recording the interview was the echo from the audio and a slight delay in the video. The echo is the same kind of echo I have experienced with some online seminars and conferences, and I'm not sure what can be done. I assume using headphones would solve this problem if you don't mind how they look. The video delay problem was minimized by bumping down the video quality and may have had more to do with the spotty internet connection in our building than the site itself. I'll have to try some interviews from other locations and see if that changes. Overall, still a good user experience despite the minor issues.

2. Lijit: "Using the power of people, their content, and their connections, Lijit enhances the way your readers search for and discover information on the internet. You serve as a filter for all of the results your readers could possibly receive, ensuring they only receive the most relevant results from the source they trust…YOU." -Lijit.com

Lijit provides a search function similar to what our own BC 360 Search widget does. When someone uses the tool to do a search, it will pull all the relevant content from your blog, your other networks, your bookmarks and trusted sources and display them for your reader. The driving idea here is that since you are a trusted source for your readers and they are interested in what you have to say, the results you return will be trustworthy and relevant. This is a fairly simple explanation of what Lijit provides; to see a list of all of the features and to see a sample search page, check out their site.

3.Jing: Another easy-to-use tool from TechSmith that let's you create a screenshot or a recorded screencast of your screen and easily share it with your readers. A great tool for technical bloggers, Jing allows you to record step-by-step videos as you install software, make changes to your blog's code or complete any process that can be made simpler with a supplementary video.

Installing Jing is quite easy and I was able to make my first screencast without reading the instructions or watching the instructional video. Of course, if I had watched it, figuring out how to share my video would have been simpler. Still, after realizing the screencast I had saved to my hard drive was too big to share and that I had to go to screencast.com to get URL links and embed code, I was able to login and proceed without any trouble. After that, adding the screencast to my blog was pretty simple.

To get the URL or the embed code for your screencast video, simply login at screencast.com using the email and password you registered with when installing Jing. Once in, click the My Library link at the top left. My screencast was in a folder titled Jing. I just opened the folder and saw my video there. When you hover over the video's icon, smaller icons apprear beneath it that allow you to view, edit, share or delete the video. Clicking share opens a window that provides a URL link, an embed link and an embed code for your video.

Here's the quick screencast of my iTunes screen I made using Jing (I shrank it down a lot to fit on the blog. Just in case you were wondering, the original was about 1100 pixels by 900 pixels). It takes a few seconds to load and play:

Obviously there are many, many  more tools out there that bloggers love to use. If you have any tools you use and love, please leave a comment and let us know about them. You can also add your favorite tools to the BC Tools page where you can discover, review, and rate the best tools for bloggers.

As part of our ongoing quest to provide the best resources to our members and to highlight the bloggers who are part of BlogCatalog, we are rolling out a new BlogCatalog Tools Section and a redesigned BlogCatalog Community Blog that will be featured more prominently on our site.

The Tools Section will feature information and user reviews of widgets, platforms, resources, services, and opportunities for bloggers. Here, members will be able to add their favorites in addition to reviewing tools and resources suggested by their fellow bloggers.

Our blog is one of the main tools we have for promoting the work of our members. The new design and more prominent placement will make it easier and more fun to find out what's happening at BlogCatalog. Plus it will give our group of BlogCatalog Blogger Advocates a better location from which to share all of the great writing they discover on BC!

Followformation (Fofo), a new tool that allows you to auto follow the top Twitter users in particular categories, launched today. I learned of the tool through a Mashable article by Jennifer Van Grove and then went to check it out for myself.

Upon arriving on the Fofo home page, the first thing that strikes me is the simplicity of the whole thing. First, you choose the category, or categories, that interest you. Next, you select how many of the top Twitter users from these categories you want to follow—the Top 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50. Then, you enter your twitter username and password. Finally, hit the follow button and you’re done.

There are 20 preset categories on the home page to choose from. They range from news and politics to music and entertainment, and are the usual areas of interests you’re used to seeing on other news and social media sites. According to their About page, Followformation, “uses several twitter directories (such as WeFollow, Twitterholic, Geofollow, etc.) for it’s categories,” and states that their lists are updated, “in regular intervals.”

Two nice things about the site are the preview feature and the ability to create your own category. The preview feature allows you see the top 4 twitter users from a particular category plus a Featured Spot--paid placements that are not yet filled. Fofo says that up to 10% of the auto-follow lists will be paid placements. These placements are, however, “hand-approved and have chosen [the] paid formation services to build awareness.” Also worth noting is that Fofo, “will dedicate at least one paid spot in each category for charitable organizations, charitable causes, and non-profit organizations.”

Like the rest of the site, creating your own category is also very simple. Just click in the empty field, type your category name and hit return. I like this because most of the listed categories are pretty general and this feature allows you be a lot more specific. For example, I was able to create a Beer category and am now following the top 10 beer-focused tweeters.

Fofo is the first tool by Aer Marketing Inc. in a line of tools that are aimed at helping social media novices get started. For that purpose, I think that Fofo is a great tool. I think it’s also good for individuals, like me, who are already into the swing of things, but want an easy way to add more interesting tweets to our feed.

Is this a tool that appeals to you? Check it out and let us know what you think about Followformation.

In case you missed the announcement on The Tiger Beat Blog, "we have a new feature on BlogCatalog [that was rolled] out sitewide this [past] weekend that we have developed to make it easier for BlogCatalog readers to share, rate, and comment on BlogCatalog blogs. The new BlogCatalog Blog Bar gives readers a chance to learn more about you through your BlogCatalog Profile as well as find blogs on related topics from our directory of hundreds of thousands of blogs."

Screenshot of BlogCatalog blog with new Blog Bar

New Blog Bar Detail Picture

So, check out this new feature, use it and defintely let us know what you think!

As you may know, many BlogCatalog members are fueling their blogs with traffic from Twitter, which is used by more than 4.5 million people. Some also use Twitter to stay up on hot topics.

The success of our member using Twitter made us take notice. So, BlogCatalog recently purchased Tweetfeed.com to help you get the most out of Twitter. Tweetfeed.com is a customizable presentation Web application that captures Twitter activity in real time.

But now, it does even more since we've added real time topic trends, personal profiles, and topic widgets. The widget is one of our favorite new additions. You can add it to any blog or Web site in seconds.

What Can You Do With the TweetFeed Widget?

You can the widget for topical information and then place it on your blog. For example, a nonprofit could track and display cause-related Twitter conversations; a fan group could track and display Twitter conversations about their favorite actors and shows; or companies could display conversations about their successes, even if they have multiple employees participating on Twitter. It's completely customizable so it's all up to you.

The widget not only links to the conversations, but to your Tweetfeed.com profile page. The new profile page displays all your feeds, helps promote your blog, and makes it easy to help people connect to you on Twitter.

Check it out! All you have to do is visit Tweetfeed.com

Hey guys, I wanted to introduce you to the newest widget in the BlogCatalog family, the Newsfeed widget. Basically, it’s tied into the information you have shared with the blogcatalog community to share with the readers of your blog. Now, your fans get a chance to see your favorite websites, stumbles, twitters, and blogcatalog activities!

Available in a variety of colors, the widget is a fun and dynamic addition to any blog because while you are being active online the widget is constantly changing for your readers giving them the opportunity to catch your latest suggestions and updates. It also gives users the opportunity to add your feed to their RSS reader so they can follow your favorite stories and videos at their convenience.

This is a great way to promote your posts and your friends posts, so take some time and check out the NewsFeed widget here: http://www.blogcatalog.com/account.widget.php?type=feed

Also, we have finally updated the profile page with their own personal activity feeds. Now you can check out your favorite members feeds from their profile, if you like what you see you can add them as a friend to place them in your dashboards newsfeed.

The Dashboard’s news feed gives a chance for you and your friends stories going viral. As soon as BlogCatalog sees that you have a new post, we put it in your followers feeds so they can check it out right away. Also, if they digg or stumble the post then THEIR friends can see your posts, and if those friends digg or stumble the post then THEIR friends will see it… and so on… and so on… So not only is it a great way to get the latest news, blog posts, and entertainment but it gives you a chance to promote your favorite webpages to the people following you and vice versa!

Oh and for those of you looking for the ever so popular Neighborhood posts you can now find them in the right hand column below the Favorite Discussions, or even better, for a larger view you can see them in your dashboard here: http://www.blogcatalog.com/dashboard/neighborhoods/