SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMINER — Sure, social media takes a lot of time. Merging Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media options can be challenging. But what if you could cut that time down significantly by cross-leveraging content? Too many companies are reinventing the content wheel for every social outpost they maintain. A better approach is to create a content ecosystem that allows you to repurpose and cascade your best information. Instead of a series of self-contained initiatives, build yourself a content ladder. Here are 5 steps to get there...

MANAGINGCOMMUNITIES.COM — This is part 3, the final part, in my Alex inspired series on temporary bans, lifting them early and related topics. I’m going to close it out by talking about how to respond to members who want to be unbanned...

IMEDIA CONNECTION — Susan Bratton makes her living by enriching others' lives. As CEO of Personal Life Media Inc., she oversees a platform that produces and distributes podcasts, blogs, virtual workshops, and downloadable training systems meant to motivate and inspire. Handling the content, talent, and monetization of Personal Life Media, Bratton is an expert at keeping her ear to the ground, seeking out valuable trends and tools, and filtering out the noise...

FORRESTER RESEARCH — For my current research on social media and market research, I’m interested in listening platforms (and the text analysis that’s usually packaged with them) for the purposes of mining the social Web – be it on blogs, open community sites, social networks or the like. There’s a lively debate around the value of social media listening for market research, and there are many people willing to share their opinion. Last week, I attended a Webinar on this very subject, hosted by Peanut Labs, with multiple guest speakers from the industry. Here are some of the key points that market researchers should consider when assessing the need for – and effort in -- social media research...

HUBSPOT INBOUND INTERNET MARKETING BLOG — We all know content that spreads helps attract more people to your business, and a major way that content spreads on Twitter is through ReTweets (learn more about ReTweets on this free webinar). Here are a number of things you can do to have the best chance of getting the most ReTweets...