*Note: iGoogle has now been discontinued* The key to using Social Media efficiently and effectively for business it to set up a system that improves your workflow. I'll discuss some of the tools I use, where to find them, and show you how I use iGoogle - a personalized homepage - as a control centre to make sharing posts to my Facebook fans and Twitter followers easier. It's also a great way to organize RSS feeds (the collection of recent posts by my favourite blogs and websites) to help when I'm sharing content, directly from iGoogle, using Buffer. {Bufferapp.com is described in another presentation...view it here: http://socialmediamarketingkelowna.com/set-up-buffer-to-automatically-share-blog-posts/} Google has a number of tools, some that you might not have heard of, or don't realize Google owns (like YouTube). Most businesses I speak to say they don't have time for social media - the key to using internet marketing in a profitable and successful was is to create an organized, efficient process...this series of Tutorials on Social Tools can help you with that! Happy sharing! If you like what you see, please favourite the slideshow, and pop over to visit us and connect: http://facebook.com/BrightSparkSocialMedia

1. Social Media Tools:
How to set up iGoogle as a
Social Media Control Centre

2. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Everyone knows Google as a search engine, and you probably now have heard of
Google+ as a social network. When trying to find a location, you’ve probably used
Google Maps, and seen Google Images when you use Google to search for something.
Google has a whole series of useful products to help with your workflow, productivity, and
creativity. I’ll share with you the ones I find useful.

3. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Here are a few of the tools I use for my business:
• Google – I’d recommend setting up a Google account, and to keep things simple,
logging in from it to all other Google products. This means you only need to remember
one Username and Password. If you have a website, you should be using Google
Analytics, so you’ll need to set up a Google account anyway.

4. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
• YouTube – I’ve shared numerous promotional videos, slideshows and tutorial videos on
YouTube, and I’ve also added a YouTube feed (via Involver app) to show a playlist of my
uploads on my Facebook Fan Page. (Notice I’ve customized my YouTube background
in my company colours, with all my contact information and services easily visible.)

5. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
• Gmail – way less spam than Hotmail or Yahoo, with the ability to set up colour-coded
folders (labels) and filters, flag favourite emails, set an “important” marker – all very useful
to keep all you organized. There is also a business email account available.

6. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
• iGoogle – (formerly Google Personalized Homepage) is a customizable homepage
that you create by adding newsfeeds/blogfeeds, photos, weather, games, quotes, videos,
and other widgets to personalize your homepage. You can also use limited versions of
your Gmail and Facebook accounts.

7. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
I use iGoogle like a Dashboard or Control Centre from which I can quickly and
efficiently read and reply to emails in my Gmail account, check Facebook, view current
events in the news, read articles, and share blog posts to Facebook and Twitter (using
Buffer – that’s another tutorial).
These are
some of the
widgets that
you can add
to customize
your iGoogle
homepage.
You can also
change the
background
photo.

8. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
The newsfeeds are my favourite websites and blogs that I subscribe to via RSS
– that little orange button that you’ve probably seen on websites.
Each newsfeed displays the most current 3 posts, which can be read entirely within iGoogle.

9. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Here is a list of things to set up:
1. Create a Google account – http://google.com
2. Set up a Gmail account – http://mail.google.com - or access Gmail via your Google
account.
3. Set up your iGoogle account - http://www.google.com/ig. Personalize it by adding
widgets, and changing the background image.
4. Add newsfeeds and blogs to your iGoogle account via RSS.
Here’s how…

10. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Find a website that you like, and want to follow their blog posts whenever they are updated.
See if the website has an RSS feed button and click on it.

11. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
If everything is working properly, a window will open where you can choose to add the blog
to Google.
You’ll see a selection of
ways to subscribe – click
on the Google button.

12. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Click on the “Add to Google Homepage” button …

13. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
… and the newsfeed will be added to your iGoogle homepage. You can drag the widgets
around the page to rearrange them.
Tip: I keep my Gmail and Facebook at the top, then use each column for different
categories. For example one column is for social media blogs, one column for local business
(restaurants, wineries, radio stations, community blogs), and one for friends’ and clients’
businesses. Then every other day I go down one column and choose some posts to share to
Facebook and Twitter.

14. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Let’s try another example – http://socialmediaexaminer.com
Find the RSS feed and click it.

15. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
If you are using Google Chrome as your web browser (others are Firefox and Explorer),
you might notice that something goes wrong when you click the RSS button, and all you
see is a screen full of gibberish.

16. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
It’s nothing you’ve done wrong – that website is simply not set up with a feed that
works on the Google Chrome browser. You can try opening that website in Firefox or
Explorer (if you have them installed) and it will probably work, allowing you to add that
blog to your iGoogle homepage.
If you have a website with an RSS feed set up, I recommend you check it in Chrome,
and if doesn’t work, set up a Feedburner feed instead (or ask your web developer to
do this for you), which will work on any web browser.

17. iGoogle & RSS Feeds
Think of it this way:
There are 3 main web browsers, so as a business, can you afford to lose 33% of
your potential customers?
Or annoy a prospective client when they like your content so much that they WANT to
subscribe, but they CAN’T?

18. Still got social media questions?
There are tips & trips
on our website and Facebook Fan Page;
Tutorial videos on our YouTube Channel;
or you can post your question on Facebook or
Twitter.

19. Do you want us to create a
social media strategy
for your business?
Email us to set up a free 30 minute consultation.
BrightSparkSocialMedia@gmail.com

20. Thank you for viewing:
How to set up iGoogle as a
Social Media Control Centre