TIP OF THE MONTH: Make your Social Marketing life easy with these free tools

May 13, 2009 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
If you're looking for a good way to be organized and efficient with your Social Marketing endeavors, look no further than these 3 easy-to-use FREE tools:

Use your Outlook to update Twitter messages with OutTwit
If you are a Microsoft® Outlook® user, you probably have it open all the time. Now you can update your Twitter status and follow your friends without having to open any other applications. OutTwit seamlessly integrates Twitter into Outlook. You can receive your friend updates and archive, manage, group and search your Tweets the same way you do in Outlook. You can also search and track keywords, so you'll be able to find your name, brand, or interests (even if you're not following that particular sender). More features include: posting picture files and Outlook email attachments; using Outlook's "Reply" and "ReplyAll" commands to send twitter direct messages and @replies; see graphs of your Twitter usage statistics; tweets sent to you (@replies and direct) are marked with high importance, so you can see them at a glance.

Update your Twitter messages with your phone at TwitterFone
TwitterFone is free service that lets you update your Twitter feed using your voice from any mobile or cell phone. You call it, speak your tweet, and hang up. A short while later, your tweet will be posted on Twitter. Perfect if you're often away from a computer. How does it work? TwitterFone actually transcribes what you've said from voice to text, and posts it to your Twitter feed for you. The service is free and just uses regular minutes from your own phone plan. There are TwitterFone numbers in many countries, so you should always have a TwitterFone number near you. It allows you to listen to a playback of your message to make sure it translates correctly.

Manage all your networks in one place with Ping
Ping is a simple service that lets you manage and update all your Social Network accounts in one place. No longer do you have to open each individual account to post the same messages or updates. You can simply send Ping your message via mobile phone, Instant Message, E-mail or through a 3rd party app (like a Google Gadget for your iGoogle page). Ping supports over 40 networks, and will post your update to the network(s) you want them to go.