There are a wide variety of Word Press plug-ins that are available which add various Social Media features to your website/blog. So whether you want a simple Tweet This link or copy and paste HTML code for your visitors there is pretty much something for everyone out there.
Selfless Mind have released a list of some of the Word Press plug-ins it thinks are worth considering together with an HTML option that can be used on any website (The Word of Mouth Tool we featured recently).
Click Now to download the Selfless Mind Word Press Social Media Tool round-up.
Let’s face it, when it comes to marketing or sales word of mouth counts for a lot.
Think about when you are looking to buy something, you will probably hit the search engines but you’re also likely to ask your friends, family and colleagues to see if they or someone they know has any information on what it is you’re looking to buy. 9 times out of 10 you’ll value the opinion of someone you know over some marketing blurb in a magazine or website.
So, you have a website, how do you get that elusive word of mouth effect? Not so long ago you’d maybe have had a link on your site where a visitor could fill in their friends email address and they’d receive your website details in an email. These days that just isn’t as effective as it once was; there is a good chance the email, if it ever survives the SPAM folder, won’t get more than a cursory glance. Instead, people are relying on RSS Feeds and social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Furl, Digg and countless others.
How then do you get your brand/message out there? The short answer is by making it as easy as possible for people to share what you are offering. No doubt you’ve visited numerous websites and blogs which have links, usually icons, at the bottom of each page which allow you to rebroadcast the page you are viewing on any number of social sites. These are good as in just one or two clicks of a mouse your page is sent to dozens, if not hundreds of new people. Notice I said good and not great? These rebroadcasting options generally have limitations, namely they assume that all your visitors have signed up to one of the social sites on offer. For every person I know who uses Twitter I know around 20 who don’t, as the saying goes, don’t put all your eggs in one basket or you risk losing a lot of eyes!
What you need is the best of both worlds. You want something that allows people to email your page as well as making it easy to rebroadcast on social sites. While we’re thinking about it, why not make it really easy to link to on their web site or blog? Sure it’s easy enough to copy the URL and then create a link but if you had the complete code there for you wouldn’t you be more inclined to use it?
Well, the good news is such a tool not only exists, it’s free! If you look at the bottom of this entry you’ll see it in action, it looks like this: 
It’s pretty difficult right now to surf the net or open a computer related magazine without coming across mention of Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7. It’s due to be launched in Europe in October but is already available for pre-order. From what I can gather, if you buy a new PC or laptop with Vista installed you can get a free upgrade to Windows 7 once it’s released. I’m not sure what the prices will be like at launch-time but unless you are really keen to back up all your data and then re-install it after upgrading, I’d be tempted to just hang on for Windows 7 to launch before buying a new piece of kit.
Reviews of Windows 7 are very promising, it seems Microsoft has learnt lessons from Vista and has ensured that it’s new operating system is more solid as it’s keen to move people on from Windows XP which is over 10 years old but still a very much favoured operating system. Microsoft acknowledge this by including an XP Mode in Windows 7 which is basically an operating system within an operating system, making use of Virtual PC technology and the good news is you won’t need a separate licence as it’s covered by your Windows 7 agreement.
The one downside to Windows 7 for European users is the lack of a pre-installed browser. The EU feels that Microsoft’s dominance in the browser market excludes other choices for users. They feel that the other players in the browser market won’t get a look in as people will just default to Internet Explorer if it is bundled with the operating system. So Microsoft have removed Internet Explorer. Needless to say this will cause no end of anguish as you can’t log on and download a new browser because… you have no browser! What European users will need to do is:
- On your current computer prior to installing Windows 7, or on another computer system, download the install file (usually a “.exe” file) for your preferred Windows 7-compatible browser to your current system.
- Burn this file to a CD or DVD or transfer it to an external storage medium such as a flash memory drive or external hard drive.
- Install Windows 7 on your system using the instructions provided with your purchase.
- Once you have installed Windows 7 on your system insert the CD/DVD or connect the external storage device and copy the install file to your Windows 7 system.
- Run the install file to install your preferred web browser and access the internet.
These instructions are provided for your information only and you may wish to explore other options.
You can currently pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional from Amazon.co.uk
