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If youre new at the game, trying to understand the brave new world of social media marketing can be a daunting challenge. But if youve determined that this new marketing discipline is critical for your business, there's a new eLearning kit that can help you jump-start your efforts and get the skills and knowledge you need to succeed. And it'll even help you calculate your return on investment.

"Social Media Marketing for Dummies"(Wiley, 2012) is veteran social media strategist Phyllis Khare's latest effort to make social media marketing intelligible and doable for marketers and business owners who need to learn the discipline from the ground up. This hands-on tutorial, a new addition to Wiley's venerable "Dummies" franchise, is packaged as an eLearning kit that includes a full-color printed book and interactive eLearning Course on CD. The CD also offers readers the opportunity to take the course online free for up to six months at the For Dummies eLearning Center.

Khare's primer guides the reader through all the steps required to build a social media marketing plan using the four largest social media sites Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube as well as a location-based sites such as FourSquare, Gowalla Groupon and Living Social. At the end of the course, newcomers to social media marketing will find out if their plan is working by calculating its social media return on investment.

[Social Media Now Top Marketing Pick for Local Businesses]

"Dummies eLearning is designed to be an easy and convenient way to develop new skills and learn how to get things done with technology," said Andy Cummings, For Dummies Technology publisher. "The eLearning Kits allow our readers to follow the material sequentially or choose separate sections and learn at their own pace through the book, eLearning course or both."

Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith atnsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.

Copyright 2012 BusinessNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Remedial Reading for Social Media Marketing Dummies

AUSTIN, Texas, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SXSW INTERACTIVE--Shoutlet, provider of the most comprehensive social marketing platform available, today announced a new mobile Facebook app to give marketers a more seamless way of creating and uploading content across a variety of devices. The mobile app is also accompanied by enhanced capabilities in social analytics segmentation for more personalized re-marketing purposes. These "Smart Content Publishing" features will further drive usability and results for marketers looking for an easy DIY tool to help engage with fans that are on-the-go.

As a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant, Shoutlet's new mobile Facebook app gives marketers the ability to create mobile specific designs that will appear on mobile devices seamlessly, with the flexibility to be optimized across a variety of devices and formats, including Facebook tabs, web apps, web pages, or HTML email. With mobile usage on the rise, Shoutlet customers are able to better interact with a fan whether it be on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. This then drives more fan interest and access to information, deals, and contests virtually anywhere.

Following the successful launch of Shoutlet 5.0 and its Social Profiles feature in mid-February, Shoutlet is also releasing updated capabilities in Social CRM for amplified social segmentation efforts. With Social Profiles, brands build data-rich context around fans and their preferences, and today's new feature gives marketers the ability to deliver different messaging, designs, contests, and promotions according to specific demographic make-up. Segmentation can be organized by traditional means such as location, age, and gender, but now also interests. These dynamic lists constantly update and can be used to learn more about communities and target content to them via different versions of web pages, Facebook tabs, and web apps that can be served to users on Facebook and websites seamlessly.

"The consumer experience continues to be the root of relevancy marketing, and the same principles of personalization and understanding fans apply to mobile and opportunities for re-marketing," said Jason Weaver, CEO of Shoutlet. "The combination of a mobile Facebook app and Social Segmentation means brands are smarter about fan preferences and can apply that knowledge to ensure a more tailored customer experience."

Shoutlet continues to develop and deliver technologies that put the power of social marketing in the hands of marketers, arming them with the tools for DIY content creation, campaign planning and execution, and analytics tools to measure a program's success.

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About Shoutlet

Shoutlet is a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant and provider of a leading enterprise social marketing platform that gives brands and agencies the tools to publish, engage, and measure all of their social marketing with one powerful tool. Its industry leading functionality includes a Social CRM for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube management; Social Canvas for Facebook tabs, HTML5 pages, and custom contest and web app design; Social Switchboard for trigger-based campaign publishing; Social Profiles for data acquisition and interest segmentation; Social Enterprise for corporate-level control of multiple brands, franchises, and agents; and Social Analytics for metric tracking and custom reporting.

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Shoutlet Unveils New Mobile Optimization and Social Segmentation Enhancements at SXSW

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Social Strategy1, a leading provider of online business intelligence and advocate for social media and small business, announced today the release of Beam Social, a revolutionary social media marketing application designed to help small businesses in America grow online.

The cloud-based small business software application, which is sold on a subscription basis for as little as $29 per month, makes it easier for small businesses to build an effective social media marketing presence with real-time conversations. Beam Social analyzes relevant data captured through online channels (social networks, microblogging, eCommerce, and other websites that share ratings, rankings, and comments) and delivers this information in a unified and meaningful way, enabling small businesses in America to directly engage with buyers real-time, by monitoring buyer behavior. Small business owners are provided with an easy to use platform, along with the engagement tools needed to administer social media marketing campaigns, coupons, sweepstakes, and other apps to help convert leads.

A recent social media study of small businesses [infographic] reveals that even though business owners use it for personal use, they do not know how to apply social media to their business. By giving small businesses access to a very simple, yet powerful analytics and engagement tool, Beam Social expects to see a growing number of SMBs finding success through social media in 2012.

With Beam Social, were looking to tear down the barriers between small businesses and social media, explained Social Strategy1s Chairman and Founder, Mike Lewis. Any small business owner will be able to build and manage an exceptional social media presence, easily and efficiently and ultimately grow their business. The potential is huge.

We really focused on building a simple and intuitive platform for Beam Social, said Alex Avendano, Product Manager and Strategist for Social Strategy1. You only need to know the basics of social media to start using it plus, its quite affordable. That opens doors that were previously shut off from small businesses.

Beam Social customers not only have access to the most powerful small business software currently on the market for social media - they also are able to rely on the knowledge of Social Strategy1s marketing experts to perfect their social media strategy.

Social Strategy1 unveiled Beam Social to a select group of OfficeArrow members in a webinartitled Cash in on Social Media led by Alex Avendano and joined by industry authority Steve Ennen, President and Chief Intelligence Officer of Social Strategy1. For additional information about Beam Social including pricing and features, visit http://bit.ly/beamsocial.

Beam Social is a service of Social Strategy1; a social media strategy and business -intelligence Company. The Company translates real-time social media activity into a framework for improving the fundamental areas of business (Operations, Human Resources, Customer Service, Distribution, Finance, Legal). Social Strategy1 was developed in collaboration with The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where students and academics used the platform to focus on the more meaningful metrics and proofs of performance in a total media strategy. For more information, visit http://www.socialstrategy1.com or follow @sstrategy1 on Twitter.

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New Social Media Marketing Toolkit Helps Small Business in America Make Sense of Social Media   

In celebration of World Day Against Cyber Censorship, activist group Reporters Without Borders named its new list of nations who have been deemed enemies of the Internet for their proclivity toward censoring the Web. Whether to quash popular uprisings, or stop online dissent during an election, more and more countries are turning to shutting down mobile phone networks or filtering content, according to the new report.

Reporters Without Borders' report features many reasons why a nation might be on the list. When countries tend toward removing content and pressuring technical service providers, they run the risk of making the list. Other reasons include, threatening net neutrality and online free speech, intrusive surveillance, using propaganda or even committing cyber attacks like DDoSing Web sites. Belarus, once under Soviet Union rule, and Bahrain both made the list after formerly being designated under surveillance by RWB. Venezuela and Libya, conversely, have been dropped from the list completely. The ten other countries to make the list have done so by continuing to restrict access to the Internet, tracking dissidents and pressuring companies to aid and abet government abuse. Start the slideshow to see the entire list.

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Who are the Enemies of the Internet? Reporters Without Borders Names 12 Censorship Ridden Nations

There are some surprising names on the 'Enemies of the Internet' list, such as Australia and France. Perhaps even more surprising are some of the countries that have been dropped from the list, including Venezuela and Libya. Next year could see Burma removed as well. "The news has thus been encouraging, but it can turn on a dime," noted Sheldon Himelfrab of the United States Institute of Peace.

While developments such as the Arab Spring show the power of the Internet, there remain news blackouts, harassment of bloggers, and even attempts to shut down social media in several nations. This is one of the key findings of Reporters Without Borders, which released its annual "Enemies of the Internet" report on Monday, listing countries that curtail access to the Web and freedom of expression.

The updated list was released in conjunction with World Day Against Cyber-Censorship.

"The enemies list contains nations that fall into categories of combining drastic content filtering, track cyberdissidents, or those who present themselves on social media, blogs or Facebook," Delphine Halgand, D.C. Director at Reporters Without Borders, told TechNewsWorld.

The category of "enemies" also considers those nations that "use the Internet as a tool of propaganda," she added.

This year's list saw the addition of Bahrain and Belarus for their restrictive control of the Web. They join Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. "Supervised" countries include Australia, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, France, Sri Lanka, Eritrea and South Korea.

Nations in the "supervised" or "under surveillance" category have been called out for less objectionable -- but still restrictive -- practices. Australia, for example, was included because of its content-filtering plans, and France made the list due to its antipiracy laws.

Other countries were names for more repressive measures -- such as Russia, which has used cyberattacks to thwart political debate; Malaysia, known to harass bloggers; and Turkey, which blocks thousands of websites.

Thailand could join next year's Enemies of the Internet list as it has sent bloggers to prison and has undertaken content-filtering efforts.

Bahrain found itself on the list for similar reasons.

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Journalists Battle Web Censorship With Internet 'Enemies' List