This is a guest post by Dave Gallant.

With over 70% of web users curating content instead of creating it, digital curation can be a powerful way to increase your overall influence across the web.

In this post, I’m going to share a few unique techniques I’ve discovered to increase your influence using digital curation. But before we jump into the “how”, you need to be certain the content you’re curating is exceptional.

Here are a few questions to ask before sharing someones else’s content:

• Does their industry align with the message I want to convey?
• Are they influential in their industry, spark conversations, and get retweeted?
• Do they frequently create content and does the quality of their content fluctuate?

Once you have answered these questions, lets move on to the “how to” section.

First, create a twitter list of the influencers you’ve chosen from the above questions. Then create a second list of those who may not be influencers but write amazing stuff. I would say to have a minimum of ten individuals selected per list. So for example, here’s a list I’ve created. This will come in handy later.

Next, you’re going to curate your influencers content . I’ve had real success using the methods below, as it has helped raise Klout score 22 points (not that klout is the ultimate authority :/ ), has almost doubled the amount of lists I’m mentioned on, and has consistently increased interactions (retweets and mentions) and overall growth of my Twitter following.

1. Create your own Paper.li Publication

If you’re on Twitter, chances are you’ve seen Paper.Li. It’s an online curation tool that enables you to create your own newspaper using content from your Twitter followers, influencers, lists and keywords. It’s a cool way to treat your readers to fresh news daily. But, here are two different ways of using it:

Don’t tweet out the publication when it updates. Instead, use it as a repository of great articles relevant to your industry, and schedule your daily tweets from the content populated in the publication. The beauty of this is it self-updates, reducing the time it takes to find relevant content on the web.

Another way, is to do a search for key influencers in your industry who have a Paper.li publication (for example, let’s use The Brian Solis Daily). Because Brian is an industry thought leader and shares compelling content, I review the articles found in his daily publication, then incorporate the most relevant ones as part of my own daily scheduled tweets, mentioning of the content creator (e.g. @ is the Universal Sign of Engagement via @briansolis http://ht.ly/5sZ6M ). This typically covers half of my daily tweet content.

2. Use the HootSuite Contacts Section

Another way to curate content and retweet others at the sametime, is to use your Hootsuite Contacts section.

Click on the Hootsuite ”contacts” tab, and select the influencers list you’ve created. Then click on one of those influencers, view their timeline, and scroll through to see what they’ve tweeted. You can select an interesting tweet, review the content and then schedule a retweet. This may sound time consuming, but really only takes a few seconds to do, and you can break it up throughout the day. Here a screencast for a better explanation.

3. Build a Tribe on Triberr

What is Triberr? Well basically, every time you publish a new post, those in your tribe will tweet it out to their followers automatically, and vice versa. And, if you don’t like the fact that it tweets automatically, just set it on manual and only approve those tweets that you want. Also, your reach is multiplied on Twitter. For example, I have a potential reach of 412,000 twitter followers that may see my blog post.

But here’s what makes Triberr a great curation tool. Once you get an initial invite, create a tribe using only those people that you trust and know write compelling content. For example, I’m in a tribe called “Birds of a Feather” (I know, crazy name). These tribe members are always publishing interesting articles that get plenty of retweets, and typically spark conversations with my own followers.

4. Send Content Out With dlvr.it

dlvr.it is a great curation tool that I’ve just started to tap into. I’d say it’s even better than twitterfeed. The beauty of dlvr.it is that it allows you to go one step further when using your rss feeds. It gives you full control over the exact time that the feed posts, so you can set own schedule. Plus you have full customization options.

Pick five to ten influencers, then import their blog feeds into dlvr.it. Schedule them throughout the day, allowing them to “trickle” through or set a “window” of when they can post. The trick is to stagger the times that you check and post from their blog feed. I recommend doing some trial and error on a dummy account first, until you get the hang of it.

These are just a few ways to curate content. There are many others, like Scoop.it for example, that allow you to curate in unique ways. How do you curate content?

PS: Just want to send a quick thank you to @newraycom for sharing his insight while I wrote this post.

This is a guest post by Dave Gallant – Dave is a social media consultant and author of davegallant.ca where he blogs about all things social and the world of online marketing. You can also connect with Dave on Twitter or Facebook where he talks to his fast growing community.

Most of us don’t think of our browser as a social media tool. I can assure you that after going through this list of Firefox plugins, you’ll take it more seriously and if you’re running another browser, you might want to take this one for a ride.

What’s beautiful about Firefox, besides the underdog story behind it, is that it’s open source and it provides with an insane number of tools developed by programmers all over the world allowing you to personalize your experience.

One more thing I will mention before starting this list is that I’m not suggesting in any way that you go and download a dozen of plugins, see what works better for you and stick with a few. Here we go:

1. Yoono

Yoono is a powerful tool that sits on your browser as a sidebar and you can turn on and off as desired. You can access and manage your activity on different networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr as well as IM services like Google Talk or AIM.

2. Bit.ly Sidebar

The Bit.ly sidebar simply rocks (I’ll admit I’m a big fan of Bit.ly…). You can trigger the sidebar from any website and share content on Twitter without ever visiting the actual application or Bit.ly itself. It also shows you a quick snapshot of the stats if the piece of content has been previously shared by other Bit.ly users and gives you the option to post on Facebook or email it.

3. Subscribe with UberVU

UberVU is an application that helps you track conversations on different networks. It is a great listening tool that everyone should include as part of a social media strategy. The team at UberVU has recently launched this bookmarlet that gives you a quick view of the reactions that post has generated and lets you subscribe and receive alerts via email. Use it to track your own content and be on top of the conversation.

4. AddThis or ShareThis

You have seen the ShareThis or AddThis buttons all over but you can also install the plugins to add them on your browser with the same functionality. Just another comfortable way of sharing content to several platforms without leaving the site.

5. DiggBar

Of course if you’re a Digg user, the toolbar makes it easy to digg content by just clicking the button. The latest version displays the count and button on the URL bar to save space but if you find it annoying you can turn it on and off.

6. StumbleUpon Toolbar

Similar to Digg but with its own toolbar on the browser, I find the StumbleUpon plugin every useful to save content I want to read later or just bookmark websites. It is also great to submit your own content. You can “stumble” without going to the site, a feature that I don’t use much to be honest.

7. Share on Posterous

One of my favorites since I use Posterous to share content from other sources (Awesomeness Around The Web). The “Share on Posterous” plugin opens a little window on the side of the browser and grabs the information displayed on the page including different types of media formats such as photography, also giving you the option to edit and add your own comment. There is also a similar plugin if you prefer Tumblr.

8. Read Later (InstaPaper)

InstaPaper is as simple as its tagline, “A simple tool to save web pages for reading later”, one click (truly just one step) to bookmark content to comeback later. What I love about it is that it eliminates the clutter around the content for a minimalistic approach to reading.

9. Facebook Toolbar

The easiest way of not going to the actual site, while most of the options are a navigation you can also share content and update your status from the toolbar.

10. Hootlet

From HootSuite, it not only offers sharing to several Twitter accounts, Facebook profile, fan pages and LinkedIn but you can also schedule your posts without going to the platform. Quick and painless.

11. Facebook Sidebar Chat

This is something that you need to setup by yourself on Firefox since it’s not a plugin, it takes the Facebook chat from its original location to the sidebar, a good way of leaving the site while keeping the chat alive. If you are interested in the setup, you can get a little step-by-step screencast here.

12. Firebug

Among other things, I use Firebug to measure blog loading times, after all your blog is an essential part of your social media and loading times can really affect your performance. The cool thing about it is that you can get an easy-to-read breakdown of how long each single item on the page is taking to load so you can improve. For example, how the ShareThis plugin takes forever and it’s about to get replaced on this blog… sorry.

13. Delicious

An oldie but still useful. Again, painless bookmarking. Use it also to bookmark your own content, Delicious has proven to be a good source of traffic back to your blog.

14. TwitterBar

The TwitterBar provides you with a quick option to send a Tweet, it sits in the address bar. Just type and click the icon.

15. WiseStamp

WiseStamp is a plugin to help you create a nice email signature including icons to your Social Networks and even a RSS feed that displays a link to your latest blog post. It works with web-based email clients like Gmail.

Share Your Favorite Plugins…

There are plenty of tools out there that you can implement to your Firefox browser and I have included a few here, now you can share your favorite ones in the comments section of this post. Tell us about your experience and how you use them…

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If you are becoming more and more active on Facebook, you are probably starting to notice that going to the actual website is not always convenient or, that you can’t always be connected to it.

Yes, some people are always connected to a platform one way or another because that is where the community lives or where the prospect hangs out. Fortunately, there are many applications being developed around these social websites, some of them are bringing these communities to a common place on the web or even to your desktop or mobile device.

So let’s review some of the tools you can use to stay connected to Facebook without even going to the site:

1. Desktop Applications

One of the easier ways to connect to Facebook without actually going there is by using the Facebook for Adobe AIR application. There are also third-party apps that have a lot more features built in. Read my post Your Social Life In One Place: Your Desktop to learn more about Nomee.

2. Mobile Application

The last version of the Facebook application for iPhone has been said to be one of the best ones ever featured on iTunes and of course, it is also available for other platforms as well.

I think the success for the iPhone app in particular is due to the universal navigation made into the main page, the experience it’s really getting closer to the real thing. The application is obviously free and if you haven’t experience the iPhone version, I suggest you do.

3. Firefox Toolbar

If you are using Firefox, with a couple of clicks you can install the Facebook Toolbar, which includes status updating, sharing options and quick links to different section on the site.

4. Sidebar Chat

The Facebook Chat must be one of the most annoying chats ever. Some people (me included…) choose not to use it but if you do, you can make it a little bit more human-friendly. If you use Firefox, which you should, you can place it on the sidebar by simply bookmarking it. This is a great tutorial from HongKiat: How To Place Facebook Chat On Firefox Sidebar and I promise to put together a little video later this week.

5. Twitter Clients

I know, I said Twitter, but both desktop and web-based applications like TweetDeck, Seemsic or HootSuite have recently expanded their efforts to Facebook integrations and they keep improving and adding features. Soon, we will never visit the actual site again…

6. Ping Your Status

Services like Ping.fm let you update your status for several networks at the same time, you can configure whatever services you want to connect from a very extensive menu of possiblities. Other more recent applications such as HelloTxt are also available and if you pay attention on other sites, Facebook is being updated from anywhere online…

7. Brizzly

Brizzly is definitely the most recent innovation on how to manage your Facebook account, it displays your activity in a stream fromat and you can view the news feed or your wall. The application also handles your Twitter account which makes it pretty cool because you can manage both of them from one place.

Brizzly has been making a lot of noise lately, maybe it’s time you take it for a spin. Follow this link to signup (it includes an invite code).

Last Word

I’m always chasing simplicity in everything I do. When it comes to these little gadgets I have one rule I try to follow, if it makes my life easier then I’ll consider it but if it adds more steps to my process, complicates my day or they are just clutter on my notebook… I drop ‘em for good.

The point here is to provide ease on your social media activity while you stay connected and some of these tools really do the trick.

Are you using something else to stay connected to Facebook? Share your secrets in the comment section…

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If I’m already using social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, why do I need a third-party application?

Valid question, and I’m usually opposed to using too many things. I also enjoy the time I spend on the actual sites, but in this case, I will give you 10 reasons why I love HootSuite and why you should give it a try.

I have only one rule about technology usage. I play with most toys because of what I do (and because I’m a guy…), but to actually implement it into my daily action , it has to simplify instead of complicate. I think this provides a good starting point, to the list now…

1. Web-Based

Nothing to download or install, which also means that you don’t have to launch it and wait for it to load on your machine. Pretty simple, anything web-based is just more convenient.

2. Multiple Accounts

Not only you can manage multiple Twitter accounts in one place but with just one click you have total visibility of the next account. You can also post a tweet to a specific account, to more than one or to all your accounts at the same time.

3. Ow.ly

HootSuite has its own URL Shortener so you don’t have to setup any preferences for that or get an API from. Again, make my life easier… You can also use Ow.ly as a separate tool and you just need to sign in with your Twitter account.

The other cool feature about Ow.ly is that you can post pictures and file sharing, and video is coming soon. Of course you can enjoy these items also on HootSuite.

4. Facebook, LinkedIn And Others

The latest update is the integration of other social networks including Facebook (Profiles and Fan Pages), LinkedIn and Ping.fm, which should take care of the rest. You can update your status and send it to the networks of your choice the same way you post to Twitter.

Also, you have access to viewing the Facebook news feed, your Fan Page wall and your LinkedIn Network Updates without ever leaving the application. Very useful for a quick look.

5. Stats

As long as you are using the Ow.ly shortener, HootSuite tracks all the clicks and creates very useful charts to analyze your performance.

This is a great tool to visualize how many times followers click on an specific link, referral and regional stats and the most popular links you have posted. This last one helps you determine what kind of content is your tribe digging the most so you can follow that trend.

6. Hootlet

Hootlet is the little browser plugin that adds a button to your bookmark toolbar and lets you share content from anywhere on the web. This means that you don’t even need to go to the website when you find something worth posting.

Also, installation is as easy as dragging the button to the bookmark toolbar.

7. Schedule For Later

HootSuite also lets you schedule your Tweet or Status to be posted later, this way you can plan your social activity and also makes changes before they go live. Think about this for a second, what if you have a post that’s scheduled to go live on your blog tomorrow morning, you could also schedule the links to publish automatically on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms just after that. Now you can sleep until noon (just a thought…)

8. Interface

Have your own personal setup. The use of columns, which I should say it’s not exclusive, is a great way to visualizing all your Twitter activity without having to navigate to other pages. Again, less clicks. This is something you can customize to your needs, you can display the feed, your own Tweets, direct messages, mentions, really whatever you want and in the order you want.

Everything is accessible within one click, whether you want to look at a different account or a different social network.

9. Twitter List

With new features like Twitter Lists, the possibilities of adding other columns have also been included to the interface. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with information if you follow a lot of people, Twitter now helps you classify information into groups called “Lists”. HootSuite has now added the feature and you can separate these lists into columns.

10. iPhone App

Not out yet, but it’s coming very soon. You will be able to manage multiple accounts, schedule your social activity and more from the palm of your hand. There is your location independence baby…

So To Wrap It Up…

There are other applications and it really comes down to what works for you. If you prefer a desktop app or if you are looking for other features, what matters is that it simplifies your day.

What are you using? Share your thoughts…

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Do you take the time to look at your traffic stats? And if you do, do your understand what all those reports mean? How can you utilize that data to make adjustments?

I want to make a couple of points before I go on with this article. First, my content is written with the intention to provide value to entrepreneurs, independents, small businesses or freelancers that need to leverage from these tools but don’t have the time to become experts in the subject, in other words, when any marketing budget is coming out of your own pocket. And second, if you don’t work at a big company, those dollars are probably coming out of your pocket, so you need to pay attention to things like your traffic data.

I’m listing a few things that can get you going in understanding this a little better:

First Things First…

If you’re not running a Web Analytics software on your site, that will be step one. Google Analytics makes this a walk in the park. There is no need to invest anything, it’s very easy to install and it provides you with enough data to play around. You will need to create an account (if you already have a Google account you’ll be able to use that), get a piece of code to install on your site or blog and give it about 24 hours to start gathering data for you.

What To Look For

Sure, looking at how many visits you got last month is fun, but there are other reports that will help you understand how your visitor behaves in your site so you can make the necessary adjustments.

I’m sharing traffic numbers based on one of the blogs I’ve been tracking in the last 2 weeks and of course you should take in consideration that it might be different for you depending on the nature of your site and your content. Here goes:

Visits

The number of visits to your site. You will get an amount of visits during a period of time and a percentage to see where is your traffic is coming from. In this example, it’s easy to see that we could focus a little bit more on improving Google ranking. You can compare what you’re doing in the networks where you get the most traffic against other networks, obviously something is working better there.

Page Visits

The average number of pages viewed during a visit to your site. Repeated views of a single page are counted. The highest number of visits don’t always means the best quality, now we see Facebook took the lead on this one…

Ave. Time On Site

The average duration of a visit to your site. Look at how Facebook users spend more time on the site, look for answers on things like this. What can you do to keep your visitor a little longer?

Bounce Rate

The percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page). Here’s an example, if you’re promoting a blog post, your visitor will go directly to that specific page, read your article and bounce away. What can you do to offer him/her to browse around?

Also, look at the big difference between Facebook and the rest. Is it because the rest of the sources are too impersonal? Maybe…

Watch Your Cheese

If your website or blog is your primary form of marketing, then you need to pay closer attention. I recently downloaded this little widget called Polaris, it grabs your Google Analytics data and brings it to your desktop, now you don’t even need to go to the website to take a quick look.

The application is free for one account and you need to pay an annual fee if you need to track more than one site. You can also download from the Adobe Air Marketplace. The picture at the top of this post is from the Polaris interface by the way…

Can You Track Social Media?

There are ways to get a little taste of how you do in social networks. If you own a Facebook Fan Page you probably noticed the “Insights” box on your left sidebar, that gives you a good idea of your performance and your visitors demographic data.

Another way is to use a service like Hootsuite and URL Shortener tools such as Ow.ly (same company) to track clicks from Twitter and other websites. There are many other services like this. The data you’ll get is basic but good enough to polish your strategy, but this a whole different animal and I’ll probably write a post for it.

Final Thought

This is a testing game. Start looking at your data, be creative on how to improve things, test something new for a month and then compare with the previous month. Here is what’s gonna happen:

• You’ll get some understanding on how things work.
• You’ll realize you can work on setting some goals.
• You’ll eventually be comfortable controlling the performance of your site.

What kind of tools are you currently using? Share in the comments…