Kat French

This may be a 101 level post for some, but I think it still bears putting out there.  One of the things that I hear most often from people who are contemplating getting into social media is that it seems really overwhelming. 

With so many different services, blogs, and sites out there, small business owners and other marketers who are usually already stretched thin often figure that monitoring and participating in social media will require a time commitment and technical savvy that they just don’t have.

Not true.  It’s better to participate at a level you can manage than to ignore social media altogether. 

So here is a quick and dirty guide to setting up basic social media monitoring, using free tools and only a half hour or less per day. 

Step 1.  Google Alerts.   Go to www.google.com/alerts.  Google Alerts will send you emails at regular intervals (either once a week, once a day, or “as it happens”) with links to web pages that include your brand or company name, or your product, or whatever keyword you request.    Start with your brand name, company