A decade ago, soon after becoming Global CIO at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, I started looking into how I could embed what we now call “social software” into the everyday operations of that institution. By that time we were already pioneers in the use of wikis, we were already well established in our use of instant messaging, we had begun quite serious experiments in the use of smart mobile devices at work, so what we were trying to do was add blogging to our portfolio and bring all the tools together into a more harmonious whole.

Social bookmarking is a popular tool among web users which allows content to be stored, organised and managed. Users save links to web pages that they wish to remember, re-visit and/or share with others. Social bookmarking sites allow users to add descriptions to content, making it easier to understand. Bookmarks can also be made public or private. Those who have access to an individual’s bookmarks can choose to view them in chronological order or by category, which is beneficial for finding web resources about particular subjects.

Have you heard of StumbleUpon? Well, if not, let me introduce you to the self proclaimed ‘discovery engine’ and why although it does not seem to assert equal or greater web presence as some other social media platforms, it can be considered to be a certified social media powerhouse.

Social media is about listening and making friends, not aggressively marketing your company. We have an in-house policy that state no sales tweets are allowed. For example, it would be absolutely fine to tweet ‘‘currency rates overview: Eur 1.18 ; USD 1.65.’’ This can be classified as informational, newsworthy and add value to a customer. However, we would never tweet out ‘‘get the best money transfer deal at MyCurrencyTransfer.com. Cheaper than anywhere else.’’ This type of messaging can be saved for the billboards.

A new study from Constant Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) reveals that almost 40 per cent of UK small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using social media to market their business. What’s more, the study suggests that nearly eight out of ten (79 per cent) of those currently using social media marketing expect to increase their use of the tool to drive business results in the next year. Of those not using social media marketing currently, 27 per cent plan to begin using it in the next year.

Klout scores are calculated by analysing and measuring our professional and friendship connections online. In the online social sphere, recommendations, content sharing and interactions are occurring constantly. In light of this, Klout aims to inform you of how effective your social networking endeavours are ranking your social influence on a scale of 1 to 100.

As a business journalist, my biggest challenge is finding fascinating business people to write about. I know you’re out there, but you can be so hard to find; or at least those of you who aren’t using social media.

If you’re a B2B marketer planning to use social media to target prospects, here’s a cautionary tale about how not to do it…

According to Mashable 2012 is the year we exhaust social media.

Many small businesses have tested the waters of social media marketing, but until now, few have seen real business results from their efforts.  Social Campaigns, the newest product offering from Constant Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT), allows small businesses and nonprofits to quickly and easily run results-oriented socialmedia marketing campaigns on Facebook®, empowering users to grow their fan base, drive engagement, generate “social word of mouth,” and get the results they really want from an investment in social media marketing: more fans and more business.