Becoming more finance-savvy and making smarter decisions on how to manage your money has gotten easier and more interesting today. A growing number of personal finance-related ventures are starting to take true advantage of the power of social media by connecting people beyond the boundaries of Facebook and Twitter.

It’s not uncommon to see people nowadays relying more on web services to manage their budgets online using web tools such as Mint, creating a financial plan with Gosimplify, estimating the value of their homes with Zillow, or simply finding and sharing useful money management tips through personal finance blogs and online communities. Here is a personal selection of the most innovative websites I’ve found online that are leveraging the power of social media and reinventing personal finance as we know it.  Get ready to evolve and innovate:

Need money for a kitchen remodel? Social Lending might be your best option!

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending sites like Lending Club and Prosper are online communities of people borrowing and lending money among themselves, without the intermediation of a bank. They basically connect borrowers and lenders trough an online auction in which the lender that offers the lowest interest rate “wins” the borrower’s loan. By eliminating the middleman, borrowers usually receive lower interest rates than the ones they would get in a traditional bank. Consequently, lenders can also expect to receive higher returns (Lending Club’s average return is 9.65%!).

My dad’s portfolio is doing better than your dad’s

Online investor communities like Investorvillage, Covestor and SocialPicks allow people to compare their investments portfolio’s performance to those of peers, professional analysts and financial bloggers. As SocialPick’s website claims, it is “Social Networking for Serious Investors”. Other communities, like Tip’d, offer investor advice and “crowdsourced” financial news.  The idea of letting audiences generate finance-related content seems to be growing at a very fast pace.

Want a new bike? Your Facebook friends can help!

Even though it offers one of the highest savings interest rates (2.15% APY at the time of this writing), Smarty Pig is not your ordinary online bank. Behind the cute and friendly interface there is a very innovative business model that uses viral networking to its advantage.

It works like this: users create a free Smarty Pig account and set specific saving goals (e.g. $700 for a bike by January 15; $3,000 vacation fund by August 30). Smarty Pig then calculates how much users should contribute each period to reach your goal. The interesting part is that it then allows users to openly share their saving goals in social networks like Facebook or Twitter  with family members and friends, who can make contributions towards their savings goals.

Let’s coupon together!

There are many websites that offer coupons and deals for online shoppers, as well as many online “coupon exchange groups” that serve as platforms for individuals to exchange unwanted coupons with fellow group members. But a website named Groupon goes way beyond coupon exchange.

Groupon emails it subscribers a daily deal in the city they select. The deal might look something like this: “1 hr. massage at Green Body Spa for $50 in Fort Lauderdale ($100 value)”.  If enough people sign up for the offer that day, everyone gets the deal. By pooling a large group of consumers – and their buying power – Groupon is able to negotiate huge discounts with retailers.

Groupon depends on a lot of people signing up for their deals, so it makes sense that they are paying users $10 when a referred friend signs up and get their first Groupon deal.

Not interested in the $50 Barnes & Noble gift card from Auntie Patty for your birthday? Trade it!

Gift cards have become increasingly popular in the last years. Among their many advantages, they relieve us of the burden of having to select the right gift. But as you might know, some gift cards are never redeemed (between 6% and 10%, as most experts estimate), amounting to huge gains… for retailers.

Thanks to the social trend on the web, sites like Plastic Jungle are able to pool consumers and allow them to exchange gift cards online or even turn unwanted ones into cash. Gift cards buyers can save up to 30% over retail prices and gift card sellers can get up to 92% of the unused card value. Not bad at all, don’t you think?

Social media is just beginning to transform personal finance as we know it and there are many innovations still to come. Organizations that are able to keep the pace and update their business models with the right social media strategies and tools will definitely keep reaping the benefits and leading the way. But remember, regular folks can also benefit from more and more openness and transparency, better deals and better returns. Just start learning the new game today and don’t be left behind.

Do you know of other innovative ways social media is being currently applied to personal finance? Let us know and share them here!

Valentina is a Project Manager at SOWEB Inc. and the new blogger on board with interesting insights on how social media is affecting our daily lives.

Since first generation websites, the Internet has evolved into a complex, strategic environment for businesses, where leveraging an effective online presence can help your company grow and prosper. Amazingly, still too many businesses, big and small, think of a website as just a “must-have” cost center. Only a few companies recognize their websites as valuable investments that can help them expand profitability, achieve organizational objectives and boost their marketing and sales efforts. What usually happens is that after a chain of unsuccessful experiences, wasting a lot of time and money, and realizing that the web design decision drivers that made it happen, were the wrong ones in the first place, companies finally get to the unsettling conclusion that “the company website is not selling”.

After several years working as a marketing and web consultant for companies across all major industries, I’ve come to identify a set of common reasons why websites don’t sell and deliver the results organizations expect. I invite you to use this list as a basic reference guide to assess your current online presence. Should you see your company’s website suffers of one (or more) of these symptoms, maybe it’s time to bring an expert on board.

• Poor ‘Look & Feel’. You may be the best at what you do, but if you don’t project a clean, professional image online, people won’t hire you, as simple as that. You’re in the realm of subjective perceptions and the way you present yourself online can make or break you. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression and online that means you have less than 5 seconds to do it right.
• Outdated content. Content is the heart of a website. Having useful, informative, seo-friendly and valuable content updated regularly is key to boost your traffic, improve your visibility online and promote conversions. Outdated content not only increases bounce rates and negatively affects search rankings, among other things, but also gives visitors a wrong impression that positions you as a lazy company.
• Lack of web usability. Too many business websites don’t pay attention to web usability and make it real hard for users to navigate them and find the information they’re looking for. Exploring a website should be an easy, intuitive process. Like Steve Krug, a known web usability expert, would say “Don’t make me think”.
• No web standards. Building a website compliant with web standards means simplifying and lowering production and maintenance costs, while delivering a site that is accessible to more people and more types of Internet devices. Sites that follow these guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will continue to function correctly as web browsers evolve and new Internet devices come to the market.
• You do what? If you don’t quickly convey the kind of business you are in and the products and services you offer to customers, you will repeatedly lose visitors. Sounds like another no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many business websites still leave you looking at them for minutes wondering, “What does this company do?”
• Visual noise. For some reason, many companies think that loading a website with as many ”creative” design elements as possible, such as a busy background wallpaper, an embossed company logo, wild patterns, animations and even in some cases favorite tunes as background music, will add interest to their business websites. The reality is that all those things interfere with the messages to be communicated and scare visitors off.
• Invisible contact information. Visitors need to be able to contact you with information requests, questions, complaints, and/or suggestions. A ‘Contact Us’ page is like an Internet business card that should be always available from any part of your website and have your key company’s contact information. Make it easy for people to contact you and give them options (ex. contact form, department emails, twitter, facebook, telephone numbers, fax, among others), instead of making yourself invisible.
• No image optimization. It’s true, a picture paints a thousand words, but if your web graphics are not optimized for the Web, it will mean higher hosting costs for your company and a poor visitor experience which can lead to less visits and no returns. The more storage space on the server you need because of larger files and the more bandwidth it’s needed are variables you need to address with optimization from start.
• Broken links and 404 error messages. Before launching your website and making it public, make sure every link works or get ready to lose a lot of visitors quickly. Avoid giving your visitors  ”404 file not found” error messages, or broken/incorrectly labeled links that end their browsing experience abruptly. For large sites consider adding a form so visitors can submit a broken link, which lets them become part of the solution and know you are on top of any problems they discover.
• Ignoring statistics. If you don’t monitor your statistics (such as average time on pages, bounce rates, entry and exit pages, top content, keywords, referrals, etc.) you not only miss the opportunity to make your website more effective toward those who visit you most and those you’re not reaching, but you’ll lose a lot of time and money managing your online presence blind-folded.

In this social web era building a successful, effective website  presents you with a great opportunity to grow your business and build a global audience that supports your brand. To help you get started, here is a quick checklist that will help you set the right foundation to create a website for optimal ROI:

1. Know what you want (objectives) and know your audience (market).

2. Create a web strategy and define your project goals

3. Develop an implementation plan with the right mix of tools for your company

4. Define your SEO-friendly content strategy, including all web communication channels

5. Integrate online and offline initiatives for better marketing effectiveness

6. Select only experienced, professional hosting and development providers

7. Protect your brand and proprietary information

8. Monitor, Test, Learn, Repeat

9. Create and measure the right web metrics for your business

To get the most out of your website investment and build a memorable, effective online presence that sells, you must start treating it like a business.  Just remember that a business website can be a powerful strategic weapon that can have a huge impact on your bottom line, only if it’s designed and developed properly.

REFERENCES

• “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug
• “Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites that Work” by Tom Brinck, Darren Gergle, Scott Wood
• “Designing Web Usability” by Jakob Nielsen
• Wikipedia

Ernesto Sosa is Principal at SOWEB Inc. and leads the marketing consulting practice. You can follow him @ernestososa and connect with him @LinkedIn.

Since the oil spill crisis in the Gulf Coast started, we have seen BP struggling with its PR strategy trying to convince the world that they are doing all they can to solve the problem. Marketing communications experts around the globe agree that the best PR strategy in these type of cases is to actually solve the problem, period. But let’s focus on BP’s major mistake from an online reputation management (ORM) perspective.

In times of online transparency, information sharing, consumer-generated content, communities and blogs, having a plan for online crises in place before crises appear is a must, not a luxury. BP’s major mistake? They didn’t have one. As time passes many influencers and citizen journalists are picking up the conversation online, spreading a negative sentiment towards the company globally. The recent “small people” statement by BP’s chairman, added to previous statements issued by other BP officials, not only made things worse, but clearly shows the inexistence of a well-thought  crisis communications strategy and plan, that should have included the Web. You’re now watching “live” how the reputation from a known, well-established global brand is been destroyed by the media, government and almost any eco-conscious citizen around the world, while the company is desperately trying to “clean the mess” and survive the storm. Remember, the social web has the power to amplify success by spreading ideas to millions of people, but it also has the power to amplify mistakes as well. Don’t let this type of disaster happen to your company. Here are some basic, general Online Reputation Management (ORM) guidelines that will help you effectively tackle a potential online crisis before it strikes.

• Embrace the new rules of marketing & PR. Whether you like or not the social Web is here to stay and is changing the way we interact, communicate, share information and make decisions. New rules are emerging that are reinventing complete industries. Learn the new game, get involved, join the conversation and embrace social technologies for your own benefit. Master the new rules of engagement and build your own community that supports you.

• Build and manage a solid online reputation. Your company’s reputation is one of your most important assets, if not THE most important asset nowadays. Only by smartly investing time and money to build and maintain a strong reputation, you’re going to be able to better fight off  the inevitable reputation attacks you’re going to get sooner or later. It’s the realm of subjective perceptions, so get ready to become a Brand Ambassador and Reputation Manager.

• Monitor, listen, participate. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so the only way to proactively prevent a reputation attack or take action quickly when your reputation is on the line, is to monitor and listen to what’s been said about your brand, in order to participate and influence those conversations online, NOT control them.

• Develop a crisis plan for your company. If you live and work in Florida you’re already familiar with the importance of having a disaster preparedness kit and a disaster plan in case a hurricane strikes. Your crisis plan is your gameplan on what to do to neutralize a reputation attack and avoid it to escalate out of control. It should include, among others, reputation audit guidelines, clearly defined goals, strategy and objectives, a detailed implementation plan and an online monitoring system to permanently track your online reputation.

Proactive prevention, like firemen say, is the key to avoid fires, but should a fire occur, remember to be open, honest and good at all times, ’cause “what happens in Vegas, now stays… on the Internet.”

Ernesto Sosa is Principal at SOWEB Inc. and leads the marketing consulting practice. You can follow him @ernestososa.

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. That’s a fact. If you are serious about getting results from your company’s digital marketing efforts, it’s time for you to start measuring and managing the right web metrics for your organization. To date, there is no commonly accepted standard for how to measure the success of a web site, but there are some key principles that can help you set the right foundation.

Many organizations currently rely on the default web analytics reports that come with free or propietary systems. Now, the most common problems associated with this approach are:

a) You get too much data and not enough business intelligence you can actually use to make informed marketing and business decisions.

b) Tracking systems are by nature not perfect. Web analytics packages can provide different results for the exact same web site.

c) Almost all web analytics packages provide the same basic information by default, information that by itself doesn’t tell you anything.

At the end of the day what happens is that organizations simply don’t know which metrics they should be tracking, don’t trust the metrics they do track and/or don’t know how to interpret web analytics data and turn it into actionable business intelligence. What can you do?

A BASIC RECIPE BASED ON KEY PRINCIPLES

• Create the right metrics mix for your Business. It is recommended to have a mix of business (ex. revenue, transactions and profit), site (ex. conversion rate, time on site and most visited pages) and user metrics in place (ex. customer support inquiries, user testing results and focus group feedback) aligned with your business and/or marketing goals.
• Focus on trends, not snapshots. Do not obsess about short-term results. Even though they’re important, your focus should be on trends that may be pointing you to real business opportunities you don’t want to miss.
• Use success metrics in $. Expressing the dollar value of the web site’s contribution to your company’s success gets more attention than any other type of metric. It can be a good way to unite your “troops” around common quantifiable goals and get the internal support you need to move forward faster.
• Consistency beats accuracy. Now that you know that web analytics data is rarely 100% accurate and trends are more important than point-in-time stats, it’s more important than ever for you to track consistently the right metrics over a long period of time. This will ensure the validity of long-term trends and also data comparisons between two time periods.
• Integrate for maximum benefit. To get the most out of  your web analytics integrate your web site with any customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation (SFA) and/or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Gain the powerful ability to track customer behavior from “click to close” and far beyond.
• Get professional help. If you can’t handle web analytics or the topic is just too technical and complex for you and your staff, get professional help. There are affordable solutions in the market you can outsource to gain valuable insight and information that will help you improve your web site’s effectiveness.

Are you measuring your web site’s performance with the right metrics?  Share your experience.

First things come first

In business, strategy is a multidimensional concept that defines all the critical activities of your company, providing it with a sense of direction, purpose and unity. As you did several years ago, it is important that before (re)launching your online presence – everything you plan to do online with your brand – you clearly define your web strategy. When you define  measurable goals (what you expect from your efforts), actions (what you will actually do to reach those goals) and delegates (who you entrust specific tasks) and align them with your business goals, you will exponentially increase your chances of launching a successful, effective online presence.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. Sun Tzu

It’s amazing how many companies around the world still start developing their online presence without having a web strategy in place, which explains part of their poor online performance later. Don’t let this happen to you!

Start by understanding the various dimensions of the strategy concept and enter the strategic mindset of a ship captain. Remember, your company is your ship and the web your new ocean. There are eight dimensions you need to address to define the right web strategy for your company:

1. Strategy as a means of establishing your brand’s on- and offline purpose in terms of its long term objectives, action programs and resource allocation priorities.
2. Strategy as a definition of the (current and projected) competitive domain of your brand on- and offline.
3. Strategy as a coherent, unifying, and integrative pattern of decisions that shapes your company’s present and future.
4. Strategy as a response to external opportunities and threats, and internal strengths and weaknesses your brand has, in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in this new  highly interactive and social business environment.
5. Strategy as a definition of the economic and noneconomic contribution your brand plans to make to its stakeholders, employees, clients and partners.
6. Strategy as a way to define the main managerial tasks needed with corporate, business, and functional perspectives to make it all happen.
7. Strategy as a way to stretch your company, challenge your brand to achieve demanding goals.
8. Strategy as a means to assess and develop the true core competencies of your organization and empower them online.

Grab a paper and start  (re)defining your web strategy! You will be amazed, if you address all previous dimensions, by a whole new world of opportunities that will unfold for your business.

SOWEB

Real-time site visitors monitoring to provide immediate assistance, keyword tracking to capture qualified leads and sales, proactive visitor invitations to chat before they’re about to abandon an order, are just some of the benefits now companies have access to.  Additionally, all solutions include strong technical support  and business consulting to help businesses understand how Web 2.0 technologies can work for them and how to implement an effective Web Strategy aligned with business goals.

Interested? Request more information info@sowebinc.com

By providing innovative, competitively-priced products and services, SOWEB is looking to help businesses and individuals leverage the power of the Web 2.0 environment.

For more information visit http://tinyurl.com/dz8639 .

http://tinyurl.com/yewcky

Do you know other Tools and Apps not listed here? Share them!

Their strategy is to open up content for free to everyone using what they call an Open Platform. It consists of two parts: the Content API, which lets you freely retrieve data from Guardian’s vast content database (over one million articles), and the Data Store, a collection of stats and data sets curated by Guardian journalists. Put in short, they will let anyone use their content on their web service, but instead of charging you for content that can be easily duplicated and distributed, they will make money by putting ads on top of everything. To date several english organizations have already signed up and the number keeps growing. Will The Guardian succeed with this innovate business model? It’s too soon to jump into conclusions, but one thing is sure, if they succeed they will not only have the first-mover advantage over competitors, but also would have opened the door to an old industry reinvention that is desperate for innovation. Creatively tackling this recession can keep you in the market and prepare you for future growth simply by leveraging Web 2.0 technologies, a lesson The Guardian is teaching us right now while you are reading this post.  

What is your company doing to stay afloat during these hard economic times?