HubSpot has a suite of free tools you can use to measure the effectiveness and reach of your website, social media and marketing efforts. Each tool takes only seconds to input the required information and have relevant data provided to you on screen that you can use to increase and dial in your marketing campaigns.
Their Twitter grades will tell you in seconds how you rank in key metrics such as power, reach and authority versus other businesses in your market.They also have a Facebook grader which works in a similar fashion.
The Search grader is the best free tool we have come across to instantly view where your website is ranking for found keyword terms and we use it to help improve our search engine optimization efforts.
Take a few minutes to check your marketing efforts using these free tools and use the results to tweak your social media, blogging, website and SEO campaigns.
View all of these free tools and more at Grader.com.
Spying on your competition online is a lot easier and has less of a “stalking” feel then driving by their business everyday. Want to know what people are saying online about them? Need to know if they are launching a new promotion or contest? Wondering what they are doing to get fans engaged or enraged? There are a few easy and free tools you can use that will save you a ton of time and give you a daily snapshot of what they are up to. Use the information wisely to capitalize on their or your shortfalls to make your own business better.
Back in June we talked about the nationwide roll-out of 
Micro-blogging sites like Twitter and Facebook are popular because they are easy. Easy to set up, easy to post links and pictures, takes less than a minute to use and requires no organized thought, prep or investigation. It’s just 140 characters.
When opening a new location or business it can take a while for GPS databases to update and include your business in the point-of-interest sections. Most GPS units have the option to search for restaurants, retail and other small businesses and will display the results listed by distance. There are 3 main sites that share information with GPS databases and submitting your business info manually can drastically speed up the process.
Getting backlinks to your website will help your website appear higher in search engine rankings. How to get backlinks is another story. It can cost hundreds a month if you hire a SEO company, take hours a day harvesting like we do or use lists that others provide. For most small businesses, it doesn’t require thousands of links pointing towards your site to grab the first spot in Google. It most cases a few dozen is all it takes and it can be done within a few hours and you will notice the jump to number 1 in a week or less.
We spent the day today exhibiting at the Hershey’s Ice Cream trade show in Atlantic City. We love forming new partnerships with companies who truly care about there customers and bring everyone together to discuss the latest marketing strategies and products that are available. We met dozens of operators and exchanged ideas of what they are doing to market their business. We also had the opportunity to be a part of two seminars and speak about optimizing your Internet presence through Google Places and Maps and list building through SMS marketing.
Every single position you can rise in the search engine translates into more site traffic and more sales. With the recent integration of Google Places into organic search results means paying attention and actually doing something about your rankings is more important than ever. 
