In the continuing series of articles about Czech social networking tools, here's a stash of three more handy ones I use as part of my day to day.

So, shortly...

Socialmarker:

One of the more useful "link seeding" sites I use out there, SocialMarker is a social marketer's wet dream when it comes to URLs that really need link popularity when you've only got about 20 minutes or less to spare. Click on over to the site and notice how simple its interface is. Pump in a single web address with a short description and related tags, click on "Submit" 46 times -- which submits to all forty-six sites hosted at SocialMarker -- and just wait until the cows come home. Keep a close eye on your analytics software (Google Analytics is a good one) and observe how it changes the dynamics of your traffic. ADVANTAGE: Of the 46 sites they have on offer, you might already be member of some of them. DRAWBACK: Still, the time-consuming work comes when registering for those sites you're not yet a member of. Once that's over and done with, coming back to SocialMarker is a Web2.0-ist's pleasure. I use SM about a couple of times per week when I'm asked by clients to get the "word out there," when they don't have the time to kill.

Drop.io:

Now, mind you, I've only been using Drop.io for a short time, but I've since become totally hooked. Here's how it works: you have content. You want to make several files available to one of your co-workers or colleagues, but don't want to send cumbersome file attachments -- that's so Web1.0! -- coupled with the potential risk some of them might not even make it there. So instead what you now do is create what's known as a "drop." The website generates a unique URL for each and every batch, or drop, of files you create which you can control at will. There are a slew of options and you can basically name the drop whatever you wish. I've found that Drop.io works best with large clunky video clips you couldn't send via any other way. The service was a lifesaver for me the other day when a colleague of mine asked me to promote a local Prague event taking place at the end of April. The person fired off a whole batch of PDFs my way and it didn't take me more than a few moments to realize how best to make these available to his contact list. Consider the event well-promoted, I told her!

FastCompany.tv:

FastCompany magazine -- a must-read mag and website for those on the entrepreneurial cutting-edge -- hosts a compelling series of streaming clips called "Global Neighbourhoods," hosted by prominent social networker Shel Israel, author of Naked Conversations. I recently had a chance to catch a few of these, and while you might not enjoy sitting through ten whole minutes of conversation between Shel and his various guests smack in the middle of your workday or when tending the kids, I do guarantee you'll pick up a several useful nuggets from his exchanges, aspects to certainly contribute to your improvement of the social networking craft.

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I'll make a point of coming back here with three new tools every week, things which you can instantly deploy at your site or in your business that will improve your customer retention or boost your online presence.

And lastly, one of the advantages for Czech websites, more generally is the rather obvious fact that nearly all of them are in Czech, something which delivers a measure of exclusivity in its own right. It doesn't take much for such URLs to top placement in a Google or "Yahoo! Search" search listing (if Yahoo is still around as a going-concern by Q3 2008) -- yet it still doesn't hurt to use SocialMarker now and again if your site is a more generic one, with more common Czech keywords.

Let me know how these tools are working for you, and if you're twittering, go ahead and "follow" me at @gtowna, and I'll add you back.

Mejte se,
Wising you the very best of things,
ADM