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6 essential social media tools for your business or organization

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If you're asking how social media can help your business or organization, you should start by answering four questions that will give you a strategic framework for decision-making.

But if you're itching to get a handle on this social media thing, and want to open your eyes and ears, there are a few tools we recommend as assets to virtually any organization. I've listed these in the order I'd recommend adopting each one.

Zero patience? You can still have inbox zero

10 steps to get your e-mail inbox to zero every day

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Tired of drowning in e-mail? After many efforts and declarations of e-mail bankruptcy, I've finally found a system that lets me get my inbox to zero every single business day. It accommodates my desire to send and respond to e-mail throughout the day -- I've never been able to stick to a "only hit receive if you have time to process" rule -- and keeps my total incoming messages to about 20-30 (down from 200+). Most crucially, it allows me to respond to all key client and prospect inquiries within 24 hours.

A perfect zero

How I got to inbox zero

I've aspired to inbox zero for years, but it took a new member of the Social Signal team to help bring that aspiration into focus -- a team member who has utterly transformed my personal productivity. As our operations manager and my executive assistant, Morgan Brayton has reorganized our financial record-keeping, moved us into our swanky new digs, taken over our invoicing, and booked me within an inch of my life.

An invitation to trouble

Social network invitations: Rules for services and users

I knew it was only so long before I'd succumb to the insidious, criminal forces that lurk everywhere online. Kleptomaniacal hacker, intrusive snoop, indy pornographer....I could take my pick of evils.

And tonight, I chose to become a spammer. Or more precisely, TripIt chose for me.

TripIt is a travel planning site that a number of my friends use to organize their business travel. I logged in tonight because I was planning to include it in a (positive) round-up post and wanted to take some of its features for a spin.

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