Control, Now I've Got a Lot

The end of the year can be chocked full of all kinds of Top 10 lists, many of which are rather innocuous and unhelpful, if you're trying to grow a home business, and often have to do with hair, clothing, entertainment or Barbara Walters (not that we don't like reading them for fun, particularly if we're procrastinating before a deadline). However, there's a great list of the Top 10 Free Tools for Monitoring Your Brand's Reputation on Mashable that's a must-read for anyone who wants to know what's being said about them and their business out there. As Dan Schawbel notes, these conversations used to be held behind our backs and behind closed doors, but now they're taking place right in front of our eyes, and you can choose to be a part of them. In fact, you should be a part of them. Make one of your goals for 2009 to join the social media fray, not just so that you can see some never-before-seen high school graduation photos of yourself (thanks, Robyne!), but so that you can regain some control, in an immediate and economical way, of your brand monitoring.