Guest commentary by Caron Golden

Caron Golden is a freelance writer with clients in the homebuilding industry. She is passionate about social media training and helping businesses implement social media strategies. She can be reached at caron@goldenwriting.com, as well as on Facebook and Linkedin. You can follow her on Twitter @carondg.

Clearly you already know it’s a good idea to be reading up on what’s happening in social media. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading Builder Social Blog. And, yes, this is a great source for information specific to homebuilders. But, we’re not the sole source, nor should we be. Each of us who contributes no doubt subscribes to useful email newsletters or blogs or visit websites that offer the latest information about technology and techniques, trends and tips. And, we tend to share these tidbits via Twitter and Facebook.

Here are my must reads. And, I have to admit, they have no direct link to homebuilding. But, so many industries have done such a good job integrating social media into their business that it’s worth the investment of time to learn about what they’re doing and then apply it to our world. Sign up for their newsletters or feeds so you don’t have to go chasing around the web to keep up with them.

1. Mashable: The Social Media Guide. This website is filled with riches. You can learn about new iPhone apps and Facebook security measures, how to create a successful social media contest, and the latest and coolest tips for tweeting. And, you can get all this info delivered to your email box, thanks to their daily newsletter.
2. Ad Age Daily News. Most of the pieces fed by this newsletter into my mailbox are irrelevant to what I do, but I subscribe anyway because at least once a week there’s a gem that deserves my attention. In a recent issue, it was a piece called “The Official Social Media and Mobile Glossary of 2010.” You just never know what will click and it’s worth my time to skim the newsletter to see if that gem has surfaced.
3. SmartBrief on Social Media. SmartBrief.com covers a number of industries and topics. Social Media is one of them. The editors scour the web to find stories that reflect the best practices of an industry, in this case social media. In a recent issue, there was a piece on how Starbucks brews social-media success, how Web consumers become offline brand advocates, and getting started with your social strategy. These digests come daily and are sourced from publications like Inc. socialmediaexaminer.com, eMarketer, and TheNextWeb.com.
4. Convince and Convert Blog. (Full disclosure: Jay Baer is co-developer, and a frequent contributor to this blog, but that shouldn’t stop his wealth of content and insight from being recognized, right?) Jay Baer’s brilliant blog is smart, often funny, and always relevant. Baer is a social media consultant, coach, and speaker. Sometimes his blog posts hit on a salient topic, like how humble companies who make mistakes end up being lauded for their honesty, or he’ll post a transcript of a Twitter interview with a prominent social media practitioner, like Trey Pennington. Whatever he does, you’ll end up learning something.
5. ProBlogger Blog Tips. Does your company have a blog or want to launch one? While blogger Darren Rowse tends to focus on individuals looking to monetize a blog, his tips, strategies, and insights are powerful and worth absorbing. He addresses both the broad and the mundane—how to develop compelling topics that will draw in readers and literally how to find the time to write consistently and frequently.  Dig in.
6. The eMarketer Daily. eMarketer pulls together articles and blog posts that give you a perspective on the latest trends around social media, marketing, online sales, and related issues. You get metrics and forecasts about social spending growth, what age segment is fueling Facebook, smart device use. Learn the trends so you can get to know what might work as you reach out to your homebuyers.
7. Social Media Today. This is a very interesting site that functions as a community of social media bloggers. You can register and participate or you can just read the flow of blog posts that have come in and been approved by the moderators. You’ll learn about CRM, the hierarchy of tweets, the evolution of mobile marketing. You name it, someone here is writing about it.
8. WebWorkerDaily. As they like to say, WebWorkerDaily offers practical tips and advice for people who use the Internet for work. Currently, they’re featuring pieces on ways to use Facebook for business, how to make the most of your social media time (you know you’re worried about that one),  how to deal with comment trolls on your blog, and branding opportunities.
9. Social Media Examiner. It’s a jungle out there and this site brags that it’s our guide through it, helping businesses discover how best to use social media tools to find leads, increase sales, and generate more brand awareness. There are video interviews with the likes of Steve Rubel of Edelman Digital, social media maven Chris Brogan, and Ford’s Scott Money; case studies featuring Souplantation, Avaya, and Domino’s Pizza, plus all sorts of “how-tos.”
10. Chris Brogan. Social media consultant Chris Brogan is one of the biggest names in social media. He is president of New Marketing Labs and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Trust Agents. I get his newsletter and, of course, follow him on Twitter. But I like to check in regularly with his blog. I’ve learned about using outposts in social media, geopocketing, and Google Wave (Don’t know what the heck I’m talking about? Well, you’ll have to go to his site to find out.). Great insights and ideas—and they’re all practical and applicable.