So I wanted to update that post for 2011, with a bit more information, and greater clarity around the numbers. These figures come from rates shared with me by fellow consultants and agencies that specialize in social media marketing, in addition to my own research, as well as what I charge for similar services.   Last year I only included ranges for each service, this year I’ve added a Most Charge distinction to give everyone a greater idea of what they will probably pay.  I’ve also added a few more services, such as training workshops, speaking, hourly consulting rates, and even ghostwriting fees (yes companies pay for this).

When you contact a consultant or agency, they should be asking you questions as well.  They should want to know why you want to use social media, what are you trying to accomplish.  If they try to give you prices without asking you questions, that is a red flag.  They really can’t give you prices until they know more about your company, your resources, and what you are wanting to accomplish. Read more at mackcollier.com

At the core of location-based services is the term check-in. The act of checking in using location-based applications can announce to your friends and/or social graph that you are physically present at a location. From there a business/location owner can reward you for visiting the location or by publicly announcing that you’re at a location your friends may join you. The location could instantly turn into a hot spot with more of your friends joining you in a matter of minutes. Now, take the same concept and apply it to websites. With most static websites there’s very little interaction. You read information and if the information is valuable you may email a link to a friend and the only interaction the website owner may have with you is a cookie or IP address. If you have a blog there are a few ways to interact with your visitors. They can leave a comment, like a post via, Facebook or Disqus and if they share a link via Twitter or other social networking sites you can enable social backtracks to see who they are. Now playing off the success of location-based apps a new wave of web applications have launched or either added features to enable site visitors to check into your website. Some are calling it participation engine or add game mechanics to your website and others saying turn your visitors into loyal fans. Either way, here are seven web applications to allow your website visitors to check-in. Read more at socialwayne.com