But what do you get an Owl for such a big day? Well we all chipped in and gave our feathered friend some shiny new features — which we suspect you’ll be excited about too.

This mobile Owl enjoys making life easier and these new tools will help you be even friendlier.

HootSuite for iPhone -- Now even Friendlier

Contacts are Special

These people we call “followers” are reaching out to learn your thoughts and actions from morning beverage selection to philosophical discourse — now you can get to know these people on the other end of the Twitters with refined “Contact Management” allowing you to search for user to follow.

Tap the all-new Contacts tab on the main menu to quickly search for people and view profiles. Simply type a friend’s name or nickname and HootSuite will find the most relevant person on Twitter. Then you can follow her in just a couple of clicks, plus add to your lists. Try it out and see how much friendlier you become, instantly.

List O’ Rama

“Lists are the new follow,” says Owly. And now, list management is elegantly integrated into the iPhone. Lists are a powerful way to follow just the stuff and people ‘you really, really care about’ in a simplified view. Within the Lists tab, you can:

• Add new lists — public or private
• Manage existing lists — add and remove people
• Modify lists — change names and descriptions
• View lists created (or subscribed to) by others
• Subscribe to lists created by others (even secretly)
• Save lists as a new tab with a quick click
• Read followed lists in a unique tab

Additionally, lists are a way to share the social affection as a sort of endorsement for your Twitter faves.

Bump, Owly Style

No longer must you fiddle with misspelling weird Twitter nicknames, typing at meetings and wasting time! Instead, just “Bump” to follow.

HootSuite for iPhone’s Bump feature has graduated from the Lab and is ready to make adding people to your social networks easier than ever.

Simply “Bump” your iPhones with a your new friend and the little owl will take care of everything else. (Note: Please, don’t get *too* excited and break your phones).

Even Shinier

To impress your eyes, everything in the new version is even shinier for iPhone 4 users –  each graphic from the icons to the interface elements are now in full hi-res so your phone will sparkle as brightly as your retinas will displays.

Custom Touches

Perhaps we are a tiny bit obsessive about making the app perfect for your tastes. Now with a list of new preference settings, you can adjust settings for a custom experience, including:

• Font size from 13 – 20pt
• Avatar size from none to large
• Geotagging — auto on/off
• Photo upload quality + save to library
• Re-tweet style — classic or native
• Timestamp — relative or absolute

Now you can really tune HootSuite to look and act as you’ve always wanted. If something is still missing, it might appear in the next release. Remember you can offer feature requests and encourage your fellow enthusiast to vote it up.

Mayor of Everywhere

It’s important to have a bit of playtime and the popular social-geo-location “check-in” game Foursquare is ready for your leisure time in HootSuite.

Just click the “menu” arrow from the compose box and choose “geo-location” and send your coordinates to your pals.

Whether you are at the pub or the park, your friend will flock towards you — check-in frequently and you’ll earn badges … and you’ll want these badges.

More from the Owls

Owls do manage to sleep occasionally … but all waking hours are spent making this application the fave tool in your app toolbox.

Always be the early bird by following @HootSuiteiPhone for the latest updates and news. And if you have any problems or concerns, visit the fully-loaded Help Desk and/or follow @HootSuiteHelp.

Download from Apple App Store:

HootSuite for iPhone
HootSuite for iPhone Lite

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Here at the HQ, we are proud to be the first and only social media dashboard in the Apps.Gov catalog and are pleased to announce that HootSuite is officially approved* has released “federal friendly terms of service” and is now listed as a social media dashboard application for United States government agencies. {Note: See clarification/update below}

This designation means that we’ve worked with the GSA New Media team to amend the HootSuite Terms of Service to address a few specific requirements specific for US federal agencies. Now these agencies can use HootSuite without jumping through extra hoops, approval queues, or application processes.

The official GSA New Media Twitter account published the announcement to alert the various agencies:

Social for the People

Today, people are reaching out in all sorts of different ways through multiple social channels including Twitter, Facebook, and more. And governments are no different.

Smart agencies, task forces and departments are effectively utilizing the same efficient and inexpensive communications tools which “regular folks” use for socializing with friends. Who’d have predicted that one day tools like Twitter would play a role in international diplomacy as well as delivering basic services and information?

Gov Watch

Here are some of the innovative USA government agencies, authorities and organizations who chose HootSuite as their social media dashboard — and you’ll find many others on the @hootwatch/gov-ngo list.

• @whitehouse
• @USArmy
• @TheJusticeDept
• @ArmedwScience
• @usairforce
• @USNavy
• @NavyNews
• @americagov
• @tsablogteam
• @smithsonian
• @Oil_Spill_2010
• @BusinessDotGov
• @foodsafetygov
• @NatlParkService
• @EPAgov
• @fema
• @americagov
• @FS_Region1
• @HUDNews
• @ConnectStateGov

Any other US Gov agencies flying with HootSuite yet? Send us a note @hootwatch to say hello. Of course, we’re also watching municipal, regional and international governments and enjoy seeing the unique ways you are using HootSuite.

Has your organization conducted a successful social media-powered campaign using HootSuite? We enjoy hearing about these and making case studies. Let us know your ideas.

* UPDATE FROM APPS.GOV

Point of clarification regarding what it means for applications to be on the free social media page on apps.gov.

First, no application is “officially approved as a web application for United States government agencies.” Being listed on the apps.gov social media page means that the provider has amended their standard TOS to not comply with federal law.

While these TOS amendments resolve the major legal issues of the sign-up process, clarify expectations, and set the stage for productive use of these services, agencies must still comply with laws and regulations on security, privacy, accessibility, records retention, ethical use, and other specific agency policies and requirements when they use the tools. Agencies are advised to seek the advice of their counsel on whether the TOS is legally appropriate for their use.

See http://apps.gov and click on the Social Media Apps section in the top navigation for more information.

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Localization and Blackberry 1st Look

Plenty of news from HootSuite recently so you know the Owls at the HQ aren’t slowing down for the summer. Today, HootSuite announces a global crowd-sourced project to translate and localize HootSuite for users around the world. Plus, we’re sharing a sneak peek of the coveted Blackberry app.

Crowd-Sourced Translation

Do you speak geek in multiple languages? Great! We want you to be a star in your community by joining the HootSuite translation project.

So far, HootSuite is localized in English and Japanese, but with updates coming in from all around the world (including far-flung locales like Palau and the Faroe Islands), we want to make life a wee bit Hoot-ier for everyone.

To accomplish this mission, we need help from a few wise Owls to play the translate game:

1. Sign up for the HootSuite translation project
2. Choose your languages and projects
3. Submit appropriate words for approval
4. Bask in the glow of your good deeds

We’re starting with a few popular tongues but welcome your suggestions about which language we should add next. We’re also curious to see which language will be first to go live? Portuguese and Dutch are safe bets but maybe Russian or Chinese will storm to the top of the leader board. Whichever is the winner, expect to see a custom Owly design to celebrate.

Fascinated by linguistic nuance? Apply to be a language translation coordinator which means you’ll give the thumbs-up on the submitted translation candidates before pushing live to the applause of thousands.

Watching the Hoots

Some fans want to know *everything* about HootSuite. If you seek knowledge, consider following @HootWatch– a back-channel account which shares a firehose of HootSuite media mentions and fan reactions.

Curious about who’s using HootSuite? Choose a few @HootWatch lists to follow well-know brands, famous artists, government agencies, education institutions who choose HootSuite for their social media forays.

Plug-ins, Extensions and Apps

While the web version is the most-used variation of HootSuite’s social media dashboard, you can also run HootSuite as a standalone app, add browser extensions, or utilize the Hootlet to enhance your experience.

The Hootlet is the social media aficionado’s secret weapon. Add this bookmarklet to quickly create an update from any web page. A single click pops open a messages already pre-populated with a short link and the page’s <title> tag. You can then edit, schedule or send like any other message. Also available as a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome.

Grab the apps and learn all about these mighty tools at the Help Desk.

A Very Berry Owl

Click for a larger view of HootSuite for Blackberry®

Blackberry fans are adamantly vocal about their desire to Hoot from their beloved ‘berrys — and the wait is almost over! Soon fans everywhere will have a ‘berry-ready Owl with Facebook and Twitter in your hand — just don’t squish it!

To quench your desire, here are the first screenshots of HootSuite for Blackberry to share with your colleagues.

The pilot batch of HootSuite for Blackberry beta users are testing the first iteration with more invites going out soon (we haven’t forgotten about the thousands of you who signed up to test).

Haven’t added your name to the beta list yet? Get on board by signing-up for the HootSuite for Blackberry beta program to be ahead of the curve.

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This Owl looks somewhat stern -- pic contrib'ed by @AnneWeiskopf

Something amiss in your streams? Well, you’re not the only one.

Twitter’s API is currently experiencing a critical issue that is causing problems in some third-party clients, including HootSuite.

As such, you may notice that your Home or Mention streams on HootSuite.com are not updating correctly. This is a symptom of the issue with Twitter’s API.

Geek note: API stands for Application Programming Interface which allows sites like Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin to share data with HootSuite.

HootSuite for iPhone and HootSuite for Android are also affected by this bug. Some users are experiencing crashes when viewing certain streams. Again, this is due to a problem with Twitter’s API.

Twitter is aware of the issue and are working on resolving this as soon as possible. Meanwhile at HootSuite HQ, we thank you for your patience.

Bonus:

Track Twitter’s status with these resources:

Twitter Status | @Twitterapi | API Status

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To explore the opinions and anecdotes, we head east for a trip … starting in France and Spain, before flying over Eastern Europe to Russia, then moving towards China for a stopover before a return to Japan for more news from the enthused fans in Nippon.

Back in the nest in Vancouver after the whirlwind world trip, we sorted out the souvenirs and packaged up a fresh news round-up of very owl-ized articles for your international (albeit auto-translated) enjoyment.

So, put your seats and trays in an upright position and fasten your seatbelts for take-off across the Atlantic and the Pacific:

Descary.com (French) - HootSuite ajoute des outils de CRM et intègre Foursquare à son application iPhone

HootSuite adds CRM tools and features to its iPhone application Foursquare – If you are using as a client HootSuite Twitter, the service also offers the ability to filter information according to the level of influence of those you follow. Thus, you can determine a score Klout minimum for a tweet appears on your space.

Blog eTc (Spanish) – Se acaba la fiesta: Hootsuite de pago

These coins may not be valid in your country but can be spent on owl-feed

The party continues is over: HootSuite payment - One day had to happen. HootSuite, one of the best tools to manage social networks, was becoming too good to be true. Or at least, to be true and free.

{snipped}

Not the end of the world. The average user can use HootSuite as normal, a little lost. Yes, HootSuite in free version is the level (so that by eye) of Tweetdeck or Seesmic. Professionally can continue to serve for accounts with low volume and did not need a team behind.

Digitark (Estonian) – Kuidas mitmes sotsiaalvõrgustikus toimuvat ühest kohast jälgida?

How many sotsiaalvõrgustikus-out from one place to follow? - Today, the majority of active Internet users in Estonia joined some social networking, in order to obtain information and communicate with friends there. The more accounts, but it no longer be visiting the various portals. Help in the Web services and applications that bring together social media accounts in one place together. Tutuvstan briefly own favorite – Hootsuite.

Eikasia.cz (Czech) – HootSuite: 10 výhod pro správu sociálních médií

Hootsuite 10 benefits for the management of social media – Hootsuite is a website that will change your perspective on social media. Hootsuite is a web application that allows you to work with social media effectively. Hootsuite addictive application that will make you write an article for it without getting paid. I’ve never wrote a review of the software or online application. Hootsuite is but a tool, which you should at least consider, if you want to manage more than one account on the social networks.

Your Twitter (Russian) – Новые возможности HootSuite для общения в Twitter

This article mentions the new features in HootSuite and also includes 2 videos in Russian with a detailed overview:

New Features in HootSuite for communication in Twitter – HootSuite is an excellent service to work effectively in Twitter. Yesterday they presented new opportunities for all users.

Cnet China (Chinese) - HootSuite根据影响力分类Twitter用户

HootSuite Twitter users according to impact category – Beijing July 15, according to the foreign media reports, the social media management platform Hootsuite announced yesterday a launch of several new features to help SMEs better understand what Twitter users’ concerns are. HootSuite (hootsuite.com) is clearly trying to make more satisfied business owners.

Japan’s Cellphone Edge – HootSuite gets serious about Japan

This article is in English, but it covers the Japanese version of our service and has some insights from the HootSuite CEO, Ryan Holmes:

This week I attended a Digital Garage sponsored Open Network Lab event where I had a chance to chat with HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes who was in Japan to spread the word about his powerful Twitter client. <…> Ryan revealed big plans for HootSuite in Japan. I was surprised to learn that he was able to meet with Softbank’s godfather Masayoshi Son.

Kotohanooto (Japanese) – HootSuite 1.1.2 for iPhone　日本語ローカライズ

A little outdated but still interesting article about our iPhone app was spotted in Kotohanooto blog:

Japanese localization HootSuite 1.1.2 for iPhone – A tool for managing multi-user dashboard and timelines and multiple simultaneous publishing, and sophisticated statistics tracking, HootSuite (the iPhone app: “HootSuite” (350 yen) and “HootSuite Lite” (free)) has been updated to 1.1.2 version.

Netafull (Japanese) - ツイッターのウェブクライアント「HootSuite」が高機能すぎてヤバい！！

Twitter web client “HootSuite” rocking some features are too high! – This is a detailed review of the latest HootSuite’s features. It has lots of useful information with many screenshots.

ITmedia News (Japanese) – アクセスの4割が日本から　カナダ製Twitterクライアント「HootSuite」日本語版公開へ

Made in Canada from Japan 40% of Twitter Client Access “HootSuite” to release the Japanese version – Popular Twitter client “HootSuite” (the Japanese version) will be released around July. Despite that the service is in English, 38 percent of all traffic comes from Japan. A Japanese support site was also published.

Isuraeru - Open Network Lab with HootSuite

Open Network Lab goal is to encourage innovation and Internet based Start-Ups, which may explain the 40 minutes long panel on “How Engineers can start Companies”. HootSuite recently launched a Japanese version of their service,with the aid of Digital Garage which is heavily invested in the Twitter phenomena and related tools/services.

More HootSuite

Pre-board your own flight by following HootSuite’s social bookmarks and/or follow @hootwatch to get fast access to all the missives from around the world.

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With the new school semester just around the corner, we thought now is a great time to see how social media can be used for research, sourcing and even librarians’ work. Plus, for new HootSuite owls, we’ve added in a couple of general articles and tutorials to help you earn an A+ in social media management.

As always, we invite you to follow HootSuite’s social bookmarks and/or follow @hootwatch to get the full firehose of knowledge. And now… here’s your homework:

oneforty – Featured Tweets: Mike Petroff Uses Hootsuite to Manage Emerson College Social Presence

Mike Petroff and his team at Emerson College are using HootSuite to help organize their social media efforts:

Hootsuite allows our account administrators to personalize the look and feel of their account, adding dashboard columns of search terms specific to their office. It also makes sharing and assigning replies between account administrators incredibly easy and traceable. Very rarely do tweets from our community go unnoticed. We can also share access to upcoming tweets and be on the same page with the events, stories and content that we’re promoting for a given week.

Library Tech Talk – Guest Post: HootSuite for Library Tweets!

This blogpost presents HootSuite to all librarians out there:

Librarians, If you have a Twitter account for your library, I highly recommend tweeting from HootSuite.com. If you currently tweet from the original web version of Twitter.com, follow these instructions to simplify tweeting on behalf of your library.

Want more HootSuite for libraries? “Using the Library Staff and Statistics to Create a Dynamic Twitter Program” covers it too.

Inc. – Shortlist of Twitter Apps for Your Desktop

This article focuses on different tools for managing Twitter, and the owl isn’t left out:

HootSuite—a great tool (and my personal favorite) with a user-friendly interface. All the standard Twitter functions plus the ability to track keywords and trends, post directly to Facebook, schedule posts, put followers into groups and the ability to manage multiple accounts. You can also track clickthroughs on your embedded links. HootSuite has both desktop and mobile versions.

Accelerated Online – HOW-TO: Setup HootSuite to Manage Your Social Media Accounts

This is a step-by-step guide to setting up HootSuite account with different social networks:

HootSuite is a web-based solution that allows you to manage your conversations on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress.com, MySpace, and FourSquare from a single application. Let’s look at setting up HootSuite to manage your activity on Twitter and Facebook.

Social Brite -  Set up a social media dashboard with HootSuite

Another good video aimed at non-profit groups which takes you through the process of adding HootSuite account:

The screencast above helps nonprofits take advantage of HootSuite’s new capabilities. As I say in this short tutorial, it’s one tool to manage your organization’s presence across a wide range of social networks. Very cool.

Associated Content – How to Get More PV’s and Promote Your Content to All Your Networks at Once by Using HootSuite

This is a detailed list of HootSuite’s features that help distribute your content through social networks like never before:

I have found a savior in the social networking/self-promotion/getting more PV’s venue and it’s as simple as they come. Check out the amazing HootSuite, it does everything all at once for you. I’m new to using their free service and even on my first day trying it, I fell in love. It’s a wonder, and a breeze to use.

Mashable – 11 Free Services for Scheduling Social Media Updates

Our wise geeks at Mashable included HootSuite in one of their latest round-ups (and yes, we enjoy each time this excellent tech/web/social news site mentions us;-)):

Hootsuite has a broad range of apps, including their web-based original, mobile apps (iPhone and Android), desktop apps (Windows , Mac and Linux) and add-ons for Firefox and Chrome, all with the power to schedule updates.

RedZebraWorks – HootSuite on Crazy Pills

The new HootSuite features are introduced in this article (which made it in the round-up just for the awesome title):

Clearly HootSuite is on the move to build out their product. So far, they are on the right track by expanding features that combine activities and resources to combine a series of related and routine activities into a single dashboard, which is a real time saver.

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Where it all goes down at SXSW

“Southby” started as a music fest before adding film, then interactive media, to the mix. The geek-centric component has become the *the* place for web start-ups to launch, founders to meet and pundits to extol on the brave future we are all co-creating. We also truly enjoy seeing SXSW using HootSuite to transmit their social media updates to a enthused audience.

While the (often-epic) parties get most of the chatter from the (often-haggard) attendees returning to their cubicles, the panels and presentations remain the heart of the conference. With many rooms running concurrently, there are plenty to choose from … but even more are submitted.

The panels are selected from a mix of public voting, review by an advisory committee and vetting by the SXSW staff. This creates an eclectic and unpredictable mix — which is what attendees expect.

And it’s not just the big tech names who get podium time — lots of “up and comers” and thinkers with fresh ideas get picked to educate, inspire (and entertain) the esteemed audience.

HootSuite is associated with a few panel pitches and we ask you to kindly consider giving a thumbs up each. You don’t need to be an attendee to vote, simply sign-up for a SXSW account and vote up until Aug. 27th. If you are inclined, please spread the news with your social networks (using HootSuite natch).

Very Hoot-able

Ryan Holmes on stage (and thoughtful)

1) Big in Japan: Outreaching to a Unique Market

Participants: Ryan Holmes - HootSuite + experts to be named later

Blurb: Web and mobile technology have developed differently in Japan than any other country with hardware, features and social communities which are completely unique to this singular market. But Japanese companies are now realizing this introverted market position isn’t sustainable and are now looking towards technology from outside and exploring way to create technology for outside of their country. Japan has ubiquitous high-speed coverage and a voracious appetite for tech gadgets, however, their tools have developed with entirely different features than other countries.

2) Bleeding Edge Social Media Analytics

Participants: Priscilla Scala – PeopleBrowsr, Joe Fernandez – Klout, Ryan Holmes – HootSuite

Blurb: From marketing brainstorm sessions to executive boardrooms, we’ve all heard the question a million times: What’s the ROI for this? When it comes to social media, assessing concrete metrics and measuring impact have not always been obvious, but are nonetheless essential for buy-in, investment, and long-term success. With the right tools and approach, we can peel back the layers between the digital and real worlds to determine how social media programs affect actions, sentiment, and marketplaces.

Bonus Round

Here are a few key selections from our colleagues at Invoke Media:

3) Creating Corporate Campaigns in Facebook – WTF?

Participants: Sian Pairaudeau & Andre Liem - Invoke Media

Blurb: Have you been asked to create content for corporate Facebook pages? Are you thinking about creating interactive content for your company’s page? Listen up! Developing in Facebook can test one’s patience but, as many marketing managers are discovering, it can also reap worthwhile rewards. This dual presentation takes you through the process from both a project management and developer’s perspective. We’ll explore the “dark side” of Facebook’s API and the implications for planning a marketing campaign.

4) Das Stiletto: Discovering Ladykind in the Social Web

Geek chic -- Listen to these ladies share the knowledge

Participants: Grace Carter & Nadia Nascimento - Invoke Media

Blurb: Why does understanding how to market to women with social web apps matter? Come meet a couple of lady dreamers and let’s tell stories together. Grace and Nadia are a two-part set of technologists and romantics. Specifically, we dream up social web strategies for big companies, often times directing the development of online technology. As women in a male-dominated industry, we’ve had a unique opportunity to shape creative content and technology into a compelling experience for our sisters. We’ve also been attuned to who else is achieving this, and how. This will be a fun session.

… And finally, one by yours truly (HootSuite Marketing and Community Director Dave Olson) speaking about history of art and tech.

5) Art and Technology Are Old Pals

Participants: Dave Olson – as himself (see preview from Wordcamp Vancouver)

Blurb: Throughout history, technological innovation has occasionally spurred significant artistic progress. From Van Gogh’s early tubed oil paints to the real-time communication of CB radios, this presentation will explore examples in over the past centuries in which scientific innovation sparked significant cultural events. By looking at historical predecessors, we’ll trace the cultural origins of contemporary communication and publishing tools. Examples and anecdotes will include HD Thoreau’s creation of modern graphite pencil, the early days of the mountain bike industry, the last telegram ever sent, the rise and fall of Word Perfect.

And You?

Are you in Vancouver with a panel to pitch? Are you prepping for a social web/HootSuite-centric presentation? Great! Drop a comment with the SXSW Panel Picker address and spread the good word.

{UPDATE}

Kris Krug and Danielle Sipple assembled a great assortment of SXSW pitches from Vancouver peeps in: ‘Vancouver’s Got A Posse’ at South By Soutwest Interactive 2011 including a great assortment of photos from previous years which capture the faces and fun of the event.

Finally, … perhaps you’d like a flavor of the SXSW panels?

• Listen to audio podcasts of SXSW® sessions as they become available
• Catch highlights from the 2010 event on our official YouTube Channel
• Enter the 14th Annual SXSW Interactive Awards
• Enter the SXSW Accelerator competition

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There was plenty of reaction and opinions last weeks about our release of HootSuite freemium packages. We’ve listened to your feedback delivered via comments, Twitter, Facebook, blog posts, etc. and we’ve been taking it all in.

We’d like to thank everyone for the feedback (even the remarks with cuss words!) and let our users know the response was fairly loud and clear: people wanted more flexibility around pricing and team member seats.

As such, we’re reviewing the pricing plans and over the next few weeks will be adjusting plans so they work better for customers including power users, small and medium businesses, as well as enterprises and large NGOs.

Non Profit Plans

We’ve also heard the requests for free/cheap/discounted accounts for non-profits and are working on a plan to best serve the needs of organizations with limited budgets to conduct charitable work.

The conundrum is differentiating between registered NPOs with significant marcomm budgets and grassroots groups with limited funds — then finding a way to help these worthy organizations conduct their social media campaigns.

If you are an NPO looking for discounted pricing on HootSuite, please fill out the Non-Profit Discount Application form and we’ll work to provide you with a 20% discount.

Team Members Clarification

Some users expressed concerns about the number of Team Members allowed in each plan. As you likely know, the team collaboration tools are designed to help businesses and organizations manage and respond to incoming messages efficiently.

With this in mind, we expect the biz and orgs to sign-up for Premium plans and then add Team Members to their account. Team Members in this scenario could also include contractors or consultants who work with companies who have Premium accounts.

Keep in mind, these invited Team Members can use free accounts, and their membership accounts do not count against their total account ownership allotment. The social account allotment only counts against “owned” profiles, not accounts in which the user is added as a Team Member.

Here’s a schematic to explain your team might be organized:

Note: Again, team members can use free accounts if they like, and this usage is not counted against their total.

In-stream Ads

Next topic, ads in the free version. We will add Twitter’s Promoted Tweets ads into the Twitter streams for customers using the free version. These ads will be the same ads that users will see on Twitter.com, as well as in other third party clients eventually.

Read more about Twitter’s Promoted Tweets program in this post: Hello World posted by @biz.

Q. What will users see?

A. You will start to see Tweets promoted by our partner advertisers called out at the top of some Twitter.com search results pages. We strongly believe that Promoted Tweets should be useful to you. We’ll attempt to measure whether the Tweets resonate with users and stop showing Promoted Tweets that don’t resonate.

Owly Stats

As for Ow.ly, stats are included in the free and basic packages — and ow.ly stats will always be free. For the free accounts, historical data is limited to 7 days. Premium users with Enhanced Stats will also get access to Google Analytics, advanced URL parameters, and other compelling stats features coming soon (analytic geeks will love ‘em!).

The included Ow.ly stats will continue to provide all the tools — including regional breakdown and individual message breakdown — which existed before the recent business-centric additions.

Payment Methods

We’re adding Paypal, American Express and JCB (big in Japan) to the payment options in the coming days. Other ideas for payment methods? Please add or vote at the Feedback Channel.

Free for 95%

Finally, FREE. Yes, HootSuite will still be available as a free service. The free service includes the core HootSuite features:

• Account Ownership for up to 5 social network accounts
• Unlimited Team Memberships on additional social accounts
• RSS feed to auto-update your network(s)
• Ow.ly link click-through analytics with historical data going back 7 days

To determine the pricing levels, we analyzed data from active customers to ensure that 95% of current users would remain free based on current patterns. However, the free accounts don’t include business-specific services like Google Analytics integration and Team Collaboration tools, which are used primarily by larger organizations according to our research.

Thanks again for your feedback, we are listening  to gather data to review the pricing plans in order to best serve the widest variety of users.

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HootSuite is pleased to announce new premium packages designed for business and organizations, while also continuing to provide a free version for most customers.

Following in the steps of industry giants like Salesforce, Basecamp and Flickr, we’ve crafted the package tiers to provide the most useful tools to as many customers as possible while also providing advanced tools to customers who need the business-centric features. We’ll keep listening closely to see how we succeeded in meeting your needs.

Tiers for All

We aim to continue providing free service to approximately 95% of our current users. Based on a customer survey (thanks again to all of you who offered your opinions), along with a comprehensive review of usage data, we’re confident we’ll achieve this goal.

This means most of you will continue to use HootSuite in much the same way you do today. Additionally, power users and enterprises with teams can confidently rely on HootSuite for critical campaigns knowing there will be continuity of service from a stable company.

What’s This Mean for Me?

Starting today (Wednesday, Aug. 11th), all new customers will be required to select a plan upon signing-up — including choosing the free option if desired.

The following week, current HootSuite users will be asked to choose a package with the help of a migration wizard to help you choose the best plan.

For all customers (aside from Enterprise-class accounts), we’ll include a 30-day free trial. This period will allow you to experiment and discover which plan best fits your needs. Again, we’ll continue to offer a free plan for those of you who don’t require advanced options at this time.

While you don’t need to select a plan straightaway, take a look at the Pro Plans and Enterprise Package to see what is included at each level.

Keep on Flying

Since first spreading our owl wings over a year ago, we’ve listened closely to feedback from all corners. In the past 8 months, we’ve rolled out iterations galore — adding thoughtful tools to help you spread messages, monitor conversation and track results.

And don’t think we’re slowing down the pace! The upcoming road-map is loaded with new tools and integrations which will make for more enjoyable surprises. Plus we’ll keep listening to your feedback and offering help as we continue to create the preferred dashboard for social media managers, community builders, marketing agencies, and passionate fans.

Thanks to You

We sincerely appreciate you sharing HootSuite with your friends, mentoring your colleagues, and telling your company about the power of our social media dashboard. We take your trust seriously and look forward to growing with you.

Stay tuned to the HootSuite blog for more info and feel free to share your thoughts with us via Twitter @hootsuite_help.

With best regards,

Ryan Holmes, CEO, HootSuite

More

HootSuite Pro Plans
HootSuite Enterprise Plans
Online Media Kit — includes logos, descriptions and interview scheduling info

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Domain Shopping

Before you can start using a custom address, first you have to choose and purchase a vanity URL. This requires a bit of creativity and occasionally some international diplomacy.

Here are some tactics to keep in mind while brainstorming:

1. Reflect brand personality — Shorter isn’t always better, memorability and personality are important. For example, the folks behind the “Cheezburger” humor-empire use http://dbl.chz.gr to provide a slice of culture with each URL
2. Make it exciting-ish — Another strategy is to use an action in the URL like social/tech news site Mashable who use http://mash.to (incidentally from Tonga) which implies a call to action as does PBS’s http://go.pbs.org
3. Cut the letters — The most common ways to get short are to remove vowels, like Google’s http://goo.gl, reduce your brand to initials like Wordpress’ http://wp.me and/or remove almost everything like Twitter’s http://t.co
4. Get to know the codes — Check out this Wikipedia entry of top level domain suffixes including: .im Isle of Mann, .tv Tuvalu, .fm Federated States of Micronesia, .ly Libya, and .me from Montenegro. Keep in mind, not all countries offer domain suffixes while others limit availability
5. Find something *actually* available – Once you have some ideas on the white board, you need to find out what’s available — and DO NOT announce your ideas publicly or a squatter may beat you to the punch
6. Choose a reputable vendor — Explore availability at a reputable domain registrar like: http://sedo.com | http://domai.nr | http://www.gandi.net/ Not sure about a registrar? Do a web search to hear what their customers have to say

Get Shorter

Seeking a unique URL for your business. Well, good news, now your company can get a custom branded short web address while still capturing the valuable statistics you rely on — all from within HootSuite dashboard.

Along with the new premium plans, HootSuite now offers custom URL shortening services through the tried and tested Ow.ly tool.

The benefits of using Ow.ly include:

• SEO – All URLs are indexable and fully redirect for SEO best practices
• Control – Share access with selected team members for control over who can shorten URLs
• Portability – Track clicks on short URLs from anywhere including newsletters, comments, Facebook, and micro-sites
• Flexiblity – Choose which shortener to use each time: Custom, Ow.ly, or Ht.ly (with branded social bar)
• Security – Links are checked against Google’s Safe Browsing blacklist to thwart phishing and Malware attacks

Owly Pro is available to customers using the Enterprise or Platinum package for an additional charge. To get shorter, simply send email to pro (at) ow.ly or contact your VIP Ambassador.

Once registered, you’ll receive technical instructions which should take under 10 minutes for your technical team to update your DNS records and provide a list of authorized publishers.

Your Tips

What other advice can you offer about choosing and registering a short domain name? What are some of your faves? Did you imagine this business trend 10 years ago? We’d be pleased to read your thoughts in the comments.

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