by 
Welcome to our weekly edition of what's hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What's New This Week?
Google+ Increases Traffic by 55%: Experian Hitwise shares statistics for Google+ that show a significant increase in December 2011 compared to November 2011.
Social Media Examiner's February Small Biz Success Summit
Watch this video from Michael Stelzner (CEO, Social Media Examiner
Click here for details (and to save 50% for a limited time!).
Groupon Launches New Merchant Dashboard: Groupon's new Merchant Tools provide improved features. Merchants can also access a new customer feedback feature.
Here are a few social media tools worth noting:
Weever app for WordPress: a free new HTML5 tool to build a mobile app for your WordPress site.
Tokkster: a free social browsing app that enables people who are on the same webpage to see and chat with each other.
Summly: a simple way to browse the web.
Attention Agency Owners, Brand Marketers, and Consultants
Introducing the Marketing Agency Show–our newest podcast designed to explore the struggles of agency marketers.
Join show host and agency owner, Brooke Sellas, as she interviews agency marketers and digs deep into their biggest challenges. Explore topics like navigating rough economic times, leveraging AI, service diversification, client acquisition, and much more.
Just pull up your favorite podcast app, search for Marketing Agency Show and start listening. Or click the button below for more information.
Here's an interesting infographic worth noting:
The Conference You've Been Waiting For
As a small business marketer, you can probably only pick one or two events to attend each year. Get an unbeatable conference experience and expert training at Social Media Marketing World in sunny San Diego, California—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.
🔥 As a valued reader, you can save $800 if you act now! Sale Ends Tuesday! 🔥
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
Special announcement:
Small Biz Dream Contest Winners: Congratulations to P.J. Jonas of Goat Milk Stuff and Erica Conroy of Coupsmart, the grand-prize and second-prize winners in the Small Biz Dream Contest. All 10 winners won a free pass to Small Biz Success Summit. P.J. also won 3 hours of consulting from John Jantsch. The top winners also won a library of marketing books and John Jantsch's Complete Small Business Marketing System. Go see the winning entries.
And don’t miss this:
Social Media Examiner presents Small Business Success Summit 2011! (online conference)
Join 25 experts, including including John Jantsch (author, Duct Tape Marketing), Anita Campbell (founder, Small Business Trends), Michael Stelzner (founder, Social Media Examiner and author, Launch), Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing), Jesse Stay (author, Google+ for Dummies), Hollis Thomases (author, Twitter Marketing), David Siteman Garland (founder, “The Rise to the Top” and author, Faster, Smarter, Cheaper), Joe Pulizzi (founder, Content Marketing Institute and co-author, Get Content, Get Customers), Brian Clark (founder, Copyblogger Media), Lee Odden (founder, TopRank Online Marketing), Ramon Ray (founder, Small Biz Technology and author, Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses) and Lewis Howes (co-author, LinkedWorking)—just to mention a few (scroll down to see full list)! Go here to learn more.
What social media news caught your interest this week? Please share your comments below.
3 Days of World-Class Training—Zero Travel!
Travel to Social Media Marketing World off the table? Get all of the great content at a fraction of the price with an On-Demand ticket.
That’s full access to recordings of every keynote, workshop, and session—the ones people travel thousands of miles to see. Don't wait. Get your On-Demand ticket and enjoy actionable content that you can watch anytime, anywhere.
