Are you considering starting a Social Media Marketing Program to promote your business and your brand?

Before you jump into interacting with the online world, it is important to take a step back and listen to what people are saying about you and the industry that you are in. Below is a list of reputation monitoring tools that you can use to learn what is being said about you.

Google: Google is the most-used search engine on the web a web.

Google Alerts: Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Twitter Search: Twitter Search allows you to search Twitter in real-time and see what is being said about certain topics.

TweetBeep: Tweet Beep enables anyone to receive alerts by email whenever a specific word or phrase is tweeted on Twitter.

TweetDeck: TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening & connecting you with contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more.

BackType: BackType is a real-time, conversational search engine that lets you see what people are saying about topics and web pages that interest you.

Board Reader: Boardreader is search engine for Forums and Boards.

BoardTracker: BoardTracker is the leading search engine for message boards and forums and provides innovative search, analysis and social networking technology.

Trendrr: Trendrr allows you to track the popularity and awareness of trends across a variety of inputs, ranging from social networks, to blog buzz and video views.

HowSociable: HowSociable helps you to measure your brand’s visibility across the main social platforms.