Top Ads on YouTube in 2010

What are the ingredients for making a top commercial? The most-viewed ads on YouTube in 2010 have little in common. Humor, famous athletes, or drama could be the secret ingredient.

Topping the list is the Old Spice guy, with over 24 million views. Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice guy, mentioned his vegan gluten-free diet to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in this clip.




View all 12 top commercials here. The catchy Swagger Wagon advertising the Toyota Sienna is my favorite. Watch it now and discover what appeals to over 7 million viewers.

Tips for Making Viral Videos

Are you considering making a viral video to promote your company, website, or blog? Looking for a way to make your video stand out from others? Scott Gerber offers eight tips on Mashable in How To: Make a Successful Marketing Video for the Web. He developed the tips from interviews with Generation Y entrepreneurs.

"The best web videos are ones that incorporate comedy. People like to share videos with their networks that are funny, inspiring or thought provoking."

Some tips include being real, keeping it less than 2 minutes, and making it simple. Have you seen a great viral video recently? Share a link to it in the comments. 

Celiac Disease Ranks High in AOL's 2010 Hot Searches

What were the top 10 health topics most searched in 2010? According to the AOL's Year End Hot Searches of 2010, celiac disease was ranked fourth, above diabetes and breast cancer! The top three health searches were bed bugs, salmonella, and BPA.  View the entire health list and explanations here. 

Chelsea Clinton's wedding was ranked ninth in top news searches, and her gluten-free wedding cake is partly responsible for the high celiac disease ranking. The Old Spice Guy, who eats gluten-free, ranked seventh in top trends. While Silly Bandz and Foursquare were included in the top trends, fortunately the gluten-free diet was not!

Video: Gluten-Free Chef of the Year

Watch this great video of a competition that was held recently in the UK to crown the Gluten-Free Chef of the Year. Celebrity chef Phil Vickery was a judge. For more information about the competition, read this article. Here is an excerpt.

"Michael McCamley from Northern Ireland was chosen as the Gluten-free Chef of the Year and, for the second year in a row, student Shanice Parris as the Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year.  

McCamley, head chef at Venue Catering in Newry, Northern Ireland, wins a one week placement at Gleneagles with twice Michelin star chef, Andrew Fairlie and will also spend the day working with Sodexo executive development chefs to produce a signature dish suitable for people with coeliac disease. 

And Parris, who is in her second year studying catering at Westminster Kingsway College, wins a one week placement at Pennyhill Park working under Michelin star chef Michael Wignall."

Who will be organizing a Gluten-Free Chef of the Year competition in the United States? Who would you like to see compete in it?

5 Celiac Disease Facts to Include in Articles, Videos, and Interviews

The plethora of misinformation about celiac disease and gluten-free life continues to spread daily through news segments, articles, and videos. Here are some facts and tips to facilitate the sharing of accurate information!

1. Provide facts from dietitians, doctors, and organizations, such as NFCA, not celebrities. Do not refer to a gluten-free diet as a fad, trend, or weight loss diet!

2. It is essential to be tested for celiac disease, an autoimmune disease with dangerous complications, before starting a gluten-free diet!  If negative, a patient may be gluten sensitive.

3. There are no typical symptoms of celiac disease. There are 300 symptoms and some people have none!

4. People with celiac disease must eat 100% gluten-free and need to be very cautious about cross-contamination.

5. There are many great and safe gluten-free products. Good gluten-free baked goods taste the same as gluten!

5 New Gluten-Free Blogs

Visit these new gluten-free blogs to read some great blog posts. With so many gluten-free blogs, blog names are becoming more creative. My favorite name from this list is Goodbye Goldfish.

Jules Speaks Gluten-Free by Jules Shepard

Dish Towel Diaries by Silvana Nardone

Goodbye Goldfish

Gluten-Free Twenty Something

A Modern Guide to Staying Sane Without Grain

To discover more gluten-free blogs, follow this Twitter list as well as this fantastic new listing of blogs from Simply Gluten-Free: The Gluten-Free Global Community.

My estimate based on Twitter and Karina’s Kitchen is that there are approximately 300 active gluten-free blogs and many more that are no longer active. There are currently 212 members of the Gluten-Free Bloggers Network. For help with your blog, read Top 10 Blogging Tips and join the bloggers group on Gluten-Free Faces.

Gluten-Free Tweeting 101: Follow These Easy Steps

These ten easy steps will help you get started tweeting gluten-free. All information is based on using the New Twitter. If you need convincing to start tweeting, read 10 Reasons to Tweet Gluten-Free. Get ready – you are about to enter the exciting and informative universe of Twitter!



1. Go to Twitter.com and choose a username that is fewer than 15 characters and has gf, celiac, or gfree in it if you want to make it easier to connect with other gf people. Be creative or simply try gf and the name of the city or state you live in or gf and your first name. If you have a gluten-free blog or website, use it in your username.

2. Follow the initial setup prompts. Don’t worry about finding people to follow. You can come back to that later.

3. Click Profile and then click edit your profile or click Settings from the homepage in the top right corner on the drop down menu under your username and then click Profile. Now complete your profile by:

-Uploading a picture (Any picture is better than the Twitter default image of an egg.)

-Linking to your website or blog if you have one

-Adding a location

-Describing yourself in the bio using keywords such as dairy-free, allergen-free, blogger, writer, mom, celiac, and/or gluten sensitive

4. Click Notices (in Settings) to limit the emails you receive. (I recommend not receiving emails when someone follows you, but receiving emails for direct messages.)

5. Click Design (in Settings) to change the appearance of your page.

6. Type your first tweet by saying something like, “I’m new to Twitter and looking to connect with #gf and #foodallergy people.” If you see negative numbers you have exceeded the 140 character limit and must remove some before tweeting. Click tweet to send your tweet.



7. Find gluten-free people to follow by:

-Following these lists as well as the people and companies on them. On the list page, click view all following on the right and then click the box with a plus sign next to each user to follow them. A green check mark will appear when you are following someone.

http://twitter.com/#!/MarylandCeliac/gluten-free-bloggers

http://twitter.com/#!/list/gfsocialmedia/glutenfreeproducts

http://twitter.com/#!/HoldTheGluten/gluten-free-peeps

-Entering a hashtag (#gf, #gfree, #dairyfree, #celiac) in the search box at the very top to find more people to follow.

-From the homepage, clicking Settings and then Find People to search usernames or browse interests.

8. Retweet the tweets you like from the people you are following by using RT @username or simply clicking retweet. When reading tweets, put your cursor over the username and clickable commands will appear at the bottom of the tweet - favorite, retweet, and reply.

9. Use the Twitter glossary for help understanding Twitter lingo and for help with Twitter functions. On Friday, you will see #FF, which means Follow Friday and is helpful in finding more people to follow.

10. Tweet daily and explore messages. Reply to tweets, ask questions, shorten links and share them, and tweet gluten-free products you like.

If you have any questions or experience any difficulties with these steps, tweet me @MarylandCeliac or @gfsocialmedia. You will get a faster response if you use my primary account, @MarylandCeliac or leave a comment here.

Locate Discount Codes in Two Clicks

Before you make a purchase on a website or head to a restaurant, click on the company's Twitter and Facebook pages to check for discounts. You don't have to be a registered user of Twitter or Facebook to see these discounts! 

Twitter profiles for companies and their Facebook pages are public, so anyone can view them. If you can't locate the Twitter and Facebook buttons on a website, which are usually very easy to find, simply Google the name of the company and Twitter or Facebook.

Of course, if you regularly follow a company's updates through Twitter or Facebook, you can ensure you don't miss any discount codes and promotions.  These two clicks can potentially result in substantial savings!

Twitter's New Look: Mini Profiles, Related Content, and an Egg

Over the next few weeks, the new Twitter will rollout as a preview.  Since there are so many changes, the preview will allow you to gradually adapt to the new appearance and revert back to the old appearance.  Yes, change can be hard!

So, what are the changes? Here are some details that were shared on the Twitter blog.

•"New design. The site has a cleaner timeline and a rich details pane that instantly adds more impact to individual Tweets while still maintaining the simplicity of the timeline. And, experience infinite scroll -- you no longer have to click “more” to view additional Tweets.


•Media. Now, it’s easy to see embedded photos and videos directly on Twitter, thanks to partnerships with DailyBooth, deviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.


•Related content. When you click a Tweet, the details pane shows additional information related to the author or subject. Depending on the Tweet’s content, you may see: replies, other Tweets by that user, a map of where a geotagged Tweet was sent from, and more.


•Mini profiles. Click a username to see a mini profile without navigating from the page, which provides quick access to account information, including bio and recent Tweets."

About one minute into this video, you can see what the new Twitter will look like.  It will be fantastic to no longer need to click more to view additional tweets, and the mini profiles will save time and be very handy! For more details, watch the Huffington Post slideshow. Oh, and an egg is now the default profile picture!

Discover LinkedIn Groups

While LinkedIn is well known for professional networking, many may be surprised at the plethora of groups covering a wide range of topics. Groups exist for blogging, writing, social media, photography, marketing, nutrition, chefs, foodies, food allergies, gluten-free, Autism, and much more.

Being in a shared group with people makes it much easier to add them to your network.  Joining a city specific group, like Washington DC Connections, ensures local connections.  After joining a group, remember to actively participate, by commenting on discussions.

In June 2010, major updates were made to LinkedIn groups, making them more user-friendly and improving their appearance. In August, improvements were made to the moderation features, helping group managers. Additionally, users can enjoy the new following features to follow both people and companies.

Watch this video for an introduction to LinkedIn Groups and an overview on all the new features. Visit the LinkedIn Learning Center for more instructional videos and tips. Don't miss out on this great resource. Join LinkedIn today!

Dramatic Increase in Social Networking Among Older Adults

According to a study from Pew Internet, 42% of internet users ages 50 and older now use social networking sites. Between April 2009 and May 2010, this percentage almost doubled. The study also found that 26% of internet users ages 65 and older use social networking sites. Here are two interesting statistics.

“One in five (20%) online adults ages 50-64 say they use social networking sites on a typical day, up from 10% one year ago.


Among adults ages 65 and older, 13% log on to social networking sites on a typical day, compared with just 4% who did so in 2009.”

Hopefully, many older adults are discovering the terrific gluten-free resources on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure your gluten-free tweets and Facebook pages are appealing to adults of all ages!

The History of Blogging

The first blog, known as an online diary, was established in 1994 by a college student, Justin Hall.  The archives on his site go back to 1996, so here is one of his oldest available posts.

In 1997, the term "weblog" was developed by Jorn Barger.  The first blogging platform, Open Diary, was created in 1998.

Wordpress was created in 2003. Blogger was launched in 1999 and purchased by Google in 2003. To learn more, read this fascinating blog post from Mashable: A Brief History of 9 Popular Blogging Platforms.

ABC World News Video: Using Facebook for Medical Purposes

Carlos Sanchez found a new kidney through Facebook. “This is one example of how medicine is being changed by social media.” This video from ABC World News also mentions using Facebook to find a missing person with Alzheimer’s disease.

Using Facebook for fundraising drives, to connect with support groups, and obtain medical information is also discussed. Watch the video here and read the story here. It is part of a series of videos, Social Networking Revolution. Inside Facebook Headquarters is very interesting.

For the gluten-free community, social networking is powerful. Although there is some inaccurate information about celiac disease, there are many gluten-free professionals and dedicated bloggers who are committed to providing accurate information, increasing celiac disease awareness, and answering questions. I would love to see a follow-up video called, “Using Social Media to Save Lives: Helping People with Undiagnosed Celiac Disease.”

Is This What Gluten-Free Consumers Want?

Natural Products Insider just posted an interesting article, "Special Needs of the Gluten-Free Consumer".  They identify eight things that gluten-free consumers want.  Some are accurate and identify key needs, like cheaper products, clear labels, and certified gluten-free products.  However, based on things I encounter in the gluten-free social media world, some statements seem inaccurate.

"Surprisingly, nutrient awareness was not strong among gluten-free consumers. Some concede a need for more fiber, but most are largely unconcerned about the need for more whole grains in their gluten-free diet."

It seems that gluten-free consumers are indeed very concerned about nutrition.  The article mentions that consumers are looking for convenience items, but what I seem to encounter the most is the request for healthy convenience.

The below statement seems outdated. Perhaps when the interviews began one year ago, this was the case. I think the response would be different today, especially if they utilized social media to conduct the interviews.

"But consumers still want higher quality products. Consumers would love to have moister, more flavorful, softer baked goods. Some gluten-free breads are beginning to satisfy these needs. But consumers concede they would rather not eat bread than eat most gluten-free breads."

Thanks to Udi's and Rudi's, there are now good gluten-free breads in addition to the ones that many bake themselves.  Joan's and Udi's make great bagels. I could continue to name good products. One thing is clear - there are many yummy soft-baked goods.  I would say that gluten-free consumers are looking for nutritious and unique products. Combine that with convenience, great taste, safe manufacturing, and a cheap price, and you may have a hit!

Are Gluten-Free Consumers Deprived of Good Tasting Products?

Fortunately, there are so many great gluten-free products and gluten-free replacements for almost every gluten food. There are breads, pasta, waffles, and many more foods that taste like gluten. Some are also free of many allergens. So why do companies making new gluten-free products still feel the need to put in press releases or on their website something about gluten-free consumers being deprived of products and that finally they have something to make life better? With gluten-free bakeries across the country, clearly gluten-free consumers aren’t deprived!

Now, I am not talking about one company in particular. I see this often. Even the companies that don’t do this, have slogans about their products being delicious or tasting good. Is that still original? Does that set their products apart from others? Does General Mills need to put on the front of a box below a product that is newly labeled gluten-free that it has the “same great taste”? How do we get rid of this old concept that gluten-free tastes bad?

I think in this market for a gluten-free product to survive it needs to be unique, great-tasting, and affordable. Tell me why I should buy your product. Is it made from healthy ingredients? Is it free of other allergens? How is it different from your competitors? Read some gluten-free blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates to find out what gluten-free consumers want. Don’t market your product by telling me that I am deprived or that my diet is a burden!

Guest Blogger Jenna Drew: Do You Know Where Your Website Traffic Comes From?

Over 60% of the traffic to my membership site, Gluten Free Bloggers Network, comes from referring websites. Let me say that again - over half of my website traffic comes from referring websites! It’s hard to believe, but it is true.

Twitter alone is responsible for 25% of my website visits over the past month. Facebook currently accounts for around 5% of my website’s traffic. From these results, you could say that I am a firm believer in social media. No, that’s not because of the hype around social media right now. I believe in social media because of the results I’ve seen.

One of the most important steps to growing your website with social media is simply understanding exactly where visitors find your website. To accomplish this, I personally use Google Analytics to track this data on my website for two reasons:

1.) It’s free (Do I need a better reason?)
2.) It’s easy to use and probably better than a lot of the tracking you would pay for!

Once you gain a basic understanding about where your website traffic is coming from, you can then spend your time more productively by putting more of an emphasis on your most rewarding social media outlets. When I discovered that 25% of my traffic was coming from Twitter, I just spent more time building relationships, interacting, and tweeting.

My favorite thing about Twitter is the ability to find and connect with the people you are looking for and other gluten freebies! From a quick search, you can find everyone on Twitter who is talking about gluten-free! Twitter was simply my “MVP” or “Most Valuable [Social Media] Platform”. You may find that Facebook or Digg are generating the most traffic for your website. Maybe you understand and enjoy using other social media such as Delicious or the new Propeller.

Just find a system that works for you and stick with the media. Remember, social media is all about how you interact with it. If you create a username for every social media outlet available online you will find yourself just trying to stay above water! Find what you enjoy and start connecting with other gluten-free members of the online community!

Jenna Drew, editor of GlutenFreeJenna.com and founder of Gluten Free Bloggers.com, has been eating a strict gluten-free diet since April 2009. As a member of the Celiac Sprue Association, Celiac Disease Foundation, and the Gluten Intolerance Group, Jenna is very active in the celiac community, and she contributes to several dedicated gluten-free blogs and newsletters. Jenna was named a Celiac Awareness All-Star in March by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Contact Jenna at jenna@glutenfreebloggers.com.

Video: Gluten-Free Bisquick

Here is a great interview with a General Mills marketing manager, DyShaun Muhammad, discussing the new gluten-free Bisquick. It was filmed at the Celiac Disease Foundation conference recently held in Los Angeles by iamgf, who has posted several video interviews with gluten-free bakery owners.

Live Gluten Freely lists over 250 gluten-free products. Nearly 40,000 people now like their Facebook page, which is shocking considering on May 17 (only ten days ago), I tweeted that they had 19,000 people that like it.

Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Companies

When you are a small company trying to navigate the social media world, it can be overwhelming. The easiest option is to hire someone to do your social media marketing. The more time consuming option is to teach yourself. This Mashable article, 10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips, is excellent and a great starting place. The article offers both basic and advanced strategies. Below is an important tip for beginners.

"This means that having a consistent username across the various social networks is very important. At a minimum, if you haven’t registered your company name on the major networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), you should do that today. For many small businesses, their user accounts on social networks will be the highest ranked pages in search results."

Setting up your company on social media sites is only the beginning. Actively and consistently maintaining the sites is an essential key to success.

*Note: For new gluten-free companies who are unfamiliar with gluten-free social media marketing, I highly recommend hiring a freelancer, like myself, who is already active in the gluten-free social media world.

Popular Gluten-Free Forums

In addition to great gluten-free social networking on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, there are many popular gluten-free forums. Whether you are new to eating gluten-free or an experienced gluten-free blogger, these are terrific resources for getting quick answers as well as sharing gluten-free recipes and other information. Leave a comment with you favorite gluten-free forum or share a smaller gluten-free forum not mentioned here.

Gluten-Free Faces Forum

SillyYaks Yahoo Group

Celiac Listserv

Delphi Celiac Disease On-line Support Group

Celiac.com Forum

Glutenfree.com Forum

GFCF Recipes Yahoo Group

Gling

Local Celiac and other GF Yahoo Groups

Food Allergy Kitchen Yahoo Group

About.com Celiac Disease Forum

Parents of Food Allergic Kids Support Forums (POFAK)

Gluten-Free Faces and GlutenFreeTravelSite Announce New Partnership

The popular gluten-free social networking site, Gluten-Free Faces, has joined forces with GlutenFreeTravelSite, an extensive database of gluten-free reviews. Now, members of Gluten-Free Faces can easily access all of the dining and travel reviews on GlutenFreeTravelSite simply by clicking “gluten-free maps” and entering a search zip code or city.

If you aren’t a member of Gluten-Free Faces, you can still access the reviews through GlutenFreeTravelSite. Remember, to submit your own reviews to help make travel easier for everyone who eats gluten-free. There are over 4,000 members of Gluten-Free Faces. Are you one of them?

10 Reasons to Tweet Gluten-Free

Buttonshut.com

Whether you are an individual who eats gluten-free, a person with a gluten-free family member, or a company with gluten-free products, here is a list of reasons to join the fabulous gluten-free community on Twitter. On Twitter, #gf is used in tweets to mean gluten-free.

1. Discover gluten-free sales, coupons, and promotions.
2. Receive answers to questions on a variety of topics, including locating gluten-free restaurants when traveling, stores that carry a specific product, and the gluten-free status of items.
3. Find the latest gluten-free news and blog posts.
4. Connect with gluten-free bloggers, companies, organizations, and consumers.
5. Easily share brief reviews of products (140 characters or less).
6. Get help with gluten-free cooking.
7. Learn about gluten-free events.
8. Establish essential gluten-free support - locally, throughout the country, and in other countries.
9. Instantly inform the public about a positive or negative experience at a restaurant and share photos.
10. Educate others about celiac disease through your tweets!

Twitter is very user friendly and easier to use than Facebook. For help getting started with Twitter, read my article, Twitter: Gluten-Free Hashtags, Lists, and Beginner Tips. Follow these companies with gluten-free products and this list of over 140 gluten-free bloggers and Examiners. Are you ready to enter the world of #gf tweets?

Video: Mac and Cheese Taste Test on the Today Show

Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru and Food Trends Editor at the Today Show, mentioned celiac disease and included a gluten-free and dairy-free macaroni and cheese in a segment with many mainstream gluten products. Amy's new gluten-free and non-dairy rice macaroni and cheese is featured at the end of this Today Show video.

Watch Phil's Hit and Misses weekly on ABC and on his website. Last week, he rated Orgran Mini Outback Animals Vanilla highly. From General Mills to major television networks, gluten-free products are going mainstream!

"If you would like Phil to consider your new product for review, please send 4 samples of each flavor you to submit for review, with the suggested retail price and other product information. We regret that we can not review all products submitted. Please send to:

New Product Review
SupermarketGuru.com
3015 Main Street, Suite 320
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Product reviews are conducted by randomly selecting one flavor of a product and taking into consideration the information available on the package itself as it would appear in the retail environment. Information contained in advertisements or on websites is not taken into account for evaluation or ratings.

Email danielle@supermarketguru.com with any questions and whenever possible please be environmentally friendly when packaging your products."

A Sincere Thank You to Nancy Lapid

I just found out that Nancy Lapid will be leaving About.com Celiac Disease. Fortunately, the site will remain and soon About.com will be seeking someone to replace her. The new writer will certainly have a challenge trying to fill her shoes, but luckily Nancy will provide assistance.

Nancy has made About.com Celiac Disease one of the best resources on the web for accurate, trustworthy, and informative gluten-free articles. I have enjoyed reading her articles and have recommended the comprehensive site to many. If you have a question about celiac disease, it is likely that you will find the answer on her site. After reading some of her many great articles, I wrote a blog post about her terrific work on About.com Celiac Disease.

Thank you Nancy for your countless hours of hard work and dedication to helping to improve the lives of individuals with celiac disease! I truly respect your work and am inspired by your writing. Thank you for your positive comments about my Gluten Free Optimist blog and the many links to it. You will be sorely missed!

Tips for Profile Pics

Mashable recently posted “5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic”. These tips are from social media experts. One of the most important tips is listed below.

“A rule of thumb touched on by many is consistency. Because followers and friends will be looking out for your face first, it’s important that once you find a photo that works, stick with it.”

Many may find this surprising as profile pictures are frequently changed, especially on Twitter and Facebook. So, do not change your profile picture to show off your latest hair style, magazine cover, or new product. Keep that one great image, so people can instantly recognize you when skimming through updates.

If you aren’t a Photoshop user, Examiner.com recommends resizing and editing photos on Picnik, where many basic services are free. Once you are satisfied with your image, you can add Twibbons to it, including a celiac disease ribbon. Change your Twibbons, but don’t change your pic!

Video: Inside the Gluten-Free Bakehouse

This slide show is narrated by Lee Tobin and provides an inside look at the Gluten-Free Bakehouse (Whole Foods Market) in Morrisville, North Carolina. Gluten-free consumers like to see an inside look at companies and products, so this is great free marketing for the Gluten-Free Bakehouse. The video was added to You Tube only three weeks ago, yet it has already been viewed 1,886 times.

Video: Food Tricks for Commercials

This video of a makeup artist for food preparing the perfect burger for a commercial is fascinating. It is a segment from a three part special for kids that aired on HBO in 1990 called "Buy Me That". Whether you are looking to take the perfect photo of a product or make a viral video, take a look at this video. If commercials are making you crave food, knowing these tricks will certainly make them less desirable. Seriously, sesame seeds glued on a bun!

Twitter and Facebook on a Cereal Box

I was surprised to see Twitter and Facebook names listed on a new gluten-free Nature's Path cereal box. This is the first time I noticed social media contact information on a product package, and I am sure this won't be the last. If you aren't on Twitter and Facebook, sign up now and a new gluten-free world will be at your fingertips!

Easily Create a Gluten-Free Blog with Tumblr

According to a post today on Mashable, Tumblr is thriving. Mashable describes Tumblr as “one of the simplest blogging platforms around”. It is considered to be easier to use than WordPress. Tumblr has 15,000 new users each day and had over 1 million page views in February. Recently, Tumblr added a new feature so that users can add static pages (create several header tabs), which is something that is still difficult to do in Blogger.

Browse the Tumblr directory to see gluten-free blogs. Gluten-free and the City and Celebrate with Cake are great examples of Tumblr blogs. If you want to choose Tumblr for your blogging needs, register here. For more blogging information, read “Top 10 Blogging Tips”.

Get answers to your blogging questions and share tips by leaving a comment here, joining the Gluten-Free Faces Bloggers Group, and becoming a fan of the Gluten-Free Social Media Tips Facebook Fan Page.

Locate Gluten-Free Blogs and Examiners

Blogrolls, Twitter, Facebook, and Gluten-Free Faces are great ways to discover gluten-free blogs. When you are traveling, locating a blogger or Examiner in that city can be very helpful. The Gwinnett Gluten-Free Food Examiner maintains a list of Gluten-Free Examiners on her bottom right sidebar. The Crispy Cook has an updated list of 134 gluten-free bloggers with descriptions of each blog. The Gluten-Free City Guide is a map for finding gluten-free resources throughout the US and Canada. While many gluten-free blogs come up in Google search results, the dedicated gluten-free search engine, Gluten-Free Fox, is very useful!

Top 10 Gluten-Free Facebook Fan Pages

Facebook is full of gluten-free groups, fan pages, and individuals. The fan pages listed below are some of the most active gluten-free pages with many fans and frequent comments. If you are looking to discuss gluten-free topics or for ideas for your own fan page, take a look at these great ones.

1. Enjoy Life Foods

2. Gluten-Free by Dr. Peter Osborne

3. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

4. Celiac Handbook

5. Kinnikinnick Foods

6. Live Gluten Freely by General Mills

7. Karina’s Kitchen

8. Gluten-Free Girl

9. Gluten-Free on a Shoestring

10. Gluten-Free Houston

Become a fan of the new Facebook fan page for Gluten-Free Social Media Tips!

Update: September 2010 - Live Gluten Freely is now the most popular with over 45,000 people that like it!

Use Twitter to Discover 100 Companies with Gluten-Free Products

I just created this Twitter list of over 100 companies with gluten-free products. Follow the list to discover gluten-free restaurants, new products, magazines, books, and discounts. Thinking about creating a Twitter account for your company? Browse these companies for tips on interacting with the gluten-free community. If you would like your company added to the list, leave a comment here or tweet me @gfsocialmedia.

5 Tips for Twitter Parties

1. If you don’t have a twitter account, Summize is the easiest to use to read the party tweets. Simply enter the party hashtag (example #glutenfreely for the General Mills gluten-free party). A twitter account is required to reply to tweets.
2. Familiarize yourself with TweetGrid before the party. TweetGrid has several advantages over Summize. TweetGrid is faster, the party hashtag is automatically added to tweets, your @replies are displayed, and the grid layout can be customized.
3. Compile a list of some relevant links and tweets ahead of time, so you can quickly copy and paste them during the party.
4. Introduce yourself during the party with information relevant to the topic.
5. To increase your chances of winning a prize, pay attention to tweets during the party and read websites of companies offering prizes. Often, prizes are awarded to the first person to correctly answer a question.

There are two gluten-free twitter parties next week. Click on the links to RSVP.

Glutino: January 11 at 8pm EST #GF

General Mills: January 14 at 7pm EST #glutenfreely