Using Rebelmouse

Yes, I agree that it's a silly name. But there again, so is Google - not to mention Twitter. But Rebelmouse is a great service that can be used for promotion in so many different ways.

You can use it as a blogging platform, a curation tool (like Pinterest) or even embed it on your own site. Read on.Despite its daft name, you can use it in many ways and some top brands (CNN, NBC and many more you'll know) use it too.

What's even better is that it's absolutely free.This is such a multi-functional tool that you can use it in many different ways. See a few ideas below.

All the images are screenshots from my Rebelmouse site. The logo you see here is free for users to download.

Above is a screenshot from one of my own Rebelmouse sites. It took literally five minutes to set up and takes just a minute (less, actually) a day to maintain by adding fresh content.

The block you see in the middle was added in seconds by using a browser button. The one you see on the left is a blog post - it's easy to mix and match.This means that I can add new content to the site whenever I want without having to write a blog post. But when I do blog, that's quick and easy too.

This is so easy that the image is really enough to explain. Add your title, the main body of your post, plus any images or videos. Use the control buttons to add links, or make text bold, italic and so on. If you want to, you can save the draft and come back later.

This is just the first section of a blog post. Note that I have included links that lead to my various articles. You don't need to know html - just use the buttons at the top of the text editor. SO VERY easy!

All of these have been added by using the Rebelmouse browser button. Most, I have left as is because of time constraints. But you'll see with the Agatha Christie link that I have edited it to add details underneath. You can do this at the time of posting or at any time afterwards.

You can arrange your settings so that your site will feature articles and photographs from any account on Twitter, You Tube, Facebook, Tumblr and more. You can either have them automatically post or you can review them first.Here's what some companies and individuals have done:

• Create a page around a certain event. For example, let's imagine a conference where there are many people attending. Before the conference, add details of the event, driving directions and so on. During the event itself, encourage those attending to tweet their photographs of the event. This will be a great promotion for next year's event, plus provide useful information.
• Similarly you could use the service for a wedding. Keep guests informed before the event and give them useful information. During the wedding itself encourage guests to send photographs to be added. This is a great way for friends and relatives who can't attend feel part of the day.
• Run an Instagram competition by encouraging others to post using your unique hashtag. Remember that you can edit these before they are published.
• Create useful community information. I believe it was the New York Times that used Rebelmouse during Hurricane Sandy as a quick and easy way to update people about the current situation. You can have just yourself as poster or you can invite others.
• Use the embed feature to create a social media hub on your website or blog. This is 100% automatic so it required no maintenance at all once you've taken five minutes to set it up. See the screenshot below.

It's so easy. Simply grab the supplied code and add it to your site. You can customise the code to suit yourself - for example, select how many posts you'd like to show. You can even get the code for separate pages.This means that every time you update your Rebelmouse (and remember it takes only seconds using the button on your browser) your site updates too.Below, you can see it being used on my site:

1. On the home page

2. For recipes

3. For design articles

4. For reviews

CLICK HERE.