Regardless of job title, if you are in the marketing, advertising or consulting business you are going to be expected to house a vast amount of knowledge about your clients. Knowing the services they provide, products they sell, what differentiates them from the competition, their target audience, branch locations, etc. can be a challenge, but a manageable one with the right training and resources. On the other hand, keeping up with your clients visibility online with an immeasurable number of news periodicals, blogs and videos could be another story all together.

Luckily, at a day and age when almost everything can be automated, you don’t have to worry about surfing thousands of news and press release sites per day because Google is already doing it for you. Using Google’s automated alerts system, Google Alerts, you can enter key phrases that pertain to your clients and/or their industry, and set up alerts to be emailed directly to you. The type of information within these alerts can be customized to include news, blogs, web, video, groups or a comprehensive view of all five categories. The frequency that alerts are sent can also be customized so that you receive emails daily, weekly, monthly or as they occur.

Besides the obvious benefit of using Google Alerts, automation and customization, these alerts also come in handy when talking to clients. Being able to talk about a current press release or news article in a client meeting can display a high degree of knowledge and help to build trust in the client relationship. Google Alerts can also free up time in meetings or conference calls by preventing the client from having to update you on all aspects of the business news. The benefits are numerous, and can be translated across all business models. You can set up your own alerts to any email address at http://www.google.com/alerts.