From time to time, we’ll be taking a closer look at different social media tools and offering a brief summary of information you need to know – namely, what it is, how to use it and its key benefits. We’re fresh out of the gate this week with the social bookmarking tool, Delicious.

• What the heck is it?
  Delicious (often written as del.icio.us.com) is a tool for storing all of your favorite websites online and accessing lists of others’ favorite bookmarks from any physical location. The site, which originated through Yahoo!, requires registering for a Delicious account and the addition of a small extension to your Firefox or Internet Explorer browser (the only browsers that work in conjunction with the bookmark site).
• Why should you be using it?
  Not only can these stored bookmarks be accessed from anywhere at any time, but they also can be shared with others online anywhere in the world who may look to you or your business as a source of knowledge on a certain subject. A tool like Delicious can be a significant factor in helping you establish a reputation as an online “expert” on a particular subject.
• What can you do at the site?
  You can import into your Delicious account all of the bookmarks on your home or work computer so that whatever machine you’re using to access the site, it will list all of your favorite and frequently used sites. You can create a network so that other users can log in to the same network and share bookmarks among the other network members. This can be especially helpful for co-workers at the same company, volunteers who work for the same charity or a book club or other activity/interest-focused group. You also can locate other sites of interest by conducting a search by tags and making your own favorite bookmarks easy-to-find for others by assigning your own tags and cataloging bookmarks with these tags.
• What kinds of businesses can benefit most from this tool?
  If you are a consultant sharing industry insight, tips and observations (such as a mortgage broker, real estate agent, financial consultant, PR specialist, legal expert, etc.), you can use this tool to create your own centralized archive of information that provides great value for your readers and for you, as well as an easy-to-access reservoir of past developed articles to reference in other pieces or re-purpose for other needs.
• What is ultimately the coolest value of this tool?
  You can build website traffic really easily simply by placing a Delicious button by any of your content so others can bookmark you. And you can go back through any of your own personally developed content and assign Delicious bookmarks to all of them, so users can access all of your content bookmarks in one place. Talk about making it easy for your fans! You’re probably giving them a roadmap to your words, thoughts and observations. Now how cool is that?

For additional information about the tool, we highly recommend two great sources for detailed explanations: the website www.mashable.com and Lon Safko and David K. Brake’s The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools & Strategies for Business Success.