Ahh, Google. The King of the internet. Nothing gets by Google these days. So, if you are running a political campaign, use that to your advantage.

Google has a pretty useful tool called Google Alerts. This is a slick system that will send you an email alert every time a term you are monitoring on the internet makes news. This way, you can stay on top of issues you need to be knowledgeable about. For instance, I set up Google Alerts for my company, CampaignPros.com. An obvious choice for keywords that I chose are the names of my competitors. This way, I can monitor what my competition is doing in the market place. Since my company is in the business of printing campaign materials, I set up terms that include phrases like "for sheriff", "campaign announcement", etc. This way, I know when a candidate has stepped into the arena and I can reach out to that campaign.

So, as a political candidate, what terms should you monitor? KillerCampaigning.com gives a great example:

One of the first terms that you will want to create a Google Alert for is your own name, since you’ll want to stay informed about any website that publishes information about you or your candidacy. Make sure that you enter your name surrounded by quotation marks–for instance, "Phil Van Treuren,"–so that you are only notified when your entire name is mentioned, and not just part of it.

In addition, set up terms that will alert you when something happens in your district or neighborhood. So, you’d set up a term for the name of your town. Or, if there is a "hot button" issue you need to follow, use that as a term, like "library referendum + [your town]."

Setting up these alerts just takes a few minutes. You simply choose your keywords or phrases, add an email address and choose the frequency at which you would like to be alerted, like once a day.

One thing a candidate cannot afford to do is ignore the popularity and usefulness of the internet. It is true; you can find anything on the internet. It is also true that you can use this to your advantage. So, spend a few minutes and set up some Google Alerts to help keep your campaign ahead of the curve, or at least on pace with the curve.