This is a guest post from Aaron Melton. His “completely irrelevant opinions on life” can be found on his blog, AaronMelton.com.

A few days ago I was cruising the internets when I stumbled across a Retaggr card in a fellow blogger’s profile.

I was immediately transfixed by the enormous amount of information and social web services integrated into this simple online profile. I vaguely recall when this service launched back in 2008. At the time, it didn’t strike me as anything useful. Now that I revisted it, I saw the potential.

Knowing nothing more about the service than what I read on their website, I thought I’d hit up John for some pointers on how I can better leverage this service to my benefit. As a social media rockstar, John is a personal branding ninja. I knew he’d have the answers to my questions… only he didn’t.

doh!

But fear not!  I did all the research for you.

So let’s see if Retaggr is right for you?

Who

You! Your Retaggr profile is all about managing your online identity.

What

Retaggr is a service that aggregates your entire online presence into an online business card.

You can use Retaggr to integrate nearly 200 different online services into one small online profile that can be easily embedded into your website. We’re talking 360×300 pixels of personal branding and identity management awesomeness.

Retaggr has an excellent demonstration of their product capabilities, so I’ll provide a brief recap of just some of the more popular options you’ll have using their service:

1. Profile.
   Room for your obligatory information: name, location, personal description. Complete integration with Twitter so you can display your last status message. You can even upload a small profile picture or link your Gravatar.
2. Contact Details.
   Email, phone number, address.
3. Website Integration.
   As easy as entering your username for many of these services! Retaggr does the rest. Micro-blogging/communication services such as Twitter or Skype. Social networking services: Facebook, LinkedIn, Technorati. Blogs: Blogger, WordPress, Intense Debate. Music: LastFM, Pandora and others. Sharing/News: Google Reader, Stumble Upon, Digg. Bookmarking: del.icio.us. Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Smug Mug and so forth and so on ad nauseum.
4. Mega-internet-integration.
   Integrates ANY other online profile that contains a URL. Or, just pratically anything with a URL, for that matter.
5. Blogs.
   List your blogs. (John might need a bigger business card.)
6. Widgets!
   Communicate with someone directly via AIM, Facebook Connect, Grand Central, Google Talk and others.
7. Professional representation.
   Add your company information and link to your resume.
8. Professional associations.
   You can link to professional associations which will be represented on your business card by small icons.
9. Missing anything?
   You can even link to your Xboxlive account for crying out loud.
10. Extra goodies.
    Email integration. Add a brief link to your Retaggr card to your email signature.
    
    WordPress integration. Yup. Got that, too.

When

In my best Schwarzenegger impression, “Do it now!”

Where

You can find Retaggr on the web here: http://www.retaggr.com.

Once your new profile is in place, you can link to it in a variety of ways: either by linking to your profile card or your profile page. Don’t forget there are tools available to integrate your Retaggr card into your email, website or blog!

Why

1. Not everyone is cool enough to have their own Google business cards.
2. I’ve devoted a few hours in research prior to making this post and I could not find another service that provided a better or easier way to aggregate your online presence into one place. As the social networking sites on the web continue to grow at an exponential rate, the need for identity management becomes greater. Use Retaggr as the card catalog to your online presence.
3. “It’s epic!”, as John would say. If you can take the time to read this post and you’re technologically competent enough to know how to post a reply — you’ve got the time and the know-how to create your very own Retaggr profile.

Already have a Retaggr profile? How do you use yours?