I’ve been developing, coordinating and hosting a lot of events in Second Life as part of my online consulting work, and am still honing my perfect mix of online marketing tactics to attract a steady audience, but here are the online marketing tools I’ve been using.

1. Twitter.
I can’t say enough about microblogging and how effective it is once you build a strong following. I have over 500 followers now on my Twitter page, many of whom are avid SL residents, so I have a nicely targeted audience for promos about my events.

2. Facebook.
In addition to my basic Facebook account, I create a Facebook event page for big events and invite all my friends. I also have formed a few groups such as Second Life Women’s Club to promote women’s issues events.

3. HelloTxt.
This new Web tool is saving me a lot of time. Because I also have microblogging accounts on Jaiku, Pownce and Tumblr, not to mention social networking accounts on Facebook and Plaxo. I can broadcast a single post from HelloTxt to all of those other accounts. Beware of spamming though. Use this tool judiciously.

4. Eventful.
This events site is very accepting of Second Life events whereas Upcoming is more limited to real world events. In addition to listing events I’m watching on my account page, I can attach events not to various calendars. I can also create a venue page for my island, Athena Isle in Second Life. Eventful also has some nice distribution tools to post the event on other sites.

5. Blogs.
I still find that my blogs are a great place not only to promote events but to also do followups to the events including posting text transcripts of the discussions. Some of my Second Life blogs include Second Life Women’s Club, Second Life Entrepreneurs Club, Second Life Writers Club and Moms in Second Life.

Even if you aren’t marketing Second Life or event online events, most of these tools can be used for real world marketing as well. Keep in mind your audience, readership and the demographics of your “friends” to choose the right tools for the right times.