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4 Tips for Using Video in Social Media

Published on November 16th, 2011 by Guest Blogger in Social Media, Video

Now, they see you… Now, they… well, they still see you.

In the past several years Blogs have become a mainstay of Internet content. Providing information (sometimes unsolicited), entertainment, and more often then not, opinions. Hopefully, this will do all three.

So, you have your blog setup and you are posting away but you aren’t seeing the results (Hits – to use the parlance of the Net) that you feel, your words are worth.

Guest Blogger Steve Everson

How, you ask, can I get more attention to my blog? One way many bloggers are seeing more hits to their site is adding video content. This is everyone from that annoying blonde girl who uses profanity non-stop to the major news outlets, like CNN. Video is easier, cheaper and in most cases, faster than typing your blog. (…Says the guy typing this blog post)

Most laptops on the market today already have a built in camera but these tend to be fairly low quality and have super wide-angle lenses to avoid focus problems. You may notice when using skype or another video chat service, when the person you are talking to gets closer to the camera, the center of the image becomes distorted.

A simple DV video camera and tripod is a better solution if you have it available. If you do not have a tripod, use your imagination, use a table with a stack of phone books. The goal is to get the camera to the approximate height you are at.

Once you have your gear ready, shoot some video. Get familiar with the camera. This is the fun part, so play, play, PLAY… Don’t worry I will sit here and wait… Ok, you have a good handle on the camera? Below I have outlined some basic steps to have nice clean images and hopefully good content. (That part is up to you). The higher your “Production Value” is, the more likely you will have return viewers.

Light

First, the one thing that the human eye needs to see is light. I can’t stress this enough, if you want to be taken

seriously, make sure the viewer can see you. There is nothing more annoying to a viewer than working to figure out what they are looking at. Before you ask… NO, the light coming from your computer is NOT enough and unless you are a Na’vi from Avatar or a Smurf, you should appear a normal human flesh tone. I don’t expect everyone to have a bunch of film lights at home, so use a kitchen or office that has plenty of light.

Rehearse

A really important thing to appear credible is not to fumble over words or going into a long “stream of consciousness” rant. Most people want the facts, info, procedure that you are trying to relay. They probably don’t have time to hear about what your dog did with his bone or that Jr.’s first little league game is next Tuesday. Remember to stay time relative. If your blog posts on Fridays, talk to the camera as if it is Friday. For example, talk shows use this same technique when prerecording episodes. If you absolutely refuse to rehearse, get some teleprompting software. There are many cheap and free versions available. Type up your notes, paste them into the software and BOOM, you are professional by Tuesday.

Editing

Editing is not only for Hollywood. Take out all the “UMMs”. If you are doing a demonstration and are moving your camera a lot, remove that footage. Believe it or not, moving the camera makes many people motion sick. There is a good chance, that if they get queasy from your camera work, they won’t come back. Make it look as good as possible. There are plenty of programs available for simple video editing. Most modern computers, PC and Apple alike, come with simple software for this purpose. Use them.

Distributing

I am not sure if you have heard of an obscure, little website called youtube.com. Check it out. They have made web-videos a common place for millions of households. They also have a very easy to use uploader and provide links to paste into your blog, to provide instant viewing at your site and it’s free. Not to mention, if you get enough traffic, they will start to pay you. They are not the only company that provides these types of services, so do some research and see which you like the best.

I hope some of this helps. If you are having trouble, feel free to send me an email or twitter message and I will respond as soon as I possibly can.

BIO: Steve Everson has produced 10 short film and holds a Masters Degree in Movie and Television Producing from The Academy of Art University. Check out some of his latest project A MidSummer Nightmare, The Betrayal, on his Vimeo site.

Email: ask.a.video.question@gmail.com

Website: steveleverson.com

Twitter: @steveleverson

Tags: blog, Promote, social media, social media management, social media marketing, Steve Everson, YouTube

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How to Create a Facebook Landing Page

Published on November 5th, 2011 by Justin in Uncategorized

If you’re not an HTML expert creating a facebook landing page might be difficult. Usually if I have to create anything using code I just ask my web developer and that can get expensive. If you want to create a facebook page but don’t know how to write HTML code, this is the right place. I will show you step-by-step how to create a facebook landing page without writing code. All you need is a wordpress blog or a web design program that will write the code for you.

Social Xplosion uses a wordpress blog so I will show how to simply turn some images and text into a facebook landing page.

1. Design – The first step is to figure out the design of your facebook landing page. Once you have figured out the design, insert the images and texts into your wordpress blog. I used a logo and some word art on my welcome page.

2. HTML – Once you insert your images/text into your word press post it’s time to convert it to HTML. Click the tab on the top right of the post “HTML”. This step is to prepare for later so for now make sure this is saved. Remember this will most likely not be published on your blog just save it as a draft.

3. Static HTML: iframe tabs -Next, log into facebook, and search for the “Static HTML: iframe tabs”. Choose the one with the “Black Star” as its icon.

4. Add a Static HTML: iframe tab – Once you find the Static HTML tab it needs to be added to your facebook page. To add it, click the “Add Static HTML: iframe tab” buttons.

5. Welcome Page – The page that you create for facebook can be for any reason but the most common is a welcome or landing page. The tab has already been create along with the page that you created back in steps 1 and 2. Now is time to insert the HTML code that you create into your new “Static HTML: iframe tab” or now know as your “welcome page”. First click on the Welcome Page found in the task bar on the left hand side of your facebook page. Sometimes if you have many tabs you might have to select the “more” tab to make more tabs appear.

6. Copy and Paste HTML Code – The next step is to copy the code that you created in step two (the code created in your wordpress blog) and paste it to the facebook welcome page.

7. View Welcome Page – Once you have created the page you would probably like to view it to make sure it looks presentable. Since it is your page whenever you click on the page you will see the editing box. To view your finished product, click on the link “-View your tab as a non-fan”.

8. Set Welcome Page as Default Landing Page – To set the welcome page as the default landing page start by clicking the edit link located on the left side of the facbook page located in the about section.Once in the edit section of your page select “Manage Permissions” on the left hand side of the page. Locate the setting for the “Default Landing Tab” and switch it to your welcome tab. If you changed the name of your tab just make sure to select the correct one.

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4 Ways To Create A Strong YouTube Presence

Published on September 28th, 2011 by Guest Blogger in Guest Blogger, YouTube

Creating a presence on YouTube whether you’re a business, brand or blogger can be a difficult task. With over a billion videos being streamed a day by thousands and thousands of users it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. So how do you create a solid presence amongst this flood of Internet video? The following article explores the 4 essentials tips you’ll need to implement to start establishing a strong presence for yourself on YouTube:

1. Brand & Optimize Your YouTube Channel

Think of your YouTube Channel (Profile) as a website. You want to brand it in a way that makes it look slick, professional and suited to your niche. By doing so YouTube users viewing your Channel will feel that your content is worth checking out. Just like a website you also want to optimize your Channel in terms of SEO. If you can give your Internet videos titles, tags, closed captions, descriptions etc with rich keywords and phrases you will help to ensure that your content will turn up in the Page 1 search results of Google and YouTube. By ‘looking’ like a strong YouTube user and making your content easy to find you can make sure your presence on YouTube is beginning to be felt.

2. Actively Participate Within The YouTube Community

It may sound obvious, but participating within the YouTube community is one of the most powerful ways to build a solid YouTube presence. Now that you’ve created a strong Channel in both looks and search engine value you need to actively connect with other YouTube users. These users are just like any other social media user, they enjoy engagement and activity. Comment and Like/Dislike other users content and where possible Friend and Subscriber to their Internet videos. If you have the means to create Video Responses frequently then use that facility to your advantage too. Making use of online video in this way and using the tools YouTube has to offer will help to establish you as a strong YouTube user.

3. Know The Difference Between ‘Friend’ & ‘Subscriber’

There are a lot of ways to succeed on YouTube and a lot of ways to fail. One of the most common pitfalls of a YouTube user is their inability to separate ‘Friend’ from ‘Subscriber’. A ‘Friend’ is a user who likes you as a contact, someone who enjoys social engagements with you and follows your on site activity. A ‘Friend’ will not want to get spa

mmed with your new Internet videos or be harassed to watch your new content. A ‘Subscriber’ on the other hand is a user who enjoys just your online video content. Now you shouldn’t spam Subscribers either, but they have opted to find out about when you have new video content available, because of this they will be more inclined to check out your new videos then your ‘Friends’ will. The essentials to remember are to always socialise with your ‘Friends’ and share content with your ‘Subscribers’. That way you can get the best of both worlds and create a strong YouTube presence in the eyes of both sections of users.

4. Share Your Internet Videos Across Your Social Media Profiles

YouTube as a video sharing site is big on social activity. As a site it allows easy integration with social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and allows you to share your online video content with these sites as frequently as you wish. Use this helpful integration to benefit your YouTube presence. Post your content on your Profile, share it on Pages and in Groups that are relevant to your niche and your video content. Even go as far as contacting fellow corporates, entrepreneurs or simply just individuals interested in your field. By sharing you content with these people and within these areas you can begin to attract a wider audience to your Internet videos and your YouTube Channel. This will help to drive traffic, encourage interaction and improve your views, which will certainly serve to strengthen and solidify your presence on YouTube.

Summary

Guest Blogger - Andy havard - Skeleton Productions

By following these 4 tips in your day to day YouTube activity you’ll not only be able to expand the traffic your YouTube Channel receives, but start to solidify your presence on YouTube as a powerful, leading user and a trusted, worthwhile Channel. Always bear in mind that no tip is a substitute for good old fashioned hard work, dedication and persistence. As the saying goes nothing worth having comes easy.

About the author: Andy Havard is a Marketing Executive at Skeleton Productions, a UK based Internet video production company.

Tags: Andy Havard, Skeleton Productions, social media, social media management, social media marketing, YouTube

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Get 1000 Linkedin Connections

Published on August 22nd, 2011 by Justin in Linkedin

If you just joined Linkedin or have a few linked in connections, with a little work you will soon have 1000 connections within no time. Most people are on Linkedin to make connections which leaves a good probability that they will accept your invitation to connect.

First start by searching and clicking on someone’s profile and select “Add ‘Jerry’ to your network” which is located in the upper right hand corner of the person’s profile. This will take you to the “invite Jerry to connect on Linkedin page”. (I chose “Jerry” because he was the first on my list)

There are many options to choose from but only a couple are appropriate. Linkedin will allow you to use the selection of “other” to request a connection but will soon start asking for an email address, like when you request to connect as a friend. You can select “Classmate” or “Colleague” but since you are most likely neither a Classmate nor a Colleague you will not be able to request the connection. The best way to make connections is to request using “We’ve done business together”. Even if you haven’t done business together before, you can tell them you met them at a networking event. Remember people are on Linkedin to make connections and will welcome the idea to make another one. After you select “We’ve done business together”, just choose the company where you are currently employed.

If you have few connections you will have to continue to request connections using this method but as you build up, Linkedin will start suggesting people and then all you will have to do is Select “connect”. You will only want to make around 70 connections at a time because Linkedin will start requiring “Security Verification”

Make requests daily and before you know it you will have 1000 connections. Which can also mean 1000 more email addresses.

Tags: Connections, free social media tools, Linkedin, social media, social media management, social media profile

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Facebook? Google+? Twitter? Which One Should I Choose?

Published on August 8th, 2011 by Justin in Facebook, Social Media

Since the launch of google+ there has been much discussion as to whether one should add another social media to their tool bag. If you are a consumer than all that matters is your preference. If you are a business than you better be everywhere. Social Media has created many ways to interact with your customers and if you are not available for them, they will find someone else in cyberspace.

Facebook

Since facebook dethroned myspace for the strong hold on social media nothing has been strong enough to derail them. Facebook’s clean interface, lack of adds, and ease of communication is what led them to domination of social media at over 750 million users which is over 500 million more users on Twitter.

Twitter

With 200 million users twitter continues to build their network, but will it continue to grow? Twitters specialty is short quick messages and is appealing to many. Have you noticed that there is countless amount of spam? Besides the celebrities and comedians, is it full of marketers trying to sell to each other? Now with the introduction of google+ I don’t know if twitter stands a chance.

Google +

Google seems to have incorporated both the strengths of facebook and twitter along with adding a few features of their own. Google+ makes it easier to separate your friends with some predetermined circles or as facebook calls them, “groups”. That’s right facebook already allows you too separate your friends, do you think it hasn””t fully caught on because they don’t promote it. One of the predetermined circles that google+ has is “following” which is the same as twitter’s main concept. I think google+ biggest strength is the incorporation with all their other products. Users won’t have to use multiple products, they will be able to sign in and all their social stuff will be in one place. Plus, it’s integrated into the number one search engine that has over 65% of the market share and over 11 billion searches a month

In the end facebook and google+ will exist continuing to fight over all the web advertising dollars so if you’re a business you better be on both but as for twitter, let’s wait and see. Who do you think will survive? What social media is most important for your business?

Tags: Facebook, google, twitter

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7 Ways to Post on Facebook and Promote Your Brand

Published on July 27th, 2011 by Justin in Facebook

Activity on Facebook is important if you want people to notice your profile but which is the best way to create activity. The following are 7 ways to post and promote your brand on facebook.

Sharing Pictures – Sharing pictures is the best way to attract attention to your page. You don’t have to be the most clever person in the world as you do when updating your status. It’s easy, all you have to do is point and click. Pictures can be worth millions of words. Just don’t post too many pictures each day because people will become annoyed and stop paying attention to your posts. If you tend to take multiple pictures at once don’t post them all, spread them out once a day so your fans will be reminded of you daily.

Ask Questions – There are two types of people on facebook, ones that post their opinions and ones that just watch. Either way they are all impressions and the goal for most businesses on facebook is to create traffic to your page.

Polls – Facebook had created a way to make it easy for anyone to get feedback. Sometimes people want to share their feedback but don”t want to write about it. With a poll all that is required is point and click.

Profile Picture Changes – Your profile picture is your social footprint of wherever you show up in facebook. Whenever you post a comment or right on someone’s wall, your picture is always right there next to it. When you change your profile picture it is announced to your fans and friends.

Page Likes – Page likes are very important in facebook. If someone like you, most often one of there friends will like you. Be active and provide quality content. Give people a reason to like you, once they like you they will receive all of your pictures and updates.

Status Updates – Status updates can be effective when they work but become annoying fast. Announce events relevant to your brand. A technique that is usually successful is appreciating someone else. Most people don”t like to hear people only talk about themselves.

Sharing Videos – Sharing videos is specific to the people that have more time spend online. Video don’t have the reach of pictures but for the people that do like watching instead of reading, it is a way to grab attention for a longer period of time. Videos have also cause a little stir on facebook with more viruses posing as videos.

Sharing Links – Sharing links allows you to share other things outside of facebook. You can promote your blog, share an article written about your business, or inform people about a website that you like. Be careful like with any posts, if you post too much and are not providing quality content, you will annoy some fans.

Tags: Facebook, Post, Promote, social media

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Top 3 Tips to a Successful Social Media Marketing Profile

Published on July 19th, 2011 by Guest Blogger in Guest Blogger

You have heard it before, first impressions are important, right? Well when it comes to your social media marketing profile it really does matter how you come across.

That is because your profile is a snippet of the “Who, What, Why” of you. And since people are meeting you online, your profile will either grab their attention or make them turn around and run. Which do you want?

KEYWORDS

Oh there I go again…. those darn keywords! But it is true.

Your best profile must include keywords that will pull in traffic. The more people that see your profile, the greater chance you have to keep them there on your social site.

Choose your keywords wisely. Use Google keyword tool or other keyword search tools to find keywords with low competition but high search volume.

KEEP IT SHORT

When writing your profile keep it short and sweet! People don”t care too much or really need to know your life history. In fact, writing about “who” you are should be a sentence or two. The ”what” and ”why” should be the main feature of your profile.

Tell your visitor what they can expect from you. Solve a problem, but never, ever sell to them in your profile. This could be one of the biggest mistakes up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY

While I recommend you should not tell your visitor about your life story, I do highly recommend that you include your interests. Whether you enjoy the ocean, a sport, traveling, etc. will give the visitor a more ”personal” feeling about you.

Attracting and connecting with our audience is key. If they see you like animals, dogs, cats, birds …. they can relate to you. These interests are also another search term that in some social sites, is another way for people to find you.

So to sum it all up, a successful social media marketing profile will have a little bit about you, a lot about them and how you will help or solve a problem sprinkled with some of your interests and personality.

Be consistent with your profile throughout all your social sites

for better branding and recognition.

Let me know if these tips were helpful or add to these tips by leaving your comments below and share with others.

About the author: Lynn Brown – Learnit2Earnit – Social Media Marketing Coach, Blogging Strategist and Linkedin Marketing Manager for your online business success.

Tags: google, google keywords, keywords, social media, social media management, social media marketing, social media profile

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google+

Published on July 11th, 2011 by Justin in Uncategorized

Just logged into google+ and it looks a lot like facebook. It seems like it will be easier to separate your different groups of friends but you are also able to do that with facebook groups. If you want to try it for yourself, send us your email. Let us know what you think of google+

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