social media hashtags

The Mystery & Magic of Hashtags Revealed

Have I ever mentioned that I loooove #hashtags?

I still remember when I was a huge LOST fan and when the finale aired back in 2010 (when watching shows ‘real-time’ was a thing) how cool it was to just type in #LOST on Twitter and be connected to a global water-cooler and see what fans around the world were chatting about during the show (or commercial breaks for the PVR-less amongst us).

Well, flash-forward 3 years later and hashtags are EVERYWHERE. #BreakingBad, anyone?

I bet your favorite beverage even has one. It’s kind of like back in the late 90’s when you started to see website addresses everywhere and probably wondered why your laundry detergent needed a website.

Makes sense now, right?

Hashtags have become ubiquitous.

Buuuuuut if you’re still scratching your head and wondering what the fuss is all about (and how you could maybe even use’em in your biz) read on! And don’t worry! You’re not alone.

Hashtags connect people and ideas.

What do I mean?

The thing that’s different about hashtags vs just following people on Twitter- is that when you click on a hashtag (#smallbiz, for example) you are presented with hundreds of tweets of people whom you may not be following but who sharing information related to a topic that may interest you.  The same thing applies to Instagram, but instead your search will turn up pictures.

6 HashTag Strategies To Market Your Business, Connect and Brand Your Content

1) Live events (Meetups, Conferences)

Create a hashtag for your event which allows people to connect before, during and after your event.

hashtag at events

Make your hashtag visible at events

Get the word out about your hashtag in your email marketing, on your event sign up page and make it visible during the event. If you have a Twitter savvy crowd, they are probably already talking about the event and looking for opportunities to connect. Make it easy and use it to your advantage!

How does it benefit your business?

  • The word about your event gets spread to new audiences

  • You can curate tweets and use them to create content after the event

  • Connects you with people who are interested in your business/event/topic which is key for community building.

2) Twitter Chats

Twitter chats have to be one my favorite uses of Twitter. And all thanks to the mighty hashtag. There are Twitter chats for every topic under the sun. You can join chats related to your industry and exchange with your peers and keep up with trends or you can participate in chats where your target audience is hanging out. The possibilities are endless! You can also create and host your own chat.

3) Connect with new people!

Head on over to search.twitter.com and use the advanced search and search for hashtags related to your business. Some ideas: #blogchat #smbiz

4) Hashtag your content:

When you share content on Twitter (or Google+/Instagram/Facebook) add keyword hashtags to make your content searchable by others using or looking for those hashtags.

For example: Want to up your game? Surround yourself with other influential #women #entrepreneurs. See you in The Hive:bit.ly/UpFJS4

5) Branded Hashtag:

Start a conversation and ask your followers to tag their tweets with your branded hashtag.

Some examples: #HDGameDay which is celebrating the start of College Football and encouraging people to share their photos on Twitter and Instagram.

6) Running promotions

You can run a promotion and use a hashtag (services like OfferPop make this super easy). For example, another client is running one called: #twgoldenticket. But running Twitter promotions is for another day 🙂

Choosing a Hashtag:

It’s probably best to research to make sure the hashtag is not already in use. Try sites like http://topsy.com/ or http://www.hashtags.org/

Some Don’ts:

  • Hashtag spam: No one likes a spammer. This applies on social media as well.

  • Hashtag sparingly: #don’t #hashtag #every #word. It’s kind of #annoying.

Some Do’s

  • Use #hashtags related to keywords, locations, events that you want to be found for

  • Be creative. You can make up a hashtag. #makeyourownrules

Hashtags: The Mystery & Magic #Revealed

Click To Tweet

And for some more inspiration:

 

So what do you think? Will you be #hashtagging anytime soon?

Let me know in the comments!

How to record your screen and share online

How To Create Screencasts (and please the Youtube Gods)

If you are interested in recording screencasts, you’re lucky there are plenty of great tools out there that are easy to use.   Some are free while others require purchasing a license.

Why screencasts?

Screencasts are particularly useful if you want to document how-to videos and demonstrate step-by-step with narration.

Whether that is creating an online product in which you share your expertise, or if you want to document your processes in your business so you can share with your virtual assistant- a screencast can be much more effective than screenshots and allow the person to play back at their leisure.

Makeup not required!

Showing your face is totally optional. You can record these videos in your pj bottoms (or not) and no one will be the wiser. Soothe us with your lovely voice and share those sweet nuggets and leave us guessing as to who is behind the scenes.

BUT WHAT DO I SHARE!

You don’t necessarily have to create new content but look at how existing content may be easily explained in visual format. For example, how to install a plugin in WordPress or a quick tutorial on creating an image for Pinterest.

Narrate a powerpoint presentation or edit and upload a webinar for repeat playback (and lead generation, ftw!). Or simply create short how-to videos and please the Youtube gods because you’re finally creating content for that social network. Woohoo!

Here are some examples of screencasts:

 

 

Recommended Tools

Jing

Using Jing you can record short videos of up to 5 minutes (for free) or take a screenshot and share it. You can save the videos and edit using an editor like Camtasia or simply share the link immediately.

Camtasia Studio (Mac/PC)

The above videos were all done with Camtasia Studio. While there is a learning curve, Camtasia is a complete solution that will allow you to record, edit your screen captures and add multi-media. It’s also easy to export to share and upload to Youtube.

ScreenFlow for Mac

I have only heard good things about ScreenFlow from anyone who has used it. I was using Camtasia on PC for a few years, I decided to continue with it when I made the switch from PC to Mac. From a feature point of view, it compares to Camtasia but is considerably cheaper.

How do you plan on using screencasts? Let me know in the comments below!

For more tech tips and training, check out the Tech Training Vault:

TechTrainingVault

{How to} Record a Skype call

When I started doing video interviews and a question that kept coming up was-

“How do you record your Skype video calls?”

So I thought-what better way to share this information than in  blog post?

I use a PC and tried two tools before I came across one that I  liked and found super easy to use.

The tool I use to record Skype audio and video calls is called Evaer and can be purchased for a one-time fee of $20. Unfortunately for Mac users, this tool only supports PC.

Recording Calls with Skype

After you install Evaer, you will be taken to this screen:

skype call recorder

When you initiate a Skype call, Evaer will be in ‘Ready’ to record mode.

You can set-up Evaer to startup when you start Skype so you don’t forget to record those awesome calls but don’t forget to hit record! (I’ve made that mistake a few times)!

The settings can also be modified to record in the familiar side-by-side or simply record the remote webcam, your local webcam or audio-only.

Hit Record and you’re Ready to Go!

Don’t forget to smile 🙂

Evaer offers several output choices (avi, mp4, mp3..) depending on your needs and you can then easily edit your video in your choice of video editing software (if you need to, or want to add effects).

Simple enough!

Here’s a list of the different websites and tools I use on this site.

Have a tool/website that you love? Share in the comments, would love to hear about it!

 

6 Ways to Provide Member-Only Access to your Content

Are you pulling your hair out trying to figure out the the technical details of  how to offer your content to members-only?

Let’s face it..there is only so much time in a day and you have big ideas and are eager to get your work out there and make some money, of course!

Worry not, it doesn’t have to be complicated! And there are plenty of solutions out there to help. But first..

Break your Ideas into Smaller Parts

For those of you that know me or have worked with me, you know that I am a big practitioner of the K.I.S.S method (Keep it short and simple) and try to use this approach as much as possible when trying out new project ideas.

It’s super easy to get excited about an idea and then feel deflated when don’t think you have the tech know-how to put it all together.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of reevaluating/prioritizing/breaking down your ideas into smaller chunks and then building on them as you go.

Do you need all the bells and whistles of a social network right away? Probably not. Especially, if you are in the early-stages of your idea/product you may not need all that.

Essentially, you need:

  • a way for people to pay you
  • a way for paying members to access content

Eventually, you can add more features and build a community/forum and way for members to interact but let’s keep it simple to start and focus on having a way to share your work with paying members :).

If your goal is to have a way to have member-only access to your content, here are several options that you can explore.

6 DIY options for offering member-only content

1. Password-Protected Page: You can create a password protected page on your website and only give access to paying members. This is what a Password Protected Page would look like on a WordPress site (password: test).  Note:  branding, pages, widgets are all still visible!

2. Create a Secret/Closed Facebook group where members only get added after they have paid for access. Pretty simple, eh? Cost: Free!

3. Ning is pretty much as out of the box as it gets. I’ve used this network for several years and have never had any problems. It’s easy to customize and has all the familiar social network features. They offer the mini- plan at  $19.99/year for up to 150 members. At this level, domain mapping is not included so you would have a url with yourbizname.ning.com.  I don’t see that as a negative though, considering you could link to your Ning network from within your site or share the link to members after they sign up and pay.

WordPress Specific

4. Optimize Press:  I find for the price ($77) Optimize Press provides a lot of value. You can easily setup your membership site using the templates and divide the content into sections, modules etc. and display a navigation menu and/or side bar that makes it easy to access the content and understand how it is organized. Bonus: You can but choose from many templates and create sales pages as well! You can also install OptimizePress on multiple sites that you own.

I haven’t personally used the next two but they come with rave reviews as well:

5. Buddy-Press:  Everything you need to start your own self-hosted and WordPress-powered social network.   (Opensource)

6. Wishlist:   Easy enough to use that you really don’t need to be a techie to build a great membership site with it. The plugin allows you to build a high quality membership site that looks sleek and is easy to manage as an admin. (single site license:  $97)

So as you can see there are several to choose from depending on what is you need to do!

Is there a tool/technique that you have used? I’d love to hear about it!

Have a question? Leave a comment, I’d be happy to help!

 

3 Essential Resources for Budding Entrepreneurs

From idea overwhelm to actually starting, let’s face it, the life of an entrepreneur is not easy!

I’d like to share three resources that I value that have been really helpful in putting those ideas down and taking action.

Taking on the World Starts with Mindset


Natalie MacNeil’s book as I mentioned in my review is an absolute gem. Not only does she share her story about how she got started but she guides you through creating your ‘Master Action Plan’ to help you embark on a successful journey towards buildng your dream career/business.

The $100 Startup: Reinventing the Way You Work

What I loved about Chris Guillebeau’s new book, The $100 Startup, is the practical advice. He shows you that you don’t have to spend tons of money to get your idea off the ground through his interviews with hundreds of entrepreneurs (as well as accidental ones) who share their stories and how they did it. Chris gets you thinking and acting like an entrepreneur and makes you realize that transforming an idea into a business does not have to be hard (but there is work involved!!)

 

WEMastermind: Accountability & Support

Get Killer CoachingThere is a lot to but you don’t have to do it all by yourself!

A mastermind does not replace the hard-work that you will have to do to get your business off the ground but what it does help you with is accountability, support and access to people who have “been there, done that “.

That is huge.

What it means is that you don’t have to go at it alone and can reach out to people to bounce your ideas off and benefit from group wisdom.

Here are 3 ways I benefited (but there are SO many more!)

Accelerated Personal Growth

Because there is access to a whole new set of ideas and perspectives, my personal growth accelerated during this time period. Each day and week I found myself immersed in new ideas, readings and unique outlooks that I normally may not have come across.

Commitment

No slacking off here!

Because you will have to carve out time to work on your goals and have something to show for when you meet your accountability partner, each week I was motivated to make time to work on my projects and ideas. Having that weekly call really pushed me a long.

Of course, life does happen and some weeks may not be as productive as others but that’s why your accountability partner is there to help you get back on track!

Community

I now belong to a global community of action-taking, driven entrepreneurial women who I can bounce ideas off and also cheer me a long. I look forward to checking in with them on a regular basis and see what progress they have made and am always learning. Amazing!

If you are looking to move forward & launch your awesome ideas to the world, I highly recommend you take action and join WeMastermind. There’s still the better half of 2012, so get to it! The next program starts on May 24th and you can take advantage of a special where you sign up with a friend and you both save $300 each!

 

What are some of the resources that you find valuable? I’d love to hear about them!