I found an interesting post on Inside Facebook today about using Hootsuite to post to Facebook. Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know I’m a big fan of Hootsuite (affiliate link). I rarely use it for Facebook but from time to time I need to schedule posts if I’m not going to be around, It’s important to be consistant and Hootsuite scheduling allows me to do this even when I’m with clients or teaching a course.
The disadvantage of using Hootsuite for Facebook according to the article is that Facebook penalises your content as it comes from a third party app. This means posts sent from it are less likely to appear in the ‘Top News’ feed of Facebook users and may get overlooked.
I do use Hootsuite scheduling far more frequently for Twitter, in fact I use it on a daily basis. Unlike Facebook there is no penalty for using third party apps to post on Twitter.
Whenever I mention scheduling it usually sparks a debate. There are advantages and disadvantages but used properly I believe it can help you create an effective social media strategy.
The argument against scheduling
The idea of scheduling makes some people prickle and I think I understand why, social media is social, users value authenticity and interaction, the perception is that if you schedule you don’t care, you are not there to respond. However I don’t believe we should all be chained to our computers or phones all day long to interact on Twitter. Scheduling doesn’t preclude interaction, it just guarantees you are able to reach your audience when they are online even if you are not. Those who schedule must respond and interact live too but if you schedule you can do this when it suits you without loosing your audience. In this respect scheduling tweets actually makes you more social not less so.
The advantages of scheduling
I find scheduling invaluable for many reasons. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph I can’t always be at my computer, If I’m out of the office I’m still able to share with my followers, I’m able to be consistent. If I kept my tweeting to when I had computer access I’d be in danger of flooding my followers streams with my tweets. There is nothing worse than logging into Twitter and seeing it dominated by a string of tweets from a single user. By spacing my tweets out I’m giving people time to digest them. As the tweeter this means followers are more likely to look at the links I tweet . The biggest advantage of all is that scheduling is a massive time saver and it helps me avoid those procrastination moments. I spend time in the morning scheduling and then dip in throughout the day to converse and engage.
How to schedule
Before you start scheduling I’d recommend analysing your followers using a tool like Tweriod or CrowdBooster, this will give you a rough guide to when your followers are online and you can create your content calender around this. Use Hootsuite (affiliate link), Buffer or Crowdbooster to schedule your tweets and assign timeslots during the day to check in on your account and read tweets from others.
Do you love or hate the concept of scheduling? I’d love to hear your opinion so please leave a comment below.
I’ve found videocasting a really useful way to share information and tips with my social media community. It is easy for me to direct a customer to a video on how to do something if I get stuck and it also draws people into my website and Facebook page. It is my belief that there are lots of businesses out there that can benefit from videocasting, if you are brave enough to sit in front of a camera it’s worth giving it a shot.
If I’ve managed to convince you and are itching to get started here are some tools for shooting and editing your video and some quick tips on how to prepare yourself for the camera.
Hardware
You will need:
A webcam, camcorder, digital camera with video facility or a smart phone.
A microphone (for your computer).
Software
Screencasting - Record what’s going on on your computer screen
Jing Pro – I find this really easy to use, you can record mute or with a voiceover and save both to your computer and to the cloud. The pro version is a must as it gives you file formats that are compatible with most editing. For only $14.95 a year it’s a bargin.
Camtasia – From Techsmith, the same company as Jing this is a more complete solution and this is reflected in the price. As well as screencasting it offers editing, visual effects and more. If your serious about videocasting this has to be the tool for you. Still well priced at $99 dollars (for mac) and $299 (for windows) with a free 30 day trial.
Editing
There are plenty of free tools out there for editing.
iMovie – If you have a mac, an iPhone or a iPad. iMovie is a really easy to use editing application. We’ve not tried the mobile version yet but the full version allows you to add attractive captions, images, as well as music and voice-over. It’s simple and user friendly.
Movie Maker - Those running windows can use Movie Maker, again it’s simple to use if a bit clunky compared to iMovie.
YouTube - You can edit your videos on YouTube. It’s not quite as straightforward as iMovie or Movie Maker but it means you can edit from any computer and you don’t need to worry about file types (YouTube is more forgiving of different file formats) or downloads. I found this excellent tutorial on editing on YouTube:
Broadcasting
YouTube – It’s essential you upload your videocasts to YouTube, it’s the king of online video sites and will almost guarantee a viewership.
TubeMogul – This application allows you to upload your video to one place and then syndicates it to a number of video sharing sites. A massive time saver.
VideoJug – One of many sites that is full of online tutorials. If your videocast is demonstrating how to do something it could be worth adding this to your places to broadcast.
Facebook – Don’t forget to add your videos to Facebook, uploading them directly to your business page makes them very easy to share within Facebook. It’s harder to keep tabs on views but they are great for getting comments and interaction and carry more edgerank (as far as I can gather) than a link.
Prepare Yourself
1. Forget about the way you look. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t comb your hair but don’t focus too much on the way you look. Most of us are self critical and staring at a walking talking image of ourselves can be quite disconcerting. I always tell myself that in 20 years time I’ll look back at my videos and think how young and healthy I looked.
2. Don’t read from a script. You must learn your script before talking to camera, reading it will mean looking away from the camera and distracting your audience, it can also make you sound quite wooden.
3. Treat the camera as a person. Look straight into the lens of the camera, this is like making eye contact with a person so it’s really important. It also avoids you looking at yourself when you are recording so you don’t get distracted by the way you look.
4. Practice. I record all my rehersals in case I get it right the first time. In reality this is less likely to happen, the first may take 20 – 30 takes but as you make more videos you will find yourself doing it in 3 or 4.
5. Be Yourself. Relax and be natural in front of the camera, this way your personality will shine through. You are what makes your videocast different to the rest so don’t be afraid of being yourself.
Have you any tips to add? Are you new to Videocasting and have a question? I’d love to hear your comments and queries in the comments section below.
Do you remember what you used to do before you had a mobile phone? It’s a conversation that comes up in pubs, coffee shops and chats over and over again. I can remember what I did, I was a bit more organised, I was always standing around waiting for people indefinitely and I didn’t miss the web because it was still in it’s infancy. However I was without my smart phone for a few days last week and I soon became confused and lost.
There are other items I’ve got used to too, email for example and there are applications I use every day without fail that have embedded themselves in my life the same way the mobile phone has. Here are three that I don’t think I could live without.
1. Hootsuite
Hootsuite (affiliate link) is a social media management tool with so many essential features I often wonder how I got by without it. You can schedule, shorten and measure click throughs on links, easily see your Twitter @ replies and DM’s, search for specific terms, feed RSS feeds to your social media accounts.
It’s not just for Twitter either, you can add Facebook accounts (both profiles and pages), foursquare, Linkedin… and more. I have it open all day on a tab so I can monitor hashtags and search terms, if it disappeared I’d be utterly lost. There’s a free version and a feature heavy paid version, give it a go on the free version and you will never go back.
2. Dropbox
This runs on auto on all my computers and my phone. It’s become so familiar I often forget that I use it but it’s brilliant in so many ways.
Dropbox (affiliate link) allows you to share files with other computers. For someone like me who operates from several machines this is amazing. Install Dropbox on your computer and save the files you access the most to the folder on your desktop. When you update the files it automatically updates them to your Dropbox account. You can install Dropbox on multiple computers giving users access to specific folders or if like me you switch between laptop, netbook and phone you always have access to your files. I find this particularly handy when I’m working with clients on Facebook pages, we open a shared folder and can share images and large files through it.
You get generous space for free and if you invite others to Dropbox and they join you and they get extra space, hence the affiliate link above.
3. Google Reader
I’ve been talking about this a lot on my podcast recently. It really is a fantastic way of researching and keeping up with your favorite websites and blogs. I mine it for information, cool links and other stuff to share on my social media channels every day. It’s also a great way to monitor what people are saying about you, your company and your industry. If you want to learn more about it follow the series I’m broadcasting on my YouTube channel.
Recently TweetDeck added a new feature, Deck.ly allows users to post Tweets longer than 140 Characters. Although not the first product to offer this service, it’s connection to the popular TweetDeck means it’s been getting a lot of publicity.
Why 140 characters?
When Twitter was originally devised messages were sent via text. The standard length of a text message is 160 characters. At first there was no strict limit on the length of a Tweet but it would be split into parts if it went over 160. Eventually it was decided that a Tweet’s optimum length would be 140 characters. This allowed for the Tweet plus a user name and colon to fit into a single SMS.
Should we Tweet longer?
I like the discipline that comes with 140 characters, it makes it what it is. Because people are restrictive they get their point accross quickly, it eliminates the possibility of our streams getting swamped by chatterboxes – something I may well be guilty of -and is easily digestible. We all have time to scan a tweet, it’s the equivilant of watching a 30 second video when we may avoid watching something over a minute. The reaction to the question on Facebook was surprising. Although Krishna De agreed with me I was surprised by the many who thought a few extra characters would allow them to communicate better. If a message was limited to 160 characters would it make a big difference in the way we communicate? Die hard Tweeters were adamant that 140 was enough but should we be so rigid? Maybe it is time for a change but how could we determine the optimum length without the SMS restriction that defined it in the first place?
How to Tweet over 140 Characters
Love the idea or loath it the tools are available. If you’re a TweetDeck user upgrade to the newest version to take advantage Deck.ly that allows you to automatically post longer tweets. It simply adds a link to your Tweet that brings users to the full text. If you’re not a TweetDecker Twitlonger does the same thing. All you need to do is log in with Twitter, type your oversized Tweet into the box and post. Just like Deck.ly it adds a link to your post pointing at the full text. The disadvantage of both of these is that they link off site. You would need to make your Tweet very compelling to encourage people to click the link to see the rest of your text. This makes your first 120 characters even more important, make sure you really sell your Tweet so that people will want to see what happens in the end. Is it time for Twitter to rethink the length of a Tweet? What is the optimum Tweet length? Let me know what you think, post your comments below.
When we think of Blogging we tend to think of tools such as Blogger and WordPress, some even think of Tumblr and Posterous but for many small businesses who have just become comfortable with Facebook pages the ‘Notes’ application makes a user friendly and simple solution. Although it lacks many of the features associated with the traditional blogging platforms it is a great way to get to grips with the concept of blogging before taking the plunge into a full blog site.
How do you blog on your Facebook business page with ‘Notes’?
- Underneath your logo on your business page click ‘edit page’
- Choose ‘Applications’ from the right hand side menu
- Scroll down until you see ‘Notes’
- Click ‘Go to application’
- At the top of the page click ‘Write a note’
- In the small box give your post a title, like a headline from a newspaper.
- In the larger box write the main content of your post.
- You can use the formatting pallet to style some of the text (bold, italic, bullet points etc.)
- If you have mentioned another Facebook user or page in the note you can tag them (you must ‘Like’ a page or be friends with a user in order to tag them)
- To tag type the @ symbol in the Tag box. followed by the name of the page or person you are tagging. Facebook will offer you options as you type.
- Finally you can add an image to your post.
- Click ‘Add photo’ this allows you to upload an image from your computer or choose from your Page’s images.
- Once you are happy with your note click ‘Publish’ at the bottom of the page.
If you have tried blogging with Facebook notes we’d love to hear about your experiences. And if you start blogging as a result of this post share the link with us. Let us know your thoughts and post your links in the comments box below.
Almost a month a go we asked you if there was something about social media that you didn’t know yet. The response has been massive so a big thank you to all of you who have contributed so far.
This weeks question is from Claire at Workhouse Studios who is creating a customised tab for her Facebook Page and wants to include an image.
Hello,
I have created a new box on my Facebook page www.facebook.com/WorkhouseStudios.
I am not too sure how to insert pictures into the box (my html knowledge is quite basic).
Thanks,
Claire
There are two solutions to this problem.
1. Create a Static FBML tab
- Upload your image online somewhere, if you have your own website you can upload it to your hosting space, alternatively use a service such as Photobucket.
- Next create a custom tab using the Static FBML application.
- Click ‘Add to my page’ on the left hand side of the application page.
- Choose the page you want to add the application to.
- Go back to your page
- Click ‘Edit page’
- Choose ‘Applications’ from the sidebar menu
- Click ‘Go to application’ under ‘Static FBML’
Now you can add simple HTML to this box linking to the image and including a click through to your website if necessary.
Copy and paste the code below, replacing the link fields with the link you want to send people to when they click the image (delete href=”http://www.link_you_want_to_send_people_to_when_they_click.com if you don’t want a click through)
And the link to the image you uploaded.
2. Use PageLever
If you just want to upload one simple image use PageLever.
Add the application to your page following the same steps as above for Static FBML.
When you access the application from your page it takes you through the simple steps to uploading an image and creating your tab.
Have you ever logged into your Facebook page and found a post from one of your ‘Likers’ selling something? Last week Facebook unveiled it’s new spam filter for pages, you may have missed it’s arrival so this week we show you how to use it and also show you another application that can help you combat spam on your Facebook page.
1. The Facebook spam filter
- Go to your Facebook page
- Click ‘options’ underneath the status update box
- This will open up your page filters, click ‘spam’
- It can take a little while to load this page.
- The filter will reveal any suspicious posts. You can choose how to manage these by hovering your mouse over the post. An x will appear to the top right hand side of the post.
- Click on this x and a drop down menu will appear giving you the option to ‘remove post’ ‘unmark as spam’ or ‘report as abuse’
2. Page Notifier
A few weeks ago on our Facebook page we highlighted Page Notifier as our Monday Morning Cool tool. This is more than a spam filter. Page notifier scans your page and emails you when someone has posted or commented. The free service scans once a day but there are a range of verry affordable premium options available increasing scanning up to every 15minutes every day.
The advantage of Page notifier is not only will you be aware of any spam the Facebook filter doesn’t pick up but you will also know when someone has left a comment on something on your page.
- To add the application to your page go to Page Notifier on Facebook.
- Click ‘Add to my page’ underneath the logo.
- Go back to your Page, click ‘edit page underneath your logo
- Choose ‘Applications’ from the side bar menu
- Scroll down until you find ‘Page notifier’
- Click ‘Go to application’
- You will be asked to complete your page details here. If you have customised your URL and are unsure where to find your Page ID number go back to your page and click ‘edit page’ your ID is the numbers that appear in the url in the address bar in your browser here.
Combine the Facebook spam filter and Page Notifier and you should be able to kill spam for good.
Are you getting massive amounts of spam messages as comments on your blog? If so Akismet is a brilliant plugin for WordPress blogs that will virtually eliminate all of it.
You will need a WordPress API key to activate it. To find your API key follow the instructions from this blog post.
- Once you have your key log into your blog.
- On the left hand side of your dashboard click ‘Plugins’ then ‘Add New’
- Type ‘Akismet’ into the search box
- The Plugin ‘Akismet’ will appear, click ‘install now’
- Once installed click ‘Akismet Configuration’ on your sidebar under ‘Plugins’
- Add you API key and save.
It’s as simple as that! You will find that your spam is eliminated immediately. You can check your Akismet Stats to see how much spam it is catching at anytime from the sidebar of your WordPress Dashboard.
Had you noticed that when some people comment on blog posts that a little picture or Avatar appears next to their name? Have you ever wondered how you can add your own profile pic to your posts? Gravatar allows you to do this by following a few simple steps.
Last week we showed you how to get an API for your WordPress.org blog. If you did this you have already set up a WordPress.com account, if not you can follow the instructions from last weeks post to get one.
Once you have your WordPress.com account go to the Gravatar Website.
- Click ‘Log in’ on the top left hand side.
- Use your WordPress.com account details to log in.
- Click the ‘add one by clicking here’ to add your profile image
- Choose where you wish to upload your image from and select your image, the image size doesn’t matter at the moment as you will be asked to crop it at the next stage.
- Once uploaded you can crop your image to size
- Next you will be prompted to rate your image for your audience… I think this one is a G
- Now your Gravatar will automatically update both your WordPress.com and WordPress.org accounts (as long as you have linked them with an API)
- You can add as many images as you like and alternate on a regular basis
- Now whenever you post a comment your picture will appear next to it
Have you ever been to an event and eyed with envy the twitterfeed projected onto a screen displaying tweets using the event’s hashtag?
TwitterFall is a simple web based app which allows you to quickly set up a twitterfeed for your event. Twitterfeeds are great ways to encourage user interaction at any event both for those attending and those watching on from home or work.
Follow us on Twitter for daily tips and cool links: @spiderworking
01 442 9410
