Another one of the ProBlogger tips was to mix in some new content types…

It wasn’t fancy…

But, what did you think… It took a total of about 3 minutes to shoot the video with the tablet, set it to upload and then grab the embed code from YouTube.  When I do these videos for real, I tend to have better lighting and to worry a little more about how I look.  But the point is that video has become VERY easy to do.  And while it is nice to have a full production, it isn’t always required.

Related articles

• Revamp… Out of the Starting Blocks (lanebailey.info)
• Help Us Help You Improve Your Blog: ProBlogger Census 2012 (problogger.net)
• 3 Ways to Freshen Up Your Social Media Strategy in 2012 (lauraleewalker.com)
• How To Embed YouTube Videos and Podcasts To Keep Readers on Your Blog (bizsugar.com)

It has been time for this blog to be updated for a little while now.  Updates have been moved to the back burner as I launched my new blog (CoolCaroftheDay.com) and got that concept off the ground.  And while I still plan on freshening up a couple of my other blogs and sites (LaneBailey.com and GarageHomesUSA.com are both due), I thought this was a good place to start… and I might as well drag it out for a little while and bring all of you along with me.

I will be making the changes as I write the posts (not as they are published… I usually write posts a little ahead of time).

The first part included adding a newsletter/email subscription form.  Over at Problogger, it was their first step in revitalizing you blog for 2012.

I already had a MailChimp (affiliate link) account, so I didn’t spend any time doing that.  I spent about 15 minutes creating a list on MailChimp for this site, installing the MailChimp Plug-in for WordPress and getting all of the settings right.

Image via CrunchBase

At MailChimp:

• After creating a MailChimp account, go to “Lists” on the menu at the top of the page.
• Click the big red “Create List” button.
• Don’t worry too much about the sign-up form… you aren’t really going to be using it, just make sure you have the info boxes on it that you want.
• Mouse-over “Account” on the top menu.
• Move down and click on “API Keys & Authorized Apps”
• Push that blue button that says “Add A Key”

Image via Wikipedia

In another tab, open your WordPress blog…

• Go to Plug-ins > Add New
• Search “MailChimp”
• Install the MailChimp plug-in.
• Under settings, the first thing it will want is the API Key… copy/paste it from MailChimp.
• Select the right mail list from the drop-down.
• Edit the settings so that you have the text you want and the widget looks the way you want it to look.
• Go to Appearance > Widgets to install the widget in the location you desire.
• Open up your site in a new tab… adjust the widget and settings as needed.

Like I said, it only took about 15 minutes for me to do all of that.  It might take you a little longer, or you might be able to knock it out a little faster… I hadn’t done it for a while, and had to stumble around and take a few bad turns.

Good luck kicking off your email list… and while you are here, why don’t you sign up for mine.

Related articles

• New Guides for a New Year (mailchimp.com)
• MailChimp Doubles Forever Free Program – Send up to 12,000 emails per month for free (prweb.com)
• New MailChimp features: video-friendly RSS emails, discount for AlterEgo users, static segments (mailchimp.com)

Image via Wikipedia

My pal Mike Mueller is a FaceBook Whiz.  He has been all over the new Timeline feature from FaceBook… even though most people don’t even have a clue what it is yet.

Whether you are a fan of it or not, the new Timeline is coming.  You might as well get used to it and use it to its best advantage.  Mike has a few tips on his blog, AreWeConnected.com, and I’m sure there will be more coming in the future as he delves deeper into its capabilities.

Mike has a lot of other great takes on the Social Media sphere… as well as a great portfolio of FaceBook Pages he has designed for clients.  He’s also a huge hockey fan and a great guy.

One of the things I whole-heartedly agree with agree with Mike about is the use (on non-use) of FaceBook Profiles as a sales tool.  FaceBook’s Terms of Service specifically address using profiles as a marketing tool.  In a word, don’t.  That is the reason that they offer FREE FaceBook Pages for businesses.  In surfing around through a few profiles, it didn’t take long for me to run across a few that were basically real estate agent billboards.

So, check out Mike’s post… check out the new Timeline Profile feature and dive into the future.

Related articles

• Expanding Your Sphere: The Timeline (areweconnected.com)
• Facebook Timeline is Here… and it’s Coming for Businesses (progressivemediaconcepts.com)
• FaceBook Timeline: Just a Question of Time (bayintegratedmarketing.wordpress.com)

Let me get this out of the way… I break this rule ALL of the time… on almost all of my blogs.

Have a “Content Bank” with pre-written posts!

If you have blogged for a while, you’ve been there.  Deadline approaching, the well seems dry.  There should be 100 things to write about, but none of them seem to be working… you feel all blocked up.

Of course, when you don’t NEED a post, ideas flow freely.  So, the trick is to capture that free flowing creativity.  Write when you don’t need to write, and make withdrawals from your bank when the well seems dry.  When I have been on top of this with my blogs, I have had a month of posts banked and ready to publish.

The danger is getting too comfortable with the bank and not making enough deposits.

Another danger is content that can go stale.  Some blogs don’t have issues with the timeliness of content.  Other blogs only have a shelf life of a few days on a topic.  Most are in between, with some topics that can sit on the sidelines until they are needed and others needing to get out as quick as possible.

My real estate blog is like that… market reports need to get out on schedule, but other posts are timely even a few years after being written.  Occasionally, a topic pops up that HAS to go out right away.  Using my Editorial Calendar, I can track and schedule posts.  I can rearrange them if a timely topic comes up.

So, my New year’s Resolution for my blogs is to re-build my Post Banks.  I will try to build up a month’s worth of posts for each blog.  For me that means that I will have a total of about 60-75 posts across all of my blogs.

In order to accomplish that, I will need to do a few things…

• Series Posts.  They are often easier to write since the subject is partially pre-set.
• Video Posts.  Frankly, they can be a little quicker for me to produce.
• Formula Posts.  My Market Report posts are pretty quick to write.  Of course, the problem is that I can’t write them until the data comes out.  But since I have 8 market areas to post about, I can dribble them out for a few weeks.
• Guest Posts.  I haven’t leveraged these much yet, but would love to bring in some other writers from time to time.

We’ll see how I do…

Related articles

• 12 Business Blogging Shortcuts for Time-Crunched Marketers (hubspot.com)
• How to Build a Blog Editorial Calendar Even If You Don’t Know Where to Start (pushingsocial.com)
• Creating an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog (internetmarketingformommies.com)
• Five Goals to Build a Better Blog in 2012 (thewritersrefuge.wordpress.com)

Image by Brian Sawyer via Flickr

Did you get any cool new tech for Christmas?  I didn’t…  But, one family member got a new Kindle Fire.  I had the opportunity to play with it a bit and do the set-up.  But this isn’t a review.

It is a two part post.

Part I… I’d love to hear what sort of cool tech you got, and what you think of it so far. 

Part II… Let’s talk about getting to know that new tech so that it does more for you than just provide entertainment or hold down piles of paper on the desk.

Part I is easy…  Post up here or over on our FaceBook Page and we can talk about your cool toys productivity enhancement tools.

Part II is a little more complicated.  But, if we break it down a little more, we can make it manageable.

First, don’t go nuts.  I know a lot of folks that want to get every new device that comes down the pike.  It just isn’t feasible.  Aside from the fact that it is terribly expensive, you’d end up being too scattered.  By the time you approach comfort with a device, there are three more to get.  In the end, you have only succeeded in making the store in which you buy your technology quite happy. Don’t be too reluctant to get new technology, but don’t be too eager, either.  Instead, see if you have a valid business use, and then don’t move on to the next thing until the current thing is getting the attention it deserves.

Image via Wikipedia

Next, spend a little time with the User’s Guide.  Most of the devices out there are easy enough for us to power up and start playing with in just a few minutes.  It’s entirely too easy to just dive in and forget that there is probably a LOT of hidden potential waiting to be unlocked.  A great example is that my 7 year old figured out that he could zoom on my tablet by double tapping.  I missed that while speeding through the User Guide.  If I took my own advice, I would have known that…

Third, Google is your friend.  It is hard to find an even semi-popular piece of technology that doesn’t have a bunch of user generated tips and tricks published somewhere.  Some of the tutorials and videos out there are almost as good as taking a class.  There are some serious nerds (using that term with loads of respect) that are VERY good at figuring out how to squeak the last bit of utility from a device.  And they love to share.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Maybe it is your tech-savvy friend, maybe your teenager or even a class.  Reaching out for help can be a really good option.  Instead of wasting 40 unpaid hours trying to figure out a piece of technology or letting a $500 device sit unused, spending $50 on a class might be WAY more efficient.

So… whad’ja get?

Related articles

• 12 Tech Days of Christmas (brighthand.com)
• Open Thread: Show Us Your Favorite Tech Gifts! (mashable.com)
• Amazon’s Kindle Fire Fits in with Other Mobile Tech – Quick Take (biztechmagazine.com)

Just about all Internet marketers (that would be anyone that markets on the internet, not just internet based companies) want to create a “Viral Ad Campaign.”  The dream is that for almost no money, they will create an ad or campaign that everyone just HAS to share with all of their friends.  It will end up getting more views that a Super Bowl ad, and more click-throughs than tabloid pics of Brittany Spears with a shaved head.

Humor, shock and amazement are the ingredients… but the exact recipe is pretty tough to figure out.

Click the pic to go to Voltier Digital's post on Going Viral.

I don’t have a relationship with Voltier Digital… I just saw the graphic and thought it would be a cool share.