Google now catalogs hundreds of Chromecast apps for easier discovery via GiGAOM
Google’s Chromecast website is now listing more than 400 apps and counting that are capable of casting content to the TV screen.
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
10 Free Ways to Boost Facebook Engagement via Search Engine Journal
As brands complain that their Facebook engagement has gone south, various re-engagement strategies have cropped up. Unfortunately, many of these are expensive. So how can entrepreneurs tight on funds continue utilizing the power of social? To find out, we asked 10 successful founders from YEC how they were managing to boost Facebook engagement without having to pay for it. These were their suggestions:
More books about Facebook from Amazon.com
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
“A YouTube Channel is your own personal TV network. Make use of it to share your message with the world!”
Check out my YouTube Channel
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Part of the New Media 101/Blogging 101 series…
A quick clip from this 45 minute presentation — The Why, What and How of Blogging.
Transcript:
Why do we want to update our web sites every single day? The fact is, there are a number of reasons for that. First and foremost is, if you haven’t realized it already, most of the hits to your web site today do not come from people sitting down at their computer and typing in www.blahdeblah RETURN. If you’re like me and most people, 90% plus of the hits of the people that come to your web site come there through a search engine. Ok?
Now, search engines — Google being one of the better known ones — they have a variety of criteria of how they rank web sites in search results. One of the foremost ways they rank information is, how current is it? AND how often is is updated. Well, guess what? Blogs give you a way to feed these search engines a constant stream of new information — that’s constantly being updated. And the more you update your blogs, the more often the Google searchbot will come through your web site and check it for information.
Previously on New Media 101/Blogging 101:
No Blog Traffic? Here’s a Simple Strategy to Seduce Readers and Win Clients via CopyBlogger
You sit down at your desk.
You start your computer.
You check Google Analytics and your email provider dashboard. A deep sigh escapes from your soul.
Why is your number of email subscribers still so low?
Why aren’t readers flocking to your blog?
And when will those business inquiries finally arrive?
We all know that blogging is hard work, but what should you do when your efforts don’t seem to pay off?
Should you cross your fingers and keep plugging away? Hope that your readership will snowball? Pray that business inquiries will soon flood your inbox?
You need a new blog strategy, not wishful thinking.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
Looking for a job? There are a host of job listings available on Jobs.WelchWrite.com every day.
Enter the keywords you are searching for and your location to get fresh and focused listings.
Post a Job! $20 for 7 days
Originally posted as part of the End of the Day series on My Word with Douglas E. Welch
Rosanne and I got into a short discussion about the difference between “liking” something and “sharing” something on online. There are subtle differences between services and the names they use, but the meanings and benefits of each of these actions is fairly similar. Here is a little chart I cooked up to, hopefully, make it a bit clearer.
Key: FB=Facebook, TW=Tiwtter, G+=Google Plus, P=Pinterest
Meaning: Hey, this is cool. I want to remember this, for myself, so I can come back to it later. It benefits the original poster a little, as it is figured into some popularity ratings, depending on the system, but doesn’t active share it any further.
Meaning: Not only is is the cool, but I want to share it with everyone that is following me. This is a step above the “Like” as it shares a copy to everyone who follows you on that particular service. Very important for original poster, as it spreads the content further around the social media world, hopefully getting shared again and again from different people and connections.
As you might imagine, as a content creator, the second action is the one we would like everyone to take. This doesn’t just mark the content for an individual user, but helps spread the, hopefully, good, funny, useful information further and further, generating web site traffic, advertising revenue and sales for us.
Shares directly effect the popularity, views, suggested items, traffic and sales, which is why you often hear YouTubers urging you to “Hit that Like Button, Post a Comments and Subscribe”. For someone who is making a living producing content, this is critical. Likes and Subscribers directly effects how often their videos are “Suggested” to viewers when they watch another video or at the end of a video.
Clicking Like and Share also helps you in many ways. First, when you share great content, people (and computer systems like Google and Facebook) come to see as a good source of good material in the future. They will begin to suggest your shares to more people, and in the case of Facebook, your posts will be more likely to appear in other user’s News Feeds and those New Feeds on Facebook pages. This is “Reach” number you see after each Facebook post you make. It is how many people actually saw the post, even if you have hundreds of “Friends or Followers.” Share great content, have enough people Like and Share that content and your Reach will rise.
So, as a content consumer, which by reading this blog, you are, I hope you can better see the results of your actions online. They do actually mean something to you, your friends and followers and the people producing the content you are consuming. If you like something, click that Like button. If you REALLY like something, share it with your followers — whether on Facebook, Twitter, G+, Pinterest or any other social media network. It really does help the creator gain more than just fame. It might actually put a few dollars in their pocket and help them create even more great content. It can also help you to raise your own status in your favorite online community. A win-win for everyone.
Previously on End of the Day:
Growing Wisdom with David Epstein
As a gardener, garden blogger and garden YouTuber myself, I always like to keep in touch with what other garden folks are doing online. I recently came across Garden Wisdom as a suggested video on one of my own garden videos and had to check it out. David’s most recent video in on “Art in the Garden”, a topic that is interesting to me, too.
If you need and additional garden fix after reading or viewing my own A Gardener’s Notebook, you can’t go wrong with Growing Wisdom with David Epstein.
From the Growing Wisdom Web Site…
I started this site to give you information about your yards. I have been gardening nearly my entire life since my Grandfather gave me a package of tomato seeds and my Nana taught me about bearded iris. I want to combine my knowledge of horticulture with my love of weather to give you weekly information about what to do in your yard, that week.
If the weather is going to affect the garden, you will hear about it here first.
Over the years I have been fortunate to be able to put together my love of gardening and television into the forerunner of this sight. For over three years I hosted Extreme Garden Makeover on WCVB in Boston and brought scores of weekly tips to viewers throughout the region. Now, with the ability to put video on the internet I can bring these video tips to you anywhere.
Subscribe to Growing Wisdom on YouTube
What are some of your favorite Subscriptions? Share them here in the comments!
Previously highlighted on Subscribed:
Subscribed is a Careers in New Media series highlighting the Podcasts, YouTube Channels and Blogs that I follow on a daily basis. Check out this entry, and past entries, for some great New Media Content — Douglas
Originally published as part of the “End of the Day” series on My Word with Douglas E. Welch
i have been working on, what would be called by most people, market lately and it can be a tiring task. Most of us are so used to someone else handling this aspect of our projects and be forced to do it yourself has led to many failures over the years. We all know how important marketing is, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty we would rather crawl into a cave and ignore — myself included.
That said, I try to keep one important phrase in my mind when the going gets tough.
“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”
We all need to “let our light shine before men” even if that sometimes mean we need to do a little extra work. Our good works deserve to be noticed, to be shared, to be spread so that we can reach those that might enjoy our music, read our books or on some way be helped by them. Our work cannot have any effect on the work until it is known, until it is shared among people and spread throughout the world. We have only done half a job by creating a book or writing a song. It must be read, seen and heard reach fulfillment — and our own fulfillment with it.
I was recently reading a web site on ho to promote your books and they said something that I try to remember each day and also share with everyone who consults with me.
“Focus more on discoverability rather than selling. Your work is important, so help those who can benefit from it, find it.” — 71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book
Most of us, as creators, have an almost biological aversion to “selling” in any form. Selling anything conjures up the worst traveling salesmen stereotypes you can imagine. We imagine hucksters and cons and all sort of unsavory types and promise that we will never, ever become someone like that. It’s true, of course. We will never become like that because these extreme stereotypes don’t really exist. Sure there are unscrupulous people out there, but they are far outweighed by good people doing a good job selling things to people who need them — or, at the very least, want them. You can be one of these people, too.
Concentrate first on getting your project discovered by as many people as possible. Help your project to sell itself. I often quote Seth Godin on this topic. He says, “Make something worth talking about.” When you do this, your project gathers its own energy and attention and practically — even actually — selfs itself. You are simply nudging the snowball downhill, giving it a kick when it gets s but stuck and then starting over at the beginning with your next snowball — er — project — and sending it downhill.
Don’t think of it as “selling”, if that words turns you off. Think if it as discovery, introduction, promotion, whatever term makes it the most palatable for you. Then, go out an do it. Your project deserves it. More importantly, you deserve it. Don’t hide your light under a bushel. Let it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine!
Previously on End of the Day:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:32 — 76.6MB) | Embed
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Part of the New Media 101/Blogging 101 series…
Douglas E. Welch Segment from “Toot Your Own Horn: Self-Promotion In The Digital Age”
This a clip of my segment during this talk at the WGA (Writers Guild of America West) – Toot Your Own Horn: Self-Promotion In The Digital Age
WGA Panel entitled “Toot Your Own Horn,” with Writers’ Program alum Zoanne Clack (Grey’s Anatomy), and moderated by Writers’ Program Instructor Bill Taub, offers great insight into promoting yourself as a writer.
“TOOT YOUR OWN HORN: SELF-PROMOTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE”
In these challenging times, it is imperative that writers take control of their own careers. Be proactive, “do it yourself,” especially regarding publicity and marketing. Technology has swiftly changed, providing writers with new avenues to promote themselves and their work. Have you tapped in?
A DIY panel features publicist Henri Bollinger, president of the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society, discussing personal publicity vs. when to bring on a “professional”; screen and TV writer/author/award-winning columnist W. Bruce Cameron (8 Simple Rules, A Dog’s Purpose); Zoanne Clack (Executive Producer — “Grey’s Anatomy” and former Writers’ Program student), Gregg Kilday (film editor at The Hollywood Reporter); psychotherapist Rebecca Roy (TheIndustryTherapist.com) to broach writers’ resistance to self-promotion; and independent new media consultant Douglas Welch (also a Writers’ Program instructor) addressing new media and social marketing platforms.
Panel followed by smaller hands-on breakout sessions. Moderated by Bill Taub.
Previously on New Media 101/Blogging 101:
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
Fly is a simple video-editing app that lets you shoot from four iPhones at once via The Verge
There are simple video-editing apps, and then there’s Fly, a new iPhone app that lets you edit a short movie inside literally one screen. Fly works by importing four of your videos into the app’s editor, and then letting you tap on each one to make live cuts and switch between clips instantly. You can add a voice over or background music from your device, and then export your video to post on Instagram or elsewhere. If you’re looking to make something a little more adventurous, Fly also includes “Multi-Cam,” a feature that lets you sync up to four iPhones to all shoot and capture video simultaneously.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
America’s Test Kitchen on YouTube
The folk over at America’s Test Kitchen, seen both on broadcast television, the web and YouTube, are a dedicated lot. They test foods, methods, products again…and again…and again…and again in order to come to the best conclusions, cooking methods, product reviews and more. I recently watched a segment on the best zip-top bags and found it immensely useful. I would never have the patience or time to do their exhaustive testing and thank them greatly for doing it for me…and all their viewers. There is a wide variety of info on their YouTube Channel and their web site including recipes, equipment reviews, taste tests and more! Check them out today!
From the America’s Test Kitchen YouTube Channel…
America’s Test Kitchen is a real 2,500 square foot test kitchen located just outside of Boston that is home to more than three dozen full-time cooks and product testers. Our mission is simple: to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods. To do this, we test each recipe 30, 40, sometimes as many as 70 times, until we arrive at the combination of ingredients, technique, temperature, cooking time, and equipment that yields the best, most-foolproof recipe.
Subscribe to America’s Test Kitchen
What are some of your favorite Subscriptions? Share them here in the comments!
Previously highlighted on Subscribed:
Subscribed is a Careers in New Media series highlighting the Podcasts, YouTube Channels and Blogs that I follow on a daily basis. Check out this entry, and past entries, for some great New Media Content — Douglas
eMotimo TB3 Review – Robotic Tripod Head and Time-lapse Movie via Digital Photography School
I’d forgotten all about my childhood dreams of achieving world domination using my very own robot army until I switched on the TB3 from eMotimo. As soon as I synched up the wireless remote and started panning and tilting this robotic tripod head, I was transformed into a grinning 8 year old boy who believed he could do anything.
I expect that the eMotimo exhibit at trade shows is usually ringed by a troupe of grinning time-lapse photography nerds like myself, who just realized they stumbled upon a truly legendary tool for photographic creativity.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 0:59 — 8.1MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Part of the New Media 101/Blogging 101 series…
A quick clip from this 45 minute presentation — The Why, What and How of Blogging.
Transcript:
Blogging is at its very heart, a web site, like every other web site. Google’s a web site. My web site’s a web site. You web site’s a web site. A blog is just simply one way of presenting a web site. It is a web site, but easier. That’s what I try to tell people everyone about it. The fact is, with a blog — I often describe a blog as being like a piece of boilerplate letterhead. Where, you know, you have the company name, your logo, the address, all printed, then you print on that letterhead.
A blog is very similar, but for your web site. It’s designed on a template. Its designed on all your typical information is around the outside frame and the, if you want to put something new up — you want to put new content up — you want to announce a new press release, you want to have some new piece of information there, you can easily go to one page, much like a word processor, you type or cut and paste into that site what you want, hit publish and it’s on your web site.
Previously on New Media 101/Blogging 101:
8 Ways YouTube Will Be Changing How You Create Videos via Read Write Web
YouTube may face some challenges as it moves toward the mainstream, but it isn’t standing still on the technological side. Here are eight new tools for video creators YouTube execs Matthew Glotzbach and Oliver Heckmann—the site’s director of product management and VP of engineering, respectively—previewed at the unofficial YouTube convention VidCon last week.
A few are available now, but most are are still coming attractions. Keep your eyes peeled, YouTubers.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
YouTube is upgrading to 60fps, adding a tip jar for donations and much more via Engadget
YouTube is about to get a whole lot better, with a slew of new features freshly announced at this year’s VidCon. Google’s video wing will soon get support for clips running at 48-and-60 frames-per-second, which should be perfect for video game footage that you’ve captured an uploaded from your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One in addition to those 1080p60 game trailers that are quickly becoming the norm. You’ll have to make sure 1080p resolution is selected to get the benefit of the higher frame-rate, naturally, and we’ve embedded a sample after the break. Customizable and, as the YouTube Creators blog post tells it, prettier-looking annotation cards as well as some new tools that your fans can use are en route, too. What are those? Well, viewers will soon be able to drop you a few bucks here and there so you don’t have to rely on ad revenue alone.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
Originally published as part of the End of the Day series for My Word with Douglas E. Welch
Today we attended a great Meetup on robotics at the same place (NTMA Training Center in Santa Fe Springs) where Joseph competed in his school BattleBots tournaments. Organizer, Richard Loehnig, brought in experienced roboticist, Dr. Jason Bardis — creator of several BattleBots for hobby and the BattleBots television show, including Dr. Inferno, Jr. It was a great talk that covered Dr. Bardis’ experience with robots from his initial hobbyist forays to helps build the robot arms for the Curiosity Mars Rover and more.
It was a great talk, but something else struck me as even more important. NTMA, Richard and Brad took great pains to stream the talk and record it for future viewing. This was a perfect example of what we should all be doing when organize, host or create great content. We had about 40 people in the room with us today, but there is a potential audience of thousands on the Internet, where this video can live on forever. Why would you NOT capture such great content? Every time I see that happen I consider it such a great waste of information and also a waste of the presenters and organizers time. It may be a one time event, but video can continue to work towards your goals 24/7 for the foreseeable future.
Brad recording and streaming today’s robotics presentation
You don’t have to go all out, like the NTMA folks did today. I counted at least 4 video cameras as well as the live stream and a high quality audio recording. If you have nothing else, use your iPhone, your iPad, your Android tablet whatever you have at hand. If you are doing video, find a way to prop up the device, so the video is as smooth as possible. For me, though, capturing the content is far more important than professional quality video. Yes, make it as easy to watch and hear as possible, but first, capture it!
For myself, I have a variety of ways of capturing content when I am out and about. I have my iPhone, of course, Rosanne’s iPad, an HD camcorder with external mice and a tripod, a still camera that also takes video, Joseph’s iPhone and even an ancient iRiver IFP audio recorder that I can press into service, if needed. I am sure you have plenty of devices in your own kit that could also be used — if you only took the time to do it.
If you are hosting an event, record it so you can share it on your own web site and social media channels and also offer it up to your speaker for their own usage. If you are speaking or presenting, always come prepared to record yourself so that you gave content to use later. In many cases, you can offer this back to your organizer so they have something to share, even if they didn’t think of recording it themselves. Set a good example and capture everything you do. Encourage others to do it, too. I know there is a lot of content I would have liked to see, if only the speaker, the musician, the presenter, the performer would have taken the time to capture it.
You can join NTMA for future robotics Meetup by joining their Meetup group at the SoCal Combat Robotics Meetup site.
Watch the entire live stream recording using the embedded video below or directly from the RobotRevo Twitch.TV Channel
Watch live video from RobotRevo on TwitchTV
Previously on End of the Day:
New Media Gear 23: Zoom iQ5B Condenser Microphone
I have used iPod and iPhone connected microphones before, so when I saw the Zoom iQ5 mentioned in MacLife magazine, I thought I would do a little more research into it. I hadn’t paid much attention when it was first released, as I didn’t have the iPhone necessary to use it. With the release of new iPhones this year, though, I will probably be upgrading.
Any quality device that can help reduce the amount of “stuff” you have to carry around is always worth look — and listen. Reviews on Amazon are good overall, although some list alternatives that they preferred. If I was doing a lot of field work, or finding myself grabbing interviews on the fly, I might consider something like this, although I need to upgrade my iPhone first as this requires the new Lightning connector.
You can find out more about the Zoom iQ5 using these links:
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
Previously on New Media Gear:
Micromuff Wind Guard via Kevin Kelly
I have made something similar by rubber banding the wind guard from my Zoom H2 over the built-in mic on my camcorder, so I know it is possible for something like this to work. Wind can still get under the guard unless you hold it just right and that could be an issue here, too. When it does work, though, it works really well, cutting out the wind noise even on a moving power boat. — Douglas
I use a small camera (Cisco Flip) to take video. It’s great for what I do, except small amounts of wind cause a lot of noise.
That’s where Micromuff helps. You have a small Velcro patch that glues to your camera, and a wind muff that attaches to the Velcro. I’ve been using MicroMuff Original for about six months, and it’s brilliant. I can hear people talking, not wind blowing.
“Noted” items are particularly good finds from my daily reading which I share via all my social media accounts.
