Author: ChiefBlogger

2 handed blogging – List of efficiency keys

Does Cutting and Pasting seem too tedious?

  • Is your left hand jealous of the right hand always having the mouse? Cutting and pasting can go lickedy-split if you get both the right hand and the left hand doing something. Did you realize that both Apple and IBM have short cut keys for that left hand to participate? Speed up your blog typing and let your fingers follow your brain faster by getting used to these handy shortcuts. The letters themselves don’t necessarily make a lot of sense but are placed so that it is easy for the left hand to manipulate. The letters used are on the lower left of the keyboard: Z, X, C, and V. For the computer to realize you want to do something special the ctrl (control) key is used on windows oriented keyboards. For Apple the  “apple key” is used located to the left of the space bar. The short cuts are:
  • Ctrl-Z is undo
  • Ctrl-X is cut
  • Ctrl-C is copy
  • Ctrl-V is paste

And for those adventurous types you can venture from the bottom row and Ctrl-A is select all.

How to add a picture to your blog post

Boy-with-a-Soap-Bubble-recoveredAre you in the habit of inserting a picture in your blog post?

You may have heard that adding an image to your blog post is one of the simplest ways to help attract people to read your post. WordPress makes it easy to add an image to your post. Lept Like A Blog has made it even easier! We have posted a video that reviews the procedure in a quick 3 minutes. Forgot how it goes? Don’t fear, you can watch the video. And it is always there when you forget the next time. Click here to watch.

USB security, simple as 1-2-3

Have you ever thought about what would happen if you lost your USB memory stick? Do you have sensitive information on it? Maybe you don’t keep information there normally but for some reason had ‘temporarily’ put a file on it with your bank account number or credit card number. And it is still hanging around because you are too lazy to delete it or just forgot.  One of Lept Like A Blog’s friends, Business Coach Holly Hanson, presented to local small businesses her “10 steps for client attraction” at Associated Bank. During the same session, Audrey Engelbrecht, Assistant VP-Treasury Management, retold some recent, sad tales about fraud. Her message was that fraud is a growing threat particularly when it comes to credit card and bank account numbers. Especially in today’s economy, the temptation for ‘people in need’ that have access to your bank numbers and use them without your permission is greater than ever. Audrey highlighted one nifty device for foiling a thief to capture banking information off your USB stick. It is a USB cap with a combination locking mechansim. You insert your USB memory stick in the device, spin the tumblers, and feel secure until only you want to use it again. There are many varieties on-line even some memory sticks with the locking mechanism built in.

Bloggers unite for Blog Action Day

Bloggers aound the world as well as Council Blogs have raised the awareness for topics of social concern. What a neat idea! Using social media to raise awareness about social issues. The 2010 topic is water. You can read the water post at Council Blogs and link to all the blogger’s site and read their take on water. You can click here or the picture on the left and see what bloggers from the international community are saying about water.

Facebook URLs – A quick way to Facebook branding

Tired of that long, goofy URL for your Personal or Fan page in Facebook? You’re in luck. A new capability allows you to create a “vanity” URL to help reinforce your brand identity. With Facebook user names you can now use familiar words to define your facebook.com/xxxxxx brand identity instead of the functional but ridiculously long URL of old. The capability exists for both Personal and Fan Pages. It is really simple. First, log in to your Facebook account. Then you can go straight to the Facebook page for usernames by clicking here.

Top 3 Blogging Tips

The top 3 blogging tips?

Top 3 blogging tips

1. Planning,

2. Planning, and

3. Planning.

A recent study by Digital Brand Expressions (DBE) found that 78% of corporate users have a presence on Social Media. Only 41% have a plan or a strategy. SO the message is:

PLAN,

PLAN,

PLAN

 if you expect good results with your social media tools. You can get a copy of the planning sheet we use at Council Blogs by sending an email request to Chief Blogger. To read the report from DBE you can click here. If you want to integrate a calendar into your post planning, a real neat tool for wordpress.org users is the WordPress Editorial Calendar. Zack Grossbart has a neat video on using the WordPress Editorial Calendar that can get you up and planning really fast. The bloggers at our blogging club find that having a plan makes it ten times easier when it comes to writing your posts. I cannot say it better than Mark Twain, “Plan for the future because that’s where you are going to spend the rest of your life.”

Social Media – Circus or Captivating?

“There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute”

– Hannum or Barnum?*

Even though historians debate about the origin of this well known quote, everyone has a sense for its reality. When we think of what drove the circus era, it was human curiosity fueled by promotion. Did the circus just locate on the edge of town, set up shop, and expect customers to come streaming in? Of course not, they did a lot of promotion. Before the circus came to town they had posters announcing their magic. Once set up, they teased their potential customers with a circus parade through the heart of town, giving glimpses of what great experiences lurked under the big top on the edge of town.

As we think about social media and marketing, we’re reminded of the public nature of social media. Most beginners to social media marketing have an apprehension to “broadcasting” their news to sites like Twitter and Facebook. The college frat stigma of Facebook still scares users. Horror stories of privacy breaches adds to their paranoia. At the cyber wigwam we have coined this phenomenon as “Blog-xiety.”  That’s another post. Yes, we do not want to be careless about our posts. Remember though, that you can reach roughly 1/3 of all internet users on Facebook. In our face paced world we are far outpacing the world of P.T. Barnum. Currently, there are 243 users born every SECOND on Facebook. So our advice is to think of the circus train when developing your blog posts. Broadcast them to Facebook. Remember this is your chance to promote your product or service to those 14, 580 customers born every minute.

* those wishing to read about the great giant fake lawsuit, click here.

Leaping Lizards! Another blog class

ANN_annie~sandy_shoulders_c [Converted]

Leaping Blogs, Sandy!

The posts will come out tomorrow, tomorrow…bet your bottom dollar on tomorrow…

Looking to add Social Media to your marketing campaign? Lept Like A Blog is returning with their popular, back by demand, class on Social Media Marketing. Annie may have never found Daddy Warbucks if she had Facebook or other social media tools of today. She may have single-handedly changed texting parlance for ever. Instead of lol, we’d have ll (leaping lizards) or  instead of OMG, we’d have GW (Gee Whiskers). In four short sessions you too can be a social media bloggerfly and launch your 21st century marketing campaign. Learn how to easily reach those potential clients out of the 1.8 billion users on the Internet. See how your social media tools can get people to know, like, and trust you while you sleep!

Our next class starts Wednesday, September 8, 6-8 pm. The remaining classes meet September 15, 22, and 29. Sign up today or request more information by email here. Or call Tom at 815-985-7075 and get registered.

Authenticity – The 12 new letters of Social Media Marketing

An advertising technique has emerged that pushes the needle from “fleeting trend” to “Here to stay” for social media. You can see for yourself how popular the “Haul video” is becoming. Just Google it. YouTube has a plethora of listings. Many are ready to offer a definition, everywhere from Yahoo Answers to Wisegeek.com. In simple terms it is a video that explains the shopping “haul”. Some have termed it an “unboxing for girls” technique. Unboxing is the video form of product reviews where a product is unboxed and the details of the product are reviewed as it is unwrapped. In the case of the “haul”, the video reviews the latest take from a shopping spree. Brand marketeers have quickly picked up on the viral capabilities and have made it easier for the “haulers” by providing promotional goodies to make the video more appealing. The claim is that this type of viral marketing purveys AUTHENTICITY. Friends telling friends. It is an interesting trend that pins a significant value on social media marketing. At the moment the teenage girls are the largest demographic of the “haul video” but other variants are bound to emerge. National Public Radio has a nice article. You can even listen to a broadcast sound bite.  Of course you can always Google it and find out as much as you want. My latest search produced over 12,ooo,ooo hits!

4 steps to becoming a Socia Media BloggerFly

Are you wondering what it takes to become a social butterfly using social media?

Wonder no more. The next series of classes for developing your social media prowess is starting August 17, 2010. This series of 4,weekly, 2 hour classes will get you jump started into interacting in the social media world on the internet. Some attendees have called it the GPS for social media. Learn quickly how to navigate the myriad of social media options. You will come away with the tools to effectively market and promote your brand. Call or email today to reserve your spot.