5 Ways to Blog from your Mobile Device ~ Part 2

Do you need to blog while on the go?

Would you like to have the ability to blog from your mobile device?

In this article, I’ll show you what you need to run your blog from your mobile device.

#3: Photo Blogging With Flickr

While emailing posts can be convenient, attaching and getting multimedia to display properly on your blog can be challenging.

That’s where a photo portfolio site like Flickr can come in handy, allowing you to kill two birds with one email send: double-publishing mobile photos to a photo-sharing service like Flickr, as well as to your own blog.

The Flickr publish-by-email feature is great for review posts, where photos often carry the post.

Use Flickr to publish photos from your mobile device to your blog.

And if you use an automated feed service such as Feedburner to syndicate your blog to your social networks, those six keystrokes can also generate a tweet and Facebook post that spread the word and kick off the link-building process for you automagically. All in 30 seconds or less!

 #4: Video Blogging via Mobile

Video blogging isn’t quite as quick as photo blogging via mobile, because it takes more time to process videos, but it’s become a lot easier thanks to the evolution of WordPress and YouTube.

As we know, the WordPress app allows video uploads straight from your phone, but did you know WordPress allows you to embed a YouTube video by simply pasting the YouTube URL into your blog editor? That means a video blog can be published via mobile in these easy steps:

• Upload your mobile video from your gallery to YouTube, using default sharing functionality from your iPhone gallery.
• Copy the YouTube URL once it’s published.
• Paste the URL in the body of your next blog post.

A surf shop recently followed this model, and was able to shoot and publish a viral Surfing Sasquatch video and photo gallery all in the same day using nothing more than iPhones and an iPad. They also edited the video on their iPad equipped with iMovie, which is another great, easy-to-use video editing app worth picking up.

As you can see, today you can build a blog via your mobile device.

Use these tips to build a blog where you only share short-form content, or to add short-form content to keep your business blog active while you are away from your desk.

Keep in mind that these mobile blogging options may help you publish content faster than your competition or larger mainstream sites. For example, this can help you be the first to cover breaking news at events and increase your visibility within your industry.

What do you think? Have you used your mobile device to blog? What have been your challenges and successes? Please share your comments below.

Source: Socialmediaexaminer

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Valentine's Day: 31 Days ~ 5 Gift Wrapping Ideas

Add a personal touch to your delivered Valentine gifts with our simple Valentine's Day gift wrapping ideas.

See how to create personalized wrapping using inexpensive craft supplies and items you probably already have in your home.

1. Fabric Gift Pouch

Here is a little fabric gift pouch - it is the perfect size to gift some jewellery or other small item. They are really quick to make. Read more

2. Paper Doily Envelope

Check ouy this simple tutorial on making an envelope for your valentine card made from a paper doily. Super easy: fold, fold, fold, seal with a shiny heart sticker. That’s it! Read more

3. Heart Cut-out Gift Wrapping

Wrap your whole present in red paper or tissue paper, then take your brown paper and using a craft knife, cut out half a heart and then bend that half backwards to reveal the red paper underneath. So simple yet so effective! Source

4. Eraser Heart Stamps

Draw a heart with your pen on the eraser of your pencil, thenake simple incisions with your x-acto to chisel the heart. Cut it down about half way down the eraser and stamp away! Source

5. Small candy box

these homemade Valentine gifts that don’t aquire some unusual skills or expensive supplies but would have big impact. The point is to make an impression and to warm the heart of your closest friends. Read more

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Communication is the key

I’m sure that you’ve heard it before when applied to relationships, but it is so true.  You need to communicate.  The same can be said of your business venture; you need to communicate with your clients and possible customers.  Today, we are going to take a look into what you need to be communicating with your possible customers; this is before they actually commit to a deal.

1. The product/service.  All to often, during my internet browsings, I come across a website that is selling something, but I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what it is.  Either the vocabulary is so specific to that business niche, or they just don’t say anything about what the product is.  If your selling a book, use that word: “Book”.  Don’t leave your potential customers guessing.  Be blunt and obvious.

2. Pricing.  I have read somewhere that you shouldn’t ever include prices of stuff on your website whenever you can get away with it.  I strongly disagree with this.  A potential customer is going to wander over to your website in order to get more information from you.  They are going to want to know what you offer, the different packages that you offer, and how much they can expect to pay.  They want the information, so make sure it’s easily available for them to see it, or they might just wander away to someone else who does offer them that information.  Again, make it easy for the possible client.

3. Available options.  If there are different options that go along with your product or service, let people know about it.  Don’t keep it a secret that it can be personalized a bit.  This could even be a key selling point!  “Tailored to fit your specific needs/wants”.  Go a little further with that and let them know what those options cover.  If it’s a product, can it come in a different size or color? If it’s a service, can they choose the time or length?

4. This is a big one: Contact information!  Let your customers know how they can contact you with any questions they may have.  Include your contact information EVERYWHERE.  How can you be expected to communicate with your potential customer if they can’t figure out how to get in touch with you in the first place?

5. How to purchase.  Again, during my internet surfings, I’ve come across websites that offer some great product or service that I am really interested in.  They include all of the information, answer all of my questions, and I want to invest in it.  Alright, how do I purchase their product?  After searching high and low and not finding anything, I usually walk away frustrated, feeling like I’m missing out on something grand because I couldn’t figure out how to purchase their product.

There are several different points that I’m sure you can come up with on different tidbits to communicate about your products or services.  The key is to supply all the information to your customers so that nothing is left to assumption or guess work.  You do not want to give them any excuse to leave your website/page, and if they can’t find the information they are looking for, they will do just that.


(FamilyBugs)

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Make Holiday Cards And Gift Wrap Using DIY Stamps

Look­ing for an easy way to print cards and wrap­ping paper with your chil­dren? This roller print­ing tuto­r­ial shows you how to craft fes­tive Christ­mas tree stamps using a lint roller and how to trans­form a bot­tle cap into a stamp for envelopes.

Let’s get started!

How To Make A Roller Stamp

What You Need

• Lint roller
• Craft foam
• Baker’s twine
• Skewer stick
• Scis­sors
• Ink pad, green
• Card or gift paper

Step 1

Cut the craft foam in 8 pieces approx­i­mately 1 x 2.5 inches each. Cut tree shapes out of them. Take the skewer stick and make some tiny holes in the trees. Cut a piece of baker’s twine.

Step 2

Add the foam to the roller: Posi­tion the trees so that their stumps point to the han­dle. Wrap the twine around and through the trees so that it looks like a hill­side or a walk.

Step 3
Press the roller onto an ink pad and roll until it is com­pletely cov­ered with green ink.

Step 4Roll it onto your paper. Let the ink dry.

Add some star stick­ers if you like.

How To Make An Enve­lope Stamp

What You Need

• Bot­tle cap
• Craft foam
• Glue
• Scis­sors

Step 1
Cut some small tree shapes from the foam and glue them to the bot­tle cap. Let it dry

Step 2
Press the stamp onto an ink pad and trans­fer to your envelopes.

While clean­ing up, I dis­cov­ered that I could even use the scrap foam to make a confetti-like pattern.

Have fun with this easy hol­i­day craft!

Source: handmadecharlotte

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How to Share Photos on Twitter

Posting photos on Twitter allows you to share photos and other images in real-time with your Twitter friends and followers. After your photo has been published, your Twitter followers will also have the ability to retweet and share your photos with their own friends and followers. Continue reading this article to learn more about the process for sharing your photos on Twitter.

1. 
   1
   Log in to your Twitter account with your username and password. If you have not created a Twitter account yet, sign up.
2. 2
   Type a new tweet into the box labeled "Compose new Tweet." This can be found on the left-hand side of the "home" screen. Alternatively you can press "n" on your keyboard to compose a new tweet.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Click on the grayed-out icon that depicts a camera located below your tweet on the left. A pop-up window will display prompting you to upload a photo from your computer.
   
   
   
4. 
   4
   Navigate to the photo you want uploaded from your computer and into Twitter. The image you choose must not exceed 3 megabytes in size, and must either be in the ".gif," ".jpeg," or ".png" file formats.
   • If your photo does not meet these requirements, consider changing the file formator downsizing your photo in your favorite photo editing software.
5. 5
   Click on your photo to select the image and have it added to your tweet. Your image will appear below your tweet in the size of a thumbnail and the camera icon will now be blue.
   
   
   
6. 6
   Verify that your tweet has enough characters to accommodate the photo you added. When you add a photo, a shortened website link will appear in your tweet that your friends and followers can click on to see your photo in their browser. The website link for your photo will use a portion of the 140 characters allowed for a tweet.
   
   
   
   • If the character count for your tweet is below 0 after adding your photo, adjust and shorten the text you typed for your tweet so the link for your photo will fully display in your tweet.
7. 7
   Click on the "Tweet" button to publish your photo to Twitter. Your friends and followers will now have the ability to view your photo after clicking on its link in your tweet.
   
   
   

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You Voted: What was your Inspiration for your Shop's Name

Nothing is more important in the beginning stages of your indiepreneurship than choosing your name. It is the link to the impression your business gives to the world, your brand.

Last month we asked you what was your Inspiration for your Shop's Name:

And you answered:

It seems that most of our crafters choose their name, inspired by their personal information and others from their crafting category or the area they specialize in.

Let's take a look at some answers of yours:

"It's a bit of a combination. Partly it's a reference to hubby, and partly to what the Wombles did - recycling stuff. I try and recycle/reuse as much as I can: zips, buttons, fabric, cards, containers, furniture etc, so in that respect I am working in a Wombling way." - WomblingWay 

"Mine is a combination, Monz being short for my name and Creationz as I work with various crafts and so Monz Creationz came about." - monzcreationz 

"I chose the funky part to mean fun and a little bit different and the frippery, meaning adornments, so that I could expand my range in the future to other 'adornments' not neccessarily jewellery, but maybe things for the home too! I have lots of ideas just need to organise my family and time better, and lack of space is a hinderance, but hopefully not for much longer." - Funky Frippery 

"Mine is a cross between my name paulines and passions because I am so passionate about the things I create I love the way things come together and the satisfaction of making things for people." - paulinespassions

"Just made mine up as I'm always busy (who isn't these days!!!) I'm no 6 footer, and I love (and own) chickens!!Simple really....bit like my avatar!! : )" - Busylittlechicken

See related post: Pick the Right Name for Your Online Handmade Business

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Adding Twitter to WordPress.com Blogs

1. 
   1
   Sign in to your WordPress.com profile. Choose the blog to which you would like to add Twitter. Click the "Dashboard" option on the drop down menu.
   
2. 
   2
   Scroll down the Dashboard on the left side until you find the "Appearance" section. Click on that menu and choose "Widgets" from the options. You should see a page filled with Widgets that are currently available to be added to your blog.
3. 3
   
   Move through the alphabetical list of widgets until you find the 1 that says "Twitter." Click and drag the Twitter box up to the right hand corner of the page. You will find the places that you can place your Twitter posts according to your theme, such as "Footer Area One."
4. 
   4
   Drop the Twitter box in the location where you want your tweets to appear on your profile. Enter a title, your Twitter username and the number of Tweets that you would like to appear at 1 time. You can choose whether you want to include retweets and if you want a Twitter "Follow" button on the bottom.
5. 
   5
   Click "Save." Your Tweets will now appear on your blog. Return to the Widget menu to adjust your settings in the Twitter box in the upper right corner.
   
   (Wiki Howto)

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5 Ways to Blog From Your Mobile Device ~ Part 1

Do you need to blog while on the go?

Would you like to have the ability to blog from your mobile device?

In this article, I’ll show you what you need to run your blog from your mobile device.

Why Blog From a Mobile Device?

OK, so you’re not going to build a robust blog entirely on mobile.

But once you’ve launched your blog using a platform like WordPress, a computer is no longer required to continue posting, engaging and building your brand online.

In today’s mobile, 140-character world, more readers prefer their content in bite-sized chunks—which makes quick-hit and multimedia posts from a mobile device ideal in some cases.

“Every day you have to be communicating; that’s the important thing,” said rock star video blogger Gary Vaynerchuk, when asked what today’s businesses are lacking online. “Long-form blogging was the big thing in years back. Microblogging is now the big thing. It’s changed the dynamics a bit.”

And microblogging doesn’t have to be just a Twitter thing. Many new WordPress themes have custom content types baked into the editor and design for short blurbs, photos and even asides.

In fact, a standardized list of these “short-form” post formats has been recognized since WordPress 3.1, and bloggers can now customize their themes around these specific, shorter-than-normal posts. That standard list of post formats includes Aside, Audio, Chat, Gallery, Link, Quote, Status and Video.

You’d be hard-pressed nowadays to find any official Google documentation that suggests minimum word counts for blog posts. As long as you do your best to create unique, resourceful content that provides value to search results, you’re going to rank well in search.

That, combined with the unprecedented adoption of mobile, makes posting to a blog from a mobile device easier and more valuable than ever. This means bloggers no longer have to remain chained to a desktop to stand out online.

#1: Mobile Blogging Apps

In the mobile world, “note”-worthy apps such as Evernote get a lot of the attention. And while cloud-based note-taking apps are a huge leap forward in terms of mobile content development, I prefer to cut out the middleware and publish straight from the app I’m writing in.

With that approach in mind, my top three mobile blogging apps right now are:

• WordPress for iOS: (WordPress also has apps for five additional mobile platforms): The WordPress app is amazing because it streamlines the bloated desktop-publishing process and lets you simply publish text, photos and video straight from your device. The only drawback is formatting text and HTML can be a pain, so save yourself the headache and keep your copy simple when blogging from a mobile device.
• CoveritLive: I’ll focus on event marketing in a bit, but whenever I’m blogging an event and want to collaborate with others, there’s no better app than CoveritLive, which essentially embeds a live chat into your blog.
• Quicklytics: In terms of blog stats, I rely on Quicklytics to track Google Analytics on all of the blogs in my portfolio. So if a topic on a blog starts going gangbusters, I know about it at the swipe of a thumb and can complement that topic with a related post or make any necessary tweaks from my handy-dandy WordPress app.

But you don’t even need an app to push quality mobile content to your blog. Read more below.

#2: Mobile Blogging by Email

One of my favorite mobile blogging approaches is to send posts to my site via email.

With some tweaks to your admin settings, you can publish via email to your WordPress blog. WordPress gives you a unique address to email posts to, so be sure to keep that email address secret to avoid spam hitting your site. In terms of posting, the title of the post goes in your email subject line; the body text goes in the body of the email.

Hit Send, and your post will get published as soon as the email hits your web server.

Source: Socialmediaexaminer

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Tips to survive a craft bussines start-up

Starting up your own business, regardless of what you are choosing to do, can be very difficult and challenging. There are certain time-consuming elements, and a slight loss of funds may result. My simple word of advice is to just keep swimming.

- Go slowly. This one can be really hard. You just decided to start selling your crafts and you are doing the research and getting TONS of ideas. The excitement and adrenalin is running high. I urge you, do try to practice self control. It is so easy to get going too fast and end up with more work than you can handle.

- Discover your niche. Again, the excitement and ideas are pumping through your veins! Pinterest is absolutely terrible about giving you too many ideas. Narrow it down and pick one craft. It is great to be able to paint, and glue, and crochet, and sew, and jewelry make, but throwing all of those onto your shop aren’t going to help. Go even further and narrow it down to one product. Especially when you are just starting off, choose one and run with it in as many directions as you can. If you sew, maybe make little girls dresses. It will profit you little to have a little knowledge about a lot. Instead, opt for a lot of knowledge about a few products.

- What can you sell? Just because your friend has been uber successful selling hair bows doesn’t mean that you will too. Even if you are in the same marketplace, selling the exact same wares, using the exact same strategy, you probably won’t be able to sell the exact same amount. For starters, your friend probably already has a following with faithful and return customers. They don’t want to leave her even if you are her friend. Decide what you are going to be able to make and sell.

- Have a plan. I got really lucky in that I was successful without having a long term plan. To ensure your success, create short term and long term goals and deadlines for yourself. Write them down and tell someone else about it to keep you accountable. Some people might aim for a specific monthly income, or a certain number of finished products. I like to be able to release a new product every month.

- DO NOT research. Alright, doing a little bit of research is ok and most beneficial. Doing too much research will leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about where to start.

- Don’t get discouraged.  There are people who wont support you, and wont really care about what you are doing.  It is going to take *time*.  Keep in mind that you don’t have a following, there is no one who can say “oh yeah, I got something from her, she does amazing work!”  I say give it 6 months before making a final decision, some people might say longer.  If you do discover that selling crafts just isn’t for you, there isn’t no shame in that either.  Some people are super crafty, and out of that some just a few are super business-y (yeah, I made that word up).  Selling crafts isn’t for everyone.

(FamilyBugs)

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6 Ways to Protect your Twitter Reputation ~ Part 3

Do you use Twitter to market your business?

How’s your Twitter reputation?

Twitter’s short form messages require the same care you put into Facebook and other longer-form social media platforms.

In this article, I’ll show you six tips to help you protect your Twitter reputation by avoiding some common mistakes.

#5: Face Your Critics

Bill Cosby once said he didn’t know the recipe for success, but knew the one for failure: try to please everybody. There will always be someone who doesn’t like your brand or doesn’t agree with your view on certain topics.

If your tweet or something related to your business is criticized on Twitter, what matters is how you react.

Deleting your tweet may seem like a quick fix, but it’s a huge mistake. Everything on social media is permanent, and screenshots of anything you delete can end up hurting more than a live tweet.

Dark Horse Espresso responded in this way to a customer complaining about the number of power outlets in their premises:

To protect your reputation in the face of potential negativity on Twitter, there are a few definite do’s:

• Respond as quickly as possible.
• Keep your response positive.
• State the facts and your opinion clearly.
• Apologize if necessary.

Dealing with critics properly will reinforce your opinion or minimize the damage of your mistakes.

#6: Automate Responsibly

Too much automation of your Twitter account can hurt your image.

It’s okay to use automation and scheduling tools such as Buffer, If This Then That and others if you want to:

• Synchronize other social media updates with your Twitter feed
• Welcome new followers with a non-spammy direct message
• Preset a time-sensitive update
• Tweet at a certain pace through the day or week

But you do not want to use too much automation. Your followers want to feel a connection with the person behind your account and your business.

se automation to help you manage your updates, but remember that Twitter is a platform that thrives on the almost instant flow of conversation. You’ll need tobe there in person to make your efforts there successful.

Your Personal Takeaways

Although Twitter moves fast, any missteps you make can stay with you and damage your reputation with followers and potential customers.

Use these tips as a starting point to create your reputation for managing a successful Twitter account.

What do you think? What’s your experience with Twitter reputation management? What tips can you add to the conversation? Please leave your comments below.

Images from iStockPhoto.

Source: Socialmediaexaminer

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