Category: YouTube

Learn YouTube tips for developing strategy, creating videos, and going viral.

5 Reasons Why You Should Unlink YouTube and Twitter

Joining both YouTube and Twitter (and I don’t mean connecting the two) can have tremendous benefits for your business:

So why am I giving you 5 Reasons Why You Should Unlink YouTube and Twitter?

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Everything I Need to Know About Social Media, I Learned From Football

Blue 42, hut hut, hike.  Who’s ready for some Football? With the NFL Playoffs set, I put together this fun (and handy) infographic to help explain social media in terms of Football.

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The State of Social Media in 2012

2012 was a HUGE year for social media – especially for mobile.  Twitter revamped their mobile app, Facebook followed suit and overhauled Facebook for iOS (which was sorely needed). Then, not to be outdone, Pinterest launched business pages for Pinterest, which allowed businesses to create their own accounts that didn’t require a complex way to squeeze your business into the first name and last name fields (finally).

Besides mobile, 2012 was also big for investors as well, as Facebook went public – and who can forget about Facebook Timeline, which also launched in 2012 – I know, it’s hard to remember all the way back to January 2012.

So what else happened with social media in 2012? Take a look at this infographic on everything that happened in social media in 2012.

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5 ways to grow your business with YouTube

Growing your business with YouTube

When you mention the terms, social media and business, a lot of people instantly conjure up images of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ – along with a long list of questions.  What they often forget is that while these are social networks aimed at curating content from around the web, you have to have content to share on them to keep them growing.  Enter YouTube, an online video sharing community.

In addition to being the number two search engine (behind Google), YouTube is a tremendous social media tool where you can create your own online videos, build an audience, and drive traffic back to your business in a number of ways – by posting a video on your favorite social networks like Facebook or Twitter, encouraging visitors to check out your website, sign-up for your newsletter or as a way to leverage word of mouth marketing where viewers tell their friends about your video.

YouTube Beginnings

When I first got started making YouTube videos I’ll admit, I was pretty scared. Some of the questions I wondered about were if I could amass any considerable number of views – I also had a lot of questions about YouTube videos – will viewers like my content, will I even get viewers and how do I deal with comments and so on.

These are questions that anyone who is just getting started with online video might ask themselves.  But just two years later (and 750,000+ views), I’m happy to say that I enjoy making videos – almost more than blogging. And it’s not because I’m shy or anything. I just find they allow me to express my creativity through story-telling along with the creativity that goes into writing each video.

So to help you out, I’ve come up with 5 ways you can use YouTube to grow your small, medium, or large business.

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How to find your YouTube channel RSS feed

Just like your blog, your YouTube channel has its own RSS feed. What this means is that you can now see updates as they’re happening from your favorite YouTube channels.

This is good news for anyone who uses an RSS feed reader such as Pulse to consume their favorite websites and blogs from their smartphone because now, instead of going to check out your favorite YouTube channel to see if they have uploaded any new videos, you can access the YouTube channels RSS feed to see any recent updates anytime.  Here’s an example of my YouTube channel RSS feed.

Example of YouTube channel RSS Feed

What’s included in a YouTube channel RSS feed

  • Video title
  • Date uploaded
  • Length of video
  • Video thumbnail
  • Video description
  • Number of views
  • Ratings

What’s not included in a YouTube channel RSS feed

  • Keywords
  • Playlists videos are added to
  • Number of subscribers

If you’ll notice, it is very important to fill-in as much descriptive information about your YouTube videos and to include a custom YouTube video thumbnail because this information is pulled into RSS feed aggregators such as Google News and Pulse. Without a custom YouTube video thumbnail your videos won’t be as eye-catching to readers. If you don’t include a description or title for your video, RSS feed readers might not pick-up your video so you’ll want to be sure include this in your YouTube videos.

Enough about what is and is not included in a YouTube channel RSS feed.  How do I find a YouTube channel RSS feed?

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[Download] FREE YouTube Thumbnail Template

 Custom YouTube thumbnail template

One of my favorite features for customizing your YouTube channel is with a YouTube thumbnail image.  Not only are YouTube custom thumbnails a great way to make your videos look more eye-catching to viewers, but they’re also great at generating leads from viewers from other videos which can help you not only gain more views and subscribers for your own channel, but most importantly, fill your funnel with potential customers and new leads. To help you customize your YouTube videos, I’ve created a YouTube thumbnail template for you to use.

What can I do with this YouTube thumbnail template?

This YouTube thumbnail template isn’t just for creating images for current videos. If you have older videos that you’ve uploaded to your YouTube channel, make sure you go back and create a YouTube thumbnail image for them as well.

Most likely, they are ranking very well and you can continue to capitalize off of this by adding a more visual image to make your videos stand-out to others.

How to use the YouTube thumbnail template:

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How to create a custom YouTube thumbnail image

For about the past two years, I have been steadily leveraging my YouTube channel to engage more with viewers and to broaden the reach of my videos. During this time, I’ve been keeping an eye on a number of changes that YouTube has been making – some of those incude the ability to create a custom YouTube background and the ability to monetize your YouTube videos.

While these are great features that can help you better personalize your YouTube channel and bring in a little money for your hard work, one of my favorite features that they added is the ability to set a custom YouTube thumbnail image.

Upload a custom YouTube thumbnail image for your video

Selecting a specific YouTube thumbnail image

Previously, if you wanted to choose a specific shot from your video to be used as a thumbnail, it could be done if you were a skilled video editor and followed these complicated instructions. For most YouTube users though, this was just too difficult to do and frankly, not worth your time. Enter custom YouTube thumbnail images!

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[Download] FREE YouTube Background Image Template

Download Free YouTube background template
One of my favorite ways to engage with fans via social media is through my YouTube channel. Not only is YouTube the #2 search engine, but it’s also a great tool to promote and grow your online presence.  For example, if you’re someone who creates a lot of videos about your products, YouTube is a great place to upload and store your content because not only are your videos available for people searching YouTube or Google, but they can also be embedded on websites or shared via your favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

While uploading your video content to YouTube is a must for anyone who wants to use video to engage better with their audience, one area that often gets overlooked when growing your online presence through YouTube is your YouTube background image.

Although your YouTube background image is a static image that subscribers cannot click, it gives you the opportunity to get creative. For example, you can brand your YouTube channel – simply by changing the colors. This space can also be used to let YouTube subscribers know that you’re also on other social networks or that you have a website.

Customize your YouTube background image

Creating a YouTube background image:

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How to Record A Google+ Hangout

Record a Google+ Hangout

You’ve probably heard of Google+ hangouts.  If not, here’s what they do.  Google+ hangouts let you host video conferences with nearby friends, family across the globe, and hold important meetings with business partners and customers.

A few facts about Google+ hangouts:

While that’s pretty impressive for a free product, what I’m most excited about with Google+ hangouts is the last one – you can record them (through “On-Air”).

Why is it so remarkable that you can record Google+ hangouts?

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Social Media Hex Color Codes

Social Media Color Hex Codes

Knowing the right social media color when working in Adobe Photoshop Elements or your favorite graphics program can help save you valuable time when you need to create a social media icon or match your design to your favorite social network.

Here’s a list of the the hex codes for your favorite social media sites. Be sure to bookmark this page this way you have the right social media colors when you need them.

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