Social Media Archives | Jenuine Marketing

Why You Should Stop Using Google Image Results

Blog, Facebook, Images, Social Media, Websites

We all know that images are a great way to catch people’s eye. And it can be tempting to do a Google search to find the perfect image to match your words. After all, it’s quick, easy, and the pictures that you see in the Google results look so amazingly wonderful that you just can’t wait to slap them on your own Facebook page / Twitter update / blog post!!

But hold on a second. The reason the pictures that show up in Google images look so gosh darn brilliant is that a lot of them are copyrighted. Applications and websites such as tineye.com (a reverse image search tool) make it very easy for image owners to find out who is using their pictures without permission. You might get away with using someone else’s image and no one will be the wiser. Or you could end up with an angry email from someone asking you to take the image down, or even threaten to sue you for copyright image infringement.

So what (legal) options are available for a non-graphic designer like yourself?

Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Use your own photos. Today’s smartphones feature some pretty great cameras, and I’m sure you’re already taking oodles of photos. Simply scroll through your own pictures and upload an image to suit your content.

2. Enhance your own photos. Use an app like Instagram to add a filter, put a box around your image, or enhance the picture. There are also apps such as Frametastic, Mosaic, and YourMoments (and many other apps as well) that let you make photo collages, add text, fun borders, and much more. Have fun, create an awesome graphic, and then email it to yourself so that you can access it from your computer (or post right away using your phone).

3. Use non-copyrighted images. There are many websites that feature free, non-copyrighted images that are uploaded from users around the world. My go-to site is free-images.com It requires a (free) registration to download images, but the pictures are free and you can use them without worrying about copyright violations. Other suggestions are rgbstock, Dollar Photo Club and morgueFile. You can also check out this blog post by Jacob Gube titled “Where to Find the Best Free Stock Photos” and “53+ Free Image Sources For Your Blog and Social Media Posts” on the buffersocial blog.

4. PicMonkey. Although I’ve only used PicMonkey a few times (I usually use Photoshop instead), it’s a great online tool to edit and modify your images. You can easily add text, your company logo, filters, frames, and much more. It’s free to use, although there are premium features that require a paid subscription to unlock. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in creating custom images for your online content.

Finally, if I can’t convince you to stop using other people’s images, at the very least include credit to the image creator and a link to the original source.

Any suggestions for places to find great images? Let me know in the comments!
Like this post? Please click the share buttons to let other people know.

This Morning I Read on Twitter…

Blog, Social Media, Twitter

I usually advise about social media practices for companies. But the same advice can also be taken by individuals, especially if you would like to become more acquainted with the vast array of online networks before your own company embarks down the twisty, colourful world of social media.

My first recommendation is to start small. There are a mind-boggling number of social networks out there, from the common-place such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, to the lesser-known such as Athlinks, Elixio and LibraryThing. But don’t go out there and sign up for every network possible. Instead, start small with one or two. My recommendations for the top five to choose from are: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest. And when selecting a network to explore, put some thought into your choice. Does your company have a great Facebook page and you’d like to be able to contribute some content ideas? Are all of your friends more up-to-date with what’s going on in the world because of their great Twitter network? Then all the more reason to get involved yourself.

The next step is to create your profile. Most social networks have a great FAQ section about how to get started, and when in doubt, there is a plethora of information to be found by a quick search engine query. A quick note: when entering your information, please use your real name and photo. A lot of people take issue with privacy these days. However, a quick Google search will probably result in more information about yourself than you thought existed online, especially if you are a director or C-level individual at a company, or if you are involved in non-for-profits. Your social media profile is an opportunity to display accurate information about yourself, and adjusting the social network’s privacy settings will ensure that only that information you wish to be public will actually be shared. As well, most social networks are indexed by the major search engines, so this is an opportunity to expand the content displayed in your own search results.

Believe it or not, most people get serious writer’s block when it comes to their first posting. Best to just get it over with and save the agony for something more important. How about, “This is my first post on [insert network name]”? Then, get to “listening” – use the network’s features to follow existing users and see what they post. It will give you ideas about what to share in the future. You can even group the users you follow based on particular topics, such as “Lists” in Twitter and “Interests” in Facebook, so that the content you are presented with is in-line with your own interests.

One of the biggest tools that I recommend to companies is a posting schedule. These can be quite involved, depending on the number of networks involved and the overall objectives. But on an individual basis, this can be as simple as slotting in time a few days a week to engage in social media. Put it in the calendar on your computer and on your phone, and spend a little time each week contributing and listening. Perhaps on Monday and Wednesday morning, you write a short post or share an interesting link or event. And on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, you take ten minutes to review what has been happening online and respond to one or two people’s posts. And that is enough. Unless you find yourself wanting to interact more often, which can happen. Social media can be a surprisingly entertaining way to fill the time when waiting in line at the store, and can help keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings in your industry or city.

Finally, relax, give it time, and avoid social media burnout. Don’t post every day to LinkedIn for a week, get frustrated because no one is responding and then delete your profile. The key word in social media is “social” – and you need to allow time to develop online relationships, just like you do in real life. At the end of the day, having a grasp of the nuances of the social media world will enable you to contribute to your company’s online presence in a meaningful way. And before you know it, you will be starting sentences with, “This morning I read on Twitter…”

[Note: This article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of the Corporate Recruiters newsletter].

Does your LinkedIn profile need some sprucing up?

Blog, Branding, LinkedIn, Networking, Social Media

Too often, as I am browsing through LinkedIn to find new connections, I see people I know but I hesitate when it comes to adding them as contacts. Why? Because their LinkedIn profile is so lacking that I feel like adding them would be a waste of time.

If you have a LinkedIn profile, you should at least complete the following info:

A profile picture. I mean, does this picture actually make you want to connect with someone?
Your full first and last name. I understand the desire for privacy but chances are there is already lots of information about you out there on the internet (related: have you done a Google search of your full name lately?). LinkedIn is a professional social media site, and if you are going to be on it, you should use your full name so that people know who they are connecting with.
A list of your work experience. Seeing a profile that just lists one current occupation looks empty and incomplete. Take some time to list other positions you have held over the years.
Check in occasionally to accept invitations to connect, and to browse and add other people who you may know. If you only have 10 connections, it doesn’t look like you’ve made much of an effort.

For bonus points, consider adding these extras to your LinkedIn profile:

Your city and province / state. There are some instances where you may want your profile to say only the province or state (such as a real estate agent who wants to serve a broad area) but the majority of the time, it will help you connect with others if you are specific with your geographic area.
Descriptions of past jobs. Add some information about positions you’ve held and, if applicable, add a link to the companies’ LinkedIn profiles.
A summary. This section is the first major portion of your LinkedIn profile that people see, and it gives you a chance to express yourself however you like. You can talk about your accomplishments, skills, clarify your business offerings – it’s up to you. And if you’re stuck, look up other people’s profiles on LinkedIn for some inspiration.

Are you on LinkedIn? I invite you to connect with me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhames

Biggest Twitter Pet Peeves

Blog, How-To, Social Media, Twitter

Photo by JadeGordon

I love Twitter. I started using it back 2008 and in my opinion, Twitter is a great source of information about topics that interest me. It also keeps me entertained and up-to-date with what’s going on in my community, country and the world.

However, there are some Twitter pet peeves out there that annoy me and they come mostly from other users rather than Twitter itself.

The egg-head profile pic – when you first sign up for Twitter, you have the option to upload a profile picture from your computer. If you’re shy or have internet privacy issues, use a picture of your dog. Or a sunset. Or a tree. Just pick something; because when I see that I have a new follower who looks like an egg-head, I almost always choose to not follow them back. And if you don’t know how to upload an image, just Google it. There are oodles of how-to websites out there that will give you step-by-step instructions.

No bio information – similar to the egg-head profile pic, not filling out these sections is just plain annoying. Why am I going to follow you if I have no idea what you Tweet about? Sure, I can click and view your most recent Tweets. But that doesn’t always fill me in. So just take a minute out of your day to write something.

Polluting the Twitter feed – it drives me crazy when people or businesses post nothing all day long and then all of a sudden post twenty Tweets in a row. If you only have an hour a day to Tweet, then use a scheduling tool such as HootSuite or TweetDeck to spread your Tweets out over an extended period of time so that your Tweets can be enjoyed by others in moderation.

Continuing to use image tools like Instagram – I know Instagram has awesome image filters that make your photos look funky. I like it too – but I limit my sharing to Facebook. Why? Because when your Instagram Tweets show up in my Twitter feed, I can’t view the images anymore by clicking on the easy little “View photo” button. Instead, I have to click a link that takes me to another website and that’s just plain annoying because, let’s face it, I’m lazy. Yes, your photos still show up in my TweetDeck feed, so I’m not as angry about this one. But when I’m standing in line at the post office browsing through my Twitter feed, I would really like to be able to easily view your wonderful pictures.

Auto-posting your Facebook status updates – when you auto-post your Facebook updates, they are usually way over the 140 Twitter character limit. So they ended up being displayed as a truncated post with a link to the status update on your Facebook page. Firstly, similar to my beef with Instagram, using auto Facebook posts requires me to click a link and go to another website. I’m lazy, remember? Secondly, I’m using Twitter for a reason. So don’t send me to a different social media network – I’ll head over to Facebook when I’m good and ready, thank-you-very-much. And thirdly, why should I bother to follow you on both Twitter and Facebook if you’re just saying the exact same thing on both networks?

Saying the exact same thing over and over – if you post the same message in duplicate, especially if it has a link, you just look spammy. And who actually likes spam? So switch it up: think of different ways to describe your link and sandwich it in between other non-link posts.

So there you have it, my top Twitter pet-peeves.
Do you agree? Have any of your own to share? Let me know in the comments.

Fav Webinars

Blog, Social Media

Webinars – photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/profile/arinas74

I don’t know about you, but lately my email inbox has been filling up with lots of messages telling me about upcoming webinars. I used to just click delete because I would much rather scroll quickly through a written post than listen to someone drone on. But then I actually watched one. And the funny thing was, I actually liked it. I could sit and learn while being entertained, browse through emails when I got bored, and take notes – something I almost never do when speed-reading through blog posts and news articles.

While I try to watch webinars live, sometimes life just gets in the way. So I appreciate the individuals and companies who send emails after the webinar is finished with a link to watch the replay.

Three favourite email lists that I belong to that put on good webinars are:

What about you? Any favourite sites for webinars?
Or do you host webinars yourself? I’d love to follow some more great content.

5 Reasons Why TweetDeck is a Great Twitter Tool

Blog, HootSuite, How-To, Organization, Social Media, TweetDeck, Twitter

When I first started on Twitter back in 2008, I viewed all Tweets within the Twitter interface. Then, I got hooked on HootSuite, especially when I started managing multiple Twitter accounts. I’m still a paying subscriber to HootSuite and love using the cute little Hootlet add-on to easily share interesting URL’s on Twitter. But something just seemed to be missing.

Enter TweetDeck. This slick desktop application (I prefer the downloaded version, although you can access it online as well) is always running in the background and has become my favourite way to interact with users on Twitter.

Here’s 5 reasons why I like TweetDeck so much:

1. Visually attractive – let’s face it, looks matter. And TweetDeck just plain looks good. I love the black background, the well-sized Twitter profile pics, and the fact that you can always view thumbnail images of pics that people post on Twitter.

2. It still displays Instagram images – as you may have heard, Twitter and Instagram went through a big breakup at the end of 2012. Basically, the end result was that Instagram pictures no longer display within the Twitter interface; instead, you need to click on a link and be taken to another page to view the image. Not so with TweetDeck! You can still view thumbnail images of kids, half-eaten restaurant dishes and scenery shots and also view the full-sized images within TweetDeck.

Update November 2014: Instagram images are no longer displayed in TweetDeck; instead, you need to click on the link and view the image in your browser.

3. Easily view different streams – using TweetDeck’s columns feature, you can add a new column for whichever Twitter account, list, or search result you want. And then you can quickly flip back and forth between them, making it quick and simple to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in your version of the Twittersphere.

4. It makes noise – you can turn on or off sound alerts for each of your columns, so that you hear a ding every time someone messages you, mentions you, writes a Tweet that matches your search criteria, etc. (If you want to make my computer ding, just mention @jenhames on Twitter!)

5. It’s free – I already pay for lots of social media tools and services, so it’s great to find such a great tool that is free.

Do you use TweetDeck? Love it or hate it?
Then leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Pin This – 7 Great Articles About Pinterest

Blog, How-To, Pinterest, Social Media

You may have noticed your Facebook and Twitter feeds got a little more cluttered the past few months with people sharing their most recent “Pins” – pictures of recipes they want to make, clothes they want to buy, and places they want to stay.

But Pinterest isn’t just for annoying your friends and followers – I’ve talked to several marketers whose clients are getting great traffic referral by sharing their website’s content on Pinterest. So here’s a collection of 7 great articles I’ve been reading the past few weeks that all address the newest kid on the social media block.

7 Pinterest Articles to Check Out

The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing – Some great info here from Hubspot.com about what Pinterest is, some suggested ettiquette, how to set up an account, and 13 creative ways to use Pinterest for marketing. I think the best tip is #10, “Use Hashtags”. You can integrate Pinterest into your existing social media strategy and use the same hashtags that you are currently using on Twitter and Google+.
13 ‘Pinteresting’ Facts About Pinterest Users – An infographic from Mashable.com that shows some interesting stats about the social network’s users. Namely that the majority are women (68%), the biggest age demographic is 25-34, and half have children.
Why Pinterest Matters to Us Social Media Marketers – Chris Abraham admits that he didn’t get Pinterest at first. But he sure does now – check out his very good ideas of how to create influential visualizations that will capture the interest of your audience.
Pin Your Way to Popularity: How to Generate Traffic with Pinterest – As much fun as it is to pin pretty pictures from all over the internet, as a small business owner, it needs to have a practical application as well. Carla Young writes about seven suggestions to use Pinterest to drive business and traffic.
How Can Non-Visual Brands Harness Pinterest? – Because sometimes it’s just fun to watch video. So check out the first 2 1/2 minutes of this clip from PRDaily with the staff from ePrize at the NASDAQ studios in New York.
6 Ways to Drive More Pinterest Engagement – Once you’ve established a presence on Pinterest, you need to interact your new followers. Social Media Examiner brings you 6 ways to engage your fans. I especially like #2, which suggests adding one of your followers as a board contributor.
The 10 Commandments of Using Pinterest for Business – A fun, super cute infographic about best practices. Number 10 is so important – ‘Research & Measure’! Remember to check your analytics for new traffic from your efforts.

So there you have it; my favourite Pinterest articles from the past few weeks. Have you been busy pinning all of your interests? Have you used Pinterest for business yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

How good is the Facebook Pages app?

Blog, Facebook, Social Media, Updates

Have you tried out the new Facebook Pages app? For anyone who manages at least one Facebook page, this is a great addition, and even better for those of us who manage multiple pages. But it does have its limitations…

So what can you actually do with this app? Well, you can:

View page posts and filter them to show either only the page’s posts, or everyone’s posts
Like and comment on the page’s posts
Write a new post or share a photo
View a list of the people and pages who like the page
See new notifications
View a list of admins associated with the page
And the most important thing is the ability to view a simplified insights overview for the page

And the limitations?

Much of what you can do with this app, you can also do on the regular Facebook mobile app (provided you have set up your page correctly), such as writing new posts, sharing photos and liking and commenting on posts
While you are able to view a list of page admins, you can’t change their authorizations or add or delete admins. Clicking on an individual admin simply takes you to their Facebook profile on the main Facebook app
The insights provided are very simple compared to the advanced insights available on the web version

So what do you think of the new Facebook pages app?

Bridging the gap

Blog, Branding, How-To, Networking, Social Media

Some companies find that the people who interact with their brand online are not actively consuming their products and services. And other companies are unsure of how to engage their paying customers online, in order to keep them informed and increase sales. So how do you bridge the gap?

For those companies looking to encourage their online followers to purchase their products and services, here are some suggestions:

Share information about new products and services on your online channels, so that your followers are the first to know
Provide a coupon that is exclusive to your online audience
Consider using a coupon service such as Groupon
Use all of the analytics tools available to examine your online audience – perhaps you are posting the wrong content at the wrong times, and missing the opportunity to motivate your followers to purchase

And here are some ideas for companies looking how to engage customers online:

Make a sign asking people to follow the company on Twitter, FB, FourSquare, etc. and place it in a visible spot, such as at the cash register, in the store-front window, or on the reception desk
Either speak to or send an email at the end of each completed transaction requesting customers and clients to review your product or service on Yelp, TripAdvisor, their blog (with a backlink), LinkedIn, or to submit a testimonial for publishing on your website. You could even offer a small discount for the first time a person submits a review
Make sure that your business cards, invoices and receipts all have your company’s online channels (such as website, email, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.) and use a branded URL (www.facebook.com/jenuinemarketing rather than www.facebook.com/pages/jenuinemarketing.com/329314030428208)
When people give you their business card, enter the email address into your email database so that your new contacts will receive your next e-newsletter (just make sure that your e-newsletter disclaimer clearly states why they are receiving the email)

Do you have any other suggestions?

Keeping on Top of Life: The To-Do List, Revised

Blog, Organization, Social Media

Keeping up with social media networks, researching marketing best practices and pouring through content takes a lot of time. But it’s also enjoyable (for me, at least) and easily accomplished. The rest of my business tasks, as well as personal tasks, however, require a bit more planning and structure, a.k.a. lists.

I’ve always been a fan of lists. I have grocery lists, travel packing lists, client lists. And also the dreaded to-do list. Years ago, my to-do lists consisted of scribbles on anything I could get my hands on, from scraps of papers to old envelopes. But as my work evolved and I took on more responsibilities, the time eventually came for my lists to get a bit more sophisticated.

Enter my beautiful to-do book, which is the perfect size to fit in every bag I own. I even wrote my favourite organization quote on the inside for inspiration: “Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy; act on large issues while they are small.”

Recently, I read the book “Organizing Your Day: Time Management Techniques That Will Work for You” by Marsha Sims and Sandra Felton (who also has the amazingly inspiring website, Messies Anonymous). In the book, the authors suggest making your to-do list more powerful by separating it into sections. So now each time I start a new to-do list page, I begin by dividing each page into four quadrants: Go, Do, Buy and Contact.

[blockquote align=”right” cite=”Lao Tzu”]Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy; act on large issues while they are small.[/blockquote]

“Go” means places that I need to go, such as the post office, bank, coffee shop. “Do” refers to things I need to accomplish, such as filing papers or writing a blog post. “Buy” means exactly that, things I need to buy, which may include stamps, office supplies or dog food. The book originally listed “Call” as the fourth quadrant, but for me, “Contact” is a better heading as I may need to call, email, Facebook message, or text someone.

I love this new system, because it gives some order to my tasks and forces me to be a bit more thoughtful when I write something in my book.

How do you stay on top of your to-do items? Does it need revising?