How to use your iPad 2 for Blogging and Video Creation

November 6, 2011 By Jeremiah Staes 4 Comments

There’s no doubt that tablets, especially the iPad, have changed the face of computing. I don’t know if it’ll be the Apple iPad, or another future device, but it’s extremely clear that the computer for the 99% is going to be a simpler, easier to use device.

One of the criticisms of the tablet is that it’s not a content creation device. Well, over the past few months, I’ve found that supposition to be completely incorrect, especially with the coming of the iPad 2. Sure, the video camera on it isn’t the best ever – but it is sure functional. And some might feel that not having a real keyboard is a deal breaker. But that can be quickly remedied – and honestly, I’ve found that if you just trust it you can get very excellent results off of it (in fact, I’ve posted many pieces of content with it, never touching a “real” keyboard). One of the things I’ve learned is that it’s not always about the quality, but what you have on hand, and the iPad helps you become a mobile reporting maven if you let it.

In my travels, I’ve live-blogged, live-tweeted, shot, edited, then uploaded videos on a tour bus, on a boat, and on the street – all off of the iPad 2. But, it doesn’t come out of the box with the functionality you need. For the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on blogging and video creation.

Adding an image in Blogsy

Blogging

First off, forget the official WordPress app. It’s from all appearances made for nerds, not writers. Get Blogsy. It has so many bundled-in features, and most of all, it gives you supreme control over formatting and the ability to post to different platforms. You edit your text, properly format pictures, access your media library, and without as much of the nerdy coding subtext. Yes, you can have that control if you want it, but writers need to write, not be bothered with the fiddly bits. Here’s a few key points:

  • Make sure you have permission to use the photos you select. Just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t mean there are not rights attached to it; look for “Creative Commons” with the appropriate license on Flickr, purchase stock imagery, or use what you shot yourself. And always make sure to give proper credit when using photos with a link.


  • I really like the cover Apple sells for the iPad 2. It provides a nice typing surface when you flip it over at a good angle. If you really need a physical keyboard, the Bluetooth Apple Wireless keyboard works as well I’ve heard some through a USB adapter for the docking port.


  • Might wanna think about Photoshop Express for the iPad. Then you can really get the photos you take how you like them.



Video Creation


iMovie for iPad edit screen involving random still shots and footage

iMovie for the iPad 2 is surprisingly powerful. I love watching people light up when I show them how to edit everything from sideshows to voiceovers to news packages. I remember the days not ten years ago where you needed insanely expensive equipment that made loud (albeit satisfying) noises as the tapes whirred and clunked to make edits happen. A few words to the wise are important, though.

  • Don’t worry about being too fancy. Any editor worth his or her salt will tell you that what you really need are cuts, dissolves, and solid camera work to tell a story, and everything else like funky transitions is usually superfluous noise. Yes, they have themes. And unless you’re trying to be cutesy, stick with something like “Simple.”
  • The camera is easily comparable to a vaunted and discontinued flip cam, but one caveat – when it is dark, the picture will start to fall apart. Always go for the outdoor or well lit shot if you can, and this stuff is for online video. I’ve taken a look on larger screens, and the video, although it says HD, isn’t as pretty as Apple advertises. But it does the job.
  • Remember, message power over megapixels. In news and social content, most times the best camera is the one you have with you. For quick, live, on the scene media, having all of this in one device is really handy, and videos I’ve shot have gotten thousands of views from the iPad 2. That said, know your limits. For finished productions, things requiring color correction or effects, corporate, and advertising work, you’re gonna wanna stick to your pro cameras and editing gear. People still really do notice. Also, your titling options in iMovie are very limited (but functional).

Uploading your content

Both Blogsy and iMovie have YouTube support. It has been my personal experience that if you want something to really travel, despite the higher visual quality of services like Vimeo, YouTube is where the big community is and that’s where you need to be. If you find the comments too vapid, you can turn them off; however, remember, comments many times drive additional views and you can take the initiative and moderate them.

So there’s a few tips on the iPad 2 as a blogging and video creation tool. What techniques/apps/etc. have you found in your experience?

Postscript: Turns out a major update is coming very soon for Blogsy (thanks to them reaching out and spreading the word). I’ll be sure to grab it as soon as it comes out and give you the skinny.

Filed Under: blogging, Tips Tagged With: blogging tips, Blogsy, flip cam replacement, how to, iMovie, iPad, iPad 2' iPad creation tool, ipad content creation, mobile video

The Double Lives Of Your Digital & Social Media Content Team

May 25, 2011 By Jeremiah Staes 1 Comment

With a headline like that, you might think I’m going to tell some salacious tale of scandal, where your team is having completely inappropriate conversations and tearing your brand down left and right.

But I’m not. Because in general, they’re not.

The problem, however, is just as critical, if not worse. It’s apathy.

Take a look. Is your communications team leading a double online life? It’s a strong sign your strategy and content isn’t really strong enough and that you don’t have buy in from your team.

Dear Chief marketing/PR/head muckety muck of all things digital, before you go mandating they turn off their second accounts, please take a moment and listen. It’s not their fault. This is hard medicine, but the reason is probably because your content isn’t worth sharing yet. If someone’s heart is behind something, they’re willing to stand behind their work personally. You’re not in the sweet spot yet.

The bar of your content should be high – because in general, people tune out pure marketing messages in social media. They generally don’t go to Facebook to interact with ads, they go to interact with people. With all of this talk that digital and social are supposed to be different, I rarely see that “different” talk put into practice.

For instance, although people may “like” your page on Facebook, the reality is EdgeRank (their system for showing posts to users) can be really difficult to bust through and get visible. Facebook is generally non-linear and algorithmically curated content. In short, just because you posted the update, it doesn’t mean all of your fans (or even a majority) are seeing it. You need to create content that is “likable” to folks for it to start appearing (even if they hit most recent news, Facebook curates that and brands usually lose out in that curation).

The best way to break through that challenge is to be compelling, so that people in diverse yet somewhat connected social circles actually enjoy your stuff and share it themselves. Facebook knows it’s pretty easy to get a ton of junk “likes” to fan pages – so they’ve made it more than just about the raw numbers of “likes” your page has.

But if your own team has personal followers or friends, and then you end up making them (through mandate or content that is mundane) have some rarely used secondary account to fulfill the quota, you’re just eviscerating your efficacy, because those secondary accounts do not have the pull or interest that their “actual” accounts do.

Your team should be excited and proud enough about your content, many times content they created, to occasionally share without prompting or mandate. Additionally, you can’t ever expect them to blast their stream constantly and keep authenticity. The public can tell when there’s no soul – if the people involved are simply punching a clock – and that mandated share doesn’t really accomplish anything other than making that Tweet or Facebook Like button number go up one notch. If it’s forced, it’ll much less likely be the firestarter that jumps it ten or twenty.

So do a quick gutcheck. Review if you’re making content for yourself – or are you making it for the people you want to engage? Because when I’m doing reviews of things that aren’t working, the sad truth is that what’s being put out just isn’t good enough or it’s completely targeted wrong.

Many times music applies to life in other ways.. and here, I quote Stevie Wonder, “Just because a record has a groove don’t make it in the groove.”

Filed Under: blogging, Business, Social Media, Tips Tagged With: communications, content strategy, facebook, Social Media

Robocop, revolutions and retweets: 5 tips for you

February 21, 2011 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

There was a time when one could, to some degree, ignore the power of the people who use online tools. Now, it seems, there is more power in them than ever. In recent weeks, that power has helped grease the wheels to overthrow an Egyptian government. Locally, it’s funded an oft-discussed statue of Robocop, which has opened a passionate Pandora’s box of feelings on both sides of the issue here.

Things are different now. This small group of influencers (for instance, in the case of Egypt, only 5 million of their 80 million population use Facebook) have outsized power because they’re willing to be vocal. There are visible doers, as I would call them, around the world.

“If you ever doubted the power of the people on Twitter, don’t. You could end up with a revolution or a big ‘ol statue in your backyard.” – A status update of mine

The game has changed.

In some ways, our president, Barack Obama, was the bellwether for this change. His election out of virtual political obscurity and against long initial odds was due to the fact he was able to capture interest and, in some ways most importantly, harness the monetary power of his online supporters.

In short, if you’re an advocate of anything (be it a brand, a presidential candidate, a cause, a musical sound) you have to be listening to and participating in the conversation happening (what we might call “engaged”) or your desires may well be ignored. There is simply no choice because the pendulum of power is quickly moving in that direction.

Personally, in the case of Robocop, I don’t like the symbolism. But I do think the marketing was brilliant. Many people didn’t like what Barack Obama stands for, but they sure are taking his success strategies to heart. This post isn’t meant as a debate about the merits of the causes themselves; this is about how they were effective and how YOU can be effective in your endeavors using the tools at hand.

Five quick mobilization tips:

1) Keep it simple. People like to rally around things they can quickly grasp and understand. Ask your mom. If she gets what you’re trying to do, you have a shot.

2) Be authentic and funny. Like the Red Cross recently showed, even an accidental tweet about getting drunk after work can turn into positivity. Your listeners stay engaged.

3) Be involved with the community before you need it. This is one of the most key parts. It’s almost impossible to voice criticism, answer it, drive action, or much of anything, if you’re starting cold. It’s hard to garner respect when you’re showing up late to the discussion.

4) Make the tools a part of your life. However you use Twitter or Facebook, make it a part of your life. There’s not a “wrong” or “right” way; just ways that accomplish certain goals better. It’s different strokes for different folks. Some use Twitter and Facebook as a news feed that lets them keep up with things of interest; some are more conversational, and others use it as a platform to share their ideas.

5) Shine the spotlight on others. There always needs to be an element of people getting recognition; this concept is ancient. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “It is clear to me that men will die for ribbons.” Nothing has changed since then, except the less dying and more tweeting part. :)

Filed Under: blogging, Social Media, Social Media Fundamentals, Tips Tagged With: Detroit, how social media works, retweet, revolution, Robocop, Twitter tips, visible doers

Put Links in Press Releases Or Your Story Goes In The Trash

July 17, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes 2 Comments

I’m finding a consistent issue. Public relations folks sending press releases or pitches to bloggers, digital news organizations, or others, that don’t even include links. Out of 100 items I see, 80+ will not have links. And this is by PR firms that frankly, should know better.

Most times, people want to help you. But I can guarantee your pitch, dear PR person, will be thrown in the trash or ignored unless you include links to relevant material. I have watched in multiple situations over the past few months otherwise good stories get chucked because it’s just too much work.

With so many things coming at once, the first revision of cuts goes to all the people who have made the story difficult to put together. And social media coverage? Provide no links and you can completely forget about it. That works in real time.

Do you have an event? Have a place where you have all the information online, and even better, a place to sign up.  A product reveal? Bloggers need to be able to easily get pictures of the thing.

No Excuses

The good news is that there is ZERO reasonable excuse to not do this. There’s free and cheap services – even some that integrate with email services like Constant Contact (disclosure – a PDM partner) that offer automatic archiving if you sent your press release via email. A press release isn’t the preferred link (a link in context to your site or blog is better) but it’s a start.

Let’s think about this logically. How is someone supposed to tweet, Facebook, etc. without a link to somewhere? They’re going to have to create all the content themselves. And that realistically just doesn’t happen very often. You’re making a for a much higher bar to get coverage or noticed.

Not to mention, even when writing their own material, journalists and bloggers want links to refer to. The links give their post credibility online, and obviously, some traffic to your site (not to mention, the easier you make the job, the better you’ll do).

So get more coverage for your clients – and look better yourself.  Put links in your communications.

I may add some suggestions, but I’d love to hear yours on ways folks can reinforce their press releases and communications with links, knowing that at times they might not even have access to their company website for changes (a real challenge in many more businesses than you may think).

Filed Under: blogging, Business, Rant, Social Media, Social Media Fundamentals, Tips Tagged With: Bloggers, links, links in press releases, pitches, PR, press releases, Tips

Blinders

January 14, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes 1 Comment

I don’t normally write my blog entries aimed for other social media professionals. After all, there’s a lot of knowledge out there – I aim to distill things to my audience, which I know is more executive and marketing related but not necessarily in the digital space. If a fellow SMP gets value, awesome, and I welcome you – but my reader base generally isn’t you.

But this post, I’m going to address you, fellow Social Media Professionals, and hopefully give value to my typical reader.

Take Off The Blinders.

horseblinders

I’m noticing some things falling through the cracks – people hyping different things as if it were the second coming of Steve Jobs, but at the end of the day, not producing desired results. It’s almost as if many SMPs out there have decided that social media can do no wrong, and that THE way to do it is the way they and their techno-elite friends do it (by the way, I’m one of those technophiles, for sure).

But your target market, unless you’re selling tech to early adopters, probably has no idea what FriendFeed is. I explain Foursquare at least once a week. The value isn’t evident. There’s a reason way more people use Farmville than Twitter.

Non-techies get the point of Farmville, even though it’s much more complicated of an interface.

Because it’s not about the interface, it’s about the value proposition.

More people see value in having a fake farm than Tweeting.

Think about this.

Done? Next.

It Seems The Internet and Social Marketing Pros Have A Problem.

I recently saw a post that was all about how “Lands’ End isn’t visible.” Blinders completely. As of this writing Land’s End has 250,000+ Facebook fans and quite honestly a different demographic than Zappos, with 29k or so. Yah. 29k. On Facebook, at least, Lands’ End has almost NINE TIMES more fans than Zappos.

It just isn’t the social media elite demographic, highlighted out of the valley, so it was missed. But it was still in the minds of people. It’s humming along selling stuff. It’s popular. Obviously, raw fan numbers are not your only metric of success, but a lot of people have been missing the boat.

Seem as if we as a group don’t use it or it’s not OUR work flow or in our frame of “cool” visibility, we (royal we) denigrate and talk about how others “don’t get it” or it’s a “poor choice.”

You know what? I know success on the oft-maligned MySpace in certain situations.

I’ve worked with blogs who get tens of thousands of unique visitors but few comments – but high conversions. Most of the time, readers in non-SM circles call blog posts “articles.” I’ve seen it time and time and time again.

I know people who get 5,000+ word diatribes from other “experts,” but, although their blog isn’t designed to my aesthetic taste, it works for them apparently and gets them business. Bravo to her. I’m not her target market anyway. If I were, it’d be designed differently.

One of the biggest indie musicians’ sites is the definition of basic – but because he covers so many bases contentwise that countless zoom-bang flash sites do not, including showcasing his awesome – it helped him get relatively huge and make a real career sans label.

Or the pervasive myth that content has to be short at all times – sure, short content is great – but why are the biggest podcasts around long-form, sometimes easily exceeding an hour long? Because they’re good. It takes skill to be good for a whole hour or longer, regularly. And that’s why the previous example is making millions of dollars and in this next linked case have plenty of listeners and a loyal following.

A Parting Thought

I’ve always been fascinated behind the real reasons and incentives why things happen, as opposed to the hype of them. Many times, while one hand is dealing the cards, the other is distracting you from the real “magic” that’s happening.

What are the non-sexy methods that you find that work? What about newer tools and techniques that you’ve found make it happen for your strategy?

Filed Under: Advertising, blogging, Business, Online Marketing Fundamentals, Rant, Social Media, Tips, Web Sites Tagged With: blinders, facebook, farmville, land's end, myspace, rss, rss is dead, Social Media, social media professionals, Twitter, zappos
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