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How to Recycle Content the 10 Best Ways

April 7, 2016 By 6 Comments
How to Recycle Content the 10 Best Ways

How to Recycle Content the 10 Best Ways

Since it’s almost Earth Day, it’s a good time to talk about recycling your content on social media. It’s also a very good time to prevent your brain from exploding. Recycling your content, as it turns out, is a very good way to prevent your brain from exploding. If you need other reasons to keep your brain from exploding, you might want to read: Content Curation: 5 Killer Reasons It’s Your New BFF.

splash on wall photo

Photo by Caden Crawford

Start with Your Blog

Your blog is like the torso of your efforts. Everything starts there. The “limbs” are the different social platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. You may be a starfish, with five arms, or an octopus with eight limbs. Or maybe you’re a mollusk, with only one leg. But I digress. Create your content on your blog, with plenty of nice, fat keywords.

Recycling Tip: Go back to your older blog posts and see which can be rewritten. A slightly different slant can give new life to an old post!

toast breakfast photo

Tweet Your Post

Not only should you tweet your blog post, but if you’ve done your homework and gotten some social capital, ask for people to retweet. “Please retweet!” you might say. And then pin that tweet to the top of your Twitter feed so anyone coming there can see it. If you don’t have social capital, this is an excellent post on Reciprocation from my bud Bridget Willard.

Recycling Tip: Retweet your own tweet later. That’s right. When the initial excitement of that tweet is over, retweet your own post again. You could use a different headline and a different image. Or not. Up to you. Guy Kawasaki repeats his posts, and here’s Guy’s strategy.

italy photo

Photo by tian2992

Pin on Pinterest

You do have a blog board on Pinterest, don’t you? If you don’t, make one right away! And then pin your blog post there. You might also want to join a group board so that you can pin your wonderful writing there, too. Here’s how to join a group board.

Recycling Tip: If your pin doesn’t get repinned the first time, pin it at a different time and delete the first pin. Make sure you’ve added your key words to the description. You could also add it to a different board, at a different time.

italy photo

Photo by Moyan_Brenn

Facebook

Facebook is a little trickier, unless you post a lot every day.

Recycling Tip: Use #TBT (Throwback Thursday) or ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) to repeat old posts. And add some different text, for heaven’s sake!

orbit photo

Email Marketing

Remember that blog post? Take pieces of it and put it into your email newsletter. Maybe use a different image, from further down in the post, and add a sentence or two.

orbit photo

Instagram

Instagram has been taking off the last couple of years, with more people using it.

Recycling Tip: Regram your own posts, and change up the hashtags. Of course, recycle the hashtags, too!

loch ness photo

Photo by Moyan_Brenn

Google Plus

There’s some disagreement as to whether Google Plus is still relevant. Many Social Media Managers think that it isn’t. Most agree that it’s a ghost town, and that posting there helps with SEO.

orbit photo

Photo by jenny downing

YouTube

Videos are one of the best ways to get attention from your audience. Short videos, in particular work very well on social.

Recycling Tip: Chop up your video and reuse it in different ways. You could take a one-minute video and create three or four shorter videos.

miami night photo

Photo by CityscapeGUY

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is often described as the “sleeping giant” of social media.

Recycling Tip: Share one of your favorite posts in a LinkedIn group at a different time.

 denali photo

Recycle Your Images

If you’ve created terrific images, you could recycle them. For instance, you could make a calendar from Instagram photos. Or Create magnets from Pinterest images.

Recycling Tip: Use this link, which friend Kittie Walker shared on Twitter (follow her on Twitter ~ @avidmode), to recycle your images from Instagram.

loch ness photo

Photo by E. D’Ascoli Photographies

How Do You Recycle?

Do you recycle? How?

kyoto photo

Photo by Moyan_Brenn

 

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Social Media in 60 Minutes a Day

October 1, 2015 By 10 Comments

Social Media in 60 Minutes a Day

You’re creating your new app, your new software, or your new restaurant. You’ve been at it for months. Suddenly, you look up. Oh no! You need social media. You have to spread the word! But you have nothing! What to do, what to do?  After all, 72% of all internet users are now active on social media (Jeff Bullas).

Top Traffic Generators

Look at the Top Traffic Generators

  1. Facebook has 1.44 billion monthly active users, of whom 65% are daily users (VentureBeat)
  2. Twitter has 316 million monthly active users (Twitter)
  3. LinkedIn has 300 million users (Forbes)
  4. Google+ has a few million active users (TechTimes)
  5. Pinterest has 50 million users (Mashable)
  6. YouTube has 1 billion monthly active users (Social Media Hat)
  7. Instagram has 300 million monthly users (CNN Money)

 

Consider Your Demographic

And please don’t say it’s everyone! Are they Millennials? Women with college degrees? Of a particular ethnicity? This article from Pew Research gives an excellent overview. Then consider where that person shops, eats, and lives. Ask five people who would use your product or service how they use social media. A short survey could help. Don’t forget to consider the visual aspect of your business. That is, is it very visual or not at all visual? If it’s very visual, Pinterest and Instagram are good choices.

Consider age, gender, ethnicity, as well as interests and level of techno-savvytude.

Pick Three

Pick Three

Choose the three that appeal most to your target audience. Let’s say you’ve picked Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The easiest way is to begin with the one you already know or use.

Narrow Your Choices to One

Narrow it to One

Start with the platform you already know to hit the ground running. Say you’re already a Facebook user. Set up a business account. Set up your profile, business hours, and physical address if you have one. Then: 1. Post when your fans are online, 2. Use large, beautiful pictures. 3. Use Facebook’s native scheduler.

Choose Daily Topics

Say you’re going to post five times a week, Monday through Friday. Let’s say you have a restaurant, for instance.

Your daily topics could be:

  • Monday: DIY food, specials
  • Tuesday: Behind the scenes with the chefs, nutrition
  • Wednesday: Wines and beer that goes with food
  • Thursday: Comfort food
  • Friday: Why people deserve to have dinner out, Happy Hour

 

Rinse and Repeat

Once you have Facebook under control (it will take more time in the beginning, naturally), add Twitter to the mix. Then add Pinterest. Now spend 20 minutes per social platform (use the same or similar topics). Schedule some posts and engage with people. Of course, this is greatly simplified. Facebook is not Twitter is not Pinterest. But you get the gist.

Still Stuck?

Hire a social media manager. Here are some things ten of the worst social media managers do. Make sure yours don’t do any of them. Let me know what else you’d like to know in the comments!

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Transform Your Brilliant Content: Ten Ways to Recycle Content

July 31, 2014 By 4 Comments
Transform Your Brilliant Content

Transform Your Brilliant Content

Ten Ways to Recycle Content

Ever had a great idea that you weren’t sure how to share without making all your friends crazy? Sure you have! You have one of those right now…sitting in your back pocket. That idea for a Portable Solar Dog Grooming Truck, for instance, needs to be seen. Or that website for cats who take selfies (you even bought the CatsWhoTakeSelfies.com domain and a GoPro!) just begs to be released unto the world. But how?

Blog

Your website is the basis of all great ideas. This is where the ideas live. Use your blog to expand your brilliant idea, adding pictures, drawings, and video, if possible (more about video below). Once you’ve written about your idea, you can begin to spin it into other formats. This is where the fun begins!

Twitter

Yes, you’ll need to tweet about your great idea. Take different snippets, add different pictures, and voila! A blogpost of a few hundred words can become many tweets. Don’t forget to pin your newest post to the top of your Twitter feed, along with an image. Twitter has become more and more image-centric, so take advantage.

Pinterest

Speaking of images, you can pin your blog post to your blog board (here’s my blog board, by the way). Include search terms so that people looking for your topic can find it. Anything with cats and selfies, or cute, wet dogs has to be on Pinterest. Unless it already is!

Facebook

Maybe only 3 or 4 people will see it on Facebook unless you promote it, but still. You have to put it there. And the more you post and interact on Facebook, the better the chances that your content will be found.

LinkedIn

Create a more scholarly headline to get people to click on that link. I like this example of good LinkedIn headlines, from LinkedIn Makeover.

YouTube

Why not create a video of your blog post and put it up on YouTube? YouTube is absolutely wonderful, especially if you have a how-to video that needs to be seen.

Instagram

Pictures of cute dogs and cats! Who could resist? Hashtag it like crazy. That’s how people find you on Instagram, and everyone seems to hashtag everything shamelessly.

Solid Gold

When your content gets a little old, you can bring it back to life. You can rewrite an older blog piece by changing about one-third of it and adding pictures. If you’ve been blogging for a year or two, this is a good way to reuse content.

Create an eBook

Once you have a few posts, you can bundle a few and create an eBook. For instance, you could take your solar idea and bundle that with some other posts you’ve written for a book about portable solar.

Make a Slideshare

If you’re good with images, you could make a PowerPoint that you share with your friends on social media. This could go on all channels, and in this new format, many people might relate to it more. Or you could find someone who could do it for you.

Podcast

Many people are audible learners, and prefer learning by listening. Or they’d love to listen to you speak your idea. You can have someone transcribe your Hangout on Air or blog post and then use the podcasts for still another purpose.

How Do You Recycle Content?

Each time you switch mediums you’ll come up with some new ideas, which will appeal to a different audience. Some people love video, some like to listen, and some want to scroll quickly through images. What’s your favorite way to recycle?

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Baby Boomers and Social Media

October 31, 2013 By 13 Comments
Baby Boomers and Social Media

Baby Boomers and Social Media

If you’re a baby boomer, you already know a lot about how to be social. For instance, would I have to ask you twice what the “magic words” are? Would you know what elements make a good letter? Could you go on a picnic and just be at the picnic, without having to whip out an electronic device? There you go! Each one of these instances is a good reason why you, as a Boomer, is a perfect candidate for social media. Here’s a funny article about the differences between baby boomers and Gen Y.

Insecurity

Let me backtrack a bit by saying that I meet Baby Boomers all the time who feel insecure about social media. I think it doesn’t have to be that way. They think they have nothing to say, and yet they have more experience than younger people, and have been through all kinds of economic downturns, changes in employment, divorce, and much more. So of course you as a Boomer have something to say. The issue may be that you feel insecure around younger people who have grown up with Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and YouTube. And if you’re a Boomer connected on social media, I like Brian Solis’ “Gen C” label.

The Magic Words

Most Boomers know how to use the words “please” and “thank you,” and they know when. Believe me, (please), when I tell you that saying “thank you” is very important. In a world of ingratitude, your thank you means so very much. Maybe good manners can be taught at a later age, but since you probably already have good manners, you have an edge on social media, so that isn’t an issue.

Writing a Letter

Another skill that many Boomers have is the ability to write a letter–a skill that can be transferred to writing email, a blog, crafting a few Facebook posts, or tweeting. Seriously. The ability to write in one form can easily be transferred to another. So you have the edge there, too.

Going on a Picnic

Going on a picnic without checking a phone is easy for a boomer

Going on a picnic without checking a phone is easy for a boomer

Now this one might sound a little strange to you. But the ability to just talk without checking an electronic device is getting more and more rare. The other day, with some of my friends, I realized that no one had checked in, tweeted, posted, or made a video for a couple of hours. Weird, right?! And how wonderful to just have a conversation without thinking it might end up being posted on someone’s wall.

Drive Your Online Conversations Offline

It’s great to meet people online, but there is really no substitute for meeting people face to face and having an actual conversation. And that is where baby boomers really shine. Having grown up without cell phones, tablets, and laptops, boomers know how to talk! Because if you really needed to talk to someone, you’d go over to their house and knock on their door. Who does that any more? So take those conversations offline where you’re really comfortable.

Social Media is Just Tools

Really. Social media is bits and bytes, but in the end, it’s just a tool. You can meet and talk to a lot of people (sometimes all at once) using social media. But if you think of social media as something like a telephone or another appliance to be learned, maybe the intimidation factor will go away. Because as a Boomer you already have the tools you need. Don’t you?

 

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Social Media Meetups We’d Like to See

July 9, 2013 By 4 Comments
Social Media Meetups We'd Like to See

Social Media Meetups We’d Like to See

Have you signed up to get email from Meetup.com? If so, then you get a few emails from them every day, showing you some meetups that you’d supposedly be interested in. “20-somethings partying the night away” and “Hikers Who Speak Tagalog” could very well be in the same email.

What’s a Gal to Do? Create her own meetup, of course! Here are some of mine. Feel free to create your own, and then send me an email!

Tweeters Without Washing Machines or Change

#MismatchedSockExchange

#MismatchedSockExchange

We could meet at a public laundromat or any place where we could get change. We could take turns watching each other’s laundry, folding, telling our worst laundry stories, and tweeting. Hashtag: #MismatchedSockExchange

Not a 20-Something

Let’s be frank. We’re tired of Millennials. Let’s get together and not talk about Millennials. They’re not invited. If anyone can figure out how, we’ll make a video about something non-Millennial-related and post it on YouTube. No one will watch it, but still.

Seriously Old School

Do people tell you you're a Luddite?

Do people tell you you’re a Luddite?

Do people tell you you’re “old school” or a Luddite? No, me neither! Do you still have an aol account that you cling to like a security blanket? Do you think Twitter is only for talking about food? Perfect. You have found your people. And when people show up to this meetup, thinking it’s about social media, their phones are taken away, and they get a lecture about the evils of social media.

iCanHazCheeseBurger Meme Lovers

Because how can there be too many pictures of cute cats? Or jokes? Or stories about cats? And yes! You can bring your cats if they have their own carriers. We’ll each share our favorite icanhazcheeseburger meme. And make our own memes.

Overposters Anonymous

When you can’t sleep, you post. You post closeups of your face, your tattoos, your kids, your kids’ butts, you post when you’re drunk and when you’re high. You go to a lot of restaurants and you post pictures of food, perfectly lit. Sometimes you Instagram said pictures. Sometimes you post from Instagram to Facebook or to Twitter. You know who you are. You disrespect underposters.

Those Who Put Tape Over Their Webcam Viewers

Is this you? I didn’t think so. Could be, though. Really? That’s not you? It seems like it could be you. Ok. It’s not you. But you do think there are aliens living among us, right? Thought so.

Is There a Meetup You’d Like to See?

Let me know in the comments! Thanks!

 

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