The 6 Easiest Video-Editing Tools for Small Business Marketers

The surge of videos on social media and content marketing channels has come quickly. In the past year alone, Facebook has averaged more than 1 billion video views each day.

Video has become go-to visual content for a huge number businesses and brands.

And I’d love to share how you can do video, too, no matter your resources or skills. 

I researched all the best and easiest video editing tools that are ideal for novice video producers with limited budgets and busy schedules. I tried each one out and am happy to share here how things went and what I ended up creating. I’d love if it inspires any thoughts or creations from you!

The 6 Easiest Video-Editing Tools for Small Business Marketers

To help you create compelling videos, I tested 5 of the best video production apps available for amateur video producers, as well as 1 beginner-friendly video editor for Macs.

1. Nutshell
2. Magisto
3. Animoto
4. Videoshop
5. iMovie App
6. iMovie for Macs

Let’s get started and check out these 6 video editing tools!

1. Nutshell

Quick Introduction

Snap 3 pictures. Add captions. Choose graphics. 

Nutshell creates fun mini-movies for you in seconds using just these few elements.

For your mini-movie, Nutshell will even create an audio track for you using the sounds that were captured when the three photos were snapped.

• Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch: iOS 8.0+
• Pricing: free (with Nutshell branding added to the video)
• Additional paid features: None

How To Use Nutshell To Create Videos

1. Snap 3 photos.

When prompted, capture photos from within the Nutshell app.

2. Add captions.

Select from the animated text options, and insert a message into each text graphic you select.

3. Add graphics.

Choose animated graphics to embellish each of your 3 photos.

4. Preview your video.

Nutshell creates a mini-movie for you in a few seconds using your 3 photos plus the graphics and text you inserted.

5. Be friendly.

Send your Nutshell video to your friends. They can respond to your Nutshell movie with Nutshell cartoons.

6. Save and share.

Share you video via social media, email, or the Prezi website.

A Nutshell Sample Video

2. Magisto

Quick Introduction

Fully automated video editing app

Magisto makes it easy to transform photos and videos into edited movies, complete with music and effects, in minutes.

• Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch (iOS 7.0+), Android (compatibility varies by device), Windows (versions 7+), and an online version available here
• Pricing: Free to try, downloads cost 99 cents
• Additional paid features: Unlimited cloud storage, longer movies, upload 30 or more clips/photos into a video,

How To Use Magisto To Create Videos

1. Add photos and videos.

To get started with Magisto, you can shoot video clips from within in the app or select photos and videos from your camera roll.

2. Select editing style.

Choose a visual style for your video by perusing the themes provided in the app.

3. Select soundtrack.

For your soundtrack, add music from Magisto’s library of licensed songs or choose a song you have saved on your device.

If you choose to use a track from one of your personal playlists, be careful to not misuse copyrighted material.

4.  Put the finishing touches on your video.

Select the length of your video.

With a free Basic account, users can create movies up to one minute and fifteen seconds in length by uploading a total of 10 photo and/or video files. Users with premium accounts can upload more files and create longer movies.

Also, give your video a title that will appear at the beginning of your video.

You cannot add text to your video except for the title at the beginning.

5. Magisto edits your video with automated editing.  

Magisto handles all of the remaining details of the video production for you.

For example, you won’t need to worry about picking the perfect filters or transitions for your clips because Magisto makes those decisions for you based on the style theme you selected.

Once Magisto creates your video, you can make minor changes to your movie by adding or removing photo and videos clips as well as changing your chosen style theme and selected audio track.

6. Save and share.

Share your video with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and email. Or, pay to download and save your video.

Magisto Sample Video

Bonus: Magisto Shot for Messenger

Magisto recently released another video app worth mentioning: Magisto Shot, which turns a photo and text into a micro-movie.

It’s free to download and available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad (iOS 7.0+) and also available for Android (4.0+).

3. Animoto

Quick Introduction

Automated video editing app

Animoto simplifies video editing by limiting the number of customization options and making most of the editing decisions for you.

Animoto is my favorite of the automated video editing apps on this list as a result of the easy process and the impressive results.

• Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch (iOS 7.0+), Android (version 2.2+), and an  online version available here. Animoto also offers a plug-in for Lightroom so you can export your photos directly into Animoto.
• Pricing: Free to try, with plans starting at $9.99/month
• Additional paid features: HD videos, longer videos, video downloads, cloud storage, more photos and videos to upload

How To Use Animoto To Create Videos

1. Add photos and videos.

Similar to Magisto, with just a few taps of your finger you can insert your preferred photos and videos from your camera roll.

Unlinke Magisto, you cannot capture photos or videos from within the app.

2. Select editing style.

Add filters and embellishments to your video by choosing a style theme from the list of provided options.

The theme you select will determine how your clips are processed.

3. Select soundtrack.

Animoto provides song options for your video.

As mentioned earlier, if you choose to not use a track provided by the app and instead opt for a song you purchased for your personal use, ensure that you are following all copyright laws when you upload your video for the public to view.

4. Add captions and titles.

Animoto prompts you to include copy for intro and outro titles.

You can also add text to your photo and video clips by writing captions for your visuals.

In addition you can insert title screens with custom messages throughout your video.

5. Animoto generates a preview with automated editing. 

Once Animoto generates your video, you can make minor changes to your design.

6. Save and share.

Share your video via Messages, email, Twitter, and Facebook.

If you upgrade to a paid version, you can save your video on your device.

Animoto Sample Video

4. Videoshop

Quick Introduction

A Beginner-Friendly Video Editor

Videoshop lets you create movies inside a relatively user-friendly interface without restricting you to a template format.

Compared to Magisto, Nutshell, and Animoto, the creative control can be inspiring or intimidating – depending on the user.

• Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch (iOS 7.0+)
• Pricing: $1.99 download
• Additional paid features: None

How To Use Videoshop To Create Videos

1. Add photos and videos.

Videoshop offers slow motion, time-lapse, and stop motion as options when capturing video from within the app

2. Add audio tracks.

Add sound effects or a song from the included collection of tracks or pick a song from your personal collection of music.

3. Organize clips.

Arrange your clips in your preferred order.

Also trim you clips to the optimal length.

4. Edit video.

With some advanced editing options, but not too many, Videoshop could be considered the best of both worlds. For example, you can select from a variety of transitions to adjust how each clip flows into the next clip, but you can only make a limited number of minor adjustments to your audio track.

However this gain of extra editing flexibility comes at a price. Since the app is not transforming your clips into a movie for you, producing a mesmerizing video will likely take more time and effort on your part.

5. Add filters and a title. 

You can select one of the provided filters to alter your video, or you can leave you footage as-is.

Also, you can create a title using one of the provided templates or opt to create your own title some basic text options.

6. Save and share.

Save your video to your device or share on social media.

Videoshop Sample Video

Check out this sample video created using Videoshop:

5. iMovie app

Quick Introduction

A Beginner-Friendly Video Editor

The iMovie app makes it easy for you to produce videos to fit your needs exactly – without the limitations of a required template.

The iMovie app is similar to Videoshop in that it lets you make a variety of creative decisions during the editing process. I personally think iMovie is easier to use than Videoshop, however the two apps are relatively comparable in regards to the features offered.

• Compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch (iOS 8.3+)
• Pricing: Download for $4.99
• Additional paid features: None

How To Use The iMovie App To Create Videos

1. Select a format for your video. 

Choose from 2 format options:

1. Movie: You can create video that is truly unique.
2. Hollywood-Style Trailer: You can create a video that looks and feels like an authentic trailer for a Hollywood film.

2. Select a theme.

For movies:

• Choose from 8 style themes.
• You will have the option to use titles, transitions, and music that fit your selected theme.
• However you can bypass these suggested theme options if you prefer to use titles, transitions and music from outside of the theme.

For trailers:

• Choose from 14 trailer templates.
• Templates include titles, transitions, and music that fit your selected theme.
• Customize the trailer storyboard with your own video clips and photos, as well as a movie title, studio logo, and character names.

3. Add photos and videos.

Capture new photos and videos from within the iMovie app or upload visual assets from your device.

iMovie automatically adds movement to your images, however you can adjust the movement on your photos to fit your personal preference. The added movement will make your images more interesting and more appropriate for video.

With iMovie version 2.1 and iOS 8, you can use an extension to enhance video clips right in your photos app

4. Add audio files. 

Create a soundtrack using the included music and sound effect collections or  songs from your music library.

You can also record your own narration from within the iMovie app.

5. Edit your video.

Bring your video to life with the many editing options available in the iMovie app.

iMovie lets you pick clip transitions, edit the length and speed of your visual assets, add filters to your clips, and make other edits restricted in some of the previously listed editing tools.

6. Save your video or share it via email or social media.

iMovie Sample Video

6. iMovie for Mac

Quick Introduction

A Beginner-Friendly Video Editor for Mac

If you want an easy video editing option that also gives you control over almost all aspects of your creation, iMovie is a great option for you to consider.

The Mac version is more robust than the iMovie app, thus both iMovie versions should be listed as unique options for video producers.

Even though the other video editing options featured on this list are all apps, I chose to include iMovie for Macs because it is easy for beginners to use.

In addition, since I used iMovie to edit the demo videos included above, I wanted to be transparent and give an inside look into the creation of those videos.

• Compatible with Mac computers (OS X 10.10.2 or later)
• Pricing: $14.99 from the Mac App Store
• Additional paid features: None

The Best Introduction To iMovie Is A Demo Video

Because the list of iMovie features is extensive, iMovie for Mac gives you the freedom to get wildly innovative with your videos.

You can create videos following a variety of workflows, utilizing a multitude of features.

To see how the iMovie app demo video (featured above) was created, watch this demo:

3 Additional Resources For Videos

While creating the demo videos included above, I discovered some great resources that you might also find useful when producing your own videos. Below are 3 additional resources for you to use while creating your videos.

1. YouTube Audio Library

If you need audio files to create soundtracks for your videos, download songs from the YouTube Audio Library. All audio files in this library can be used for any videos, personal or commercial.

2. Distill

Offering free HD videos for personal and commercial use, WeDistill.io is a unique resource for video producers. If you need some stunning HD footage for your videos, visit WeDistill.io and peruse their video library for clips to download.

3. Pexels Videos

Similar to WeDistill.io, Pexels Videos offers free downloads of video footage for use in any type of project. Compared to WeDistill.io, Pexels currently has more clips in their video library.

Conclusion

While this list is only the tip of the iceberg for video production resources, the 6 video editors and 3 additional tools featured on this list are a great place for you to start if you are eager to create your own videos for your social media and content marketing posts.

What type of video content do you plan to produce for your social media and content marketing posts? What video production tools have you tried? Have you tested any of the tools or resources listed above?

I’d love to hear your feedback and experiences!

The post The 6 Easiest Video-Editing Tools for Small Business Marketers appeared first on Social.

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10 Startups To Help Your Business Cash Flow

Understanding how money moves in and out of your business is one of the most important roles that a business owner needs to learn. After all, cash flow problems are one of the leading causes of failure for businesses. However, spending the time and resources to either understand cash flow yourself or finding a trusted professional isn’t always a top priority. That’s when a web-based solution can come in and save the day.

To help narrow down the selection from a wide selection of options, I’ve listed 10 startups that can help businesses of all size manage, organize, and understand their cash flow.

1. Fundbox

Fundbox removes a common cash flow concern for business owners; eliminating the net 30, 60, 90-day problem. Simply add your invoices and select any that haven’t yet been cleared so that you can have access to your funds. Each repayment includes principal, transaction fees, and advance fees.

2. Due

Not only can you create professional looking invoices with Due, you can also use the revamped timer so that you can easily keep track of the time spent on projects. There’s even a performance graph that helps with expenses by providing invoicing trends and suggestions on your project management. Pricing ranges from a free plan to $99 per month.

3. Monchilla

Monchilla is an easy-to-use alternative to QuickBooks and ADP. Through Monchilla, you can simplify your payroll, report taxes, invoice customers, and track your income and expenses securely. You can sign-up for up and pay only $5 per month, per company, for accounting software plus $5 per month per employee for payroll.

4. Flowzr

With this expense manager and budgeting tool you can record expenses and schedule payments so that you have a full view of either your personal or business finances. With this information you can plan a budget and free up some additional time. The Android app is available for free, but for $1.99 you can have an unlimited number of users on an unlimited number of devices.

5. Bilbus

Instead of spending hours of time managing your cash flow and receivables, you can automate invoice follow-ups and tracking. You can also use Bilbus to create 12 week and 12 month cash scenarios and use it as an add-on to Google Apps, QuickBooks, and Xero. Pricing starts at $19.99/month.

6. CloudBooks

Besides using CloudBooks to create invoices, keep track of the time you spend on a project, and generate estimates, you can also categorize and automate recurring business expenses. CloudBooks also sends you detailed reports, such as sales reports. Plans range from $0 to $20 per month.

7. Kashoo

Kashoo is a secure way to send invoices, collaborate with bookkeepers, sync bank records, prepare taxes, and manage business expenses. Through the Kashoo dashboard you also have a view of your business’s financial health. Monthly plans, which includes unlimited technical support, begin at $4.99.

8. Dryrun

Dryrun is a flexible cloud-based tool that gives small business owners a glimpse into scenarios like revenue, profit, and cash flow. Dryrun can be also used to help you set goals and make important financial decisions by keeping tabs of money inflows and outflows and make predictions regarding your sales pipeline. Plans start at $15/month.

9. Float

Float is a real-time financial dashboard that assists businesses with their cash flow by setting budget bars and issuing a sales forecast. Float also integrates with accounting tools like  Xero and FreeAgent – Quickbooks and Sage One are coming soon. Pricing starts at $25/month.

10. DreamFunded

Looking to get funded? DreamFundeds mission is to provide investors with a platform that enables simple, fast, and smart investing opportunities. They make it easy for companies to raise capital from lots of different angel investors using the platform they created. Membership is free for both investing and raising capital.

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Instagram is trying to lure back users with ‘highlights’ emails

MASHABLE - Instagram is reportedly getting ready to spam you with email blasts.

If you’re not continuously checking the photo-sharing platform throughout the day, Instagram is experimenting with a way to show you what you’ve missed to entice you back onto the platform.

Similar to strategies previously embraced by Twitter and Instagram’s parent company Facebook, Instagram is building email digests to keep users connected with the platform, according to TechCrunch. The email blasts, called “highlights,” compiles photo updates from those you follow in reverse chronological order, with the latest posts shown at the top.

While Instagram declined to comment on the initiative, it confirmed to Mashable that a “highlights” email will let people know what they missed.

While email newsletters are nothing new, the move shows how Instagram is trying to get casual users back onto the site and app. Instagram already nudges users with push notifications when others interact with their pictures or if they haven’t visited recently. But this is the first time Instagram is testing a promotional and re-engagement email blast.

The report notes that there isn’t a way to unsubscribe from the email blast. While this may be offputting, Instagram’s efforts could be useful. Some users are notorious for dominating photo feeds with continuous posts. A highlights collection would call out what you may have missed and actually care to see.

It’s unclear as of now how often users will receive “highlights” emails — or if only certain users will receive them, based on their activity and frequency.

Article by Samantha Murphy Kelly for Mashable 

Thumbnail from Shutterstock

 

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Promote Retail Brands Using Social Media Tools: Analyzing ’TrueView for Shopping’ in Detail

Google has been making a few announcements off-late but the latest one involving TrueView for shopping is what keeps the retails interested. This cohesion readily integrates YouTube Videos with the product listing advertisements, resulting into something known as TrueView for shopping. If utilities are concerned, this featured tool allows online retailers to be in complete control of the advertisements, appearing alongside the displayed images and videos alike. Other details and action calls also resort to these freebies, offering the retailers with an option that concerns brand promotion.

The ideologies which can be paired along include video reviews, instructional snippets and many more. The following options allow the user to add in the desired number and genre of advertisements—enlisted besides the product categories. The TrueView for Shopping actually encourages pay per clicks by adding in the preferred number of advertisements along. Now get the most suited ad for your business with the TrueView support on-board.

This social tool allows the promoters to zero in on the perfect moment when the ad gets converted into a click or even starts selling out. The concept is explained as follows:

Landing pages have a number of video schemes integrated within and with TrueView at work one can determine as which need compelled the audience to click on the same and go through the motions. Be it the call for action or the featured components in the middle of the snippet, the exact time of click can be summarized with this prudent tool at work.

TrueView for shopping isn’t all about the promoters or retailers but also packs in several options concerning product information and PPCs. The dots are connected as this tool offers instantaneous intimations once the clicks have been initiated.

This social media tool works perfectly across multiple platforms and even for the mobile optimized consoles. All the ad units work pretty well across the featured devices with 50 percent of YouTube accesses are translated via the mobiles. If integrated properly with the mobile centric consoles, using TrueView for Shopping is even easier than putting up the best WhatsApp status onto the system.

We often wonder as how to match up the product listing advertisements with the desired videos but if TrueView for Shopping is integrated, things turn seamlessly easy. This has been due to the perfect integration of Google’s Merchant Center with the Video advertisements.

How to make the best use of TrueView for Shopping is certainly a much debated topic with several answers underlining the same. If the step-pronged approach is concerned, one must first connect the campaigns with the feed associated with the Merchant center. The products can then be dynamically added into the concerned videos. The best part however is the customizable nature of the ads, allowing one to pair in the demographic info and location details.

For the enthusiasts, the TrueView for Shopping is expected to roll out in a few months’ time, only if the process has to be initiated via the Google’s Front End. For those having an access to Google’s Account Manager, things might not be delayed and those retailers can start right away with brand and product promotions.

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How to Create Content That Your VIPs Will Love to Share

One of the worst feelings in the world of inbound marketing and enrollment is to write an incredible blog post, publish it, share it, and then … crickets.

I actually just shuddered a little bit thinking about it. (Because I have been there way, way too many times!)

It’s a lot better when the opposite happens: when you experience the thrill of seeing an expert in your space share and promote your content for you.

This post will give you a practical, actionable approach to writing and designing the kind of content that VIPs love to share with your audience.

Infographic by Laura Kranz

How to find the influencers in your space

The first step to getting influencers to share our content is knowing who those influencers are. There are a few ways you can do this. And good news: they’re not mutually exclusive, so we can mix and match these approaches.

1. Google your keywords

A quick Google of our keywords is probably the easiest way to figure out who the influencers are in our space. I suggest opening an incognito window in Google Chrome and searching for a keyword in your space.

For example, let’s say you’re a university that just launched a new program in Koine Greek. You want to get some exposure for the new program, but you’re not sure who the big influencers are online.

Start by Googling “Koine Greek tips.” Here’s what I find:

Now we’ll click through to the top results and find out who wrote them. If these folks are ranking for this search term, we want them sharing our material!

2. Buzzsumo: search by topic

Another way to find influencers is to jump into Buzzsumo to see who’s creating the most popular content on your topic.

What’s Buzzsumo? It’s a Web app that looks at pages on the Internet, and then sorts them in order of how many times they’ve been shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Let’s use Koine Greek as an example again. This time I’ll go to Buzzsumo and enter “Koine Greek” into the search bar.

This tells Buzzsumo to look at all the articles about Koine Greek online, and then list them in order of how much they’ve been shared. (You can also use Buzzsumo for specific websites and even authors, too.) Here’s what I find:

I can see that the most shared post, “Learn New Testament Greek,” has been shared 148 times on Facebook, twice on Twitter, and once on Pinterest for a total of 151 shares. In some cases, Buzzsumo shows me who the author of a post is. In others, I’ll need to click through to find out who wrote the content in question.

This gives me an idea of which websites are writing the most popular content on Koine Greek, which means there’s a good chance that I’ll find influencers on these sites! You can do this for any area of interest you want to find influencers in.

3. Ask your team

I did this recently with the team at Disciplr (a product in the pre-launch stages at the time I write this). I emailed the team and asked a few simple questions:

1. Which websites would you love to see us featured on?
2. Who does our audience look to for advice?

This returned a long list of people the Disciplr team thought of as influencers. (More on the results later in this post.)

4. Ask your audience

If we really want to know who our audience views as influencers, we can also simply ask them directly.

• Send a handful of your most engaged customers or subscribers a personal email asking them which blogs they read.
• Send a mass email to your list with a link to a survey asking them which blogs they read. (You want to use a tool like Google Forms or Survey Monkey to process all the responses.)

What now?

Find a good place to keep your list of influencers. I use a simple spreadsheet, but you can use whatever you like. The important thing is to have a place to save your list so that you don’t need to do all this research again!

How to get influencers to share your content

OK, we have our list of influencers. Now here’s how to encourage them to share our content.

It’s time to write some content for them to share. Here’s where it gets interesting, because that kind of content must meet two criteria:

• Your audience has to want it.
• It has to make the influencers look good.

We can’t just produce content for the blog and then think of ways to get others to share it! The whole getting-VIPs-to-share-our-stuff process begins with the creation of the content itself.

There are several ways to write this kind of content, but I want to focus on two sure-fire ways to make it happen.

Strategy 1: Write original content that makes influencers look awesome, and tell them about it.

How do you feel when someone publicly recognizes your good work? Warm fuzzies, right? I bet influencers feel the same way when someone thoughtfully points out their job well done.

That’s why one of the best ways to get influencers to share our content is to write content that makes them look amazing. (Which shouldn’t be hard­—they’re influencers for a reason, right?)

This strategy consists of two main steps.

Step 1: Write content that calls attention to the experts.

When we’re writing our content, we can sprinkle in some nods to the people our target audience respects. That might look like:

• pointing to their work as a case study,
• linking to one of their blog posts for more information, or
• giving them a direct shoutout and linking to their Twitter handle.

Doing this gives you a few benefits. First, it helps bring on the warm fuzzies for those experts. Second, when we recognize the people our audience respects, it make it easier for them to associate that kind of quality with us, too.

Sidenote: this happens to all of us. We immediately feel more connected to people who root for the same sports teams, listen to the same bands, and chow down at the same favorite restaurants. It works the same way with experts. If I know you read my favorite blog, I’m more likely to think you know what you’re talking about.

So the first step is to write content that makes VIPs look great.

Step 2: Tell them about it.

Experts are busy people; they’re not going to accidentally discover that we’ve given them kudos.  We’ve got to let them know about it.

There are a few ways to do this:

• Write them a thank-you email. Shoot them a quick email saying that you’ve referenced them in a recent article (and remember to link to it!), and thank them for making the material that you’re referencing. This is link-building expert Brian Dean’s go-to strategy, which he describes in this video.
• Tweet them a heads-up. It’s ridiculously simple. If an influencer is active on Twitter, shoot them a quick tweet letting them know you’ve mentioned them. Sometimes I keep it as simple as, “I see you, @[Expert’s Twitter handle]! [Link to my article]” (I like to add smiley faces, sometimes).
• If you know the influencer personally, text them a link to your content, or send them a link in a Facebook message.

Here’s an example of how that worked for me.

A little while ago, the friendly folks at the Buffer blog picked up one of my posts on writing content.

I had written this post with a few things in mind:

• I wanted to help higher ed institutions know how to write awesome blog content.
• I wanted to see if the big-name content marketing experts agreed.

So I worked hard on a post that was as practical, actionable, and expert-sharable as possible. I ended up with a piece that gave shoutouts to several thought leaders in the content marketing space, including Brian Dean, Neil Patel, and Buffer’s own Kevan Lee.

Then I sent some quick emails. Here’s the one I sent to Brian Dean. Remember, I’ve had limited online interaction with him up to this point.

So simple, right? I just use a three-part template:

1. Thank the expert for the material I reference in my article.
2. Link to the article (if it’s a long article, tell them where to find their call-out).
3. Invite their thoughts and reiterate my gratitude.

Did it work? Yep.

6 Foolproof Methods for Creating the Top Content on Any Topic — https://t.co/UfsY1Bea72 via @buffer

— Brian Dean (@Backlinko) March 10, 2015

But remember: The reader comes first!

As we’re writing content, it’s important to remember that we’re writing to our audience, not the VIPs.

If we write a blog post that’s nothing but a grab for attention, readers—and the influencers you’re trying to court—will likely notice.

If we write a blog post that’s laser-focused on making our readers’ lives better, readers will love us for it and the experts will appreciate being included even more.

Strategy 2: Offer the influencers a content upgrade.

This is one of my favorites, because it’s crazy simple. You just follow four steps:

1. Find a popular article the influencer wrote that fits your target audience.
2. Offer to put that content in a new format exclusively for the influencer.
3. Make the content.
4. Let the influencer know how to give you credit.

Sound familiar? That might be because this is based on strategy #5 in my previous post on strategies for writing content that ranks in Google: put great content in a new format. (By the way, I’m not the only one who loves this approach: Dennis at LeapFroggr recommends this, too.)

So, how does that work? Let’s use a real-life example.

Remember how I told you I asked the Disciplr team who they thought the influencers in our space are? One of the people they told me about was Tony Morgan, a church consultant at the Unstuck Group who helps his clients lead well and focus on what they do best.

Disciplr ended up not only getting social mentions from Tony Morgan and his consulting group, but getting featured on his blog, too.

Here’s how.

Step 1: Find a popular article the influencer wrote that fits your target audience.

Back to Buzzsumo!

When we last looked at this tool, we searched for the most popular articles on a certain topic. But this time, I wanted to find the most popular content that Tony Morgan himself has written.

So instead of searching a topic, I entered Tony Morgan’s website URL, TonyMorganLive.com. I narrowed the search to show me the most popular articles on his website over the past six months. Here’s roughly what I found. (The results have changed a bit over the months since I ran my original search.)

I scrolled until I found an article that would totally resonate with Disciplr’s audience. And this one is perfect. It’s all about giving staff a healthy pace of life—something our tool supports nicely.

Step 2: Offer to put that content in a new format exclusively for the influencer.

I found Tony’s email address from his website and shot him an email.

The message was really simple. I just told him I appreciated his content, and wanted to help it spread any way I could—and specifically offered to put it into an infographic to make Tony’s content even easier to absorb by visual learners.

The key part of this is to offer the influencer an exclusive. Remember, the content is really theirs; we’re just offering to put it into a new format. In my opinion, that means they should be the ones to break the news about the new content to the world on their own properties.

This creates a win-win-win situation:

• The influencer wins because they get two posts for the price of one.
• The influencer’s audience wins because they get that content in a new format that may resonate with a different learning style.
• You win because you get in front of your target audience with the influencer’s approval.

I heard back from his blog manager with the go-ahead, and so it was time to move on to step 3.

Step 3: Make the content.

Next, one of our designers used Tony’s content and my wireframes to create this memorable infographic:

Step 4: Let the influencer know how to give you credit.

This is tremendously important. You don’t want to put all the work into building a relationship and creating content only to let it go live without attribution.

In this case, I suggested to Tony’s blog manager that they lead into the infographic with a simple paragraph making the connection between his original blog post and Disciplr. I also gave them a link to a landing page where readers could download the infographic. Here’s how it looked when they published it:

You can see the finished product here.

The result: Disciplr got featured on an influencer’s blog, and 67 new people from a very, very specific niche joined our email list.

How do you get experts to share your content?

Publishing a piece and wondering how to drive traffic to it isn’t much fun. But when you write and design the kind of content that VIPs love to share and audience love to read, everyone wins.

These are the methods that I’ve found are tried-and-true for getting experts to share content, especially when trying to get noticed in a not-so-centralized market.

Have you tried any methods for getting on the radar of influencers and VIPs in your area? I’d be interested to hear about them in the comments!

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Summer Camps Make Tracks with Social Media

Summer camp – ah – the place where memories are made.

For some adults, looking back on summer camp brings back some of the fondest times.

Today, there are camps for almost anything your child enjoys, from the classic camp on a lake filled with sports and activities ranging from sing-alongs to horseback riding, to STEM camp to ballet camp to basketball camp.

If you want it, you can find it. And the thing is, with social media, it’s that much easier to find just the right camp.

Camp directors and organizations are realizing they need to hit up the social media market to attract campers, counselors and to engage the community in general.

As the following article looks at, “What’s the secret of why camp is so special for kids?”

For many, it’s the first venture into independence.

Kids are on their own for the first time without mom or dad to make their food, get them out of bed or bandage their knees.

They have to hang with kids they’ll love and kids they won’t be able to stand. They’ll try new things and probably want to go back next year. That’s why it’s important for mom and dad to find just the right one. Social media is just the connection for this.

Camps Utilizing Social Media

• Blogs – Blogs are great ways for camps to use social media throughout the year to not only gain new campers, but to stay in touch with old ones. Camps can keep campers and their parents in the know about new activities, new staff members, new ideas. They can let families know when registration begins, dates and payments, and blog about packing lists, first aid, and care packages … .the list goes on.

• Facebook – Most camps have a Facebook page, and it’s great for campers to stay connected. It’s also a great marketing tool as prospective campers can check out all the fun pictures and posts.

• Twitter and Instagram – Marketing works well, here, too. Camps can post about open spots, promote special rates and even run contests offering discounts.

More Reasons to Use Social Media

• On any camp website, there should be links to all social media – With social media and the Internet; prospective campers are going to want to see where they’ll be and what they’ll be experiencing. Social media is the venue for this.

• Social media is affordable marketing – Often, camps don’t have large advertising budgets, and paper mailings are expensive, but social media isn’t. It’s a great alternative to traditional marketing, and it’s what kids want to see.

Summer camps should definitely be utilizing social media.

It’s a great way to win over kids and parents, and it’s affordable.

If you’ve been looking for a way to attract more campers, this could be it!

Photo credit: Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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LinkedIn Rolls Out a New Dashboard; More Retailers Invest in “Text Purchasing” | Social You Should Know

LinkedIn Offers Analytics to Content Publishers

LinkedIn has quickly grown from a “business card” collection tool, to a content marketer’s dream world. Due to the significant increase in published content on the platform, about 100,000 per week according to LinkedIn, it’s only natural that they would devise a way to measure interactions with posts. Seen below, the user friendly dashboard, which rolled out earlier this month, shows who viewed a post, the number of views a post received and even the ability to compare one post against another. It remains to be seen whether this new tool will increase engagement on the channel or wind up being a nice to have option.

Spotify Ratchets Up Offerings With New Video Content

Spotify unveiled a new look along with new functionality including video, original content and Spotify Running - Billing itself as the most entertaining Spotify ever. Spotify now personalizes the listening experience for its over 15 million subscribers by delivering music based on previous listening habits. One of the coolest features is Spotify Running that tailors music to the listener’s workout tempo – not to be confused with the Adidas Go app (created in partnership with Spotify).

Text Purchasing Makes its Way into Retail

Last week, we touched on Domino’s new “text to order” feature, and within the week another company has rolled out a similar functionality. Nordstrom, one of the largest fashion retailers in the US, rolled out their new initiative this week, TextStyle, allowing customers to make a purchase from their phone simply by texting “buy” to the company’s salespeople. However, one does need a Next texting account in order to take advantage of this experience. But once you’re signed up, a salesperson can assist you with any transaction you’d like. This hurts my wallet just thinking about it…

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