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The Facebook Attribution Window: How Facebook Tracks Conversions https://ift.tt/2M0zZNK Confused by the Facebook attribution model for ads? Wondering which ad should receive credit for a conversion? In this article, you’ll learn how to use the Facebook Attribution Window feature for Facebook ad campaigns.
How Does Facebook Ad Attribution Work?When people interact with your Facebook ads or Instagram ads, they can take a variety of actions such as watching your video, visiting your website, or purchasing your product. Each of these actions is recorded. When your ad leads to a conversion, Facebook will attribute (credit) the ad in Ads Manager. It’s important to have this data to see how well your campaigns and ads are doing and determine if you’re reaching your targets. The number of days between when someone viewed or clicked your ad and then took action on your website is referred to as an “attribution window.” The default Facebook attribution window settings show actions taken within 1 day of viewing your ad and within 28 days of clicking your ad. You can change the settings for both the view and click windows to 1, 7, or 28 days. Facebook reports on both views and clicks of ads taken within the attribution window. Remember that Facebook attributions are for the date the ad was viewed or clicked, not the date the conversion took place. Now that you understand how attribution works, here’s how to start tracking attributing actions taken on your website to your Facebook ads. #1: Set Up the Facebook Pixel and Conversion TrackingIf you haven’t already installed the Facebook pixel (a piece of code) on your website, you need to do that first. Check out this article for a detailed step-by-step guide for installing the pixel. You also need to add code to your website so Facebook can recognize when visitors take certain actions (called event tracking). To illustrate, by installing an event pixel on your “Thank you for purchasing” page, Facebook can determine if a purchaser has viewed one of your ads and if a sale can be attributed to that ad. You can choose from a number of events to track. I recommend adding the Add to Cart, Initiate Checkout, Purchase, and Viewed Content events. (Page views are included as part of the pixel base code.) For each event, you can set parameters to generate the code you need. In the example below, you want to install a pixel for the Purchase event with a conversion value of $10. Once you’ve set your parameters, paste the code into your website pages. A few hours after setting up the tracking, check that the number of Facebook pixel fires matches what has been recorded in your conversion tracking. It’s important to make this data check for the current day and not for previous days. To check the number of Facebook pixel fires, open Business Manager, then Ads Manager, and select Pixels under Measure & Report. You can then see data for each of the event pixels you’ve added. At this point, nothing has been attributed, so simply make sure the number of purchases in the pixel manager line up with your actual number of overall purchases. If your pixel data and sales data don’t match, your pixel probably isn’t tracking correctly. If you have issues, use the Pixel Helper tool to run through the different actions that can be taken on your site. The Pixel Helper should help you determine if any pixels aren’t firing correctly. #2: Change Your Facebook Attribution WindowBefore making changes to the time frame of your Facebook attribution window, it’s important to consider what type of business you have. For instance, a large number of people may make a purchase a day (or several days) after being served an ad from an ecommerce store, but higher-priced products tend to have longer windows. No matter what your business type is, consider all attribution windows before choosing the one you want to report on. Whatever window you use, Facebook will never take credit for conversions (or other actions) taken outside of a Facebook attribution window. To change your attribution window, open Ads Manager and go to Settings. In the Attribution section on the right side of the page, click Edit. Then drag the slider to select your preferred click window and view window. When you’re done, click Save Changes. Be aware that when you change your attribution window, the default conversion window for any future ads you place will be as closely aligned to your selected attribution window as possible. If you don’t want this default, you can manually change your conversion window as well. #3: Add Facebook Attribution Window Comparisons to Campaign ReportsTo see when people most often take action after viewing your ads, you can compare one Facebook attribution window against another. Analyzing results from different lookback periods also allows you to see clicks and views data separately. To compare attribution windows, open Ads Manager and click the Campaigns, Ad Sets, or Ads tab, depending on which one you want to change the reporting metrics on. Next, click the Columns drop-down menu and select Customize Columns. In the Customize Columns window, click Comparing Windows in the lower-right corner. In the Comparing Attribution Windows box that pops up, select the attribution windows you want to analyze. Then click the blue Apply button. After you click Apply, the new attribution columns will appear in your Ads Manager and you’ll be able to see the conversion results from the different windows you selected. #4: Understand Attribution Report DataFacebook counts figures on the day the ad view/click happened, not the day the conversion occurred. This is the reason that a prior month’s data isn’t fixed and will explain a lot of the discrepancies you find in your data. Remember that the Facebook attribution model is different from most others, such as Google Analytics attribution. You might assume that attribution data will be from people who converted immediately after clicking an ad. However, this isn’t always the case. Some people may convert days or even weeks after being served a Facebook ad. Facebook records who has clicked or viewed an ad, as well as who has fired a pixel on a conversion page on your website. This allows Facebook attribution to correlate a conversion with the date of an ad impression (provided it’s within the attribution window). To visualize this, if a customer clicks on a Facebook ad on June 17 and makes a purchase on July 5, the conversion will be attributed to June 17. While you can assume that some purchases will be made immediately post-click, it’s not uncommon for reporting discrepancies to arise due to purchases made days or weeks later. Here are some other key points about this attribution model that will help you understand where the report data comes from:
What do you think? What Facebook attribution window settings work best for your business? Have you tried comparing attribution windows? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Social Media via Social Media Examiner https://ift.tt/1LtH18p July 30, 2018 at 05:03AM
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How to Think Like an Influencer https://ift.tt/2uZl9k8 In the modern world of sales and marketing, influencers can play a pivotal role in the growth or demise of a brand or product. This has long been the case, as an endorsement from the right personality always had the potential to spur a tremendous level of interest in a product that may previously have only had a modest following. The importance of influencers has grown exponentially in the age of digital networks and communication. Social networks and the Internet have made it possible for millions of people to be informed instantly of what a particular influencer is saying, doing or endorsing. This puts an inordinate amount of power into the hands of the influencer that can have a direct and dramatic impact on your business. Characteristics of The Modern InfluencerAn influencer in today’s terminology refers to a person who has a large following on one or more of the social media platforms. In some cases, influencers are actual celebrities such as professional athletes or actors. They may also be more localized influencers who are particularly popular on their social media platform. Examples would be Instagram models and YouTube stars with a large number of subscribers. While your marketing efforts can benefit in various ways from a relationship with an influencer, that is secondary to their primary purpose. Influencers are in the business of creating thriving online communities through the use of their social network platforms. You need to be attuned to their purpose and offer ways that you can integrate your marketing strategy into their overall online presence and intentions. Some platforms, such as LinkedIn, have an influencer designation that is awarded to certain members due to their standing on the platform as leaders and innovators. In other cases, influencer status is achieved in a more organic way by growing a following that has the potential to have a social or financial impact when guided in a certain direction. Both types of influencers can be beneficial when incorporated into a marketing plan that involves the Internet and social media, though each may demand some slightly different tactics. How Do Influencers Think?This is a question that out of necessity has multiple answers. While every influencer is an individual there are some generalities that can be made about the two groups of influencers we identified above. In the case of the organically grown Twitter or Instagram celebrity, their goals include:
In the case of LinkedIn influencers they are often already well-entrenched in the business community and are leaders outside of the realm of social media and online society. The goals of these influencers are more likely to be:
These differences in the underlying rationale of being considered an influencer naturally leads to different ways of thinking and different ways for you to react to and anticipate their thoughts as you work with them to improve the success of your online marketing. LinkedIn InfluencerPeople who are influencers on LinkedIn have been selected for a reason. They have joined the site to further their professional careers and are less likely to suddenly turn in an unexpected direction than Twitter-type influences may be. Their position in business or industry has made their name one that can be used in thought leadership marketing. Having influencers relate positively to your products or services tells others in their field that your offering has value. As the intellectual and informational leaders of their fields, the LinkedIn influencer can be a resource through which to get your product seen and reviewed. They are trusted because of their experience and knowledge, and this gravitas can be passed along in part to your offering. If you are wondering how to use LinkedIn as part of your marketing strategy, focusing on influencers is a great place to start. The content you want to approach this type of influencer with should be geared toward their followers who are in a position to make buying decisions. Using tools such as LinkedIn Sponsored Content along with positive feedback from influencers can be a powerful way to market your product. Organically Grown Twitter InfluencerInfluencers who have organically grown their following to the point where it is actually influential may have arrived there in a number of ways. They may have come to social media with a following already in place from their exposure through professional sports or the entertainment industry. In some cases, they may be politicians who use social media to connect with their constituents. They all have their own reasons for joining a social media network and for encouraging followers. They also all have their own limits as to what kind of behavior they may exhibit. Social media offers users the ability to post comments and images without the filtering elements of time and consideration. This can lead to unexpected results and can either be extremely beneficial or tremendously harmful. When trying to get endorsements or product placement from influencers, it is best to develop a relationship with them and go slowly. They may be willing to work with you but will want to do it on their terms. Become a member of their community before approaching them with a business deal. If they have any real stature in the social media world, they will be inundated with requests. Developing a personal relationship will go a long way toward having them trust you and work with you with the knowledge you are not just using them. You need to keep in mind what your influencer’s goals are and if they are in line with your product or service. Balancing the potential for positive exposure to the risk that is inherent in the uncensored world of social media is always going to be a challenge when dealing with influencers.
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Facebook Rolls Out Watch Party to All Facebook Groups https://ift.tt/2mO45Jm Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media. On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore Facebook rolling out Watch Party to all Facebook groups, Twitter’s new Ads Playbook, and other breaking social media news of the week! Watch the Social Media Marketing Talk ShowIf you’re new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, July 27, 2018. You can also listen to the show as an audio podcast, found on iTunes/Apple Podcast, Android, Google Play, Stitcher, and RSS. For this week’s top stories, you’ll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the Social Media Marketing Talk Show replay above. Facebook Watch Party Rolls Out to All Groups: Facebook began testing a new video experience called Watch Party in groups this past January. Watch Party allows Facebook group admins and moderators to select any public video hosted on Facebook (live or recorded) and share it with other members of the group. Group members can then watch at the same time and place and also add their own commentary to the experience. This week, TechCrunch reports that Watch Party is rolling out to all Facebook groups with two new features. These include the ability for viewers to suggest videos and multiple co-hosts who can each add new videos to the queue. The article also notes that Facebook is testing support for Watch Party on pages, but “it’s not quite ready yet.” (3:20)
Facebook Stories Features Tap to React Stickers: Facebook appears to be testing a new type of sticker that allows other users to “tap to react” to your Facebook stories. This possible new feature was discovered on Mari Smith‘s Facebook story and shared by Matt Navarra. (13:50)
Workplace for Facebook Boosts Collaboration and Personalization Features: Facebook rolled out new features aimed at boosting team collaboration and driving greater personalization on its enterprise platform, Workplace for Facebook. These new features include Workplace profiles, which will call out team members’ birthdays and work anniversaries, share other personal details, and provide a one-click connection via Workplace chat. Workplace for Facebook will also offer a new directory search feature and admin control over Workplace people profiles such as what information is shared. (16:08)
Workplace for Facebook Acquires Redkix: Facebook acquired Redkix, an email startup that combines email, messaging, and calendar features into one app. Recode reports that Facebook made the purchase in hopes of building out its own communication features inside Workplace, the enterprise version of Facebook that it hopes will compete with Slack. (21:07)
Facebook Q2 2018 Quarterly Earnings: Facebook reports that its community now has “more than 2.5 billion people using at least one of our apps each month” which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger and emphasizes its continued investment in the safety and security of its platform. (22:03)
Twitter Released Ads Playbook for Brands and Agencies: Twitter Business produced a Playbook for Agencies for Q2 2018, which aims to share answers to the most frequently asked questions by agencies and their clients about how to run Twitter ads well, where Twitter fits into an overall client strategy, and more. (24:07)
Twitter Outlines New Developer Requirements to Protect Platform: Twitter states that its first responsibility is “to provide a place that supports the health of conversation on Twitter.” To prevent misuse of the platform, the company introduced several new requirements for Twitter API developers. New apps must now be created in the new app management portal on developer.twitter.com, which requires an approved developer account. Twitter is also applying new default app-level rate limits on POST endpoints for tweets, retweets, DMs, follows, and likes, and a new process for obtaining “high volume posting privileges.” (26:00)
As part of today’s announcement, Twitter also shared that it has removed the platform access of more than 143,000 apps that violated its policies between April and June 2018, and is now giving users the option to “report a bad app” in the Help Center. LinkedIn Adds Voice Messaging to LinkedIn Messaging: LinkedIn added the ability to record and send voice messages of up to 1 minute in LinkedIn Messaging on mobile. To record a message, you simply have to tap the microphone icon in the mobile messaging keyboard then hold and record a message. Voice messaging is rolling out now in the LinkedIn app on iOS and Android and will be available globally to all members in the next few weeks. Instagram Alerts Users When Friends Are Online: Instagram is making it “easier to connect with friends on Instagram by showing you when they’re available to chat.” The company announced that a new green dot will appear next to profile pictures in various parts of the app such as the Direct inbox and the friend list when the user is active on Instagram. Instagram notes that you’ll only see status updates for people who follow you or have connected with you in Direct. Users also have the option to disable this alert. YouTube Tests Explore Feature on iOS: YouTube is testing a new Explore feature in the iOS app with expanded video recommendations and “topics and channels users probably wouldn’t ordinarily see” over the next few weeks. Variety notes that this test will affect only 1% of YouTube’s iOS app viewers and will be very similar to Instagram’s Explore tab, which has been successful in helping users to discover more videos and creators to expand their audiences.
YouTube Releases VR App for the Samsung Gear VR Devices: YouTube is expanding its virtual reality app to Samsung Gear VR devices starting next week. YouTube is also rolling out new features that allow users to watch together and chat and releasing exclusive new content for YouTube VR. Snap Inc. Launches Snapchat Storytellers Pilot Program: Snap Inc.’s new Snapchat Storytellers pilot program will connect businesses and brands to the app’s five most popular content makers and influencers, including Mplatco, Cyrene Q, and Shonduras. They’ll star in ads for Stories and Discover or provide creative direction to brands “with their expertise gleaned from gathering audiences of millions over the past few years in exchange for cash.” TechCrunch reports that top creators can often earn tens of thousands of dollars or more for deals with brands.
Snapchat Opens Private Ads Marketplace on Select Discover Channels: Snapchat will offer “100 cherry-picked brands across the UK, Australia, the USA, and Canada” unskippable ad placements against premium publishers’ TV-style show-like content found in the Discover section of the app. The Drum reports that these publishing partners include Hearst, Vice, BuzzFeed, NBC Universal, ESPN, and others and the ads will be available through Snapchat’s self-serve ad platform in August. Snapchat Sunsets In-App Peer-to-Peer Payment Service, Snapcash: Snap Inc. is shutting down Snapcash, a relatively unknown and largely unused peer-to-peer payment service on Snapchat, by August 30. DigitalTrends reports that the Snapcash service has existed for the past 4 years, but because of “the rise of other payment apps like Venmo and its parent company PayPal, as well as bank-backed Zelle, and of course Square Cash, there were few folks who turned to Snapchat and Snapcash in order to pay their friends.”
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Why a $95 million bill to study tech's effects on kids might actually pass this time https://ift.tt/2LODKt7 Why a $95 million bill to study tech's effects on kids might actually pass this time
By Sasha Lekach
Congress wants to spend $95 million to study how gadgets and social media affects children. The proposal for the Children and Media Research Advancement Act, or CAMRA Act, was introduced Thursday in the U.S. Senate. A bipartisan group is behind the bill, so it might actually have a chance of passing. The bill is not new. Back in 2004, then-Sen. Joseph Lieberman wanted to study the effects of electronic media on the youth. It fizzled out. The same thing happened when a version of the bill was introduced again in 2007 — just a few months before Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. Fast-forward to 2018. Now, it seems like there are iPhones in every pocket. Parents use iPads to stop their 2-year-olds from whining. People are a lot more concerned about what exposure to screens and social media is doing to impressionable young minds. The bill would set aside funding for the National Institutes of Health to research the effects of technology and media on everyone from babies to young adults. This includes mobile devices, computers, social media, apps, websites, TV, movies, AI, video games, and virtual and augmented reality. Now that it's 2018, more and more kids are exposed and even addicted to tech. Companies have been forced to apologize for it. Parenting increasingly involves establishing rules and guidelines for using devices. So maybe this time around, Congress can finally agree we need to do more to understand how technology hurts and helps children. Social Media via Social Media https://ift.tt/2DCFv97 July 27, 2018 at 08:28PM Twitter will suspend repeat offenders posting abusive comments on Periscope live streams https://ift.tt/2uV9QJZ As part of Twitter’s attempted crackdown on abusive behavior across its network, the company announced on Friday afternoon a new policy facing those who repeatedly harass, threaten or otherwise make abusive comments during a Periscope broadcaster’s live stream. According to Twitter, the company will begin to more aggressively enforce its Periscope Community Guidelines by reviewing and suspending accounts of habitual offenders. The plans were announced via a Periscope blog post and tweet that said everyone should be able to feel safe watching live video.
Currently, Periscope’s comment moderation policy involves group moderation. That is, when one viewer reports a comment as “abuse,” “spam” or selects “other reason,” Periscope’s software will then randomly select a few other viewers to take a look and decide if the comment is abuse, spam or if it looks okay. The randomness factor here prevents a person (or persons) from using the reporting feature to shut down conversations. Only if a majority of the randomly selected voters agree the comment is spam or abuse does the commenter get suspended. However, this suspension would only disable their ability to chat during the broadcast itself — it didn’t prevent them from continuing to watch other live broadcasts and make further abusive remarks in the comments. Though they would risk the temporary ban by doing so, they could still disrupt the conversation, and make the video creator — and their community — feel threatened or otherwise harassed. Twitter says that accounts that repeatedly get suspended for violating its guidelines will soon be reviewed and suspended. This enhanced enforcement begins on August 10, and is one of several other changes Twitter is making to its product across Periscope and Twitter focused on user safety. To what extent those changes have been working is questionable. Twitter may have policies in place around online harassment and abuse, but its enforcement has been hit-or-miss. But ridding its platform of unwanted accounts — including spam, despite the impact to monthly active user numbers — is something the company must do for its long-term health. The fact that so much hate and abuse is seemingly tolerated or overlooked on Twitter has been an issue for some time, and the problem continues today. And it could be one of the factors in Twitter’s stagnant user growth. After all, who willingly signs up for harassment? The company is at least attempting to address the problem, most recently by acquiring the anti-abuse technology provider Smyte. Its transition to Twitter didn’t go so well, but the technology it offers the company could help Twitter address abuse at a greater scale in the future. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com July 27, 2018 at 08:20PM
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How to Turn Your Business Idea Into a Startup Company https://ift.tt/2LQDeHA Ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has them. Some ideas are great, and others could be improved. As an online marketer, I’ve heard countless business pitches from prospective entrepreneurs over the years. While I admire their creativity, just coming up with an idea alone is far from having a viable business concept. If you are ready to put your idea to the test and launch a startup company, I encourage you to read this guide. Your idea needs validation. The last thing you want to do is launch a new business and realize six months down the road that it wasn’t a good idea. By this point, you’ve already sunk too much time and money into the venture. Don’t skip any steps in the startup process. Here’s what I’ve done. I’ve outlined how you can take an idea and turn it into an actual business. I’ve tried to keep this guide as general as possible so that it can speak to the widest audience of entrepreneurs. For example, some businesses will need to buy or lease retail space. Other brands will need production equipment or partnerships with manufacturing facilities. Some of you may even need permits and have to meet certain legal obligations before your launch. I stayed away from going into depth on these types of details. That said, this is an excellent reference for anyone with a business idea and no experience launching a startup. Even if you’ve been part of startup launches before, this guide can help you avoid some mistakes you may have made in the past. Write a business planWhen you approach your new business venture without a plan, you increase your chances of failure. The odds are already working against you since such a large percentage of new startup companies fail. You need to do everything possible to try to give yourself an advantage and increase your chances of success. Here’s a pretty common conversation I have with entrepreneurs. They pitch me an idea and follow up with something like, “Wouldn’t that be a great business?” My honest answer is I truly don’t know. And they don’t know either. Many ideas sound good when they’re verbalized. But when it comes to the logistics, finances, and other important details, the idea may not be as good as you initially thought. That’s why you need to learn how to write a business plan for your startup company. Your business plan will help you tremendously and ultimately increase your chances of succeeding. Startups with a business plan have a 29% greater chance of securing funding, which we’ll discuss in greater detail shortly. Writing a plan also increases the chances of business growth by 50%. These are the common components of a business plan:
Your plan will outline everything you need to do, even if your idea is very simple. For example, let’s say you’re planning to sell shirts. How are you going to sell them? Where will you sell them? Whom will you sell them to? At what price will they be sold? You’ll explain in detail your costs to produce the shirts. The business plan will even outline when you plan to break even on your investment. The financial projections section is arguably the most important part of the entire plan. You need to come up with realistic numbers. In addition to listing all your expenses, you need to project your sales. This information will help you determine if your new business can generate money. You’ll be able to come up with price points so you can turn a profit. Again, you must figure all this out before you open the doors of a new business. It starts with proper planning. Define your target audienceThe idea for your new business might sound good, but for whom is it a good idea? Whether you have a product, service, invention, or modification to an existing product, you need to clearly define whom you’re selling to. I hear people say all the time:
This is simply not true. Plus, from a marketing perspective, it’s unreasonable to try to launch a brand intended for everyone. Imagine trying to come up with promotions that appeal to men, women, and children of all ages from every corner of the world. It’s not a realistic approach. You need to learn how to identify the target market of your startup. Start with broad assumptions about your prospective customers, and narrow it down even more. Begin with factors such as their ages, genders, and physical locations. Then get more specific, and identify their interests and lifestyle habits. Here are some ways for you to segment your audience based on geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral categories. For example, let’s say your product is intended for males between the ages of 25 and 40. That’s still a broad audience. You can make it more specific by saying you’re targeting males between the ages of 25 and 40, who live in the United States, make more than $60,000 per year, and are interested in fitness. Do you see the difference? That’s much more detailed. You can develop a customer persona to help you with this process. Also, you need to look at your target audience from different perspectives. Let’s say you’re launching a startup that sells toys for young children. That’s not necessarily your target market. Three-year-old kids don’t buy stuff. You need to target their parents instead. Make sense? Conduct market researchNow that you have an idea of whom you want to target, it’s time to test that theory. Just because you think your idea is great for a specific market doesn’t mean this is true. You can use:
You need to get out there and talk to people. Validate your idea. It’s also necessary to figure out who else is offering the same thing you are. Today, it isn’t easy to come up with an idea that’s 100% unique. Don’t get me wrong: it doesn’t mean you can’t make money by having the same idea as someone else. But if the market is oversaturated, it might not be in your best interest to proceed. I’ll give you a simple example to explain what I mean. Let’s say you want to open a pizza shop in your city. You’ve scouted out a location that can fit your ovens and tables. You can rent it at a reasonable rate. Your pizza recipe is outstanding. Plus, everyone likes pizza, and more than 100,000 people live in the city. This idea must be a homerun, right? Not if there are 20 other pizza shops within a few blocks of your prospective location. It’s going to be too difficult for you to compete with a market that’s so saturated. This is an example on a small level, but you can scale it to any industry. Look at the ecommerce space. There is a huge competition globally. In addition to niche brands, you’ll also be competing with giants such as Walmart and Amazon. The number one reason why startups fail is that there is no market need. While your idea might be cool, there may not be a need for your product or service. Or even if the market needs what you’re offering, it could be getting it from someone else already. Market research will also require you to analyze your competition. Establish your brandYour startup company needs to have a differentiation strategy that separates you from your competitors. What’s your identity? Your brand may be cool, edgy, and trendy. Or maybe you’re going for a brand identity that is conservative and family-oriented instead. Some startups launch with a mission to help a greater cause, such as a nonprofit organization. No matter what your brand identity is, it needs to be clear to your audience. All of your branding campaigns will reflect the image you’re trying to portray. Your website colors, marketing campaigns, and promotions will speak to your brand identity. This even relates to your logo and the name of your startup. Come up with a name that doesn’t restrict your growth. Even if you’re focusing on something specific right now, you don’t want the name of your brand to put you in a box, preventing your expansion in the future. Your brand needs to speak to your target audience, which was already defined. A proper branding strategy will nurture your brand reputation. In a perfect world, your brand image and brand reputation will be the same. You want people to see your company in a positive light. So it’s important to get your branding strategy right the first time because your reputation is going to stick with you for years to come. It’ll be hard to rebrand yourself in the future if you make a mistake during the launch stages, so don’t rush into anything. Surround yourself with the right peopleIt’s time to assemble your team. The size of your team will vary based on the type of business you’re launching. You want to find people strong in areas where you are weak. For example, if you’re extremely creative but don’t have managerial skills, it doesn’t make sense to bring another creative mind on board without hiring someone who can manage employees. Or let’s say you’re building a mobile app but don’t have any experience with coding or design. You’ll need to hire a developer and designer. Surround yourself with people whom you are compatible with. You want to build strong working relationships with your team. Here’s another problem I see all the time. People launch a startup and just start hiring their friends and family. Don’t get me wrong — this can work. But you need to think long and hard about this decision. Do you want your personal relationships to be impacted by the business? Can these people take directions from you? What if you need to fire your best friend? These are all sticky situations, so tread carefully. You also need to make sure every member of your team can bring something to the table. Just because you were bouncing ideas off a friend a few months ago doesn’t mean they’re part of the business. I’m not saying you need to be selfish or stingy, but ultimately, you need to do what’s best for you and your business. Secure fundingYour startup will need some money to get off the ground. Depending on what you’re doing, this can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. Everyone’s situation is different. You’ll need to recognize all your business costs. Here are some examples to consider:
You need to realize you won’t have any income when you first launch, but you’ll still need to cover all your expenses. Based on this information, you’ll be able to determine how much money you need. Learn how to get your startup funded. Use your business plan and financial projections when you’re speaking with prospective lenders or investors. You may consider getting a bank loan and pay interest fees for the funds you borrow. But big banks may not be your best bet. Just look at these approval rates for small business loans: For your startup company, you may want to consider some alternative options:
These are all reasonable sources to raise capital to launch your startup. You’ll just have to consider these options and decide which ones are the best for your scenario. Figure out if it’s worth giving up equity in your company. Will your investors bring anything else to the table besides cash? While it may be nice to have other opinions, you want to make sure you have the final say in all decisions. There is nothing wrong with giving up some equity, but just don’t lose control of your company. Build hype before you launchEverything is falling into place. Your business plan looks good. The target market is clearly defined. All your market research is complete. The team you assembled is qualified. All of your funds have been secured. Now it’s time to put your company branding strategy to work. Buy a domain name. Launch your website. Create social media profiles. Start to market your brand. Even if you’re not officially launched or selling anything just yet, you can still take pre-orders. Create a blog. Try to get featured on press releases or news articles. Send free samples to influencers. Do anything that will make your presence known. Get creative with guerilla marketing and content marketing strategies. Be prepared to workBefore you officially launch, you need to ask yourself if you’re ready to work. Sure, you know your idea is great and it’s been validated through your research. But are you ready to take the plunge into entrepreneurship? Just look at how many hours the average entrepreneur works per week: In order to launch your startup, you might be leaving a job with a steady paycheck to work twice as hard on your new business, without being able to pay yourself for years. Is this something you can handle mentally and financially? Research shows 41% of entrepreneurs say they feel stressed almost every day. An additional 33% say they feel stressed a couple of times per week. But only 7% of entrepreneurs say they never feel stressed. Unlike with a regular job, there’s no quitting on your own business. You can’t call in sick when you don’t feel like working. You’re the boss. You set the tone for the entire culture of the company. While being your own boss definitely has lots of benefits, it also comes with added responsibility and plenty of sleepless nights. You need to recognize that your startup can still fail. I’m not saying all of this to discourage you from following through with your plan, but you need to accept this reality. But if you’re willing to take these risks and get to work, proceed with your business plan, and make it happen. ConclusionThere is a big difference between an idea and an established business. You need to take steps to validate that idea before you launch a startup company. Write a business plan. Identify your target market. Conduct market research. Then you’ll need to come up with a branding strategy. Assemble your team. Surround yourself with people who can contribute to the success of your new business. Recognize your costs and outline your financial projections. This will give you a better idea of how much money you need to launch your company. Being an entrepreneur can be rewarding, but it’s no walk in the park. You need to ask yourself if you’re capable of being a business owner. But if you’re ready to work and you’ve taken the steps I’ve described in this guide, you can turn your business idea into a reality. What steps have you taken to turn your concept into a startup company? Social Media via Quick Sprout https://ift.tt/UU7LJr July 27, 2018 at 10:04AM
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Twitter vows to continue spam fight despite negative impact on user numbers https://ift.tt/2NQH5Vx Twitter has no intention of easing up on its fight against spam users and other factors that jeopardize the “health” of its service, despite the approach costing it three million in ‘lost’ monthly active users. Investor panic sent Twitter’s stock price down by nearly 20 percent in early trading today following its latest financial report. Twitter posted a record profit of $100 million for Q2, but its monthly user count dropped by one million, with its U.S. number in particular down to 68 million from 69 million in the previous quarter. The company said on an earnings call that efforts aimed at “prioritizing the health of the platform” combined with other factors cost it three million monthly users — a number which could have turned the user decline into a more favorable story of growth. The company is anticipating another drop in the next quarter as it continues to double down on fighting spam and bots on its service. That isn’t the only factor reducing numbers, however. A reassessment of its paid partnerships with carriers worldwide — which help bring in and retain new users — in response to the development of its Lite app is also forecast to reduce MAU. Investors may be concerned, but Twitter is bullish that an increase in the quality of users is ultimately better in the long run that the short-term gain of higher numbers. Answering questions on an earnings call, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the clean-up strategy would be ongoing as Twitter intends to “build [concerns for platform health] into our DNA.” “When we do focus on removing some of the burden of people blocking/muting, we see positive results in our numbers,” he added. “We believe this will encourage our growth story.” Yet the execs also played down the material impact by explaining that “many” of the “tens of millions” of removed accounts were already not counted within Twitter’s MAU metrics. Some, they added, had never been counted because they had been identified as questionable right from when they were registered. Twitter explained as much in its earnings release:
On the positive side, the executives played up the development of overseas revenue, which grew 44 percent year-on-year and now accounts for 48 percent of Twitter’s total income. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com July 27, 2018 at 08:26AM
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Twitter posts record $100M profit but loses 1M users https://ift.tt/2LUpXxN The social media apocalypse is on us this week. Days after Facebook’s stock took a record $123 billion plunge on a poor earnings report, Twitter’s shares are down nearly 20 percent after the company announced falling users numbers. The microblogging service recorded a drop of one million monthly users in Q2, with 335 million overall and 68 million in the U.S.. International users stayed consistent, with U.S. numbers down from 69 million in the previous quarter. Bloomberg reported that Twitter’s share price sunk by 17 percent in early trading following the earnings announcement. The market seems spooked that Twitter has failed to grow in the U.S.. Indeed, one year ago it recorded 68 million users on home turf, and while it has grown its international presence by a fairly modest 3.5 percent over that period, there are doubts as to whether Twitter can increase its audience. The company itself said it expects to see its monthly active user count drop by “mid-single-digit millions.” Twitter has increased its efforts finding and suspending fake accounts, which is said to have doubled over the past year, but it also said that it didn’t expect that to impact users numbers this quarter. “When we suspend accounts, many of the removed accounts have already been excluded from MAU or DAU, either because the accounts were already inactive for more than one month at the time of suspension, or because they were caught at signup and were never included in MAU or DAU,” Twitter further explained in its release. The company did say, though, that its work with SMS carriers and reallocation of resources, are the reasons why it is forecasting more user number declines. While Twitter can (just about argue) that its daily user number grew by 11 percent in the quarter — a little higher than 10 percent in Q1 — the company doesn’t actually disclose this number. The stock drop will be frustrating for executives because, in its favor, Twitter had a record quarter of profit. GAAP net income came in at $100 million with revenue climbing 24 percent year-on-year to reach $711 million. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $265 million — Twitter is predicting it will decline to $215-$235 million in the next quarter. That profit was above analyst forecasts of $70 million but, following Facebook’s epic crash this week, investors want to see growth potential… and that means more users. Unfortunately, that’s Twitter’s Achilles heel. [gallery ids="1681441,1681442"]Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com July 27, 2018 at 07:25AM
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How to Create a Live Show on YouTube https://ift.tt/2LDH4a5 Wondering what you need to stream a live video show? Looking for tips on working with the hardware and software? To explore what you need to create a live show on YouTube, I interview Dusty Porter. More About This ShowThe Social Media Marketing podcast is designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Dusty Porter, a video and tech expert. He hosts the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. He’s active on YouTube and a TubeBuddy ambassador. Dusty explains how to use OBS live-streaming software to produce quality audio and video. You’ll also discover tips for appearing on-camera and creating a structure for your show. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen NowListen now: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show: YouTube Live Video ShowsDusty’s Story Dusty got his start in video with a screencast he created to help a freelance partner learn how to do something in Adobe InDesign. That was the first screencast and the first YouTube video he ever made. After he uploaded the video to YouTube, he forgot all about it. A year later, in 2007, Google emailed Dusty to say the video was doing well and ask if he’d be interested in making money with its partner program. He was interested, and when he logged into his YouTube account, he saw the video had 208,310 views. He remembers this number precisely because he was so surprised by all of the interest, especially given the poor quality of the video. At that point, Dusty realized the potential of making YouTube videos. That same day, he put together his gear and a studio, and began the journey to creating his current business, Porter Media. To hone his skills, Dusty took classes at his local technical college, focusing on videography and audio production. He believes his story shows that you simply need to be willing to learn to get started. In 2011, when YouTube live video was released, Dusty was quick to begin using it. However, the software and systems were limited. You could click a button to go live, but you couldn’t set up events or plan your live stream. Justin TV, which is now Twitch, was first to the live-streaming market, and Dusty also tried Google Hangouts. Although Dusty’s early work in live video was mostly dabbling, in late 2013 and 2014, he began to see live streaming as important to the future of video. YouTube significantly improved its live streaming so it’s now actually in the live-streaming game. Since starting his business, Dusty has created 700 YouTube videos and more than 100 streams on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and other platforms. Listen to the show to hear why the original name of Dusty’s YouTube channel didn’t work. Tips for Starting a Live Show on YouTube When you want to start a live show, you can use the same tools to live-stream on any platform, whether that’s Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, or elsewhere. Most people live-stream via their mobile devices. They simply tap the Live button on whatever platform they’re using. Few people use tools like OBS Studio. (OBS stands for Open Broadcaster Software, and we discuss it in more detail later.) To do a live show on YouTube, your very first step is to create a channel. Make sure your channel name and imagery fits your branding. If you search YouTube for help starting a live show, you’ll likely see some of Dusty’s videos in your search results because he tries to simplify the process. Even with a more sophisticated setup that includes OBS, you can complete the setup in 30 minutes to an hour. After you have a YouTube channel, you download OBS, which is free. Then you open YouTube’s Creator Studio, and on the Live Streaming tab, the on-screen instructions walk you through the setup process. From there, you can set up your first event or live stream. I ask about Dusty’s show for TubeBuddy, which is a browser extension that helps people streamline the work of managing their YouTube channel. Dusty hosts both an audio-only podcast called TubeBuddy Express and a monthly live stream called TubeBuddy Live. On the live show, Dusty helps other people with live streaming. Each live show has a theme, and Dusty answers questions. To visualize this, a theme for the live show might be why you should A/B test thumbnails on YouTube. For 1 to 1.5 hours, Dusty interacts with the audience by answering their questions, and questions from the podcast, email, his personal website, or elsewhere. When Dusty started the live show for TubeBuddy, he was so nervous that he scripted the whole show by outlining the topics he wanted to cover and when he’d cover them. The show also had whimsical slides that appeared with different sound effects. Over time, Dusty learned to balance preparing for the show and letting the content happen organically or transparently. Dusty’s live show for TubeBuddy is educational so people join his live stream for the content. The bells and whistles are fun, but he balances those with the value-based information. Today, Dusty prepares for his show on YouTube by simply listing a few points he wants to cover and lets the show unfold from there. Dusty and I then talk about how live streaming boosts your exposure on the YouTube platform. Because watch time is an important metric for the YouTube algorithm, live streams can help your visibility because they can boost your video watch time. For instance, Dusty’s live streams go for 2 to 2.5 hours. YouTube counts the time people watch his live stream toward his channel. Because live streams tend to be long, they can have a long watch time and thus tend to appear in related search results. Dusty has found that watch time is much more important than the number of channel subscribers you have, which is a vanity metric. When Dusty started live streaming on his personal channel about a year ago, he began to lose subscribers. However, his views per day and per month increased by almost 20%. Also, although his ad revenue is pennies, it increased by about 18%. By tracking these metrics, Dusty learned that some of his YouTube subscribers weren’t fans of his twice-weekly live streams. However, people who watch his videos become the fan base that he wants (and that most businesses and YouTubers want). These fans not only watch, but also subscribe and click the bell icon when they’re notified he uploaded a video or is live on his channel. Dusty’s last tip is to reassure people who are afraid to appear on-camera. For most people, this fear is the biggest barrier to entry. When he coaches people in live streaming, he emphasizes that the more you do it, the better you’ll get, just like with anything else. He encourages people to stop waiting, because while you wait, more people join your industry and the competition increases. Even today, Dusty makes mistakes, which is simply part of live streaming. For example, he mistakenly went live on the TubeBuddy channel while he was creating an OBS tutorial. Several people from the team messaged him to alert him to the mistake. Although Dusty was embarrassed, mistakes like this allow people to see your real, human side. If you want to do a test run with live video, you can’t prevent YouTube from sharing your live stream, but you can delete your live video as soon as you’re done. YouTube processes a live video and uploads it just like a normal video. To delete the video, select it in your video manager, click Delete, and it’s gone forever. Listen to the show to hear my thoughts on the expectations viewers bring to recorded versus live video. How to Use OBS For a live show on YouTube, your software is your home base. Dusty uses OBS, which is free and available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Software like OBS enables you to share your video feed and audio with YouTube (or Facebook, Twitch, and other platforms). For Dusty, OBS makes live streaming much easier because the features are robust. OBS works a little differently depending on your operating system. New feature sets tend to appear in the Windows version first, but the macOS and Linux versions always catch up. Also, the Mac version isn’t as intuitive to use as the Windows version. If you need help getting started, Dusty and other YouTubers have great tutorials that show you how to use OBS from start to finish. VIDEO To help people new to OBS understand how it works, Dusty starts by explaining some key terms. In OBS, a scene pulls together all of the sources you want to share. Within a scene, you can include a number of what OBS calls sources, which are what people see and hear. Your sources can include a webcam, mic audio, computer audio, your computer screen, text, images, and more. You save different scenes to reflect the content you share during your live show on YouTube. To illustrate, one of Dusty’s main OBS scenes includes a video capture device (which is his main webcam), a screenshot of his desktop, and a slideshow that includes a couple of rotating images. After you set up a scene in OBS, it’s saved until you change it. After you set up several scenes, you can transition from one scene to another with one click in OBS. On the Scene Transitions tab, you also choose whether the transition is a cut, a fade, or something else that provides a visual cue you’re changing scenes, which makes the change smoother and more professional. You can also switch scenes with an external device that’s connected to your computer and has buttons you press to change scenes. Dusty uses an Elgato Stream Deck, but you can find these devices from other companies, too. (Full disclosure: Dusty partners with Elgato.) TV and radio stations call these devices switchers. In OBS, you can program a switcher to anything, such as change cameras or play sound effects. On Dusty’s Stream Deck, each button has a miniature LED screen, so you can add a PNG image to each button that reminds you what you programmed it to do. The Elgato Stream Deck costs about $150, and you don’t need to purchase additional software to make it work with OBS. To connect your OBS setup with YouTube (or another platform), you need a stream key, which is a code you copy from YouTube and enter into OBS so it can stream to your channel. On YouTube, your stream key appears in the Live Streaming section of Creator Studio. Because a stream key can be hard to find, Dusty made videos that explain how to find the key in YouTube and Twitch. VIDEO When you use OBS, you can display comments as part of your stream so everyone sees them. Or simply view comments on your computer so you can respond during the live show on YouTube. To share YouTube user comments within a live stream, enter the chatroom URL from YouTube into OBS. Specifically, in OBS, you add a browser source to the scene in which you want comments to appear. For that browser source, enter the chatroom URL. On-screen, the chat then appears on top of your stream. Alternately, third-party software like Streamlabs also allows you to pull in your chat. If you want to see the chat without showing it in your stream, you can either display your chat on a second monitor or pop out your YouTube chat as a separate window on your desktop. An example Dusty shares from the TubeBuddy Live show illustrates how you can pull together all of these features. At the beginning of the show on YouTube, you see Dusty’s face on one side of the screen and the chatroom on the other. Then, if he’s doing YouTube channel reviews or explaining how to use a tool in TubeBuddy, he transitions to a screencast so viewers see what’s on his screen. Because Dusty uses Stream Deck to transition between scenes, the change from one scene to the next is smooth, and the stream looks professional. Listen to the show for Dusty’s prediction about OBS support for Instagram TV and Snapchat. Video Quality For a live stream, you need to balance video quality with internet speed. For most live streams, you set up OBS to stream at a resolution of 1080p, which you do in the video settings. In OBS, your canvas resolution reflects the resolution of your desktop monitor. The output, or scaled, resolution is what you set to 1080p. Then, no matter the resolution of your monitor or camera, it’s all downscaled to 1080p. To visualize this, Dusty has a nice LG monitor and a Logitech C922x webcam that can do 4K video. However, he downscales it to 1080p, and it looks fantastic. Although OBS or similar software (like Wirecast) allows you to stream at a resolution of 4K, Dusty doesn’t recommend using such a high resolution, because your Internet connection would need to handle a high bit rate. If you have a high-resolution monitor, you can try boosting the resolution to 2K. Just be sure to test whether your Internet connection can handle all of that data. Conversely, you don’t need high-end hardware. For instance, if you have an older laptop or camera, and a decent Internet connection, you can still stream a live show on YouTube. You might have to lower the bit rate, which will affect your resolution and the video quality that the viewer sees. As with high-resolution video, simply run tests to find the best bit rate and resolution that doesn’t drop frames. Dusty recommends investing in a camera other than the one that’s built into your laptop or desktop computer. To make these cameras fit in a computer, the lens has to be small, which degrades the video quality. However, the Logitech C920 can cost as little as $50 and makes a huge difference in your video quality. The C922 or C922x also work for a live show. Listen to the show to hear Dusty and me share more about the issues with built-in cameras. Audio Quality In a live show on YouTube, audio quality is crucial. If people can’t understand what you’re saying, the audio is crackly, or you have distracting background noise like a loud air conditioner running, viewers won’t watch your live stream for long. You can avoid these audio-quality issues by adding a good microphone to your setup, choosing the right options in OBS, and using basic soundproofing in your room. You can find a suitable mic in almost any price range. For an inexpensive mic, you can buy an over-the-head style that looks like a headset and has a pop filter. You see truckers wear them to talk on their CB radios. Logitech makes these mics for $30 to $50. If you can afford it, Dusty recommends a slightly more expensive USB mic. A USB microphone plugs directly into your computer, and no other hardware is required. An example is a Blue Yeti mic that costs about $130. The Blue Snowball is a similar option that costs about $70. Another midlevel option is a quality lapel mic. Dusty recommends Tascam mics, which cost about $70. He uses these for videography projects like weddings and has used one for streaming. Whichever lapel mic you choose, make sure it can connect via an audio interface. Setting up a lapel mic may involve a couple of extra steps that may be a little confusing until you get used to the hardware. When you stream with a lapel mic, finding the right placement for it is important. Put the mic too close to your chin, and you’ll get a lot of popping. Put the mic too far away, and people won’t be able to hear you. If you become serious about your live-stream audio, you can buy a higher-quality microphone such as the Heil PR 40, Shure SM7B, or Neumann TLM 103. These cost anywhere from $300 to $1,400. If you add a high-end mic to your live-stream setup, make sure you have a good recording space. Otherwise, the microphone will make you sound worse because it picks up more stuff. After you have the mic you need, you need to set it up as your audio source in your streaming software. A common mistake among live streamers and video creators is not selecting an audio source. If you don’t, your audio can come through your computer mic or camera mic, which won’t provide the audio quality you need. To select your audio source in OBS, select Settings and then Audio. Make sure your mic or auxiliary audio device is set to either your audio interface or your actual mic. OBS also allows you to add filters to your audio devices. Dusty always uses the Noise Gate and Noise Suppression filters. Noise Gate eliminates white noise or background noise from your computer, keyboard, air conditioning, and so on. Noise Suppression filters all of those things even more. If you like, the Compressor filter makes your voice sound sultry and radio-like. The room where you live stream also contributes to your audio quality. With a dedicated studio, soundproofing is easy to maintain. If you don’t have access to a studio, find a carpeted room, put a couple of $12 to $15 soundproofing panels on your walls, add plants, or surround your recording space with a curtain or mattress. If you can spare a closet, the small space can make a nice studio. Listen to the show to hear Dusty and me share more about the specific setups we use for recording quality audio. How to Structure a Live Show on YouTube When you broadcast a regular show on YouTube, be prepared for only a few people to watch the live stream, especially in the beginning. Generally speaking, as you continue hosting your show, you’ll learn the structure that works best for you. Dusty has learned that having a topic for each stream is helpful when your show is brand-new. It gives your live stream an overarching theme. To illustrate, Dusty might do a TubeBuddy Live show on the topic of how to A/B test thumbnails using TubeBuddy. At the beginning of the show on YouTube, he’d get viewers involved by saying, “Hello, everyone. Welcome to today’s stream. I really appreciate you all stopping by. Where’s everyone coming from today? Let me know in chat.” As people funnel in, they begin commenting. Dusty believes more interaction on your live stream cues YouTube to promote it more. YouTube will also promote your future streams more. Although he doesn’t have any data or proof of this, he finds these results to be true for his live videos. While people are commenting, Dusty quickly transitions to the topic. This approach is helpful for people who watch the replay because they don’t have to fast-forward through your interactions. However, YouTube will show replay viewers the comments as they happened during the live stream so any interactions you have will make sense. To transition to the topic, Dusty says something like, “Today we’re going to be talking about A/B testing thumbnails using the TubeBuddy tool.” He may show three or four slides he’s prepared that provide visual context for the topic. As the stream continues and he keeps talking about the topic, viewers hopefully begin asking questions in the chat. If you don’t get any questions or only have one or two viewers who don’t interact, your prepared content helps you move forward with the live stream. You don’t want to say, “Oh, none of you are talking or responding to me so I’m ending the stream.” When you keep going, you improve your live-streaming skills and eventually attract more people. For instance, many Twitch streamers have told Dusty they talked to themselves and their dog for the first 3 months. If you’re new to streaming or don’t have an audience coming from elsewhere, you have to be okay with that. Building a viewing audience can be difficult. To end the stream, Dusty shares his live stream call to action. He might say, “I’ll be live-streaming every Thursday on my YouTube channel at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time.” This tells viewers your stream is like a TV show they can expect on a certain day and time. Also, let people know where they can find you, and give them food for thought or ask a question. If the topic is A/B testing YouTube thumbnails, you might ask, “What do you think are the best ways to do this?” Then people interact with the video even after you publish it. Unless the video is truly awful, Dusty recommends publishing the video so it gets even more traction over time. Listen to the show to hear Dusty share more about the benefits of having a topic. Discovery of the WeekEasil is an online graphic design tool with templates that are especially useful for Instagram and Facebook stories. With the templates, you can create professional-looking images even if you don’t have strong design skills. The vertical image templates are especially good and make this tool great for stories. After you find a template, you can customize the font, color scheme, background, and so on. Easil also offers a creative set of fonts and a regularly updated stock art service called Easil Stock. To use Easil, you create an account and use the app within your desktop browser. To access images you’ve created, you can log in and your assets are saved in your account. The free version of Easil is for individuals and limits the types of files you can download. For example, with the free version, you can’t download a GIF or PDF. The Plus service costs $7.50 per month, and the Edge service costs $59 per month. With the paid versions, you can store your own branding elements and fonts with the service, access additional templates, and more. Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how Easil works for you. Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:What do you think? What are your thoughts on YouTube live shows? Please share your comments below. Social Media via Social Media Examiner https://ift.tt/1LtH18p July 27, 2018 at 05:07AM How to Create a Live Show on YouTube https://ift.tt/2LDH4a5 Wondering what you need to stream a live video show? Looking for tips on working with the hardware and software? To explore what you need to create a live show on YouTube, I interview Dusty Porter. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Dusty Porter, a video and tech expert. He hosts the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. He's active on YouTube and a TubeBuddy ambassador. Dusty explains how to use OBS live-streaming software to produce quality audio and video. You'll also discover tips for appearing on-camera and creating a structure for your show. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen Now Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show: YouTube Live Video Shows Dusty's Story Dusty got his start in video with a screencast he created to help a freelance partner learn how to do something in Adobe InDesign. That was the first screencast and the first YouTube video he ever made. After he uploaded the video to YouTube, he forgot all about it. A year later, in 2007, Google emailed Dusty to say the video was doing well and ask if he'd be interested in making money with its partner program. He was interested, and when he logged into his YouTube account, he saw the video had 208,310 views. He remembers this number precisely because he was so surprised by all of the interest, especially given the poor quality of the video. At that point, Dusty realized the potential of making YouTube videos. That same day, he put together his gear and a studio, and began the journey to creating his current business, Porter Media. To hone his skills, Dusty took classes at his local technical college, focusing on videography and audio production. He believes his story shows that you simply need to be willing to learn to get started. In 2011, when YouTube live video was released, Dusty was quick to begin using it. However, the software and systems were limited. You could click a button to go live, but you couldn't set up events or plan your live stream. Justin TV, which is now Twitch, was first to the live-streaming market, and Dusty also tried Google Hangouts. Although Dusty's early work in live video was mostly dabbling, in late 2013 and 2014, he began to see live streaming as important to the future of video. YouTube significantly improved its live streaming so it's now actually in the live-streaming game. Since starting his business, Dusty has created 700 YouTube videos and more than 100 streams on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and other platforms. Listen to the show to hear why the original name of Dusty's YouTube channel didn't work. Tips for Starting a Live Show on YouTube When you want to start a live show, you can use the same tools to live-stream on any platform, whether that's Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, or elsewhere. Most people live-stream via their mobile devices. They simply tap the Live button on whatever platform they're using. Few people use tools like OBS Studio. (OBS stands for Open Broadcaster Software, and we discuss it in more detail later.) To do a live show on YouTube, your very first step is to create a channel. Make sure your channel name and imagery fits your branding. If you search YouTube for help starting a live show, you'll likely see some of Dusty's videos in your search results because he tries to simplify the process. Even with a more sophisticated setup that includes OBS, you can complete the setup in 30 minutes to an hour. After you have a YouTube channel, you download OBS, which is free. Then you open YouTube's Creator Studio, and on the Live Streaming tab, the on-screen instructions walk you through the setup process. From there, you can set up your first event or live stream. I ask about Dusty's show for TubeBuddy, Social Media via Social Media Marketing Podcast helps your business thrive with social media https://ift.tt/1LtH18p July 27, 2018 at 05:03AM |
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