Little Birdie Communications

I saw my first animated Twitter Profile Pic today. It was magazine Dazed and Confused (@dazedmagazine). It showed different covers. While indivually it wasn’t crazy, having that little bit of animation in my stream was annoying. Imagine if everyone had a moving pic.

So let’s all agree to keep our profile pic nice and static.

I learned so much at PodCamp Pittsburgh and I was thrilled to be able to present, but what I loved, loved, loved was the great people I’ve met and have gotten to know on Twitter since. I feel like I’m part of a greater community, like I’m sitting with the cool kids now (In high school I was on the drill team, played in the band and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook. Need I say more?).

I went to PodCamp having recently discovered Secret Agent L (AKA Laura Miller) and am really inspired by her and her project. But you know what surprised me more ever since? She’s not alone. I’ve discovered that BurghBaby (AKA Michele) started Christmas Crazy for Kids, that JanePitt (AKA PittGirl AKA Ginny) started Make Room For Kids, and that the two of them (with the generous support of their readers) raised over $6,000 for their charities this week through Crazy Scary at The Scare House. I learned that ChachiSays volunteers monthly at a local “store” for the needy (by “store” I mean that they sell items at an extremely low price).

I have found my people. These people are like me – they see a problem, and they work to fix it. I give you this example (and I’m not saying this to blow my own horn) from my past. I worked for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services my coworker and I started Project Prom. While working on a fund to help kids served by DHS, we saw many requests coming in for kids who needed help with prom expenses. That may seem frivolous, but many of these kids were were dealing with Real Life issues at an age when they should have been dealing with High School issues. We started small, collecting dresses and tuxedos (we didn’t forget the guys!) and opened up our “shop,” pairing the students with personal shoppers. For one night, these kids were able to have a normal high school experience. They didn’t have to worry about their drug addicted parent coming home and beating them, or if they had enough food to get them through the week, or if they would be evicted that day when they got home from school. They got to be high schoolers.

My point is, The Secret Agent L Project is one example of the kindness movement right here in Pittsburgh, and I couldn’t be happier to see it growing.

Back to this session, The Secret Agent L Project: Social Media and the Kindness Movement, by Laura Miller. I had tweeted with SAL a few times and had become an Affiliated Agent (someone who does random acts of kindness on her behalf), but I was really excited to hear her talk and meet her.  And let me tell you, she did not disappoint. Laura is not only a good, sweet person, she’s funny as hell. And that, my friends, makes a great combination.

I just had the most amazing experience at PodCamp Pittsburgh this weekend! I met some amazing Pittsburghers, some of whom I have followed on Twitter for a while and others I have just met.  Here’s a list of the weekend’s sessions I attended, with reviews to follow (because, honestly, I’m ready to collapse!).

Day One

• SEO: All You Want to Know in an Open Discussion
  • Lead by Andy Quayle @TechBurgh of Tubu.net
• Blogging 202: Finding Fodder 52 Weeks a Year
  • Lead by Muchelle Hammonds @burghbaby of Burgh Baby
• Podcasting 101: Picking Up a Mic
  • Lead by Mike Sorg @Sorgatron of Sorgatron Media and Hutch Baily@burghseyeview of Burghs Eye View
• Podcasting 202: More Than Just Picking Up a Mic
  • Lead by Mike Sorg @Sorgatron of Sorgatron Media
• The Secret Agen L Project: Social Media and the Kindness Movement
  • Lead by Laura Miller @SecretAgentL of  The Secret Agent L Project

Day Two

• Blogging for Business
  • Lead by Cynthia Closkey @CynthiaCloskey of Big Big Design
• Managing Social Media: Using Hootsuite to Manage Social Media Accounts
  • Lead by Dana Sheehan (that’s me!) @LittleBirdieCom of Little Birdie Communications
• WordPress Plug-ins for SEO
  • Lead by Jami Broom @ClicksIM of Clicks Internet Marketing
• Managing Multiple Identities in Social Media
  • Lead by Emily Levenson @suburose @reluctantveggie @sustainhw @pghcraft of Subu, Inc., The Reluctant Vegetarian, Sustain Health and Wellness, and The Pittsburgh Craft Collective

THANK You!

A last, but not least, a HUGE THANK YOU to the folks who organized PodCamp Pittsburgh.

• Norm Hulesman @MrDirby
• Missy Sorg
• Jennie Roth
• Rob de la Cretaz
• Mike Sorg @sorgatron

Not to mention tons of other volunteers, presenters and participants.

Building a website is like planning a trip – there are steps needed to ensure you get to your desired destination. When these steps are skipped, or not clearly communicated, you will end up with an unexpected website.

Where are you Going?

When I sit down with a new client, we talk about what he or she wants on the website, including the pages, general content and look and feel of the site.  This leads to a Letter of Agreement, where I look at my client’s needs – both known and unknown to the client – and lay it out on paper. We both sign the letter, giving each of us a reference document and clear scope for the website.

Map It

A good website starts with a Navigation Plan. The elements of the website are included in the Letter of Agreement, but the Navigation Plan lays them our specifically. This is where we decide where the contact information will go, for example. Does it need it’s own page? Should it go in the header or side bar and be accessible on every page? If there are several locations, should each location have contact information? All of these questions need to be answered and agreed upon, as they determine the size of the site, which determines the appropriate layout.

Pack The Essentials

There are certain pieces of information that are needed on any website:

• home page
• contact information
• services/products

I really hate going to a website and never being able to find a phone number or hours. What do your clients need to know right away? That information needs to be easily accessible.

Prioritize the Sights

Not everything can be on the home page. You have to decide what elements need to be accessible everywhere, and what elements can be a few pages in. Cramming too much on the home page is a mistake, but burying items that are most often needed is also a mistake. It’s a balancing act to keep the most commonly looked for information at visitor’s fingertips, while allowing more specific information to be a click or two away.

Image from http://organicsearchrankings.net

Google Analytics is a free tool that tracks visitors to your website. It’s both powerful and free, which makes it a no-brainer to use!

Create Account and Login

Go to www.google.com.analytics and sign in. If you don’t have a Google account you’ll need to create one and follow the directions to add the code to your site to start tracking website visitors.

Overview

Once you’ve signed in you’ll get an overview of traffic to your site. Click on “view report” next to the website you’d like to view to see more detailed information.

Select Dates

Google defaults to show you the last 30 days. You can adjust the timeline, which is great for creating monthly analytics reports.

General Info

The general information you’ll see are:

• Visits – The number of times your site has been visited.
• Pageviews – The number of pages that have been viewed on your site.
• Pages/Visit – The number of pages that are viewed on an average visit.
• Bounce Rate – The percentage of users who visit your site and leave after only visiting one page, which usually means your site isn’t what the user was looking for.
• Avg. Time on Site – The average amount of time spend on your site.
• New Visits – The number of users who have not been to your site before.

Selecting each of these topics will allow you to see more detailed information.

Dig In

Dig into each piece of information to get a better view of what your visitors like, and don’t like, in your site. For example, click on Content in the left menu to see what pages are being most visited. Using the data can help you determine what pages are the most popular. This data can give you insight into the pages that are not being visited, or that have high bounce rates. You can also look at how visitors find your website by clicking on Traffic Sources on the left.

Google Adwords

If you have any Adword campaigns you can check the results by clicking Traffic Sources > Campaigns.

Getting Familiar

This is just scratching the surface of Google Analytics, but by checking your analytics weekly and getting familiar with it, you will gain valuable insight into your site and your visitors who will hopefully become customers.

Car companies unveil their latest and greatest at auto shows around the country, but for the first time Ford decided to go a different route. They unveiled the new Ford Explorer in New York City, Los Angeles and on Facebook to the rest of the world.

Mike Rowe, their celebrity spokesperson, and creators of the car as well as Ford executives created videos, which were posted every few overs over the course of the day on July 26.

The entire campaign was slick, well created and, most importantly, accessible and interactive. My posting the videos to YouTube and Facebook, anyone with a computer and internet access was able to participate. Users were able to ask questions and post their comments immediately.

Everyone selling a product knows you need to make an emotional connection. By doing this unveil on Facebook, allowing the average American to participate, Ford hopes that they will create an excitement and buzz about the new Explorer as well as a connection that will stay with them when they’re shopping for a new vehicle.

Video is a very powerful tool. Just like a picture is worth a thousand words, video conveys so much more than words or photos alone can do.

Video For Everyone

Video used to be elitist. You needed a video camera, tapes and en editing system to create videos. But today, all you need is a cell phone. Not that I recommend creating videos for your business via cell phone, but the point is, the technology is readily accessible to nearly anyone.

Equipment

You need a few things to make a decent video. Chances are, you already have all of these things.

• camera (either a dedicated digital video camera like a Flip, or a digital camera with video capabilities)
• computer
• basic editing software (pretty much every computer comes with it now. )
• internet access

Plan It Out

You need to decide what your video will be about. Start off simple, with things you know. Are you selling a product? Demonstrate it (if you have a line, pick one). Do you run a restaurant? Give a tour. Write down the topic and a general storyline. I suggest a bulleted list, which will keep you on target but won’t allow you to read from a script. Keep the entire thing under 5 minutes, 10 max if you’re doing a tutorial. People won’t watch you demonstrate a item for an hour.

Action!

Find someone with a steady hand and a quiet place, and start rolling. If you’re going to be sitting, get a tripod. If you’re going to be moving around, be sure the person recording knows where you’ll be going by walking through it a few times. Don’t worry about messing up. Do it a few times and remember to be yourself! This is when you want your personality to show through.

Edit

If you can do the video in one take, that’s great, but you’ll still need to do some editing. Use a basic editor (Flip Camera comes with software, iMovie works as well) to trim the ends. You can split the video and piece it together as well, if needed.

Brand it

Using the software create a begining and ending title screen. This is where your branding comes into play. Use your logo or at least your business name. At the end include your web address and phone number.

Make it Online Ready

Every video needs to be compressed for online viewing. Depending on the speed of your computer this can take a while. I suggest doing this when you don’t need your computer for an hour or so, so it can compress the video unhindered.

Upload It

You have several options for uploading your video. If you use WordPress or another type of online CMS you can upload your video right to your website, but this does take up a lot of space. I suggest creating a YouTube Channel and embedding it there. Read my post about the benefits of YouTube to learn more.

Congratulations!

You are now a video producer! Video enhances your Search Engine results and gives customers a reason to come back to your site. Don’t forget to tell everyone about your new video on Facebook and Twitter (you ARE using those, right?).

image courtsy of mashable.com

Facebook has become part of many people (read: customers) daily routine. In fact, a recent study by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research shows that “as many as one-third of women aged 18-34 check Facebook when they first wake up, even before they get to the bathroom.”

Money and the Young Woman

Women in this age range are one of the most sought-out consumer groups, known for their spending ways. And they LOVE Facebook. Women are wired to be social, and Facebook satisfies this need, especially for this busy group.

Word of Mouth

Every business owner knows that word of mouth advertising is the best kind. Not only is it free, it comes from a reliable source. I know a lot of people with over 500 Facebook friends. That means if they update “I’m eating at X Restaurant” you just got free advertising to a LOT of people. I’ve seen conversations about the place occur in the comments, linking to websites and Google maps for directions.

Share and Share Alike

Having a Facebook Page (a business profile) makes it easy for a customer to share your information with everyone in their Facebook network. Post a photo of your new dish, customers having a great time or someone using your product. Photos can be easily shared to someone’s profile. Tag your customers (with their permission) and whenever someone looks at this person’s photos on Facebook, yours is included.

Stay Front and Center

Keep your Facebook Page updated regularly. I like to use Hootsuite to schedule my updates in advance for both Twitter and Facebook. Are you running a special? What’s your deal (or drink, special, photo, etc.) of the day? Also be sure not to be too “markety.” Use your voice and make it fun, showing people how much MORE fun they would have if they did business with you! I recommend updated about once a day, at least 3-4 times a week. It depends on your business. If you’re a restaurant you can do, especially on the weekends when you want to promote your weekend drink specials. The trick is to get yourself out there often enough that people will think of you the next time they need your services, but not so often as to annoy them, making then Hide you (which they can do without unliking your Page).

Calendar Girls (or Boys)

Facebook has a calendar that shows up as a tab on top of your page and, when published, goes into your news stream. You can also invite your Facebook followers. This is a great way to promote specials, events and seasonal items.

If you’ve seen the very creative Old Spice commercials, featuring a very handsome (i.e. H.O.T.) man declaring that, if YOUR man uses Old Spice body wash, he would smell as good as him.

Old Spice has turned up the heat on this campaign by going online and responding to Tweets via video on YouTube. And it’s getting a LOT of attention, mostly because they are literally posting 10 responses an hour.

Check out all of them at www.youtube.com/oldspice.

I just read an article about Curves being in trouble, with franchises closing at an alarming rate. It made a lot of good points. Here are some ideas from their target audience: me.

Relevancy

My mom goes to Curves. I mean, literally, my mother (the woman who birthed me) goes to Curves. Now, my mom is 60 and probably a bit older than the average Curves customer (and, please God, do not let my mother read this post), but they seem out of date to me. As their current audience ages, they need to bring in a younger crowd. Their 30 minute routine, while fast, never deviates. You do the same machines in the same order, every time. That just seems so BORING to me. While I think that’s a great way for a beginner, then what?

Flexibility

When I looked into joining Curves, the only one near me had hours that did not work with my schedule. The latest workout started at 7:00. I work full-time and have two young children, plus this business. Being able to work out after I’ve but them to bed is more realistic for me, unless they have child care. Which they don’t. If you want to appeal to me, I need to be able to go on my terms.

Variety

As I mentioned above, a Curves customer does the same machines in the same way, in the same order, for 30 minutes each time. This is great, for about 3 months. Then your body adapts and it needs to be challenged in a different way. Plus, while doing the familiar is comforting, it’s boring. An exercise facility needs to offer more than one way to do things.

Support

It seems that the only connection you get with Curves is at one of their independently owned operations. I found them on Facebook and, while they have over 17,000 people who “like” them,  they have no updates, no photos, nothing.  Seriously? They should be sending out regular updates, such as when they open a new franchise, health and diet tips, exercise tips and messages of support. Run contests, have franchise owners post photos, get people involved! I know a lot of franchises do drives for charity. Why not highlight these? There is such a missed opportunity here.

I’m anxiously awaiting to see what happens. I’m not going to put the nail in the coffin just yet, but they need to reconsider their structure, especially in this time of economic hardship that are forcing people to choose exactly how they want to spend that $35 or so a month.