Bob's Work Site

Category: IAmAlive

  • Hashtags

    #Hashtags

    Until recently, I never thought of #hashtags as any more than a way to categorize my posts. #hashtags do that but I am realize that they do more. #hashtags were first used in 2007 on Twitter. Because Twitter only allowed 140 characters at the time, the idea was to use words prefaced with a ‘#’ (octothrope) as a way to group tweets. This idea came from a web marketing specialist, Chris Messina.

    Since that very simple beginning, #hashtag use has grown and grown. #hashtags are now used in virtually every social media type and platform. #hashtags are a way to connect social media content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation. They also make it easier to find posts around a topic because aggregate all social media with the same #hashtag.

    #Hashtag Basics

    I read a post a couple of days ago that defined #hashtag basics as

    • Always start with # but won’t work if you use spaces, punctuation or symbols
    • Make sure your accounts are public or your #hashtagged content won’t be seen by non-followers
    • Don’t string too many words together, the easier a #hashtag is to remember the better.
    • Use relevant and specific #hashtags because any #hashtag too obscure will not be found or used by others
    • Limit the number of #hastags because using too many can actually look spammy

    Why Use #Hashtags

    Increased engagement

    #hashtags in your posts means you are actively involved a dialogue with others; and most important, your posts will be seen by others. This will get you more comments , likes and shares which will boost your brand. As we all learned in the ClickTrackProfit training, being engaged with others on social media is the best way to get known.

    Build your brand

    Creating a #hashtag that you use consistently and get others to use is an effective way to create dialogue about you, your business or your opportunity. This not only gets you know but will build credibility. A new #hashtag you may be familiar with is #IAmAliveChallenge. This friendly challenge urges individuals to post a photo or video every day to let everyone you are doing well in these unusual times. Also to share your post on Twitter. The individual who started this challenge, Erik Gustafsson, @flaxz, is definitely building a brand around this #hashtag.

    Show support for social issues

    A post using #hashtag associated with social issues can show you care about more than just your brand. This can add to your credibility and start building trust.

    Adds context to a post

    Using a #hashtag, can give your post context without a lot of words. In Twitter, you have 280 character. In Instagram and other platforms, often less is more. People surfing social media don’t usually want to spend a lot of time reading posts. Here is an example I found on twitter.

    Two #hashtags get NASA’s point across. It is the the 50th anniversary for Apollo although you don’t know it is Apollo 11. And, it is world emoji day. Who knew. That tweet is probably the extreme but I do think it shows how #hashtags can be used to give context to a post quickly.

    Help the type people you are looking for find you

    Some social media allows you to follow #hashtags as well as users; e.g., Instagram. #hashtags related to your brand/business helps people with similar interests find you. For those platforms that don’t allow #hashtag following, using popular #hashtags related to your brand/business can send people with similar interests your way.

    So…

    Using appropriate #hashtags wisely can boost your branding whether personal or business. They can also help you get know, be liked and build trust which as we have all learned in ClickTrackProfit will lead to more sales and growing business.

    Until Tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

    Get free instructional ebook, learn how you will earn every day and join the IAmAliveChallenge

  • IAmAlive-Day7

    I Am Alive Challenge – Day 7

    IAmAliveChallenge Day 7 Video

    Day 7 of the IAmAliveChallenge for me and still going strong. The group is growing but not as fast as I thought it would. I wonder if people think it is some kind of affiliate marketing program. I know personally there are a lot of people who are afraid to make a video. I was one of those people.

    I think I am beginning to understand why so many people enjoy doing vlogs or streaming instead of blogs. It is much easier to talk on a video than it is to come up with something to write each day, at least for me. The difference is that I am just winging it on the videos. I spend a few minutes thinking about what I want to say but I don’t write anything down. A blog is a more formal media form in my mind and therefore needs to be properly structured and have a clear purpose.

    Have you ever sat and stared at your screen trying to figure out what to write? I sure have. The first sentence is always the hardest. Many years ago a company I worked for taught me a trick when you were stuck getting started. The first sentence was always,

    The purpose of this letter/document is….

    That always got me started. That start worked great in the data processing environment but not so good in affiliate marketing. So I had to come up with a variation. What I came up with after thinking about it for quite a while isn’t as definitive as what I originally learned and actually has variations but It gets me started. Here is what I use now.

    The benefits to you are….
    or
    You are going to lear    n
    or
    The problem this solves is

    With affiliate marketing, you need to make your advertising about the be your potential customer and what is going to do for them. The only time it should be about you is if you have a good related story or result that can re-enforce what you are talking about.

    I would suggest that you come up with a few ‘sentence starters’ of your own to get you started when your stuck. Make them as specific as possible to your particular business. Just a little trick I thought I would share.

    I am not sure how I got on this topic. I had planned something totally different. I will save that for another day.

    Until Tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

  • IAmAlive-Day6

    IAmAliveChallenge Day 6

    I am on day 6 of the IAmAliveChallenge and enjoying it more every day. Hopefully, my videos are getting better. I would appreciate comments on what you truly think of my videos. The only way I will get better is from your feedback. Please help me. All comments greatly appreciated.

    IAmAliveChallenge Day 6 video

    If you watched the video, you noticed I used a a new toy (tool) for my intro and exit. My new toy is Vidtoon. It allows you to make cartoon videos quickly. They aren’t the most sophisticated cartoons but for the time it takes to make one, I think they are pretty good. The biggest drawback from my prospective is that you have a limited set of characters and each characters has a limited set of actions. I say limited but there is more than 25 characters. For $27, I couldn’t resist buying Vidtoon I think it is worth it. The first upgrade, you know there had to be upgrades, offers 100’s of extra characters, music and vector graphics to use with the software. I bought it for the extra characters. Problem is, they are not the same type of characters as the ones that came with they software originally. They are just animated gif’s. At least at the moment, I don’t think the first upgrade is worth it. There several more upgrades that had to do with selling Vidtoon and finding customers for video ads. I didn’t purchase any of those so I can’t speak to them.

    Please let me know what you think of the Vidtoon portion of the video. Connect the pieces of the video together was no problem. OBS scenes makes that very easy. You just make a scene for each part of the video. The problem I had was getting the first video to start when I started recording. I spent a couple of hours trying to solve that problem in an automated fashion. I finally used a manual method. I made an extra scene that did nothing. I put that scene first and then transitioned to the first video at the same time I started recording. I sure would rather have an automated way to do this but you use what you have.

    My creative juices aren’t flowing right now. I am having a hard time coming up with anything to write. So I think I will just end it for now. I am hoping any one who reads this who has not joined the challenge already will do so. Remember, this not an affiliate program, it is simply a way to tell everyone you are alive, doing well and have some fun. It is all being done on The Hive, a blockchain. If you your not familiar with blockchains, that is what allowed cryptocurrency to get started. Because we are doing the IAmAliveChallenge on the Hive, you get paid every time you add content. Almost as good as Las Vegas, have fun and get paid but with no possibility of losing money. Could it get and better. So get your free ebook, join the Hive and join the challenge.

    My creative juices aren’t flowing right now. I am having a hard time coming up with anything to write. So I think I will just end it for now. I am hoping any one who reads this who has not joined the challenge already will do so. Remember, this not an affiliate program, it is simply a way to tell everyone you are alive, doing well and have some fun. It is all being done on The Hive, a blockchain. If you your not familiar with blockchains, that is what allowed cryptocurrency to get started. Because we are doing the IAmAliveChallenge on the Hive, you get paid every time you add content. Almost as good as Las Vegas, have fun and get paid but with no possibility of losing money. Could it get and better. So get your free ebook, join the Hive and join the challenge. Just click on the ebook for your free copy.

    Until Tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

  • IAmAlive-Day5

    I Am Alive Challenge Day 5

    Click here is to see the day 5 video for the IAmAliveChallenge

    Three things I am putting on my to do list with high priority.

    1. Figure out how others are getting their 3Speak videos in their posts. WordPress does not recognized the 3Speak links as video. I will just have to play with it.
    2. Figure out how not to get both my video and the post with my soon to be video on ctptalk. I haven’t reached the point where people want to see it twice yet.
    3. I want to make an intro for my video with a bee flying around. This my take me a while.

    Those 3 ‘To Do’s’ will keep me busy for a while. Hopefully not too long. To day was going so well. I got my video done earlier than usual. But then 3Speak didn’t want to co-operate. I had to try 5 times before my video successfully encrypted. That took a while. The worst part was that all the information about the video has to be re-entered. You would think that you could reuse that information. Guess not.

    Erik @flaxz and Bradley @bradleyarrow have been putting in a lot of work to enhance the IAmAliveChallenge. There is now a Discord site for IAmAlive which provides a great place to get information and answer. Bradley created a ‘curation-trail. What the heck is a curation trail? I had the exact same question. Hopefully, I can explain it. A Curation Trail (or train as keep wanting to type) is a group of Hive members who elect to follow the Curation (up voting) of the trail’s leader. So when Bradley up votes a post or video or whatever everyone in the curation trail votes for the same thing automatically. A curation trail helps people earn crypto faster.

    So that brings another day to a close please join us in the IAmAliveChallenge on the Hive. Do you realize you get paid for your activity on the Hive? You do. Get your free ebook to get started in the IAmAliveChallenge. http://trckapp.com/get-iamalive

    Until Tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

  • IAmAliveChallenge-Day4

    I Am Alive Challenge – Day 4

    I just realized that my last 2 posts never posted. I have no idea what happened to them. I remember saving drafts while I was writing them. I remember previewing them and I remember publishing them. But nothing. A few minutes ago I lost the start of this post right after I saved the draft. They are nowhere to be found. You can bet I will copy this post before I get out of it. (I just tried saving and it never told me it was saved. Something weird is going on.) (Just tried saving again after previewing and it worked.) OK, onward.

    Since my last two posts disappeared here are the links to my day 2, 3 and 4 videos for the IAmAliveChallenge because I know you have been in suspense waiting to see them and be able to comment on what I need to do to improve.

    1. IAmAliveChallenge Video – Day 2
    2. IAmAliveChallenge Video – Day 3
    3. IAmAliveChallenge Video – Day 4

    Now I am back to where I wanted to start this post. I am really starting to have fun with the IAmAliveChallenge. I am sure what is making it fun for me is learning the video software, OBS. OBS is one of those open source programs which is out to prove they are just as good, if not better, than the most expensive commercially available equivalent. I am not sure what that is for a video program but OpenOffice and LibreOffice are two Microsoft Office competitors which are free and do all the same things. Was also using OpenShot Video Editor but at least for the time being don’t seem to need it.

    Originally, I would shoot the video, use Canva to make a title and then use OpenShot to add the title, clip the start and end of the video to elminate dead air and create the video. It worked but I did not think the videos looked very professional. Check out some of my earlier videos to see what I mean.

    Now I am strictly using OBS. With OBS, you make scenes that use different resources. You can mix media in a scene. For example, part of the screen can be showing you live, next of a video on the internet, both above scrolling text. I don’t know about you but I think that is pretty impressive. You create a scene for each combination of resources you need and switch between the scenes with the push of a key.

    So far I have only scratched the surface of what OBS can do. I have added a sound track to and image I use for my title page. Of course, I have just a live shot, and I have the live shot combined with an image and scrolling text. I need to improve on my switching between scenes. The only disadvantage I have found with OBS is you need to be ready to speak when you start recording or streaming. Having a title page helps offset that problem. Plus, there is always OpenShot if I need to edit a video.

    Until Tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

    P.S. Come join us in the IAmAliveChallenge. Get your free ebook telling you how here. The challenge uses blockchain technology so you get paid for all your content. Join Us it is FUN.

  • I Am Alive – Day 2

    My First IAmALive Video

    Well, as you can see from the video above, I completed my first IAmAlive video. I did day 2 when the rest of the ‘challengers’ are doing day 18 or 19. That’s OK. I am started and have every intention of sticking with it. I will thanks @flaxz again for thinking of and starting the IAmAliveChallenge. I credit him with getting me out of my mental funk. I was starting to do less and less to grow my business. I attribute that to the restrictions we are under. I didn’t go out that much before the restrictions but the fact that now I am not supposed to go anywhere. There isn’t anywhere to go any way. I was used to once-a-week going out to lunch with a few friends. I never realized how much I enjoyed that until I couldn’t do it. OK, enough about that.

    Before I made my video, I decided I needed a ‘title’ page for a lack of name. I didn’t think I wanted anything fancy. I like the format that @flaxz, Erik Gustafsson, uses with the video in the middle. How hard can that be. I am sure if I knew what I was doing it is not hard. Unfortunately, I am a total amateur when it comes to graphics. If the various tools I own will do it, then I can do it. So my first attempt was with Canva. It was very easy to create what I wanted. The problem was that when I down loaded what I created, I lost the functionality. There is no way to download an html version so Plan A didn’t work..

    Plan B was to do what I wanted in native HTML. I knew I could do it in HTML but the questions was how long would it take. I have a very basic knowledge of HTML and this was above basic. I scratched Plan B because of how long it would take me. Plan C was to use the graph software I have, GIMP 2.0, to create it. GIMP is a fantastic tool but overly complicated when you only use it every once in a while like me. So after 1 quick attempt, I scraped Plan C and decide just to do a plain Title Page with the video editor, PlanD.

    Plan D even became complicated because for anything other than simple text on a solid color background, you must use a program called Inkscape. Inkscape is a graphics program probably as complicated as GIMP but of course don’t work the same. Luckily I made some good guesses and managed to get the title page done in about 30 minutes. So all for the want of a title page, it took me 4-5 hours, but I got it done. I will work on learning more later.

    Until tomorrow,
    Bob Caine

  • IAmAlive Challenge

    I Am Alive Challenge

    I have missed quite a few days blogging. The first couple of days I just couldn’t think of anything to write about. Trying come up with some ideas, I managed to find several ‘rabbit holes’ that just consumed my days. I kept telling myself ’10 more minutes’ and a couple of hours later, I would still be there. I want to thank @flaxz for ending mental funk and getting me back on track with his great new ebook ‘I Am Alive’.

    I saw @flaxz ebook in the CTP gauntlet. I downloaded it right away and read it shortly after that. Some how, some where, I totally missed all information about the IAmAliveChallenge. I noticed today by posts in CTPtalk.com that this is the 18th day for the challenge. I can’t ever make up the time I missed, but I am officially throwing my hat in the ring and entering the challenge.

    This post will be my first entry into the IAmAliveChallenge. From what I read in the book, I think I was suppose to make a video on 3Speak to get started. I will do that tomorrow .

    To me one of the best things about this challenge, is that it will force me to use the Hive Blockchain Technology. From what I have seen so far, back when we were on Steem, is the passwords and getting paid to do things like posting or curating others posts. Getting paid to post is a good thing.

    Any of you who have not read ‘I Am Live’ should do so. You can download it by clicking on the ebook.

    I have to cut this short today. I still have to add an email to my list’s emails. I am writing this in WordPress. As I understand it, SteemPress will get my post to all the right places on the Hive. Fingers Crossed. Until Tomorrow.

    Bob Caine is in the Challenge