Fluid Studio » YouTube

Write and publish your press releases online!

John Dye — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:53:05 +0000

The key thing to remember is the audience. They will influence how your write. Consider these points:

Will this release go to the local area press or is it more for a national audience?

Will you send it to a targeted audience?

Will this be something you put in print and online or just one medium?

What type of tone, sentence structure, etc. will resonate best with your audience?

Remember you need a great title that demands attention. This is the first text they see and will either entice them to read more or cause them to stop reading.
Keep it newsworthy. No reporter wants yet another advertisement about how great your company is. It may be great, but that’s not news. Tell them something NEW about you.
Keep it brief (single page). Reporters are bombarded with press releases, so tell them succinctly why your story is important.
Give the news upfront. Don’t hide your news in the middle or give your release a “surprise” ending. Get to the point—be clear and concise.
Make the headline eye-catching (and even a little surprising). Cause readers to have to look twice.
Include facts and figures. Reporters (and people in general) love to get their hands on the latest poll or a study with a surprising outcome.
Quote experts. Nothing says you are a credible news source like an expert who agrees with your story and will back up your points.
At the end, let the audience know where they can get more information. This would include a website, email address, or even your phone number. If someone wants to cover your story, or blog about it, they will probably want to know where to direct their audience as well.

Want to distribute your press release or need someone to write it or edit it for you? Fluid Studio can help.

If you are a DIYer (Do It Yourselfer), see some good inexpensive (or FREE) sites we recommend below:

Be in Yahoo! News

Increase Traffic to Your Website – Join the LinkConnector Network

Submit to this list of sites free of charge (special thanks to NakedPR for helping with this list):

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Optimizing a Video on YouTube and other online video sites: Some tips and tricks

John Dye — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:19:43 +0000

Tips for Optimizating a Video on YouTube and other online video sites:

Place keywords in the title, description, and tags of your video.
Choose your thumbnail based on the one that will draw the most interest – you can choose options after your video is processed or, depending on the service, can upload your own thumbnail.
Make sure you choose the best category for your video (search your competitors to see what they have done).
Allow ratings, comments, voting, embedding, syndication, etc. Don’t shut your audience down! Give them free reign to comment and vote. They want a voice and will frequent places where they can create a dialogue with the media creator and other viewers.
Place a direct link to your web property in the video description.

Tips for good Google juice (SEO optimization) and how Google bases the rank your video in general terms:

video has a strong and descriptive title, descriptions, and tags
the video has a large number of views, comments, and votes
high ratings (note: in your videos, you may want to consider asking people to rate and comment on your video.)

Time limits on YouTube video sharing sites

Depending on the service you choose, they may have time (e.g., 10 minute) or space (e.g., 500 MB uploads per week maximum) constraints. Consider different services (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) based on your needs.

Tools you may want to utilize:

Software options to increase web traffic and views

Tubemogul (no charge)—uploads your video to various sites
TrafficGeyser (paid)—helps promote your video

General Tips

Look at YouTube “Insight” analytics to see when people drop off (usually 2 to 3 minutes) and re-edit options that keep attention during times when drops occurs
Studio or background should be kept clean to eliminate unwanted distractions from the content of the video
JW Player – www.screencast.com, longtailvideo.com
Consider Amazon S3 for hosting video if needed
Use a good quality camera (Flip or Mini-DV will often work well) to capture quality video
Buy a tripod for $50 or less
Be aesthetically intersting; pay a graphic designer to make a custom background

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Fluid Studio presents social media to Utah CEOs

John Dye — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:23:47 +0000

Fluid Studio recently gave social media training to many Utah CEOs involved with CEObuilder.

It was good to meet with Rich and Steve from CEObuilder and the great group of CEOs that were able to attend.

We spent 4 hours talking about social media (like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn) and other resources that can help improve web traffic. Even though we were only able toskim the surface, I think attendees came away with some pointers that they can use to really help them improve their visibility on the web.

Below are some slides I shared during the presentation:

Fluid Studio Linked In Presentation

View more documents from John Dye.

Fluid Studio Facebook For Business Seminar—May 2009

View more documents from John Dye.

Fluid You Tube Seminar

View more documents from John Dye.

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Fluid Studio YouTube Seminar

John Dye — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:28:42 +0000

Want to see our upcoming seminar schedule? Go to www.fluidseminars.com.

Fluid You Tube Seminar

View more documents from John Dye.

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The best social media places for the recruiter, HR professional, and those looking to be hired

John Dye — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:31:40 +0000

Social Media for Recruitment

Some questions have been posed to me over the last few months about how people can use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) to hire and be hired.

Well, the answer could potentially be very long. In short, social media allows each entity (be it an individual, company, non-profit, etc.) to create an online presence. As people look to recruit or be recruited, social media avenues allow these entities to connect and interact through information dissemination in ways that have previously been impossible.

So, what are the best mediums? I’ll do my best to share my favorites.

Here goes . . .

LINKEDIN.COM

LinkedIn is a a must for business professionals, regardless of their employment status.

I’m often alarmed to find people in the Human Resources area unfamiliar with LinkedIn and having no/incomplete profiles, very few or no connections, and no group memberships. They don’t know what they are missing!

Fistful of Talent, a blog specializing in HR issues, relates:

LinkedIn is one of the best on-line tools out there for Personal Branding, Job Search, Business Development and Recruiting! An effective profile is your on-line business card, marketing brochure, Google-rank helper, etc. Create a great profile, connect to others, join and/or create Groups, participate in Discussions, ask and answer Questions, etc. Need help? Here are some great resources to get you started: Jason Alba’s “I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??” book and blog, the Social Media Headhunter’s LinkedIn Recruiting Companion, Shally Steckerl’s LinkedIn Cheatsheets, and the LinkedIn Blog for the latest news on what’s new at LinkedIn.

Twitter is another social media tool that needs to be utilized effectively to recruit well over the internet. You might be asking yourself: “How can 140 characters help me find my next (fill in open job position here)?” Well, take a look at this excerpt from the article called “Would You Tweet to Find New Talent?” below:

Everybody and his brother had been talking up Twitter, and one of the latest Twitter trends has been for companies to use the social-networking site for recruiting.

Writing for Workforce Management, Tracy Cote and Traci Armstrong discuss how digital ad agency Organic has made Twitter the cornerstone of its job-posting strategy. More than three-quarters of the company’s jobs are placed solely on social media sites such as Twitter; while only a quarter of their postings are on traditional job boards such as Coroflot, Mediabistro, Monster and TalentZoo.

According to job-hunt.org, a who’s-who of top companies use Twitter to find talent, including KPMG, Intel, Burger King, Microsoft, Mattel, Verizon, and Hyatt Hotels. Even the U.S. Department of State has hopped on board (although it’s the only branch of the federal government recruiting on Twitter).

Of course, there are downsides to seeking talent through Twitter, as Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers learned with a recent recruiting violation. Oops.

Facebook also cannot be ignored. HR.com shares these tips:

“Facebook is a talent goldmine,” says Chris Russell, founder of Jobsinpods.com, a podcasting service for jobs, “it’s filled with millions of passive candidates that employers covet.” Russell is so impressed by the site as a recruiting tool that he put together a list of Facebook recruiting tips, many of which companies can employ at little to no cost.

Tip #1: Create a group on Facebook. “Federated Media is Hiring” is the perfect example of what I mean. Post your apply info, list your latest jobs, build the group into a marketing tool. As people join the group you can send broadcast messages to them alerting them to news and new jobs. It’s a chance for you to establish relationships with young candidates who are interested in what you have to say. Think of a Facebook group as an extension of your company career site. Use the same kind of content and consider adding unique content for the Facebook audience (internship opportunities, video, etc.)

Tip #2: Target ‘boomerangs’ or ex-employees by courting them with a Facebook group. The group section of the popular social networking site is filled with groups of former company alumni. Have your recruiting team (or an actual alumni) start a group. Call it “Ex-company name” or “Company name Alumni”. Promote the group among your current employees and encourage them to tell former employees that they are still in touch with. The group will slowly start to populate itself.

Tip #3: Assign your recruiters to the specific regional networks you are hiring in. If you have offices in Birmingham, Bangor and Eugene, then have one of your recruiters join those networks. Once joined, you can take advantage of network features like the marketplace and events calendar to promote your jobs and hiring efforts.

Tip #4: Advertise. Ads come in two flavors: Social Ads and Facebook pages. You can advertise an external URL like your career site or an internal Facebook page which keeps users on the Facebook site. Advertisers can list ads for as little as $5 on a CPC or CPM basis. What’s great about Facebook ads are that you can target certain keywords, demographics and even other workplaces. Imagine being able to display ads in front of your competitors’ employees!

The key with using Facebook to recruit is to participate and connect with the candidates you seek. Establish relationships with them and you will go a long way towards being their employer of choice.

Some people ask: Are employers using social media to screen potential candidates? According to this article, the overwhelming answer is yes, many are.

Bringing your camera to that bar or party might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but if the result was some less than businesslike pictures of you posted online than be warned, what seemed like an innocent bit of fun may be seriously impacting your chances of getting hired. Harris Interactive asked more than 3,000 human resource professionals if they use social networking sites to research candidates, and the statistics are stark:

In 2006, 11 percent of hiring managers checked up on a potential hire’s online life, now twice as many do and a further 9 percent are planning to start.

Of the 22 percent now examining sites like Facebook, one third said they had found something online that caused them to dismiss a previously promising candidate from consideration.

On the other hand, 24 percent said that they had “found content that helped to solidify their decision to hire the candidate” online.

In the end, it all comes down to relationships. Are you building the ones that will make a difference?
Finally, check out this short but concise little presentation on using social media in recruiting. There are some great principles shared here:

Social Recruiting 101

View more presentations from Thomas Shaw.

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What are the top 5 video streaming sites?

John Dye — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:30:42 +0000

Fluid presented a seminar on YouTube and viral video today.

There is no doubt that YouTube is the big boy on the block. In May 2009, the site had almost 70 million unique visitors (per compete.com).

Metacafe.com and Vimeo are a distant 2nd and 3rd currently.

When doing some research for the seminar, I found a good site.

Per the site, which was written by Emma Best from www.laptopical.com, a laptop news and review site, the top 5 video sites are:

1. Youtube.com

The most popular video streaming website, YouTube has thousands of videos on nearly every topic imaginable, all user submitted and free to watch. The videos are currently offered in widescreen format, though most videos upload retain the original 4:3 aspect ratio. In addition to widescreen, videos can now be uploaded and viewed in high quality.

Videos on Youtube are often short homemade movies, but many record labels are now releasing low-quality versions of their most popular music videos on the website. If you’re looking for a recap of the latest sports game, news cast, or speech, Youtube is your best option.

Pros: Youtube offers 16:9 aspect ratio, high quality video playback, support for nearly every video format, a large audience for your videos, the ability to embed videos on a blog or website, video reply feature, customizable personal video page, the ability to limit video access.

Cons: While the website is wildly popular, it does have a few problems. There is an excess of spam comments, a video limit of 100MB, and only standard-quality videos can be embedded on blogs or websites.

2. Vimeo.com

Vimeo is a sophisticated, free video sharing website. Basic users are allowed to upload up to 500MB of video content per week, or pay for an account to upload more. Vimeo attracts a wide array of video artists, and is often used to upload short movies, skits, and portfolios. The website supports full HD streaming and widescreen format, as well as a wide array of video codec support, making it the ideal location to watch and share high-quality and HD personal videos.

Pros: Vimeo has an easy-to-navigate interface, the ability to create and moderate video groups, high definition video support, up to 1GB video uploads for premium accounts, community forums, and an artistic user base.

Cons: Because Vimeo is so frequently used to upload large movie files, it can take over an hour to convert a single video.

3. Metacafe.com

Metacafe rocketed to popularity with their page view money earning system. Many videos on the website are duplicates from YouTube, but in addition to that content, there is a wide array of video tutorials on many subjects, including DIY hacks, magic, and science experiments. If you’re interested in making money off your video’s page views, Metacafe is the ideal website to use.

Pros: Metacafe has a popular pageview payment system, which allows users to be compensated for their videos. In addition, videos can be downloaded with a link under the video or embedded on blogs or websites. The website has many high-quality tutorials.

Cons: Metacafe increased it’s video resolution, and many of the videos are now pixelated due to up-sampling. Many videos are clones from Youtube.

4. Hulu.com

The first website to legally offer a wide array of free TV shows, Hulu was founded by NBC and offers dozens of free TV series, both current and off-air broadcasts. Some of the TV shows offered includes: The Simpsons, Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Office.

In addition to offering TV shows, Hulu also has a catalog of movies available to watch, including such popular shows as: Spy Game, Liar Liar, Ghostbusters, Men in Black, and The Karate Kid.

Pros: Hulu videos can be viewed in 360p for slower Internet connections. Popular clips are available for recent and popular TV shows and movies. New series are available, with new episodes appearing up to a week after aired on cable. The website is completely free. Videos can be purchased and downloaded. A personal queue can be created for favorite content.

Cons: Videos can no longer be embedded in blogs and on websites, high definition video streaming is not available for most videos, and ads are displayed three or more times per video. Website is available to US residents only.

5. Veoh.com

Veoh is a video content website, but has made a name for itself by partnering with different companies to offer TV shows for free. Offering TV shows not available from Hulu, you can watch popular shows such as: The Big Bang Theory, Friends, According to Jim, CSI, and Everwood.

In addition to a large supply of free TV shows, Veoh also offers user submitted content, including animations, home videos, and funny clips.

Pros: Videos stream in higher quality resolution. The original video files can be downloaded and saved to a hard drive for later viewing. User submitted content can be embedded in blogs and websites, shared directly with friends, and saved to a personal favorites list.

Cons: Commercial videos are only available for users located within the US.

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2 graphs showing why more more than 260,000 small businesses in the U.S./Canada use social media

John Dye — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:37:13 +0000

Businesses use social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn for a variety of reason.

The charts below are very interesting in what they reveal.

And social media is not just for branding. It can result in direct sales if utilized correctly.

An Twitter-exclusive promotion brought in 15% of their day’s business, an associate of Naked Pizza told Advertising Age. “Sure, there’s the brand marketing and getting-to-know-you stuff…but we wanted to know: Can it make the cash register ring?”

Apparently it did.

Recently, Ad Age offered five tips for marketing on social media platforms:

* Track sales made on social media.
* Don’t use Twitter as Facebook (and vice versa). Know what each can do and the strengths/weakness of each platform.
* Create a conversation with friends and followers.
* Sell last-minute inventory.
* Alert followers to changes.

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Utah nonprofits hope to find new patrons via Facebook, Twitter with Fluid’s help

John Dye — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Fluid in the news . . .

The Tanner Dance program at the University of Utah is on Twitter and Facebook.

But Rebecca Meadows, director of development and marketing, is frank about the fact she’s not yet using those social networking sites for her twin goals: marketing and raising money.

“You have to have a strategy and we don’t,” said Meadows, one of 14 nonprofit leaders in attendance last week when John Dye and Philip Case of Bountiful’s Fluid Studio offered a two-hour introduction to social media, which struggling nonprofits are using to reach more potential donors.

“You’ve been forced to do more with fewer resources,” said Dye, Fluid’s President. “You need to go where the people are and social media are where the people are.”

His point was that nonprofits can use Facebook, Twitter and other methods to build a community of people who share their passions. From that community, donors of time, talent or treasure may arise.

Facebook and Twitter are Web-based networking programs by which messages spread “virally” — but in a good way — among friends and like-minded people.

“People don’t want to be sold to,” Dye said. “They want to interact and be heard.”

And that two-way communication is something social media has that static Web sites — as well as traditional advertising — lack.

One key, Dye and Case said, is to emphasize the nonprofit’s role in the wider world.

“You need to be a good member of the community. Promote others even more than you promote yourself,” Dye said. “If they know you’re into this to be self-serving, they’re probably going to turn you off.”

The message resonated with Meadows.

While Tanner Dance needs to raise money because of legislative cuts and drops in ZAP tax collections, she was thinking about a problem faced by a range of arts groups: Schools can no longer afford buses to take children on field trips.

“You want the kids to have the experience of coming to the university to see a performance,” Meadows said.

So as she sat in last week’s seminar, Meadows had a flash: What if hers and other arts groups collaborate on a Facebook “Cause” site to raise money for the buses?

Several Salt Lake City nonprofits already have used Facebook to raise money.

The Road Home shelter last fall promoted a flag football game between former Cougars and Utes. Tickets were $5 each and the proceeds went to The Road Home.

And the Utah Humanities Council just created a “Cause” link from its Facebook page, garnering $10 from two donors by last week.

By Kristen Moulton

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/15/2009 09:33:31 AM MDT

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12372325?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

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Social Media Educational Series—LinkedIn

Jim Killian — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:22:53 +0000

Fluid Studio is excited to offer Part 2 of the Social Media Educational Series for Utah and help you become familiar with LinkedIn! (Click here for the presentation slides from Part 1 on Twitter).

This 90-minute discussion will be on Wednesday, April 22nd at 11:30 a.m.

The current plan is to host it at the Metropolitan Restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City (173 West Broadway). Lunch will be provided.

For businesses or groups that wish to maximize their marketing dollars and not get left behind in the world of social media, Fluid is only charging a nominal fee of $29/person for the education series.

If you sign up before Friday April 10th, we are offering a discounted rate of $19! Click HERE or purchase a ticket below to register.

Why are we doing this?

Fluid Studio believes social media is an effective marketing tool for you and your business.

Cost—compared to traditional marketing, social media is relatively inexpensive and can be created and deployed quickly and efficiently.

Reach—social media has the ability to directly reach target audiences and demographics down to their specific current interests, past experiences, etc.

Return on Investment (ROI)—Using the analytics inherent in social media tools, you can create, distribute, and track web, video, e-mail, and other social media marketing tools immediately.

About the Presenter:

John Dye, President of Fluid Studio, has been a longtime participant in social media realms and has helped numerous companies effectively incorporate social media into their overall marketing strategy. John will help businesses first understand the basics of LinkedIn before moving on to some of the more practical and advanced features.

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What Every Company Should Know About Using Social Media During A Recession

Jim Killian — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:23:59 +0000

How familiar are you with social media?

Have you ever felt left out of a conversation or didn’t even know about the conversation because you haven’t been able to wrap your brain around where to start with social media?

Does hearing about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, Digg, blogs, and other social networking sites make you want to crawl into a hole because you don’t know what’s going on?

If so, this seminar is for you!

Fluid Studio is excited to offer a Social Media Educational Series for Utah and help you become orientated in the ever-changing and exciting world of social media!

The first 90-minute class in the series will be on Thursday, March 26th at 6:30 pm at the SLC Downtown Sheraton Hotel (150 W 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT).

Businesses or groups that wish to maximizes their marketing dollars and not get left behind in social media, Fluid is only charging a nominal fee of $29/person for the education series. If you sign up now, we are offering a discounted rate of $19! Click HERE to register.

Why are we doing this?

Because we believe social media is such an effective marketing tool for you and your business with its cost, reach, and return on investment (ROI):

• Cost—compared to traditional marketing, social media is relatively inexpensive and can be created and deployed quickly and efficiently.

• Reach—social media has the ability to directly reach target audiences and demographics down to their specific current interests and past experience.

• Return on Investment (ROI)—Using the analytics inherent in social media tools, you can create, distribute, and track web, video, e-mail, and other social media marketing tools immediately.

About the Presenter:

John Dye, President of Fluid Studio, has been a longtime participant in social media realms and has helped numerous companies effectively incorporate social media into their overall marketing strategy. John will help businesses first understand the basics of social media before moving on to some of the more advanced features of social networking.

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