How to Turn Your Slideshow Into an Animated Video

Today, I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to create original video content for Youtube.

Youtube has the potential to rank well for your name -- you just need to nurture it and let it prosper.

One of the easiest ways to make videos? Animate your slideshows.

We’re going to use Keynote to make the magic happen. If you made your slideshow on Keynote already, then great. 

If you did it on something like Canva, just import the JPG files and drag them one by one into Keynote as slides.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to start adding animations.

Click Animate in the top right corner.

Then click on your first slide. You need to have the slide selected so you can make a “transition animation.” Otherwise you’ll be making an “action animation” for one of the elements in the slide. 

Under Transitions, click Add an Effect, and choose one to see what it does. I like Doorway, so I chose that one.

Go through each slide and do the same thing. Feel free to keep the same transition for each slide to give a consistent effect, or go for different ones to switch it up.

If you made your slideshow in Keynote, you can animate different elements within each slide as well, but there’s no need to go overboard with this. I like to keep these simple so they don’t come across as cheesy.

Once you’ve finished adding transition effects, it’s time to add some audio.

There are a number of websites that offer copyright free tunes. My favorite is Incompetech but you can do a quick Google search and find more.

Once you’ve downloaded a royalty-free mp3 file you like, go back into Keynote and click Document at the top right corner. Then click Audio.

Drag your audio file into the Soundtrack section. 

Then it's time to export.

Hit File → Export to → Quicktime.

Hit next (or change your playback settings if you wish) and save the file.

And that’s it!

Now all that’s left to do is go into Youtube, upload the video and give it a title and description. 

Give me a shout on Twitter if you’re having trouble and I’ll be happy to help.

And the Oscar goes to...

Time to Write Your 3rd Blog Post!

Writing day!

Run through your list and find another topic you’d like to speak about. If you’ve come up with some new ideas since you made that list, feel free to add them -- that’s what the list is for!

IMPORTANT: This time, do not publish your article on your blog after you are done. Keep it as a saved document and we will revisit it in a couple of days when we are ready to pitch your article to third party publications. Many won’t accept an already-published article.

Third party publications?

Yes, that means we are going to try to get this article placed somewhere besides your blog. It might be an authoritative industry publication, your company blog, or something else entirely.

This is killer for your brand -- you’ll become a published author on a credible external blog -- and the article (or your author page) will have a chance to rank independently in search results.

So, try to write about something that would have broad appeal in your industry. Something that would fit in well with prominent niche blogs in your industry. 

Here are your assignment goals:

• At least 500 words (aim for longer if you can)

• An engaging style that matches your brand

• At least one interesting image

• An engaging headline

• Try to link back to previous articles if appropriate

Tips

• Need help finding free images? You can always use the Creative Commons filter when searching on Google, or just use this free image resource.

• Read your work over OUT LOUD as if you’re speaking to your target audience. You’ll be surprised at the things that sounded fine in your mind but sound weird as hell when you speak it out loud.

• Make sure you cite sources when appropriate. All you need to do is hyperlink to the site when you would typically footnote.

NOTE: Again, do not publish this article yet. Many third-party publications won't accept already-published content and we don't want to ruin your chances.

9 Solid Ways to Repurpose Existing Blog Content Into New Media

Today is a choose-your-adventure kind of day. I’m going to explain a variety of ways you can squeeze more value out of your already-existing blog content. Then you’re going to choose a few of your favorites and get to work growing your audience.

First a quick explanation…

Will duplicate content hurt me? No, duplicate content is not likely to get you penalized unless it is spammy or keyword-stuffy. Naturally good content repurposed elsewhere is a perfectly acceptable way to get more eyeballs on your content and direct traffic back to the original publication.

→ Try to choose at least 3-4 of the following options that make the most sense for you!

1. Republish

By republishing your content on other platforms -- like Medium or LinkedIn Pulse -- you extend your reach by taking advantage of already-existing communities. You can put a link at the end of your article saying “originally published on....” to help drive traffic back to the original article and your website.

Medium and Pulse are great, but also look for niche blogs in your industry that allow republished content. The first few articles I published on SocialMediaToday.com were ones that I had already written for my blog. They were months old but got a new burst of traffic thanks to the renewed interest from their readers.

2. Share Your Content in New Ways

Nobody wants to see you tweet the same title over and over. Find tweetable one-liners in your article that you can share on Twitter and link back to your article. Or, share your article with a few engaging sentences as status updates on LinkedIn and Google+. Remember, you want to make sure you fit in with the style of the social network.

3. Answer Questions on Quora

Answering relevant questions on Quora is an easy way to spread the reach of your blog post and provide real value to people who need it most. You can give a short answer and provide a link back to your full article for those who want to read more. For more on this, check out Day 16.

4. Summarize and Outline

You can also take your content and post summaries of it on sites like Medium, WordPress.com and Blogger. Remember to link back to the original article!

5. Turn Your Article Into a Slideshow

If you’re not on Slideshare, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to promote your articles and build your brand. There are over 70 million professionals on there, sharing and viewing slideshows on a variety of topics. Featured slideshows can get thousands of views -- and you can bet a percentage of that will click through to your website.

Second, Slideshare tends to rank incredibly well in search results and it looks professional to boot. The fact that Slideshare is owned by LinkedIn doesn’t hurt either. Check out Day 12 for a step-by-step guide to transforming your article into an awesome slideshow.

6. Turn Your Slideshow Into a Video

If you made a killer slideshow, why not animate it by turning it into a video? It’s great original content for your Youtube or Vimeo profile. This is really easy in Keynote, where you can add transition effects from slide to slide and textbox to textbox. You can even add audio to make your video really shine. Stay tuned for a more in-depth discussion of this on Day 19.

7. Turn Your Slideshow Into Shareable Images

Slides can sometimes exist by themselves as individual images and still make sense. Classic examples are slideshows that have quotes, tips, or interesting facts. If it makes sense for you, export your slides as individual images and post them on visual profiles like Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

8. Craft Bespoke Pinterest Pins

You can always share your article on Pinterest using the default image, but you might encourage more engagement if you make a custom pin for your articles. Use Canva’s kick-ass presets to quickly transform your article’s image into an amazing vertical Pinterest pin. Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at bespoke pins on Day 20.

9. Make An Engaging Infographic

Got an interesting stat or two? You can turn them into a terrific infographic (I recommend Canva -- they have awesome templates for this) and can even add it to your article to help make your point visually!

Do you have any suggestions that are missing from this list? Let me know your favorites in the comments below.

Time for the Social Media Blitz!

Today’s a relatively easy day. You're going to go through and spend 5-10 minutes on each of your social networks. Queue up articles on Twitter, pin your favorite pinterest posts, and share your recent articles on Google+.

The goal is to share your articles and other industry posts to promote your brand in an organic way. We also want to ensure we keep our social properties active. Remember, Google likes consistent, organic activity!

Activity Recap

→ Spend 10m working on growing your Twitter following using the strategy from Day 14.

→ Refill your Twitter queue in Buffer with your most recent Slideshare slideshow, your 2nd article, and a few others from RightRelevance. Go back to Day 9 for a reminder.

→ Login to Instagram and Google+ and tackle 5-10m of activity on each. Follow the instructions from Day 11.

→ Spend 5-10m on each of your other social profiles. Keep them active!

→ Login to Quora and follow the instructions below.

Answering Questions on Quora

First make sure your Quora profile is optimized properly. Use the 6 step process from Day 6 if you’re not sure. Then follow these steps to start answering questions:

1. Login to Quora and use the search bar to see if there are any questions relating to your two most recent articles.

2. If you find a few relevant questions, briefly check each one out to gauge which one you should answer. Generally, the questions that are more recent and have more views are better than the older ones with less traffic. If you really can’t find any questions at all relating to your articles, then ask one anonymously to start a conversation.

3. Try to make your work easier by using your already-published material to answer the question. Of course, you may need to alter things a bit to make your answer really fit.

4. Naturally link back to your article in your answer.

To extend the organic reach of your answer:

1. Before you hit submit, click the checkbox to post your answer on Twitter.

2. Re-ask the question.

3. Find the ellipsis and click “Ask to Answer” and choose some of the people that Quora suggests for you. You can choose 15 people per question. This will hopefully get some more activity on that question, which will increase the people who view your answer.

How To Make A Great Infographic Without Any Design Skills

We’ve all seen those amazing infographics.

The ones that look professional and get the point across in a few seconds flat. The ones that tell a compelling story yet are powerful in their simplicity. The infographics that get shared over and over and over again.

There’s really not much point in making an infographic unless it falls into this category.

But the good news is that great infographic design is not as scary as you might think.

I’m going to show you how to make an infographic. No real design skills required. We’re going to use a website called Canva, which makes graphic design super easy. You can use Canva to make slideshows, blog graphics, Pinterest pins -- and infographics!

They have amazing templates, an intuitive workflow and lots of free icons, shapes, and more.

Follow me as I take you through the process step-by-step. I’m going to make an infographic along the way to show you what I mean.

Let’s go!

1. Decide Your Story

First decide the story you want to tell with your infographic.

What’s the one takeaway you want your viewers to get out of this? If you have your story and conclusion ready to go, designing will be MUCH easier. Every piece of data, every picture, every subheading will help tell that story.

For this example, I’m going to make an infographic that gets people motivated to take control of their online presence. The main takeaway will be that people should care about their search results.

2. Find the Data

Remember, infographics are a visual way to represent data or information. You first need some compelling data before you can represent it visually.

Find the data, information, or critical pieces of knowledge that you want to get across in your infographic.

I’m going to use these key pieces of data to tell my story:

1. Over 1 billion names are google every day 

2. 75% of hiring departments are required to look applicants up online

3. 70% say they have rejected applicants based on what they’ve found online

Conclusion: bad results hurt you; good results help you.

3. Find a Working Template

Go to Canva.com.

Under “Create a Design” pick Infographic.

Then scroll down on the left and find a template that gets you excited. There’s a ton of terrific free ones but feel free to use a paid one if you feel like coughing up $1.

4. Give Your Infographic a Title & Theme

First, I went ahead and deleted all the text on the template and titled my infographic.

Then I tried to mess with the size of the colored blocks. I soon realized that this template wasn’t very malleable, but that’s okay. Canva is so easy to use that I was determined to make this design work for me, template or not.

I liked the colored blocks idea (thanks Canva!) but wanted to make them myself to give me more flexibility.

So, I deleted the template. Then I went over to Search → Shapes → and chose a rectangle.

I resized it and changed the color.

Then I added my title back in.

Then I added two thin black lines on the top and bottom to give it a sharp border. All I did here was add two more rectangles, but made them black and super thin. That’s it. Already looks good though right?

I then did the same rectangle trick to make a general layout. Remember that simple designs are the most effective. That blue color is nice but I only used it in the title block so it would really pop. I’ll use the color again when I add in text and icons.

The last thing I did was add a small triangle to creatively transition from the title block to the next block. You can find that triangle in the same shapes section.

5. Show Your Data Visually

You already have your data so this step is the fun part. Take your first piece of data and decide how you can showcase that quickly to your audience.

My first piece of information is: Over 1 billion names are google every day.

There are a lot of ways to do this. I decided to just use text and a simple vector image of a globe. Remember, when it comes to infographics, less is more. Simple designs are easier to scan and concise text wins every time.

My next piece of information is: 75% of hiring departments are required to look applicants up online

Well, one of the easiest ways to represent 75% is a ¾ circle. I went over to Search → Charts and found the perfect free image. Then I changed the colors to match my blue theme.

I threw some white text over it and changed the sizes and fonts to emphasize what’s most important.

Then I did a similar thing for my third piece of data: 70% say they have rejected applicants based on what they’ve found online.

I made a judgment call and decided that I would make this piece of data more relatable by adding people to it. I used Canva’s search bar to locate a cool icon of “people” and then changed the color to match my blue theme. I threw some more white text on top and ta-da.

For my last piece of data -- Bad results hurt; Good results help -- I wanted to add that human element again.

First I just added the text. I used the same blue, but switched up the color at the end to make the point more clearly.

Then I added emoji vector images and gave examples of what I was talking about.

7. Add a Call-To-Action

Finally, make sure you add a call-to-action. You don’t want to spend all your time making this awesome infographic and not capitalize on it.

What do you want people to do? Sign a petition? Join a mailing list? Visit your website? Just share this on social media?

Whatever it is, make that ultra clear at the end of your infographic.

Closing note:

And that’s really all there is to it!

Here are 5 Infographic Best Practices to keep handy:

1. Tell a Story Visually -- First decide the story you want to tell with your infographic.

2. Captivating Design -- Colors are important. Infographics that stand out have staying power.

3. Less is More -- Too much data is confusing. Simple designs are easier to scan. Use extremely concise text.

4. Data is King -- The right data is naturally compelling. The right way to show it is in a way that’s easy to understand. Do your research ahead of time so you have your data ready to go when it’s time to start designing.

5. Call-To-Action -- What do you want people to do after they finish reading? Sign a petition? Join a mailing list? Visit your website? Share on social media?

Please give me a shout if you have any questions along the way!

Here’s a look at the final product:

How to Organically Grow Your Twitter Following

Growing your Twitter following can be invaluable.

A larger following increases the authority of your Twitter profile and broadens the reach of your own content marketing efforts. It opens up lines of communication in your industry, helps build upon your positive online presence, and offers you a pool of potential leads for your business. You’d be hard-pressed to find a downside to growing your followers.

Today I'm going to share with you a cool trick to growing your following with users in your industry. It’s a scalable process, so use it as much or as little as you’d like.

Let’s take a look:

The Tools You’ll Need

We’ll be using 2 tools for this process: Tweepi and RightRelevance.

1. First, connect your Twitter account to Tweepi. You’ll be using this tool to trim the fat -- that is, get rid of folks who don’t follow you back. Tweepi is an easy way to keep track of that and much more.

2. Then, connect your Twitter account to RightRelevance. We’ll use RightRelevance to easily find the users you want to follow.

 

The Strategy

Once you’re logged into RightRelevance, type in a category that’s related to your industry or niche. For me, I’ll try 'personal branding.'

Add it as a saved channel so you can refer back to it later.

Then click the influencers tab and decide whether you want to filter by people or organizations. I want to target individuals, so I’ve clicked the “Person” option.

Finally, decide if you want to tailor it even further by location. I want to filter my followers based on New York City, so I’ll click that option.

Now all that’s left to do is scroll down and follow the people that interest you. I’m not going to be too picky because I’ve already let the filters do that tailoring for me. I know that the accounts I follow are going to be people who fit squarely in my industry and live in my city. Perfect!

You can use this method to follow 20, 200, or 2000 people, depending on your goals and time limit. Don’t forget to switch to a new category and do the same thing all over again. I’ve already used “personal branding,” but I could also try “reputation management” and “content marketing."

 

The Clean-Up

Once you’ve followed a batch of users, give them a few days or a week to follow you back.

Then log into Tweepi and click on the category of users called “Not following back.”

The “not following you back” section is pretty self-explanatory. It shows you all the users who, well, haven’t followed you back. You can also see some interesting stats about when they last tweeted, where they’re located, their follower count and follower ratio.

Go down the list and “unfollow” anyone who you’re ready to cast aside. There are bound to be some people or organizations you want to still follow despite their unreturned thanks, so just keep your eyes peeled for that as you fly down the list.

 

That’s it!

Now that you’ve got the hang of it, try it out using other categories and other filter settings to see if you get different results. And let me know how it goes in the comments section below!