Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Tools of the Trade (Adobe Premiere Clip)


Smartphone’s make it much easier to manage our daily activities. Everything is accessible with the touch of a button; news/weather updates, GPS, email, camera, and calendar. Those are just the default apps! Anything you want, just search for it in the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store, and I’ll bet you there’s an app for it. While for some, it can be a daunting task having to learn about all of the bells and whistles that come with a smart phone, the rest of us, however, enjoy and look forward to diving into all of their many intricacies.

As a fan of Adobe products, I utilize both of their computer and mobile applications. Recently I’ve downloaded Adobe’s Premiere Clip app and have been nothing short of impressed. Users are able to create, edit, and sync videos to Creative Cloud and access from any device while logged into their respective Adobe accounts (thx to Adobe CreativeSync). From there you can download and continue editing via Premiere Pro CC if you choose. Otherwise, you can upload and share your videos directly to your social media accounts upon completion.

I’ve personally been having a lot of fun and have found great value within this app. I’ll share some of my videos with you as I learn more about it. In the meantime, feel free to download and give it a shot for yourself. Seems like a cool app for 2018! If you download the application, share a link to your video or post a comment and let me know what you think.

 Like this week’s post? Please share on your social media pages and include #toolsofthetrade in your comments. See you guys next week! - ES

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Tools of the Trade


When I was in middle school I began writing poems because I liked putting words together. Plus I knew without a doubt that it wasn’t my smile that was going to impress a young lady (just trust me). Once in high school, I decided to switch from poetry to writing rhymes. Rhymes eventually turned into songs, etc. The obvious next step was to start recording all of this material but I couldn’t accomplish that without equipment and software. A good friend of mine had recording equipment and offered to, not only record me, but also show me how to use it (IG: @bang_the_box – follow him). Later I was able to start recording in the comfort of my own home. There was one problem…I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! My expectation was very simple:
1.     Open the program
2.     Load instrumental
3.     Press record
4.     Say my rhyme(s)
5.     Press the stop button
6.     Show/impress girls
7.     (Don’t worry about this part)
In retrospect, I know now that my logic was extremely flawed. Of course there was SO much more involved in the process of making a song. I failed to recognize this until the responsibilities of a recording engineer became my own. So many options that my untrained ear and mind weren’t ready for; I immediately became overwhelmed. Thankfully I never gave up. Over time, with practice and patience, my skills grew and it showed in the music. 20 years later I’ve written, arranged, recorded, and mixed several songs not only for myself but other artists as well.
Today I find myself in a situation similar to that of 20 years ago. Digital Analytics, Social Media Management, Web Development (and so much more) has proven itself to be very hard work. However, my expectations were much more realistic this time around. I knew from the beginning that I’d have to start from the bottom, put the work in, engulf myself in the grind, and trust the process. The learning curve is steep but along the way I’ve picked up some very cool tips and tricks. Additionally, I’ve met some very inspirational people and even had the chance to do some traveling. Most importantly, though, I’ve learned which tools of the trade provide the most value, measure conversations, and track traffic and behavior.
Below I will list my top 5 tools of the trade with a brief explanation of what they do specifically for digital marketing and social media management. These are the tools that I use on a regular basis and help make what I do much easier and enjoyable.
1.     Buffer – An application that will schedule your social media posts across multiple accounts. Add content into your queue and schedule the time and dates for posting. Otherwise the app will share all content at their defaulted time schedule. Most recently they’ve added Buffer for video. “The first product to allow native video scheduling to all the big social media networks. Upload once, share everywhere.”

2.     Pocket – Save, discover, and recommend news articles, stories, and much more with this app. Stash articles and read them later whether you are on or offline. I use this a lot for content sharing purposes.

3.     Feedly – A single place to organize, read, and share all the content you need for your social media sites.

4.     Anchor – Podcasting and Radio application that lets you record and capture any audio from your phone. Broadcast your voice, music, and conversations for free with just one tap.

5.     MailChimp – A web-based email-marketing platform that provides the ability to create and manage mailing lists, newsletters, automated campaigns, etc.
What are your favorite tools of the trade? Regardless of your industry I’d love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this post in any way feel free to share on your social media sites. Be sure to use #toolsofthetrade when sharing! Thanks for reading! Speak to you on the next post!

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Advantages of Podcasting



Podcasting has gained tons of popularity over the past few years. So much, in fact, it has proved to be an essential marketing tool for entrepreneurs in 2017. How consumers are using their mobile devices is a huge factor in the success of podcasting. Some of my friends have recently either started one of their own or inquired about starting one together. If you too are thinking about starting a podcast of your own this year, I’ve listed four reasons below for why it might just be a great idea.

     1) Accessibility and Convenience – Podcasts are easily accessible across multiple platforms. Smartphones have enabled us to browse, listen, and subscribe to our favorites at the touch of a button. People often listen to podcasts while driving, exercising, showering, cooking, etc.

     2) Marketing Machine – Podcasts are the new wave. Mobilized version of talk radio. According to an article on fortune.com “85% of U.S. adults read the news on a mobile device.” Furthermore, techcrunch.com suggests that U.S. consumers spend around 5 hours per day on their cell phones. If you’re like me, chances are you listen to Podcasts throughout the day to catch up on current events, news (real or fake – whatever), and of course those damn guilty pleasures. Companies understand the effectiveness of digital marketing and are beginning to take advantage of Podcasting as a tool to build brand awareness and create conversion.

     3) Understanding the listeners - Salesforce.com says “Forty-eight percent of monthly podcast consumers follow companies/brands on social media, compared to just 31percent of the full U.S. population.” A great example of the power of Podcasting. Listeners, myself included, are more likely to engage with businesses that are accessible on social media. As long as the content is valuable in one way or another, the listeners will remain loyal and return to your social media sites AND subscribe to your channels.


     4) Free you say? – Podcasting is undoubtedly on fire right now. All you have to be willing to invest is a few minutes into searching for the best Podcast for your listening pleasure. With the exception of your cell phone providers data plan, most Podcasts are free for all to listen and subscribe to. Visit Google Play Music or iTunes and you’ll immediately have access a wide variety of Podcast stations. All for the price of free.99!


A few of the Podcasts I listen to daily are shown on the right sidebar. Feel free to click and enjoy! Do you have a favorite podcast channel? Leave a comment with your recommendations. Also (shameless plug coming...) my new Podcast for InureSocial will begin airing January 25th. Follow me on my social sites for updates and be sure to subscribe to the blog as well Thanks for reading and speak to ya'll next time!