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Will YouTube Still Be Top Dog After My College Graduation?

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YouTube VS Meerkat VS Periscope VS Facebook

When YouTube made its debut, it was uncontested. If you wanted to upload a video, you went to YouTube. No questions asked. Over 1 billion users later, YouTube is still popular, but unlike in the past, YouTube now faces competition. Vimeo was the first competitor, and YouTube dominated. Twitter’s acquisition of Vine and Instagram’s 15 second videos to compete with Vine provided social media users with new ways to watch and upload videos that had nothing to do with YouTube. Sure, YouTube still thrived after Vine and Instagram, but what about now?

Meerkat and Periscope are now on the scene for real-time videos. Facebook is now an option for people who want to upload their videos to the web. Expect Pinterest to roll something out in the next year or two for video uploads.

I would graduate college in 2020, and a lot has changed on social media ever since high school started (I can only wonder what adults think about the changing world). One of those changes is social networks trying to copy each other while trying to be unique. Facebook now uses hashtags. YouTube now uses cards. Twitter’s update resembled Facebook’s update. More social networks are looking at YouTube’s empire and wondering, “Where are our videos? Why do we have to rely on YouTube?”

If you built your entire presence on YouTube, then you don’t have to worry just yet. YouTube’s saving grace is its age and Google power. It is already known that Google favors YouTube videos in its search engine. Moreover, the most popular videos on the web are on YouTube. If everything remained as is, YouTube would survive for my college graduation. It would still be a cool social network that people would visit for many years to come.

In the last two years, many video-focused social networks came into existence, and well-known social networks provided the option to their users. Vine now has millions of users while Meerkat and Periscope went viral days after they were released (I personally believe Periscope will be the superior of the two). Instagram and Facebook combined have over 1.25 billion users. Again, if everything remained the same, YouTube would definitely survive, but in this day in age, rapid innovations happen fast and often. In 2016, there will probably be another social network based on uploading videos. Twitter and Facebook both own multiple social networks capable of uploading videos without relying on YouTube. These social networks make it easy for users to upload videos via mobile. On YouTube, that’s a little complicated.

It is quite common for teens to migrate from social networks with parents to other social networks with fewer parents. That’s one reason why millions of teens migrated from Facebook to Instagram. YouTube is a place where parents go. My dad watches a YouTube video every day, and there is a zero percent chance that my dad is the only parent who watches at least one YouTube video every day. Teens already migrated to Vine. As Meerkat and Periscope get better, they may go over to those platforms and spend less time on YouTube. Let’s not forget that at one point, MySpace was the largest social network around.

For now, YouTube is safe. However, with innovation constantly on the horizon, YouTube must make changes so it can remain the top dog. YouTube must come up with an easier way for people to record and upload videos through their mobile devices. One of the annoying parts about YouTube is that you have to upload the video through something like iMovie, your computer’s camera, or ScreenFlow, and then upload that video to YouTube. On the latest social networks that specialize in videos, you can record a video right on the social network and then publish the video right form the social network. The entire process saves you a few steps.

YouTube allows live streaming, but the live streaming needs to be easily accessible to any YouTuber. My suggestion would be the ability to create videos within YouTube and a button that allows you to decide whether to do a live stream or not. YouTube needs to change in some way, and in particular, mobile optimization. More people nowadays use their mobile devices than their laptops.

I think the chances of YouTube surviving and thriving after my graduation and beyond are high, but the danger exists. By responding to the danger now while it is still far ahead in the game, YouTube should have a strong future. What are your thoughts on YouTube’ status? Do you believe apps like Meerkat and Periscope are the real deal or fluff? Please share your thoughts below.

7 Tips For Using WordPress More Effectively

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WordPress Tips And Tricks

What started as an idea before 2003 is now a tool that allows people to create their own blogs. WordPress is also the top dog in the area, and if you browse through a few blogs, you’re bound to spot a blog powered by WordPress. Finding a blog powered by WordPress nowadays is just as easy as finding a fast food restaurant in New York City.

Despite the popularity of WordPress and how often we come in contact with it every day, WordPress provides many features that we are not fully utilizing. Some of these features are harder to find while other ones are right in front of us. In order to use WordPress more effectively and utilize its features well, follow these seven tips:

 

#1: Check Your Stats

Did I really have to say anything about this one? The answer is yes because some people don’t know how to check their stats (it’s in the dashboard, and for WordPress.org, your stats are in JetPack). Furthermore, some people glance at their statistics but then don’t do anything afterward. The key to checking your stats in an effective manner is to see where your blog gets its traffic, how long people are sticking around, and then using that knowledge to create an actionable plan to get more blog traffic.

Looking at my stats allowed me to realize that when I increase my tweeting frequency, I also get more blog traffic from Twitter. When I increase my pinning frequency, I get more traffic from Pinterest. With this information, I know what I can do to get more blog traffic. When you experiment with new methods to get more blog traffic, look at your stats to see if those new methods are helping. Looking at my stats allowed me to quickly realize that growing an email list and communicating with that email list led to a significant increase in blog traffic.

 

#2: Schedule Your Blog Posts

WordPress allows its users to schedule blog posts in advance. This is a powerful capability that few people utilize. Scheduling blog posts gives you the reassurance that no matter what time you wake up or when you start writing, a blog post will get published at the right time. Scheduling blog posts gives you the ability to schedule blog posts at the right time of day to reach the most people. Most people check their inboxes in the morning, and social media engagement is also at its peak in the morning (6-10 am eastern time). That’s why I schedule all of my blog posts to get published at 9 am.

Not only is it important to schedule blog posts at the right time of day, but it is also important to schedule numerous blog posts in advance. If I really wanted to, I could avoid all computers, tablets, and smartphones for an entire month—and my blog would still get updated at a consistent rate. I always have blog posts scheduled at least one month in advance and occasionally three months in advance. I don’t want to have more than three months of content scheduled at one time because I am fearful of too many things changing within that time, but scheduling blog posts in advance allows me to comfortably write long blog posts like this one without worrying about publishing it the next day. If I had the stress of writing a blog post “the night before,” I would rush the blog post, not proofread it at all, and then risk publishing subpar content. Since I schedule blog posts months in advance, I never worry about that problem.

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1zqHal4″]Scheduling #blog posts in advance allows you to focus more time on writing and less time worrying about deadlines.[/tweetthis]

#3: Create Pages

When you create a page on your blog, that page typically appears on your menu, but the important thing is that it doesn’t necessarily show up on your blog’s homepage. You can have a homepage filled with all of your blog posts and self-promotion pages that can be found through other methods. Pages are great for self-promotion, but they don’t ruin anyone’s experience on your blog. Since pages exist in the menu, the only way a visitor will get to a page on your blog is by voluntarily clicking the link to your page. These are the visitors who want to learn more about you or about what a particular page offers. You can also create pages with various functions (i.e. landing pages, sales pages, about me page, etc) to give your visitors more options and bring in more revenue for you.

 

#4: Download More Plugins

On WordPress.org, you have the ability to download plugins to enhance your blog. I use a variety of plugins for this blog and talked about some of them here. If you have a few plugins on your blog, I encourage you to look for more. There are plugins that help with SEO, social shares, blog speed, and more. However, do not download and activate too many plugins because they will slow your blog down. Only activate the plugins that are necessary and will have an impact on your blog.

 

#5: Use Categories

Using categories for your blog posts allows you to organize your content in a way that makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for. My visitors who exclusively want articles focused around Twitter can go to the Twitter category of this blog to only see articles about Twitter. My visitors who exclusively want articles about blogging can go to the blogging category and only see articles about blogging.

You can create categories and label your blog posts under individual categories by accessing the dashboard we use to edit an older blog post or write a new one. It is important to only use a few categories on your blog because they only have SEO value if they can consistently get updated. If you choose to create a category, ask yourself if you can write many blog posts that get put under this category or if the category is a one-time deal. It is better to have 10 highly focused categories than it is to have 100 categories with little to no content.

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1zqHal4″]It is better to have 10 highly focused blog categories than it is to have 100 categories with little to no content.[/tweetthis]

#6: Look At A Commenter’s Info

When a commenter leaves a comment, you get to see that person’s name, email address, and website URL. The name is important because when you respond to someone’s comment, it is good to reference them by name. The website provides you with a place to learn more about the person.

I intentionally mentioned the email address last and gave the email address its own paragraph. The email address a commenter provides is meant as a way for you to interact with that commenter if you choose, and never send a nasty email to someone who writes a negative comment. Remember to keep the email address private and to not subscribe anyone to your email list without that person’s permission. The email address is meant as a way for you to contact the person if you desire, strengthen the relationship, and then that relationship may lead to a sale, a returning customer, and/or a big opportunity.

 

#7: Create A Custom Menu

Having a menu display all of the pages on your blog is a mistake. There are some pages that should show up on your menu, but there are other pages that don’t belong at all. For instance, I have a page that welcomes all of the people who subscribe to this blog. I wouldn’t want that page to appear on my blog’s menu because people could then see the page regardless of whether they subscribed or not.

Not only does a custom menu help you hide pages that you don’t want to see, but a custom menu also allows you to create drag-downs. When you drag your mouse on some of the links in my blog’s menu, you get to see a drag down that reveals additional options. Creating a custom menu and choosing which pages go on it can be done by going to [Appearance —> Menus] and then creating the right menu for your blog.

 

In Conclusion

WordPress is filled with so many great features that it is easy to overlook some of the critical features or miss some of the cool ones. Utilizing these seven features will allow you to use WordPress in a more effective manner. Do you use WordPress? What other tips help you to effectively use WordPress? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

10 Ideas For Your Next Periscope Broadcast

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Periscope Tips

Twitter buys the Periscope app, and now the app is massively popular. After Meerkat dominated for a while, it only made sense for Twitter to become a part of the action. In case you have not heard about the craze, Periscope is a new social network that allows you to broadcast live videos, and people can interact with you in real-time. It is an innovative social network that allows you to effortlessly share a recording with the world in real-time, with your smartphone. Of course, you can do live streaming on YouTube as well, but Periscope is easier for “spur of the moment” live streaming.

While many articles discuss how to use the app, not as many people talked about different ways you can use the app just yet. Using any social network in its infant stages is important because anyone can thrive on a new social network. Some Pinterest superstars with over 1 million followers have a few hundred followers on most of their other social networks. The reason these superstars have so many followers on Pinterest is because they started early. Periscope is only a few weeks old which means there is more than enough time to get up to speed and grow a large audience, regardless of how many followers you have elsewhere. It’s the new shiny object that everyone is active on right now, and you don’t want to miss out.

However, for the beginner, it is difficult to think of different things to broadcast. Many people may struggle to find the difference between a How-To Periscope broadcast and a How-To YouTube video. They both appear to be the same thing. Periscope is completely different and you’ll feel as if your broadcasts are going viral right in front of you. Here are 10 ideas for your next Periscope:

 

#1: What Are You Working On?

My first legit Periscope was a broadcast of this blog’s draft form as I explained why Periscope is so huge. Many people have started off with similar Periscopes, and I don’t blame them. It’s one of the easiest Periscopes to start with that doesn’t make you look too awkward. The Periscope was definitely better than my first tweet which features a broken link and has nothing to do with my niche.

When I started the broadcast, I talked normally. Most of it was on the fly, and since I couldn’t edit anything out, I simply spoke my mind without pausing the video and editing out any of the clips (which you can’t do in a broadcast anyway, regardless of whether you’re using Periscope or are on CBS live). Then, all of the viewers and likes trickled in. I was extremely shocked and almost panicked (a good type of panic) because seeing people interact, like, and view your post in real-time can at first be a petrifying experience. It is a great feeling to see someone viewing your Periscope and/or liking it every second (and yes, that happened. I had a lean, mean two followers when this happened), but you have to focus on delivering in your broadcast instead of getting distracted by all of the engagement going around you. It’s still really cool to see the engagement in real-time, and I would never give it up.

 

#2: Give Them Early Access To Something

If you want an audience to stick around and respect you, treating them in a special, VIP manner is a great way to start. What I do now is I offer early access to my upcoming blog posts exclusively to the people on Periscope. I don’t provide the entire blog post word for word, but instead, I include a summary. At the end of the video, I let people know when the blog post will get published and where they can get access to it.

 

#3: Product Teaser

Are you currently writing a book, creating a training course, or working on some other super cool product? It is normal for teasers to show up on YouTube or in blog posts, but why not Periscope. Right now, the community in Periscope is very active, and getting people to like and view your broadcast is very easy. Periscope is the new cool social network, and just as word of mouth spreads Periscope, it is entirely possible for your products to spread via Periscope because people want to show their friends and talk about them. People still talk about Oreo’s dunking in the dark tweet. For years to come, what product teaser will people continue talking about to this day?

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1JLyBYl”]Periscope is an underrated platform to promote teasers for your upcoming products.[/tweetthis]

#4: You Or A Friend Playing A Sport 

When you and/or your friends are playing a sport, put that on Periscope. Whether we get to see some humor from an okay performance or see pure talent, people will view it on Periscope. The main difference between YouTube and Periscope is the real-time capability. MLB records and shows the broadcasts of live games in the big stadiums. You can record and show the broadcasts of live games at the nearby soccer field.

 

#5: You Participating In Your Hobbies

One of my hobbies is playing video games. I may occasionally use a live broadcast to show the video games I play as well as the gameplay, and since the broadcast is live, I don’t have to hold onto my phone. I can just set it somewhere and start playing my favorite video game, undisturbed. The only difference is the real-time engagement I would get from the Periscope while performing an activity that I would have done anyway.

Letting people see you perform your hobbies is a great way for people to get a better idea of who you are as a person. People want to know your professional side, but they also want to know you on the personal side. This is true for any social network. On Twitter, I mention my accomplishments and my status as an expert, but I also mention that I am a runner and a dog lover. This allows people to strengthen the connection with me because they know me on a more personal level. Including the personal level makes you more approachable, and I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had on Twitter over the years that had to do with running or dogs.

 

#6: What You Eat

On Twitter, you can’t get away with telling people that you eat pancakes for breakfast, but on Periscope, you can. Now you can broadcast yourself eating that pancake. When you broadcast yourself eating, an entirely new meaning is added to simply saying, “I ate a pancake for breakfast.” As far as I know, Periscope may eventually not become a place for those types of broadcasts (some people may salivate when they see you eating food), but Periscope is a new social network. You may just go viral for broadcasting yourself eating pancakes every day. People on YouTube have already gone viral for eating food in front of the camera (if you go viral on Periscope because you broadcast yourself eating pancakes in the morning, you know who to give the shout out to).

Choosing this path has another effect. Some people say that social media completely removes our privacy, and to some extent, these people are right. Moreover, what you post on social media becomes a part of your reputation. If you are on a diet, would you rather show your Periscope followers a live broadcast of you eating food from McDonald’s or healthy fruits and vegetables? If you do a broadcast for every food you ever eat from here on, then imagine how much that could potentially impact your health (again, don’t forget the shout out if you go viral for this).

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1JLyBYl”]If you use Periscope to live record what you eat, you may end up eating healthier.[/tweetthis]

#7: Your Journey

Every day, I post a Periscope about where I am with my journey as an entrepreneur. I talk about the struggles I faced and the successes. Talking about your journey allows your audience to connect with you on a more personal and professional level while allowing you to assess where you are day by day. In 2015, I started a journal where I wrote my thoughts in that journal for the day before I went to bed. Now, I plan on sticking with the journal but also using Periscope. Your journey can be anything from completing the P90X program to how you’re doing with your career.

 

#8: Quiz Your Followers

Every week, quiz your followers on Periscope and ask them questions. These questions can range from anywhere in your niche to random facts in history. Make sure these are questions that people can guess the right answers to. In other words, you can ask who was the 33rd President of the United States. Unless you are a history buff whose targeted audience consists of history buffs, don’t ask your followers who the second emperor of Ancient Egypt was.

 

#9: Part Two’s

Did one of your Periscope broadcasts do really well? Make a Part Two for that broadcast, and then a Part Three. If people like a movie the first time, they’ll come back for the sequel. However, just because you create Part Two’s, Part Three’s and Part Four’s doesn’t mean your audience will stick around for all of them. In order to get your audience to stick around, you need to make your Part Two’s, Part Three’s, and Part Four’s attractive. Think along the lines of The Dark Knight. Many people saw the first movie, the second movie, and the third movie because all of them had great plots. You don’t have to spend as much money or put in as much time as the people producing the three Dark Knight movies, but you have to provide an experience that would entice people to come back to your Periscope account.

 

#10: Oops!

While writing this blog post, I got caught up on Periscope and decided to publish some broadcasts. Sure, the oops moments of life can form good Periscope broadcasts, but I just thought of that on the fly.

What do you think would be a good idea for a Periscope? After reading the conclusion, don’t forget to sound off in the comments section below.

 

In Conclusion

It all started with Periscope as a trending topic on Twitter. I clicked the link and wondered how people could possibly use the social network differently from YouTube. Then, I decided to use it, and I was amazed with the results. My first legit Periscope got dozens of likes and views in a matter of seconds. I gained dozens of followers after that first Periscope, and I didn’t promote the Periscope anywhere. No tweet, no email list, no pin on Pinterest. There was no promotion involved other than me posting a quick broadcast on Periscope.

What are your thoughts on Periscope? Do you see yourself using it? Do you have an idea for a broadcast? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

How To Get Back Into The Writing Flow

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Get Out Of Writer's Block

One benefit of scheduling dozens of blog posts in advance is that if I don’t write a blog post for an entire month, no one would ever know. While investing the time to create more Udemy courses and add more value to my older courses, I decided to write fewer blog posts. I only wrote three blog posts in one month, but if you look at my archives, you won’t see any three week absence.

I knew that no matter how many blog posts I scheduled at one time, I must continue writing blog posts or else this blog would eventually get outdated. After all of the time I committed to writing content for this blog, I wouldn’t want to see that happen, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint my visitors.

I never had any intent on giving up blogging. I just needed more time to create training courses. So, when I decided to return to writing blog posts at a consistent rate, I started off rusty. I wrote a few draft blog posts that I eventually proofread and got them back to my original standard. It was at this point when I asked myself how I could possibly get back into the writing flow so I could easily write blog posts and effortlessly provide value to my visitors. Here are the five things that will allow you to get into the writing flow.

 

#1: Create Outlines

Without question, this is the best way to get back into the writing flow. You must create outlines for your blog posts before you start writing them. When you create an outline for your blog post, the days of staring at your computer screen struggling to think of the next sentence will be over. I know that is a big promise, but I encourage you to give it a try. The more detailed my blog post’s outline is, the easier it is for me to write the entire blog post without stopping. If you know exactly what you are going to write about from start to finish, it will be easier for you to think of ways to enhance your content (instead of thinking about the content itself, you will think, “How can I make it better?”).

 

#2: Write Without Proofreading

When I write a draft, I never proofread it. When I am writing a blog post, I am in the moment, and proofreading while writing would dramatically slow down my level of productivity. By writing without stopping, I can think of ideas at a faster rate and not forget about any of the ideas I was thinking about. If I had to allocate some of my time towards proofreading as I wrote my blog posts, I would constantly forget the idea that I needed to write a blog post about. Of course, I never publish the draft as is. I proofread all of my blog posts at least once and will proofread some of them twice if I have some time left over. I only take the time to proofread my blog posts once I know I won’t be writing anything else for the rest of the day.

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1DJHLni”]Don’t proofread your #blog posts while you write them. Proofread them when you are done writing them.[/tweetthis]

#3: Write As Much As You Possibly Can

The more you do something, the better you get at it. Writing is no exception. It took me a while to get from struggling to write a 250 word blog post to easily writing a 1,000 word blog post. As you write more content, it will be easier for you to formulate your thoughts while you write. When I write a blog post, I don’t have a script in front of me that shows me what to write word for word. When I start to write blog posts that I properly outlined in advance, the rest of the words I type are on the fly. Just keep writing what you think about, but make sure it’s related to your blog post’s content. Don’t suddenly go on a rant about animals when your blog post is supposed to be about home design (unless you can connect the two together and talking about animals would be relevant).

 

#4: Read Books That You Enjoy

I know some people will feel some enthusiasm when they read this tip. Others will think, “Oh no, not books. I have to stay away from those.”

I believe that the people who don’t like reading books are the ones who haven’t read a good story in a while. There is a book out there for every person to read, regardless of how much a person claims that books are boring. When you read books that you enjoy, you get impacted on a mental level, and when you read books related to your niche, you learn more about that niche. More knowledge means more valuable blog posts which ultimately leads to returning visitors eager to buy your future products. If you are not willing to learn more about your niche by reading books, reading articles, and/or watching videos, then stop now. I know that sounds harsh, but the most successful individuals are the dedicated student-teachers. You better believe that the successful marketers making six-figure incomes from their training courses are reading book, reading articles, and watching videos to learn more about their respective niches.

You can only move so far with the knowledge you currently have, and to move further, you need to acquire more knowledge. All of this knowledge is also helpful for staying in the writing flow.

[tweetthis url=”http://bit.ly/1DJHLni”]The more you know about something, the easier it is for you to write #blog posts about it.[/tweetthis]

#5: Write In The Morning

Undoubtedly, the most productive time of my day is the morning, and that’s the same for most people on the planet. In the morning, I can write five blog posts (over 1,000 words each) without stopping. In the evening, it is difficult for me to write a single blog post. Part of the reason is that I run every day anywhere from 6-12 miles (if I run six miles or fewer, it’s in intervals, which aren’t easy either).

One day I came home from school at 6 pm, and I had to write a blog post. I also had homework to complete, and after completing the homework, I was too tired to write the blog post. Writing a blog post isn’t much of a physical activity (other than moving fingers across a keyboard), but when I feel tired after a workout, there are plenty of things I would want to do other than blogging. In the morning, I can effortlessly write blog posts, and not just because I didn’t run yet. The morning is a time when our willpower is at the highest and there are fewer distractions. Think of all of the things you do at 6 am compared to all of the things you do at 6 pm. Some people aren’t morning people, and if you fit that bracket, then create a routine that sticks with you, and then follow that routine. However, I believe there is a morning person inside of us all, so I encourage you to try waking up earlier and writing blog posts in the morning for a few days.

 

In Conclusion

Many people associate writer’s block with writing too much and then hitting a dead end, but you also encounter writer’s block if you don’t write for a long period of time. It is more difficult to formulate your thoughts and write in an effective manner. The best way to attack this problem is to attack it head on. Immediate action always solves a problem quicker than passively watching the problem grow worse.

Which tip was your favorite? Do you have any other tips for getting back into the writing flow? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

How To Easily Create An Udemy Training Course

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Create Udemy Training Course

On Udemy, customers get to buy online training courses, and creating online training courses is a very simple process. Udemy guides you through the process, and with the right video files, uploading a video to Udemy is just as easy as uploading a picture to a blog post. Udemy makes it technologically easy to create training courses.

The hard part about creating a training course is putting in the work. If you ever had a day when you felt like taking a break instead of putting in the work, then you are not alone. Putting in no effort is easier than putting in effort, and when it comes to creating the videos and content of a training course, you may have to commit hours of your time to creating that training course. Many people stop creating their training courses halfway because of the sheer amount of work involved. The reason most of this work initially looks overwhelming is because few people have a structured way of completing their Udemy courses. Going through the motions is not the same as having structure.

Structuring the way you create your Udemy courses consists of a four step process:

  1. Killer outline
  2. Use Screenflow for recordings
  3. Edit the recordings
  4. Publish the course

By knowing how all four of these steps work, you can effectively create multiple Udemy courses every month, and each would have the power to generate massive revenue. The two most challenging things entrepreneurs do are create products and market them. Making the product creation process easier will give you more time to market the products that you create. This will lead to more sales overall. Now it’s time to go in detail about how each of these four steps work…

 

#1: Killer Outline

Take the time to create a comprehensive outline that in essence lays out your entire course. In this outline, you must list all of the presentations you will talk about. Once you establish the presentations, you will then create a list of talking points that will guide you along the way. These talking points will then be expanded into a KeyNote or PowerPoint presentation with a series of slides containing bullet points related to the talking points and your course. Once you create the outline for your course, create those presentations on KeyNote or PowerPoint.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1J4UJvO”]Create the outline for any product before you actually work on creating that product.[/tweetthis]

#2: Use Screenflow For Recordings

Screenflow is a tool for Apple computers that allows you to record your screen. When you record your screen, display your KeyNote or PowerPoint presentation in a way that the presentation covers the entire screen. This will make your presentations look more professional, and since you have the bullet points in front of you, it will be easier for you to convey your thoughts and improve the quality of your course.

When I first started using Udemy, I used iMovie which served its purpose, but I often found myself doing double work because I relied on my computer’s camera. For my first couple of courses, I had to do the actual recording and then find out where I had to insert pictures so no one would see me in the videos. At the same time, I had to insert pictures relevant to what I was saying (i.e. when I say “here is an example of a landing page,” I have to insert a picture of my landing page where I say that). A KeyNote or PowerPoint presentation combined with Screenflow makes the entire process easier and has saved me a critical step in the course creation process.

I understand that not everyone has an Apple device, and that is fine as long as you are happy with your computer. For all of the other computer users, Camtasia is the tool for you. It has the same fundamental capabilities of Screenflow and makes it easier for you to create videos.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1J4UJvO”]If you want to save time editing your videos, use ScreenFlow.[/tweetthis]

#3: Edit The Recordings

In my opinion, editing is the most annoying part of publishing an Udemy course. It is a necessary procedure to ensure quality, and in the end, the time you spend editing your videos is well worth it in the long-term. It is better to put in the work now than it is for the customer who paid in full for your $100 course to tell you about the mistakes in your videos and then request a refund.

In iMovie, editing the videos the way I wanted them was a tedious process which is why I currently use Screenflow instead. It saves so much time. I understand that some people will want to record and shows themselves in the video. The only problem is that the lighting needs to be perfect, and that is challenging. I know lighting can cost anywhere from a hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, and learning about which lighting to use for your videos takes up time. My recommendation is to only give it a try if you know about lighting.

If you choose to do a video where you are seen, and you make a mistake in the middle of the video, stop talking for five seconds and then continue. This is the same process you follow if you use Screenflow. The only difference is that when people see you, they can also see you pondering what to say. No matter how you record yourself, you would cut the five second clip where you don’t say anything, but if people can see you, you would either zoom in or zoom out to provide a proper transition. Zooming in and out also engages your viewers.

 

#4: Publish The Course 

All you have to do at this point is upload the videos and PDFs to Udemy, write the details about the course, and then submit the course for review. At this point, you can promote the course in any way you’d like, but your course only gets on the Udemy organic search once Udemy gives you the thumb up. If you use Screenflow or Camtasia, having multiple slides with pictures and using a good microphone will practically ensure your course gets published as long as it is appropriate and follows Udemy’s guidelines.

 

In Conclusion

The only reason many people find it difficult to create Udemy courses is because they lack a plan. A plan is essential for success in anything that you pursue. Knowing where you should go from start to finish gives you a distinct advantage over the people who just wing it. To some people, winging it sounds cool, but cool doesn’t always mean effective.

My recommendation is to publish a Udemy course using this exact guideline before adding additional steps for yourself. Adding more steps for yourself means it will take more time for you to create your Udemy course, and if you add dozens of steps to the process, you risk getting overwhelmed by the workload.

You must put in the work to create an Udemy course, but there is no reason to give yourself extraneous work. What are your thoughts on using Udemy? Have you create an Udemy course? Do you have any additional tips for creating Udemy courses? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

9 Ideas For Your Next Twitter List

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Twitter List Ideas

Just a few years ago, many people created Twitter accounts for the first time. Now, Twitter is nine years old and is now the most reliable source for real-time news. Businesses have utilized the platform to make more connections, expand their audiences, and get more sales. Even though Twitter is nine years old, there is still a powerful feature that few people use. This powerful feature has been hidden from most people because it’s something easy to skip over, and not everyone talks about it.

The hidden feature is Twitter lists. Not only are Twitter lists the hidden feature on Twitter, but most of the people who use them only have 1-3 lists. I’m not asking for you to create thousands of Twitter lists, but with well over 200 million monthly active users using the platform, we can do better than 1-3 lists. My recommendation is to have close to 10 specific lists on Twitter so you can find the specific content you are looking for whenever you desire. Creating lists and putting specific users on that list is more effective than using Twitter’s search engine because all of the tweets that appear on your Twitter lists will be from people you know (whether you learned about them online or in real life). In honor of Twitter turning 9 years old last March, these are 9 different lists that you should have on your Twitter account.

 

#1: Prospects

If someone you interact with on Twitter shows interest in reading your content or buying one of your products, put that user on your prospects list. That way, you know which individuals you must strengthen your relationship with. This list should be private.

 

#2: Motivational tweeters

There is no such thing as having too much motivation. The more motivated you are, the more you will get accomplished. Each time you come across a motivational tweeter who you enjoy, put that tweeter on your list. Then, look at the list every day you need motivation. It won’t take long for a good motivational quote to show up.

 

#3: Journalists

If you want to get published in the popular newspapers and websites, you need to have a remarkable story, expertise in something, and a journalist who writes for popular newspapers and websites. You can include journalists on your list and then go the extra mile to find their email addresses. Remember, the more concise your message is, the more likely a journalist is to read it and get back to you.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1CY6qzQ”]The more concise your message is, the more likely a journalist is to get back to you.[/tweetthis]

#4: Funny accounts

We all need a good laugh multiple times every day, and what better way to have a laugh than have a Twitter list filled with comedians and funny accounts? Laughing has been known to lower blood pressure, strengthen abs, and improve the immune system. Start reading those funny tweets now.

 

#5: Random facts

I understand that many of the facts are irrelevant and random “wow” moments, but some of the facts will be relevant to your niche. Regardless of how many facts you read that are related to your niche or that become useful in the future, you’ll be amazed by some of the facts that get posted. For some reason, I still remember that elephants are the only animals with four knees. Again, this isn’t life changing knowledge for my niche, but it’s something cool to know. My recommendation would be to look at this list once per week.

 

#6: Your friends

As you follow more people, your Twitter home feed will get more crowded with other people’s tweets. If you still want to see your friends’ tweets, and you don’t want to use Twitter’s search engines, then fear not. All you have to do is put your friends’ Twitter accounts on a list together. Going to that list will allow you to see a custom feed that only contains your friends’ tweets.

 

#7: Influencers in your niche

The top people in your niche are the ones who you need to learn more from. No matter how successful you become, you must always learn new things about your niche to provide your customers and followers with a better overall experience. Each time you see an account posting content that applies to your niche, add that account to one of your Twitter lists. Then, after you have enough accounts on this list, you could scroll through the list, click on the links that interest you, and learn more about your niche.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1CY6qzQ”]No matter how successful you become, your quest for more knowledge about your niche must never end.[/tweetthis]

#8: People who you want to connect with

When you come across someone on Twitter who you want to connect with and build a relationship with, put them on this list. Please note that this is a different list from the list of journalists. These are the types fop people who you want to do joint ventures with, promote each other on social media, or anything else of that nature.

 

#9: People who you find interesting

With a Twitter list, you can create a custom feed specifically filled with people who you find really interesting. Doing this will make their tweets easier for you to find, and easier for you to get interested by.

 

In Conclusion

Twitter lists are valuable and under-utilized. However, it is important to not abuse this power either. I was tempted to write a blog post containing 50 different ideas for a Twitter list, but I stopped at nine. The main reason I stopped at nine is because I knew some people would create all 50 Twitter lists and go through them each day. If you have dozens of Twitter lists, then you will spend too much time reading other people’s content. You should only be reading other people’s tweets for five minutes every day and reading other people’s articles for at most 30 minutes in a given day.

Twitter lists allow you to create filtered feeds that only show the users who you want to see. However, if you spend too much time going through your new lists, you won’t have as much time to create products and market them.

Which Twitter lists do you plan on creating? Do you have any additional Twitter list ideas that you would like to recommend? Sound off in the comments section below.