Suite Minute - An Award-Winning Technology Blog by Peggy Duncan

December 23rd, 2011

Create Your Own Video Website for Free with Vidcaster and YouTube. Perfect for Vodcasts.

1 Comment, Suite Minute TV, by Peggy Duncan.

I’m becoming obsessed with creating how-to videos about productivity and technology tips and gadgets. I’d decided earlier in the year that my project during this holiday season (as business slows down) would be to learn even more video editing software and to get more serious about vodcasting (Internet TV with my own videos). My brain cells are in overdrive, and that keeps me motivated (I’ll talk more about the software and gadgets I’m using in another post).

I have a YouTube channel and have been posting how-to videos for several years, but I also wanted to have a separate Website for my videos and my vodcast, Suite Minute with Peggy Duncan. I didn’t want to host the videos on a site that I’d have to create and then maintain.

Vidcaster.com – Create Your Own Video Website

Vidcaster.com has a lot of features I wanted. However, I’m using the free version and have some limitations such as not being able to add social tools to each video. For this reason, I’ll promote my YouTube channel most of the time.

  • Easy to use. I clicked around the site because I wanted to know everything I’d be able to do. I’ve created new pages, added my own background, chosen a template, etc. Everything was straightforward.
  • Connects with YouTube. This is key because I didn’t want to have to upload all of my videos to the site.
  • Has customizable background. I wanted this site to resemble the design of my YouTube channel. I created a background in PowerPoint, and uploaded it. After tweaking the design, I was able to make everything fit the template I chose on Vidcaster.
  • Offers a free version. I’m going to stick with the free version for now. When I get advertisers interested in my channel, I’ll upgrade to the paid version so I can include commercials in my shows.
  • Can customize the domain name. For $20 a year, I’m using my own domain for more professional branding (I didn’t want .vidcaster in the name). This was tricky because this called for creating an A Record where I registered the domain (I’d never done this before and still don’t know what the heck it is). You’ll see info on this on Vidcaster’s site when you attempt to add the custom domain, but you’ll have to figure out how to create the A Record on your own.

    I found the instructions for doing it on Godaddy.com (that’s where I registered the SuiteMinuteTV.com domain), inserted the IP address I got from Vidcaster, and waited a few hours for all this to propagate throughout the Internet. After that, I clicked to verify it on Vidcaster.com, and it worked! (See below for instructions I used on GoDaddy).

So, here it is. Introducing SuiteMinuteTV.com.

 Vidcaster Home Page for Suite Minute TV

How to Create an A Record, GoDaddy.com

Here are the instructions I found for creating an A Record on GoDaddy.com. You’ll have to do a similar search for instructions with your registrar (or call them).

GoDaddy: To Access the Zone File Editor

Log in to your Account Manager.

In the My Products section, click Domain Manager.

Do one of the following:

From the Tools menu, select DNS Manager, and then click Edit Zone for the domain name you want to update.

Click the domain name you want to update, and, in the DNS Manager section, click Launch.

 

GoDaddy: To Add an A Record

Go to the Zone File Editor for the domain name you want to update.

Click Add New Record. The Add DNS Record window displays.

From the Record type list, select A (Host).

Complete the following fields:

Host Name: Enter the host name the A record links to. Type @ to point the record directly to your domain name, including the www.

Points to IP Address: Enter the IP address your domain name uses for this host record (I got this from Vidcaster).

TTL: Select how long the server should cache the information (I changed to a week…don’t ask me why).

Click OK.

Click Save Zone File, and then click OK. The new A record displays in the A (Host) section.


Back on Vidcaster

Go to your Vidcaster page and change the domain to Custom (on the Dashboard, click Site, Domain).

Only thing left to do on the Vidcaster site is to set up analytics…I’ll update the post when I get it done.

Hope this helps. Let me know what you think about all this.

PEACE.

 

 

 

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December 17th, 2011

WordPress Video No Longer Disappears During Edits When Using YouTube’s Embed Code

No Comments, YouTube, by Peggy Duncan.

I wrote a recent article and recorded a how-to video (below) on how to use a special plugin when inserting a YouTube video into a blog post. The plugin was necessary because of an unexplained bug when using the Upload/Insert video command in native WordPress. If you used it along with YouTube’s embed code, the video would disappear if you made a change to the blog post later from the Visual tab as opposed to the HTML tab.

With the newest update to WordPress (3.3), here’s what happens.

  • If you use YouTube’s video embed code and insert it into your post using the native WordPress Upload/Insert video command, the video will no longer disappear later if you make a change to the blog post on the Visual tab.
  • Over on YouTube, if you right-click on the YouTube video and click Copy video URL, then use that URL with the native WordPress Upload/Insert command, your video will disappear later if you make a change to the post from the Visual tab. In that case, you’ll need to use the method in my video below.

PEACE.

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December 17th, 2011

How to Design Your Facebook Timeline Cover Image Using PowerPoint (with video)

3 Comments, Social Media, by Peggy Duncan.

In a previous post and my YouTube video series (below), I demonstrated how to use PowerPoint to design a Twitter and YouTube channel background (the skin). You can use the same techniques to design a cover graphic for Facebook’s new Timeline (a Cover is the large graphic at the top of the Timeline. Everyone will be switched to this new Facebook layout on December 21, 2011).

In the video below, instructions are for PowerPoint 2007 and 2003. For the Facebook results, your finished image should be 850px wide by 315px high. In PowerPoint, I changed the slide size to 8.85 inches wide and 3.28 inches height, landscape view.

You should save your PowerPoint cover page image in high resolution if the one you upload is pixelated. I used high res images, and when I saved the image in PowerPoint, it was fine. If you use a single photo, you’ll definitely need a high res image.

When you get ready to upload your image to the Facebook Timeline, go to your Facebook Profile page, and click Add a Cover (later, you’ll change this image by hovering your mouse over to display the Add/Change Cover command). Either choose from your Facebook photos or click Upload Photo to find one on your computer.

(The video below is part one of the series. The videos are organized in a YouTube playlist so the next video automatically plays when the previous one finishes.)

 

Here is an excellent article by Mari Smith about the confusion over what type of image you can post to your Facebook cover page. Bottom line is that you can promote your stuff, but not do a paid commercial/ad for some other company.

PEACE.

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December 5th, 2011

How to Add a Video to Your LinkedIn Profile (with video demo)

No Comments, General Technology, by Peggy Duncan.

Have you added a video that showcases your talents to your LinkedIn profile? Here’s how.

You’ll need a Gmail account and a video on YouTube. You’ll also have to add Google Docs to your LinkedIn profile. You’ll create a Google presentation (a poor man’s version of PowerPoint) and insert your video. Then you’ll add the new video to your profile.

Here is a quality video by Amy Porterfield that shows you how.

 

PEACE.

November 30th, 2011

How Managers Can Improve Employee Productivity

No Comments, Business Growth, Personal Productivity, by Peggy Duncan.

If you’re expecting your employees to do more with less resources, you can at least do whatever you can to ease the burden. It’s possible for them to get more work done without the burn-out from long hours, but you’ll have to make some changes first.

Think things through instead of just thinking it up. Before you implement another idea you just thought up, think it through first. Poor planning on your part destroys morale and causes productivity to plummet.

Eliminate time wasters. Have employees identify at least three ways management wastes their time and do the necessary work to fix it. Also have employees identify the top three things they do to waste time and hold them accountable for changing.

Clean up the mess. Hold a massive “clean up, throw out” campaign and declutter offices, file cabinets, computer files, and email Inboxes. Then create systems that make it easy and quick for anyone to find anything.

Teach them how to set goals and prioritize. Everyone needs to have a vision of how they see themselves and have a strategic plan for getting there. From the vision, you set goals that are big picture. Each goal needs a set of objectives that are specific and measurable. And few things get done without an action plan for reaching the objectives.

Streamline processes and bureaucracy with insider ideas. Implement a suggestion plan for all employees to improve processes and procedures. Then reward (with a cash percentage of the savings) and publicize the ideas from individuals or teams that work.

Invest in training regardless of the job. Don’t expect people to already have all the necessary skills they need. Offer training, from email software to management styles. With the right training, they’ll finish the work quicker with fewer mistakes.

Reduce time spent in meetings. Have meetings standing up, right before lunch, or near the end of the workday. Publish an agenda that includes an objective, start it on time, close all PDAs, stay on schedule, and end on time. When it’s over, ask if the meeting’s objective was met and hold people accountable.

Change your email culture. Too many people are drowning in email due to bad habits. Change habits such as replying to all unnecessarily, using the Inbox for storage with hundreds or thousands of messages, sending messages that don’t match the subject line, and flooding Inboxes instead of picking up the phone.

Communicate clearly. Before you delegate a task, make sure you have a clear understanding of what you want to happen. You’ll want to give an overview with the purpose, explain the specifics, be clear about the result, and empower the employee to make decisions. Eliminating inefficiencies in your organization gives people more time to think. And when they start thinking, they’ll develop smarter ways to work. And when they start working smarter, you, your organization, and your members will reap the benefits.

I hope you’ll schedule some time on your calendar to think about all this, develop a plan for getting it done, then do it.

PEACE.