Have you been a Google Plus Hangout yet? All the cool kids are doing it! Google Plus Hangouts have now made video conferencing and interviews easier, more accessible, and most importantly fun.  As an online strategist I can not recommend them highly enough to clients, companies, and brands. 

I know from many years of not having Google Plus Hangouts how painful and expensive video  creation and production can be. Trust me, I’m a Final Cut Pro pro and have worked in it and with it for many years. So, the thought or recommendation that Google Plus Hangouts can make video conferencing and creation easier blew my mind too. I promise you though it’s true.

There are a few things that are unique to this platform that would make your first or second time hosting a Google Plus Hangout easier. So I created a list hoping to make the process of becoming a believer a little easier and smoother. Please feel free to leave questions in the commenting section, I’m always happy to help.

Tips on How to Host A Google Plus Hangout

1. Make sure the people you are asking to participate in your Hangout have added the page (Brand or Personal) that will be hosting the Hangout to their Circles well BEFORE the Hangout.
2. Make sure the page you are hosting the Hangout on has added the participants of Hangout to your Circles well BEFORE the Hangout.
3. Test the computer(s) you will be hosting the Google Plus Hangout before you do your dry run with the participants.
   Google routinely updates the platform and it does take a few minutes to update, and sometimes even requires you re-boot  your computer. Check it a good 30 minutes before you need it, just to be safe.
4. Do a dry run of the Hangout with all the participants a day or two ahead of the scheduled Hangout.
   This allows each participant the ability to test logging in, and their equipment before the Google Plus Hangout. It also allows them to goof around and get to know the other participants, which will help later when filming that actual Hangout.
5. Choose a moderator for your Hangout.
   Even if it’s informal, you need someone tasked with keeping the conversation flowing. Dead air is dead air, and it’s not good regardless of the medium.
6. Create a script for your moderator to use when hosting the Hangout.
   This will allow them to have a cheat sheet of not only the names and titles of the participants, but also potential questions they can pose to the group in case the conversation needs a boost.
7. Share the order of introduction of the participants in an email and during the dry run.
   It’s just nice to let people know when they will be called on so they can be prepared to introduce yourself. We all hate to be the kid in class that gets called on by surprise.
8. Ask participants to log into the Hangout 15 minutes before it starts.
   You want enough time to make sure everyone is on, the audio and video is functioning properly, and people have enough time to get some of the nervous energy out.
9. Build up the number of people following you before each Hangout.
   Don’t just talk to yourself. The more people that follow your page (Brand or personal) the larger the audience you are broadcasting too.
10. Don’t forget to promote it!

The post Tips on How to Host a Google Plus Hangout appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

I find it interesting that a lot of my coder/webmaster friends are much more concerned with WordPress security than my blogger friends. There seems to be an inherent distrust for self-hosted WordPress sites, at least when you are discussing using it at an enterprise level. 

I however, believe that if it’s up on the Internet or accessible via the Intranet there are always security risks. The question becomes, how well can I mitigate them? So for all you owners of self-hosted WordPress sites or those of you thinking about launching one, here are some basic WordPress security tips.

Five Simple WordPress Security Tips

1. Install the WordPress Firewall plugin.

• This plugin detects, intecepts, and logs suspicious-looking parameters while also preventing them from compromising your site.
• It protects most WordPress plugins from the same attacks
• It will respond with an innocuous-looking 404, or a home page redirect – you’re choice.
• If you choose it will send you an email with a useful dump of information upon blocking a potential attack.
• You can add whitelisted IP addresses.
• You can add additional whitelisted pages and/or fields to allow pages/plugins/etc to get through when desirable.

2. Install the Akismet plugin. 

• This is my favorite CAPTCHA plugin. 
• Having one installed will stop basic attacks and a lot of spam, especially on blogs.

3. Don’t just de-activate the plugins you don’t use, DELETE them.

• Deactivated plugins are a security hole. They can be used by hackers as a gateway into your site. So, make sure you plug this hole. 

4. Delete all the themes you are not using.

• Deactivated themes are also a security hole. So make sure to delete them if you aren’t using them. 
• If you want to remember what your favorites are, save the name and link to the theme in an email, or a text file. If you really are worried about losing the info. Create a new post within WordPress and never publish it.

5. Never use “admin” as your admin username.

• Make sure to change the username with the WordPress interface, and within your server files.
• This is one of the easiest hacks.

6. WordPress doesn’t review any updates to Plugins after their initial release.

• Always check the change logs and make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary or other developers haven’t reported problems with the update, before you install it. 
• This is a great way for hackers to drop in Trojan horses.

7. Know what your file folders are on your server.

• While you should NEVER touch your WordPress core files, you should know what the rest of the files on your sever look like, so you can spot an abnormality. 
• This will help you better spot a potential security problem, from a plugin update, or identify the timing of an attack.
• Make sure to check your folders on a monthly basis to see if anything pops out at you.

The post Seven Simple WordPress Security Tips appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

The second day here at Pubcon New Orleans 2013 was rather entertaining. While there was plenty of coffee to be found the big excitement for the day was the multiple tornado warnings throughout the late morning and early afternoon that kept all our cell phones buzzing. 

The sessions I attended today at Pubcon New Orleans 2013 certainly took a cue from the out-of-the-box excitement and kept up the interest throughout the whole day.

I have to warn you, the Pubcon New Orleans 2013 Day 2 sessions I attended were all over the place - beginning with Global SEO, ending with community management techniques and spanning multiple non-related topics in-between.

Therefore the top things I will be sharing will be as diverse as an around the world in 80 days trip. Bon voyage!

Day 2: The Top 7 Things I Learned at Pubcon New Orleans 2013

1. You need to sign up and get on the Google Knowledge Graph.
   This will help with your White Hat SEO long game, by setting you up to be a trusted and known entity in the future. You can begin the process by signing up for Freebase.com
2. Google doesn’t measure you title tags by characters, but rather by pixel width.
   You can actually fit over 100+ characters in your title tag depending upon the letters/words you use. Google uses Arial 16 and Bill Hartzer from Standing Dog Interactive created a wonderful testing tool for you to play with.
3. The reason for the multiple links on Baidu is to accomodate for the various written forms of Chinese.
   Written Chinese is VERY new when you compare it to length of Chinese history. Each region has developed its own written style, and thus there are multiple words for one item, and as many grammar rules. Therefore, Baidu accommodates for this by adding in many links.
4. The same content translated into another language is still duplicate content. 
   Change the language to accommodate for the individual colloquialisms that will make it unique. Also, make sure to create unique meta data, in language, for each country.
5. Use hreflanguage tags in Google Webmaster tools for each country specific domain.
   This will help Google understand which country they should classify the site in.
6. When conducting international SEO, TRUST is THE main factor for success. 
   If there can be any general rule applied to conducting successful SEO in all countries outside the U.S. it is TRUST. People within the country you are trying to target first and foremost must trust your site. You can create the best optimized site, but it won’t matter if the people within the country don’t trust your data.
7. Check out Haiku Deck for creating shareable and embedable presentations. 
   This is a new product that you can use on your iPad to create presentations instead of PowerPoint. It automatically allows you to share the presentation across all social media platforms and create embed code for each presentation. Take a look.

Day 3 of Pubcon New Orleans 2013 should be even more jam packed with knowledge, since a lot of the sessions I’m looking to attend are technical SEO related.

If you are curious about what else I learned here at Pubcon, check out my post from yesterday.

The post The Top 7 Things I Learned on Day 2 at Pubcon New Orleans 2013 appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

What have I learned the first day at Pubcon 2013 in New Orleans? It’s hot, and there is no coffee inside the Convention hall. Seriously, it’s true, but not however the key takeaways.

Below you will find the seven simple things I have learned today here at Pubcon 2013. (This will be a series so please check back in throughout the week for more tidbits I think are worth sharing.)

Day 1: Top 7 Things I Learned at Pubcon 2013 Today

1. Do not use PR Newswire or any other major distributer of press releases.
   Instead provide an embargoed press release to your top 5 -7 influencers/reporters. Let them break the story and have them link back to the press release on your site. 
2. Get your Infographic embedded in at least 5 major sites. 
   This will significantly increase it’s chances in ranking well in organic search, having a shot at becoming “viral,” and in having longevity.
3. Test your own data.
   Everyone’s relationship with their target audience is unique. So, test for when your email open rates are highest, etc. You are your own standard, so test yourself, and make adjustments to improve.
4. Email marketing is worth every penny spent on it.
   Having contact information for your target audience is still a valuable commodity. Don’t discount it, especially when they have opted in for your content.
5. Make targeting those people online that influence your influencers part of your online marketing strategy.
   A lot of people forget that marketing to the influencers of your target audience(s) is a great way to reach them.
6. Try a little bit of everything and see what works best for your site.
   You and/or your company is unique, so don’t forget it. Try all the best practices with your spin on it, and see what works best for you. It’s ok.
7. Don’t ask anyone for exact match links.
   If you are asking people to share (write) about your content trust them to describe it appropriately and link to it appropriately  It will look more natural – because it is – and not offend webmasters/publishers.

Thanks to all the panelists today that gave these great tips and insights.

If you would like to take a look at what I learned Day 2 at Pubcon 2013 take a look.  Cheers!

The post The Top 7 Things I Learned on the First Day at Pubcon 2013 appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

Yes, I can hear the groans. I am sure you are thinking “Another online platform? I can hardly handle Facebook, and LinkedIn, and <insert all other social media platforms here>.”  Yes, Google Plus for business is the way to go, and here are my reasons why:

Top Seven Reason Why Google Plus for Business is Vital:

1. Google Plus is run by the world’s largest search engine.
2. By participating on Google Plus you are feeding your content straight into the world’s largest search engine.
3. Google Plus allows you to list out and link to all your online profiles.
   a) By providing Google with all this information you are building your online authority.b) By building your online authority you will rank better in the SERPs.
4. Google Plus allows you the ability to create and share media rich content easily and for free.
5. Google Plus allows you to easily reach and engage your target demographic(s).
6. Google Plus has content rich “Communities” that focus on specific topics. By participating in “Communities” where your target audience(s) are, you will be providing them with valuable information in a contextually relevant way.
7. You do not have to advertise with Google Plus in order to be seen in your followers’ news feeds.

Google Plus for business use is a no brainer to me. It’s free, easy to use, and provides you with immediate ROI without any investment or advertising cost. My question is why aren’t you utilizing it?

The post Google Plus for Business: Are You Utilizing The Power of G+? appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

I’m still surprised at how few videos on YouTube are optimized for search. Has no one Googled “YouTube Optimization Tips” before? I’m not referring to the stupid stunts, or cute cat videos our fellow citizens of the world are uploading just for the fun of it. No, I’m referring to businesses and organizations that have money invested in their online platforms, and hopefully have mapped to ROI goals. However, I digress. 

Therefore, I thought I would share some YouTube Optimization Tips, that you can utilize quickly and that will immensely aid in your overall SEO strategy efforts. I will break the tips down by channel and video so you can quickly grab-and-go as needed.

YouTube Optimization Tips for your YouTube Channel

1. Upload a properly sized logo to your About section
2. Add links in the About section to your:
   a) Website
   b) All Online properties (Ex: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)
3. Add Channel tags to your account.
   a)  Select 3 – 5 keywords that you want people to be able to find you for.
   b)  This will also aid the search engines in properly contextualizing your presence online and your video content. Thus making it more realistic your content will be served up in search engines results. 
4. Add Featured Channels.***
   a)  By adding links to other like-minded businesses/organizations/individuals’ YouTube channels you will increase the awareness for your videos/playlists/channel with them, and increase the likelihood they will share your videos with their online communities.

*** Always check with your Legal Department before adding Featured Channels. Sometimes there are legal ramifications in doing so. I’ve always believed it’s easier and better for you in the long run if you ask permission not forgiveness with them.

 YouTube Optimization Tips for your Videos

1.  Always optimize a video’s title and description for search.
2. Place a link to your website in the first paragraph of your video’s description so people viewing it, will see it above the fold.
3. Make sure to categorize your videos using tags.
4. Transcribe your videos and add the .txt file to each video when you upload it.
   a)  This will not only aid in the search engines being able to index your videos better, but
   will also aid in helping them be more accessible to those internet users utilizing a
   screen reader.
5. If you have the budget and time, conduct online niche pitching for each video and playlist

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions or have any other useful items to add to either YouTube Optimization Tips list.

Happy Monday!

The post YouTube Optimization Tips for Both Channels and Videos appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

Social Media for most of us has become an integral part of everyday lives. So, it’s not too much of a shock to see that it has also positively affected  the realm of charitable donations. Social Media Fundraising has been a rising trend, but it was the most successful in 2012.

MDG Advertising, has just released an infographic illustrating some fantastic metrics about the state of Social Media Fundraising in 2012. Here are some of what I believe are the most interesting stats:

• The average social media donation has increased by 55.26% since 2010.
• If a friend posts a charitable donation to a social media platform 68% of their friends take time to learn more about the charity.
• If a friend posts a charitable donation to a social media platform 39% of their friends donate to the charity as well.
• Just by using Twitter the fundraising goal increases  anywhere between 263.93%  and 883.50%.

The post Social Media Fundraising in 2012 appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

Happy New Year Everyone!

A while back, I wrote a post called “Pinfluence: The Discovery of a Brand Comparison Tool for Pinterest“ on what I thought at the time might be an exciting find in the barely existent world of Pinterest metrics. They key phrase being “thought at the time.”

Since that post, I have gone through a demo with the owner of Pinfluence and determined this product will not only, not give you the metrics you need, but will potentially get you in trouble long-term, especially if you are running a page for a large brand/company.

Here’s what I learned about Pinfluence from the demo:

• They will pay people for you to re-pin or like your posts, so that your success “metrics” will be positive.
• They do not believe that influencers on the web are valuable to your cause. (In fact, when I questioned them about being able to target “niche influencers” it was not a term she had heard of before.) Instead, according to Pinfluence, targeting individuals with small followings is the best way to spread your message.
• They do not have any special insights,  tools or databases to provide demographic information about other Pinterest users, thus allowing you better target your messaging.
• They were unable to clearly articulate what metrics they provided, and what the ROI was for each metric, or the overall metrics.
• They do not know what keywords really are, even though they supposedly work with a search firm. Meaning, from an SEO perspective they do not engage in the keyword research. Instead, they think up “keywords” they believe people will be searching on and use those, and then do no legitimate research on-top of it. In addition, they had never heard of personalization  as it relates to SERPs.

All in all, I would not use this service, even including their free brand comparison tool. Sorry, this was another instance of if it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

The post UPDATE on Pinfluence: The Discovery of a Brand Comparison Tool for Pinterest appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

I have written an update for this post with more information. Come check out, why you shouldn’t use this product.

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If you are like me you have been looking for a way to collect Pinterest Analytics. Pinterest is a great site, and could be very useful for some of my clients, and I am sure yours. However, with the lack of ability to cheaply and reliably collect Pinterest Analytics I have been reluctant  to utilize and integrate this platform into a client’s greater online marketing strategy.

Pinfluence’s Metrics for Pinterest
In my quest to find a reliable Pinterest metrics collection platform I stumbled upon Pinfluence, a  new platform that looks like a cross between EdgeRank Checker Pro and Facebook ads, just for Pinterest.

The issue is the Pinfluence site only teases you with the promise of metrics reports, it never tells you what is in it, how they collect it, or even a screenshot of what it looks like. I was so intrigued I spent 30 minutes scouring the Internet for some more info and unfortunately found bupkis.

On my last final sweep of the Pinfluence site, I did however discover a brand comparison tool that I think will suffice for high level comparisons much like Compete.com does for website traffic.

Pinfluence’s Brand Comparison Tool
Let’s me honest, the likelihood that Pinfluence’s Brand comparison tool remains free for long is probably quite slim, but while you can I highly recommend taking advantage of it.

The Brand Comparison tool provides you with some wonderful metrics such as the number of:

• pins
• re-pins
• comments
• likes
• boards
• profiles

The nice thing, as you can see from the screenshot on the right, is that Pinfluence provides you with raw numbers as well as pretty bar charts and pie graphs illustrating those numbers.

This tool has some very useful purposes  much like Compete.com does for website traffic. By providing you with some basic information on how many boards a company has, or how many pins/re-pins they have you are able to create a ballpark assessment of the company’s footprint on Pinterest. Just like Compete.com provides you with a ballpark figure of how much traffic a website gets per month, Pinfluence’s Brand Comparison tool provides you with a ballpark understanding of how large an influence a company has, or how popular content relating to them is.

Drawbacks to Pinfluence’s Brand Comparison Tool
As with all free tools there are some drawbacks to using it. Luckily these drawbacks aren’t around the ability to use the tool, but around interpreting the information it provides. Below is a list of what I believe are the major drawbacks and why.

• Time
  • There is zero mention of what date range these metrics came from. Is this a week’s worth of pins and re-pins? Or is it of all time? Without that information it’s impossible to draw any real conclusions about the popularity of a brand.
  • In the screenshot above I compared Coke to Pepsi. Coke had 500 pins and Pepsi had 390. If this was of all time, you would conclude neither brand was very popular on Pinterest. However, if the time frame was just a week, you would have the exact opposite conclusion.

• Content Naming
  • This brand comparison is between “Coca Cola” and “Pepsi.” However, if I change the keywords I use to “Coke” or “Coca-Cola” or “Pepsi Cola” the results I am given are all completely different.

• Content Ownership
  • Since the keywords matter in returning results, I am forced to question  where the content is pulled from. Meaning, does it pull results for all content labelled with “Coca Cola” regardless of who owns the Pinterest board it resides on? My guess is yes, it’s an aggregate of all content labelled with “Coca Cola” simply because the metrics change with the keywords.
  • If this assumption is true, then these metrics take on a completely different meaning.  Instead of getting a clear picture around how popular a brand’s self-published content is, you are instead getting a clear picture of the popularity of the brand in general on the platform. That is a very large distinction.

The key is in understanding what information is being provided. Once you know that, you can use the information in the correct way.

The post Pinfluence: The Discovery of a Brand Comparison Tool for Pinterest appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.

Online pitching, what’s that? If you are in PR or Online Marketing it’s a familiar term denoting pitching out to online publications/websites asking them to cover your story. However, is that all it is? My answer is no.

Online Pitching is Relationship Building
Online pitching is so much more than emailing a webmaster or a blogger, it’s about relationship building.  When conducting online pitching it’s about finding and focusing your efforts on niche communities that care about your story or online content.

Think about it, these non-corporate websites are more often than not run and maintained by people just like you and me – busy, employed with a full time job (yes, being a stay-at-home parent IS a full-time job). They are passionate and invested in the topic they are discussing online and will be more than happy to talk to anyone who is also interested in the same things they are. That’s the key.

Personalize Your Online Pitching
Personalize. Personalize. Personalize. Just because you are pitching someone via email doesn’t mean that you can mass blast people. Online pitching is just as much about personalization as is the old days of having a Rolodex full of journalists you can call at a moment’s notice. In 2013, you don’t have to take someone out to lunch or a fancy dinner to build a relationship, instead you email back and forth with them one human being to another.

There is nothing more frustrating to a person that runs a blog or website on the side, than in-personal, formal, and often times not appropriate pitch email from a big PR or Marketing firm. Many of you may have received these yourselves, or read in amused horror instances of this occurring on Gawker. I personally don’t believe it’s just about it being bad form, but more about it being a waste of time.

I, personally have a limited amount of time to spend on all my hobbies and family time.  Therefore, when I carve out that thirty minutes a day to comb through the email associated with this blog, I don’t want my time wasted.

If you want me to cover something, it’s about incentivizing me to do so. Please do not read that incorrectly. Incentivizing does not mean monetary compensation, though it can, it means making it worth my while. Why am I going to take my precious time to do you a favor by covering your story and linking to your site?  The answer, because you prove to me you are a human being and you care as much about the topic I am writing about as I do. Connect with me. Personalize it, so it’s not so much me doing you a favor, but you doing me a favor by letting me know, as a fellow compatriot, about something new or interesting that I was unaware of before.  In marketing terms, give me value add.

Online Pitching – Real Life Examples of Bad Pitching
If you don’t believe me, go check out a story from a “Mommy” blogger on the YummyMummyClub.ca website. In a post entitled “Dear Mommy Blogger” she outlines how frustrating it can be for those labelled (self labelled as well) Mommy bloggers getting pitched with form letters. While she gives PR/Marketing companies the benefit of the doubt, I don’t. Online pitching is about quality not quantity. Not to mention those doing it incorrectly make it harder for those of us who it correctly. It’s a fun and short read, go check it out.

Benefits of Online Pitching
There are two major benefits of conducting online pitching properly.

1. Relationship Building – The better relationship you have with an owner/writer of a website/blog, the higher propensity you will have for getting future stories covered.
2. SEO – Remember the more links to your site the better. Part of a good robust SEO strategy includes getting links from other sites to yours. The more the links the better.

All in all, spending the time to cultivate relationships – online and offline – is not a bad practice in any area of your life. It’s just common sense.

The post Online Pitching – Not Your Grandmother’s PR Pitching appeared first on Andrea M. Fuller.com.