It All Started With A #FollowFriday

Trista Sutter was the runner-up on season 1 of the ABC reality TV show The Bachelor, before becoming the star of the first season of its companion show The Bachelorette. She has also appeared on Dancing with the Stars and Fear Factor. Why does Trista have anything to do with our lives...because she lives in Vail, CO and is an avid Twitter user of course ; )

Sweet Basil restaurant, located in the Vail Village, has been a Social Media Marketing (SMM) client of ours. We got their Twitter account all suped up and because they are a staple of Vail, had Vail locals and visitors conversing with us...including Trista!

So it was a Friday and we always make sure all of our clients participate in Follow Friday (#FF, #FollowFriday). Follow Friday is a way to give shout-outs to tweeple (Twitter-People) who have helped you out with re-posts or mentions during the week. So we gave a shout-out to Trista and guess what...she actually got back to us!

So after that exchange, we became Twitter friends. And because Trista is asked about all things Vail, she is always willing to throw out a Sweet Basil recommendation...

Most recently Trista re-posted a tweet of ours highlighting a Sweet Basil staple, their famous Toffee Pudding...

And it was re-tweeted by Nestle...

Now that's what we're talking about!

Thanks to Trista, Nestle and all the supports of Sweet Basil. Trust us, if you're in Vail, you need to go try it out!

New Logo for Antique Shop

Harper's Bizarre Logo Just Launched!

The historic W.W. Harper Pools & Spa had to get creative to stay afloat in a declining pool market. So they decided to use their prime location store space to advantage. They converted it to an antique and collectibles shop, selling hand-picked items from estate and yard sales. Ranging from the funky, to the unique, to the bizarre, this store stands out in the mass of antique stores in downtown Bakersfield.

Harper Pools neon sign is a infamous landmark in Bakersfield so the owners wanted their Harper's Bizarre logo to be similar to associate the two. But they wanted their own spin on it to go along with their tagline ‘Funky Antiques & Collectibles.’ We kept the existing sign elements of the palm tree with waves and added an old wooden trunk floating in the foreground. This represents the idea that Harper Bizarre is a treasure chest of found objects.

We are happy with the result and wish the best for Harper's holiday shopping season and brand growth in the years to come!

Website: www.wwharperpools.com
Address: 2400 K Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301 (map)

Inviting Guests To Events on Facebook Pages

It seems Facebook keeps making things more and more difficult on Pages, and you'll notice another change today.

Once your Event has been created, you can no longer just add guests from the main Event page. In order to do so, follow these simple instructions...

1. Click on the Event you want to invite people to
2. Click the little arrow pointing down with the the gear in the very top right corner (there will be a drop down menu)
3. Select 'edit event'
4. Then look for 'Who's Invited' and 'Select more guests'

From here, you will be able to sort your friends by friend lists and groups. Check the box next to your friends' names and click 'Submit' to send them an invitation to your event.

Hope this helps!!

Boost Your Visibility Online with Video

The Facts:

• YouTube videos are 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google results than a text page
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the U.S.
• As of February 2011, visitors were spending around 2.9 billion hours on YouTube per month

Content:

The first step in using video in your marketing plan is to create great content. Here are some simple steps that you can take to start making interesting video to help drive viewers to your brand.

Do your homework:

• Start by asking yourself: Will this content be relevant in 1-6 months from now?
• Do some keyword research: Check out what kinds of video are popular for the keywords that you are going to be using and tailor your video accordingly.

Pick a Topic:

• Company news can be a great topic.
• Screencast is good for technical presentation as it allows you to use shots of your computer screen to create videos. Some screencast software includes:

*Screen Flow for Mac

*Camtasian Studio

*Jing (Free!)

• Interviews recorded with screencast above can be inserted using:

*Skype

*ooVoo

*Tinychat if you want to record an interview with multiple people

How long should my video be?

• 60-90 seconds is about right for things like tips and how-to videos.
• Shows (for example a concert or restaurant review show) can be a bit longer, around 10-15 minutes.
• Make sure the first 3-5 seconds are very exciting, otherwise you will loose your viewers right off the bat.

Editing/Equipment:

• Your camera doesn't have to be very high-tech these days to get good video, you can get started with merely an iPhone.
• Flip cameras, Cannon or Kodak cameras that shoot video are also good.
• However you MUST HAVE GOOD AUDIO as viewers will not sit through your video if there is fuzz or feedback in your audio.
• You can get started with basic editing software like:

*iMovie for Macs

*Windows movie maker for PC

YouTube Optimization:

Metadata Optimization can help visibility. You can optimize your video title, tags, description and category. Thumbnails are also key. YouTube automatically chooses thumbnails from points in your video near the ¼, ½, and ¾ mark. So, make sure you have visually exciting content at one of these points in order to have a good thumbnail to choose from.

Video Promo and Distribution:

• Use existing Social Media networks. Connecting your YouTube channel with Facebook and Twitter is easy!

*Go to your Username

*Click Account

*Click Activity Sharing

*Link your Channel to your Preferred Social Networks

• You can also copy your YouTube url to post video on your Facebook fan page.
• YouTube allows you to pay to be amongst their promoted video.
• Annotations (links within your video) can drive viewers from your more popular videos to new videos.
• Embed your video in your blog or website. Google’s algorithm factors in how many times a video is viewed and anytime someone views a web page where your video is embedded it will add to your YouTube tally.
• Don't forget to re-post your video even if it's been on your channel for a while.

Use the YouTube Community:

• You can create cool skins or add a subscription option to all of your channels.
• Make sure to moderate and respond to your comments.
• Engage with your fans who rate and view your content and encourage them to comment or subscribe to your channel.

Article Sources:

http://www.capturetheconversation.com/social-community/youtube-search-engine-optimization

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-integrate-video-into-your-social-media-marketing/

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2117783/Optimizing-3-Types-of-Content-on-YouTube-Flickr-SlideShare

Blooming Footprint Goes Local...

Since Blooming Footprint is relatively new to Colorado, Katie Fox and I thought it would be a good idea to get out and about and start mingling with the locals to help establish us in the community. This time we decided to escape the summer city heat and make some new friends in my favorite Colorado mountain town, Vail.

We spent two days in Vail and are beginning to get to know the Valley and most importantly we were able to see how supportive this community truly is. While tourism helps keep this small town running, its the locals who make you want to keep coming back.

We would especially like to thank the local business owners who took the time to meet with us and share their stories.

Blooming Footprint is proud to be a part of Colorado and we can't wait to continue to build local relationships!

~ @LAByram