January 30, 2012

Promote your business in Pinterest by Following big hitters

Pinterest, a two-year old social wishlist that lets users collect and manage their interests is already becoming a significant source or traffic for retailers’ websites. A data from Compete indicates Pinterest’s traffic has increased more than fourfold between September 2011 and December 2011, bringing in 7.51 million visitors in December alone. While there’s no action for potential customers to buy your products directly from the site, Pinterest has the marketing potential to pin popular images (with links back to the original source) that can get repined on hundreds of other users’ boards.

How to improve your pins and pinboards click-through?

One of the best ways to get your company noticed is to start following the big names on Pinterest. This is a proven method on Twitter: When you follow popular figures, and they follow you back, other twitter users get the message and follow the leader.

Here are the 10 big figures on Pinterest with maximum followers, the list is inherently subjective:-

Ben Silvermann: 882458 followers

Ben Silvermann currently has 882458 followers

2. Jane Wang: 2183950 followers

Jane Wang has got 2183950 followers

3. Christine Martinez: 992204 followers

Blog: http://www.milestostyle.com/

Christine Martinez has got 992204 followers

4. Emilee Richardson: 399690 followers

Blog: loveemileejean.blogspot.com

Emilee, a life style blogger has 399690 follower

5. Inge Falappino: 412376 followers

Falappino, a DIY enthusiast has 412376 followers

6. Joy Cho: 824657 followers

Blog: www.ohjoy.blogs.com

Joy Cho currently has 824657 followers

7. Evan Sharp: 694500 followers

Sharp, among 3 founders of Pinterest has 694500 followers

8. The Perfect Palette: 242537 followers

Blog: www.theperfectpalette.com

The Perfect Palette currently has 242537 followers

9. Victoria Smith: 476436 followers

Blog: http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/

Victoria currently has got 476436 followers

10. Sha Hwang: 162748 followers

Sha Hwang has got 162748 followers

While you are at it, don’t forget to check out http://pinterest.com/ishuinterest/!

Have you come across any interesting Pinterest accounts worth following? Let me know what you think of the selection, and feel free to suggest other top users.

Social Media • Tags: Pinterest, Social Media

January 24, 2012

Put the internet to work for you with ifttt

Ever wish that you could automate some of the actions that you find yourself doing from one web service to another over and over? Yes, you can!! With IFTTT you can actually put the internet to work for you by creating a task that fits the structure: if this then that!

What’s the catch?

There’s simply no catch; IFTTT is a way of making all those different web tools or app services you’ve signed up for actually work for you. It lets you create your own social curation tools that can automate actions on social media networks or applications after an action occurs on a separate social network or application. For instance, when I have a mention on twitter I can automatically thank for the mention, greet my new followers or when I have a new video upload in YouTube I can tweet about it at the same time.

How does IFTTT work?

IFTTT works with a number of programs like twitter, Facebook, your web based email, Gmail, Flickr and so on; which it calls ‘Channels’. Currently, you can connect to 39 channels and create numerous tasks by carrying out ‘IF’ instructions on items in the programs.

How does ifttt work

Here’s how you can create a task and make it a recipe in IFTTT

If you have a new follower on Twitter, send them a direct thank you message automatically.

Note: You will be required to activate the channels, before you prolong creating tasks!!

How to create a task and a recipe in ifttt

Check out some of the best recipes to get started:-

Text To Escape: Text IFTTT in order to receive a fake call to get you out of almost any disastrous situation.
Facebook Tagged Photo to Dropbox: Every time you are tagged in a photo on Facebook, it will be sent to Dropbox.
When Facebook Profile Picture Changes, Update Twitter Profile Picture
Rain Forecast Via SMS: Receive a text message if it’s going to rain.

IFTTT turns your favourite web services into Lego blocks and enables you to save time curating content and automate activities such as monitoring your brand online. Your imagination is the only limit of what you can achieve with this great tool.

Social Media • Tags: IFTTT

January 23, 2012

Be Yourself, everyone else is taken

Design Quotes • Tags: Photoshop, typography

January 19, 2012

How to make your YouTube videos widescreen

YouTube has now gone over the modern era if I might call it like that, by releasing a quality option of 720 or 1080p HD or widescreen as well. So, it’s killed me to get my old videos on YouTube to appear widescreen; human nature we want everything trendy! After tedious hours of searching through internet and applying every possible setting on YouTube; I uncovered a simple trick that’s worked like ‘magic’.

Follow through these few steps and Voila enjoy the new widescreen look of your videos:-

Click on ‘Edit Video‘.
Go to ‘Info and settings’,
Just enter yt:stretch=16:9 code in the tags section at the end of the tags, this zooms in on the 16:9 area and removes window boxing of your video.

Widescreen YouTube video after applying a code in the tag section

I hope this little trick will come in handy! It really did for me!

Knowlege-base • Tags: How to's, YouTube

January 17, 2012

Funniest quote I have ever uncovered

Design Quotes • Tags: Funny Quotes

January 16, 2012

Do yourself, what you wish others to do

Design Quotes • Tags: Quotes, typography

January 13, 2012

Life and dreams

Design Quotes • Tags: Photoshop, typography

January 13, 2012

All about Pinterest: Novice guide to hot new social network

Pinterest has been one of the hottest social networking site; it garnered 11 million visitors in the week of a dec.17 alone. The site has also cracked the current list of top 10 social networks and it’s technically ‘invite only’.

What Pinterest is all about?

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you share, discuss and organize interesting things you find all in your life such as pictures and videos. You can create pins in any imaginable topics, from table cloths to trendy rides to Nasa missions; possibilities are endless. Once you know your interests, you can manage them in pinboards.

Organize all your interests in pinboards

What makes it interesting?

Pinterest currently has a rapidly growing user base that tweets and shares pins across the web that are beginning to spread like wildfire. People use pinboards to decorate their homes, plan their weddings, collect inspiration for designing projects, and organize favorite recipes and so much more. As your interests or ‘Pins’ can be managed in almost 32 wide categories.

Add pins to your pinboards

Uplift your business by selling pins

Add a $ or £ to the pin description and Pinterest will automatically add a price banner to the photo. The pin will then appear in the gifts category, within the pin, remember to link to the website where fans can buy. Just remember to remove the pin once you’ve sold out!

boost your business by selling pins

Increase your Blogs or Website traffic

It’s no secret that all Pinterest manages all pins in thumbnails, so the pin needs be just attractive as the content it’s linked to. That’s right when adding a pin, you can link it to your website or ‘post a pin from a URL’. With sites like Pinterest it’s not only possible to promote yourself but also get encouraged.

Installing pin it bookmarklet in Google Chrome

Pinterest on mobile

Pinterest is also available through an official iphone application or you can also use the mobile version in m.pinterest.com.

iphone application for Pinterest

What’s the social angle?

When you create your Pinterest account, you can choose to connect your Twitter and facebook accounts, along with your personal website. Not only do the account widgets appear below your profile bio, but you can also choose to share your pins across the networks or embed them into your website.

Social angle of Pinterest

How do I join Pinterest?

At present Pinterest is invite only, you can join by either requesting an invite directly through Pinterest or receiving an invitation from a user that is currently registered on Pinterest. Once you request an invite Pinterestsends you an invite within a few days. Feel free to leave a comment here and I’ll try to send as many invites as I can. Happy Pinning!!