unaboutique

Another year is ending – these “year in reviews” are always joyful for me.  Do you enjoy the feeling of a fresh new year ahead? I know I do.  Usually before the New Year I do some blog housekeeping – including updating my bio and navigation bar.  You’ll notice the themed days-of-the-week nav buttons got a make-over.  Since I moved my motivational/inspirational posts over to my personal blog, they don’t need a home in the navigation here anymore. Of course, Twitter posts, Facebook tips and my step-by-step tutorials still have a home here.  “Twitter Tuesday” is now called “Twitter Tips” and “Facebook Friday” is called “Facebook posts”.  Same great content, just a new name. If you’re looking for some of your old favorite motivation/inspiration posts, you’ll find them over on my personal blog, LauraCatherine.co .   Now, Let’s have a look at 2011! 2011 Blog Highlights: Twitter tips galore on this blog – it was the year of Twitter for me -  including several tweetups planned and hosted (love

Do you tweet? If you follow my blog regularly, you know I'm a huge fan of twitter.  In fact, I've made nearly ALL of my friendships in Charleston through the beauty of Twitter.  So much so, that I co-founded a Tweetup group with Liz Deloach and Melissa K .  I also count Twitter as a blessing, since I met Diane Gottsman   and Jacqueline Whitmore there.  If you've tweeted for some time, you're used to design changes and new features every now and then.  I have always enjoyed the upgrades and am hopeful that the latest round of changes are great improvements.  Here's a quick video that Twitter shared to walk people through the latest changes.  It's here for those reading by email.  Enjoy, and thanks to Ashley Caldwell for tweeting about the changes. Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston , SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or   

Do you use Facebook Insights? It’s a helpful tool that tells you how many people are visiting your business page each month. It also gives you the number of post views, the kinds of users your page has, and the most popular interactions, among other things. Today I’m sharing a Facebook Insights update.  Here’s the scoop: on December 15, 2011, the “old” Facebook Insights tool will stop collecting data. Instead, the new “Pages Insights” will be the go-to tool for analytic information on your biz page. All old insight data will be deleted on 12/15, so Facebook recommends that you login to the “old” insights before then and export anything that you want to keep. I’m sure the “new” insights tool will offer even more data and become one of your favorite tools! Since I’m not sure what will stay and what will go, I recommend logging into your old insight data before 12/15 and doing a few exports of the various insights (overview, users, and interactions) so that you’ll have the information han

Last November I shared step-by-step instructions on how to shorten your Facebook URL.  At the time, you needed 25 fans to shorten your Facebook business page URL.  It usually didn't take long at all to get to 25 fans, but the challenge may have been remembering to go back and shorten the URL after you created the page! Thankfully, Facebook has changed their policy and now allows you to shorten your business page URL before reaching 25 fans. Have you shortened your Facebook URL yet? It really comes in handy when you are advertising your page, via TV, radio, your biz card, print, in-person, etc! Here is a link to the updated instructions: http://strategiconlinemarketing.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-shorten-your-facebook-business.html . Enjoy! Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston , SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or    RSS . Laura can also be found o

I’ve used Hootsuite casually for some time.   It's especially helpful if you manage multiple social media accounts and need to save time. That said, I still prefer to Tweet via Twitter and Facebook via Facebook, etc.   There are just some features that seem to only be offered when you’re “on” the aforementioned site.   For example, you can’t seem to “tag” a person or business via Hootsuite for Facebook.   Same goes for adding a photo via Hootsuite for Facebook.   Both of these things (tagging and adding photos) are so important to much of what I do that I end up taking the extra time to go to Facebook and not schedule many things out in advanc That said, I am only one person! Especially at events, it’s difficult to work an iPhone, camcorder and extra camera at one time.   So, until I can get a bit more help, I’ve had to schedule a few status updates and tweets out in advance for HistoricColumbia (and myself!). I noticed something with the “new” (or newest, I suppose) Facebook a

Are you thinking VIDEO? One of the things that always amazes me is seeing a YouTube video with plays in the MILLIONS.  Don't think it's something you can accomplish? With the right vision, it's possible. One of my video brainchildren has been seen more than 1.7 million times.  And I was just getting started on YouTube. I worked at the best CVB in the country and wanted to somehow showcase the fantastic shopping that can be found in Columbia, SC.  The fantastic Zero Gravity production team shot and edited the video for us. Tip: Think TUTORIAL when it comes to shooting a YouTube video.  What do you have to offer that others may be searching for? For the CVB, it was "how to tie a bow tie".  For you, it may be "how to restore an old photograph" or "how to make a bridal bouquet on a budget".  We shot 4 or 5 videos that day.  4 are in the low thousand plays, one is at 1.7 MILLION.  Think big! Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and

When I visited Facebook today, I was greeted with the following message, direct from Facebook: It read, New: The Subscribe Button Now you can let anyone who's interested subscribe to things you share publicly. The message also included a list of my friends who were already using subscribe.  Fellow blogger and friend Angie Mizzell recently wrote about the subscribe button, and how she'd be using it in a way that made sense for her and her friendbase. Will you be allowing subscribers to your Facebook updates? I can't help but notice that this feels similar to Google's "circles" in a way.  Not that that is a bad thing! On Google+, you get to decide who receives the updates you share.  You first must group your friends in circles.  A friend-in-real-life circle, an acquantance circle, an I'm-not-sure-who-you-are circle, etc.  Then, when you post something, you tell Google+ who gets to see the update.  With Facebook's subscribe button and feature, you decid

If you've been following Facebook in the media this week, you're already aware of some pretty big changes.  Some are already here, and others are on their way. If you need to get up-to-speed, read this article about the newest changes. One of the new changes that especially intrigued me was the new "Timeline" layout.  The video below does a good job of explaining this new layout. I was able to roll-out the new "timeline" format on my Facebook profile BEFORE it rolls out to the general public by following the steps outlined in this Mashable article .  It's 8 steps and takes a few minutes, but if you're eager to give the features a test-drive, it will get the job done.  I'll be checking out the new features today! My next post will walk you through some of the features. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at what my new profile looks like: Have a great day, and remember to visit my personal blog, LauraCatherine.co if you're lookin

I was fortunate to get a Google+ account soon after the network launched. Here are my thoughts on the network... At first, it was exciting to feel like I was one of the first folks in Charleston on Google+.  But, that also made it difficult to really connect with my friends (local and online), since many weren’t on the network yet and didn’t “get it”.  Think about this: My first few weeks on Google+, I really had to sort through all my contacts to find 20 or 30 on Google+.  On Facebook, that number would have been in the hundreds, easily. That said, the smaller “circle” wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The Google+ stream wasn’t flooded, making it easy to follow updates from others and engage in friendly conversation. Sure, I missed my Facebook friends, but is it really possible to be “friends” and engage with 900 or so folks on a regular basis? A look at the stream in Google+... Typically I would have written a review about Google+ right away, walking you through the features and ben

It’s a big day here on the blog! I have been hinting at possible changes, but didn’t want to share all the details until everything was squared away. I also wanted to make sure all felt well since it’s a big step for me. Since a blog about marketing isn’t quite the place to share my journey towards living an inspired life, the time has come (hooray!) to make a new home, just for that part of my writing. Not to worry, this blog isn’t going away. I’ve just decided to house the artful, creative side of my writing on my new blog, and to keep the marketing goodness and tutorials for you here in this place.  Allow me to introduce LauraCatherine.co !  Think about this space as my marketing biz blog and my new space as my personal blog. I’d like to invite you to come visit me in my new place, LauraCatherine.co  to read about my journey towards living an inspired life. That’s where I’ll be sharing my bits of motivation + inspiration, plus art journaling, photos, and wherever else this creat

I'm here to share a #twitter feature that has left me feeling a bit uplifted and inspired.  I think it makes great sense for today, even if it may not be officially "Twitter Tuesday" for us here in this space. Have you noticed Twitter's latest feature? It appears as "recent images" on the left-hand side of the user profile.  You can get a sneak peek below.  Then, if you click on "view all", a page is filled with a collection of the images you've most recently shared. I'm sharing my most recent images below.  I don't know about you, but I like the picture that this slice of me paints.  I think it shows that I'm a woman exploring her way through life with the help of art and inspiration.  Color, faces, light, happiness.  Take a look at your images.  What are they saying about you?  It's a fun exercise! I hope your images line up with your heart and your goals.  If they don't, it may be time to regroup. Have a grea

One of my amazing artist friends Mary Beth Volpini asked me a question today that I thought could make a neat “Tutorial Thursday” post.   Her question was about changing the number of posts that display on her blog homepage.   So, today I wanted to share the few simple steps to change this number.   If you aren't using blogger or don't need to change this setting, be sure to scroll to the end of this post to get a peek at MB's art! H ow to Change the Number of Posts that Appear on My Blogger Blog Homepage Login to Blogger Click on “Settings”. Click on the “Formatting” tab and look for the first item, which says “show at most”. Change the number from the dropdown to the number of posts you’d like to display on your main page. Be sure to click on “Save Settings” at the bottom of the page.   You’re all set! Be sure to visit Mary Beth’s blog .   She is an “artist, designer and mom…redesigning her life after cancer”.   Mary Beth is “Drawn to Color” an

Let's talk about finding new tweeps by using the "browse interests" tool.  Last "Twitter Tuesday" we talked about growing your network on Twitter by using the "who to follow" and "others like you" tools. If you missed the post, it's over here .  First, how do you get to this tool?  You click on "view all" just below the "who to follow" suggestions on your home screen on Twitter.  From here, click on the "browse interests" tab. This is where you can click on the category that most appeals to you. One of my suggested interest categories was "art & design".  I can click on "view all" next to "art and design" and Twitter has a list of 59 tweeps who fit into this category that I may be interested in following. Today's exercise: Explore the "browse interests" tool on Twitter to connect with a few new and interesting tweeps today.  Time spent: approx. 15 minutes. G

Today's "Twitter Tuesday" Tip is one you can easily execute in a manner of minutes! Let's talk about the "Who to Follow" and Similar to You" follow suggestions on Twitter. Both are great tools that are available to you via Twitter that will help you grow your network. First, the "Similar to You" feature on Twitter: Have you noticed the "similar to you" feature on twitter? If you visit your profile (and are logged in), it's just below your following/followers numbers (example below). By default you should see 3 people below the "Similar to You" header. Click on the "view all" just next to "similar to you" and you'll find a full page of suggestions for you. Some you may already follow, but others could make great new follows! Next, the "Who to Follow" feature on Twitter: From your "home" screen (not your "profile" screen), you should see a "Who to Follow" fea

Have you visited http://Paper.li yet? According to their website, “Paper.li is a content curation service.  It enables people to publish newspapers based on topics they like and treat their readers to fresh news, daily.”  I came across Paper.li many months ago but have developed an increased interest in the content sharing after being featured in a Twitter friend’s own paper.li online newspaper.  @ SHUEDA ( Greg Shue ) publishes a “#CHS #Design Daily” using paper.li, and I have been thrilled to find myself as a contributor on several occasions (example here: http://paper.li/SHUEDA/charleston-design ). The best part? It’s allowed me to meet new people and has helped grow my relationship with @ SHUEDA and others featured in his daily paper.  A few weeks ago another Twitter friend, @ ashleytcaldwell , released her own paper.li daily newspaper, The Modern Connection Daily . Today I’m walking you through the process of creating your own Paper.li online newspaper . I created th

Welcome back from the 4th of July holiday! I have a few lovely Twitter backgrounds to share with you on this "Twitter Tuesday".  It's a bit late, but here are few designs I've recently completed.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing an inspirational post about my brother.  Until then, please enjoy these backgrounds.  Today's Etiquette with Darlene Das Darlene is new to Twitter and will be taking the Twitterverse by storm before you know it! I created a custom background to match her website.   Diane had lovely photos for me to work with, so she made my job super easy! Today's Etiquette with Darlene Das at @TodaysEtiquette  I feel a bit silly sharing the next background, but it's one that was in need of an update. Designers often work on their own websites and profiles last, and the same can be said about me sometimes. I updated my Twitter background recently and wanted to share it with you. Are we connected on Twitter? Follow me @LauraCatherineO 

Have you created your profile on Klout.com yet?   I’ve talked about Klout in this space before .   Klout is a free service that “identifies influencers on topics across the social web.”   I’ve noticed a few neat features from Klout recently. The first was Klout “perks”.   I talked about a free Klout “perk” I received over here .    Just a few weeks ago, I came across a new “+K” feature on Klout.  So, what exactly does it mean to give someone a “+K” score? A "+K" reminds me a little of a “recommendation” on LinkedIn, but it only takes a moment and you can tweet about it!   Klout recommends that you give someone a “+K” if that person has influenced you about a particular topic lately.   Today on “Tutorial Thursday” I’m going to walk you through the process of giving someone a “+K” on Klout.com. How to give someone a "+K" on Klout.com: Login to your personal Klout profile.   If you don’t have an account on Klout yet, you can easily create one from their homepage.