twitter « ((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

Sunday Social: blogging beginnings

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: blog name, blogging, celebrities, facebook, social media, sunday social, twitter, writing

09 June 2013

1. How did you come up with your blog name?

back of worn mead five star fat lil notebook

A well-worn notebook I’m currently using.

In middle school, I was looking for a small notebook that could fit in a purse, yet hold a ton of information. When I found Mead’s Five Star Fat Lil’ Notebook, it was perfect. The size of the pages is just right, it has a TON of sheets (200 to be exact), and the pages are perforated so I can tear them out when I’m done. I had one with me everywhere so I could write down things I wanted to remember. When I started blogging, I had pages filled with potential blog post ideas – the ‘fat lil notebook’ was vital to my blogging! I didn’t want to take the name exactly, so I changed it to “little fat notebook” and decided to add the double parentheses to make it visually a bit “fat.” I like to be different and I’ve never seen another blog with double parentheses. This also doesn’t limit me to any topic or type of blogging so I can write as I please. 🙂

2. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
I love sharing! Whether it’s a how-to (my most popular post to date is about setting up a Facebook page), a review/product feature, or just random thoughts, I like to share it with others. I think people like to know they’re not alone in things, so if you write about it, they’ll know at least one other person agrees/has experienced that too. I wish more people commented so I could get feedback on what they like to see on the blog.

3. What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can’t live without?
It’s gotta be a tie between subscription boxes (which I learned from other bloggers) and getting free stuff to try (which I get to do partly because I have a blog). I absolutely love subscription boxes and I have quite a list of ones I want to try in the coming years. Right now a lot of it is focused on beauty and personal items, but I see my preferences changing towards household stuff once we get a place, then towards pampering again come wedding prep time, then a shift to baby and kid-oriented things as we start a family. Also, I’ve only recently discovered BzzAgent, Influenster, Pink Panel, and other similar sites that send me free things to test! It’s great and I definitely want to keep it going indefinitely (as long as I qualify for the stuff).

4. Facebook or Twitter? And why?
Facebook. I’m never on Twitter and pretty much only use it to promote my blog posts and enter giveaways. That’s it. Facebook, on the other hand, is where I can share pictures with my friends, get invited to events, interact with brands, etc. It feels less “busy” on that site because I can control the level of interaction. Twitter has way too many strangers trying to sell things or get followers or whatever. I pretty much just ignore it.

5. If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be?
Umm… I don’t really know or care for celebrities, but maybe Ellen or Oprah since they could talk about my blog and hopefully that would bring more readers! Yeah, I know, totally selfish, but celebrities just aren’t my thing so if one did read my blog, might as well be one who can help me grow! I’d love to be able to share more things with more people and learn from them too, but it’s hard to do that when there aren’t many readers connecting. *hint* 😉

6. What is something you want people to know about your blog?
It is constantly evolving and I’m always looking for feedback on what you want to see! I seem to get a lot of lurkers and I’d really love to hear from you. 🙂 I mean, yeah I blog about what I want, but I want to also make sure I’m covering what YOU want! Please do share. It would make my day!

How to: Claim Your Username and Vanity URLs

laelene Posted in how to guides，Tags: branding, business, etsy, facebook, how to, instagram, pinterest, social media, trademark, twitter, usernames, vanity url, youtube

15 May 2013

Ever want to claim “facebook.com/yourbrand” only to find it was taken? Rather than accepting that and settling for something like “facebook.com/yourbrand123″ (which is less than optimal), read on to learn how you might be able to get what is rightfully* yours.

First let me start by saying that most sites already use vanity URLs, so whichever username you choose will usually end up being in your URL. For example:

http://twitter.com/maryqin
http://pinterest.com/maryqin
http://instagram.com/laelene

For these sites, the issue of the getting the vanity URL you want ends up being the same as getting the username you want. Once you get the username, you get the associated URL.

Now Facebook is an exception to this and you actually have to set the vanity URL yourself. They start you off with some ugly URL like http://www.facebook.com/pages/little-fat-notebook/457453117668145. Just go to the username settings page to change it to something pretty like http://www.facebook.com/littlefatnotebook. You can do this for your personal profile as well as any Facebook pages you manage. The cool thing is that usually you have to wait until you have 25 fans on a page before you can set the username, but by doing it this way you bypass that requirement! [Edit: Looks like there still might be a minimum – I was able to set the username with just 16 fans but I can’t for another page that only has 4 fans right now.]

Ok, so let’s say you’re claiming these usernames for your brand and you find someone has already taken them. You may not have to resort to choosing a different username – there’s an option to try to claim the username by reporting trademark infringement. A few tips for improving your chances of filing a successful claim:

1. You should own the domain name related to the username you want. For example, I own pandaloves.com and I wanted facebook.com/pandaloves and twitter.com/pandaloves

2. Even better if you actually own the trademark for the name in question, but it’s not necessary. If you do own it, make sure you can prove it to help your case. I never registered a trademark for my brand’s name, Panda Loves, but that was fine.

3. If you do own the domain (i.e., pandaloves.com), use an email set up from that domain for more credibility. This shows that you are an authorized representative of the business. I used contact@pandaloves.com as my contact email when I filled out the form.

I came across this helpful article for claiming usernames on Facebook and Twitter, which you should read if you are claiming a username on either site. I was able to successfully claim both usernames on Facebook and Twitter, but not Pinterest (they never got back to me). I haven’t tried for other sites.

For Facebook, go here to fill out the form: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/208282075858952

For Twitter, there are two routes you can take depending on if you own the trademark:

https://support.twitter.com/forms/impersonation (if you don’t own the trademark)
https://support.twitter.com/forms/trademark (if you do own the trademark and have proof)

And for other sites, I located articles that can help with the claim process. For any site not listed, do a search in their help section for terms like “trademark infringement” or even “impersonation” to locate more information.

Pinterest: http://about.pinterest.com/trademark/
YouTube: http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=151655
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/help/article/17
Instagram: http://help.instagram.com/customer/portal/articles/118970-trademark-policy-for-instagram-usernames

Let me know if you have any further questions or how it goes when you do file your claim on these sites! Good luck!

*This is, of course, assuming that it is your right: that you are trying to claim the name of a brand you own and not take someone else’s.

How to: Link Social Media Accounts

laelene Posted in how to guides，Tags: advice, business, etsy, facebook, how to, instagram, pinterest, social media, twitter, vimeo

08 August 2012

With the ventures I’ve been working on, much of my time and effort have been spent figuring out the nuances of social media. I think these issues are pertinent to many people, particularly business owners, so I’ve decided to put together some of the lessons I’ve learned and tips for how to improve your experience and avoid pitfalls. These will be filed under the “social media lessons” category, so you can filter by category to sort by relevant posts. Hopefully you’ll find these things useful in optimizing your own social media strategy!

social media icon buttons: facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram, vimeo, etsy

Icons courtesy Brandi Girl

Today I’ll cover how to link your social media accounts to offer consistency across social media platforms. It can be quite time-consuming to post content across platforms, so why not link them and get more bang for your buck? Most sites will allow you to connect with Facebook and/or Twitter to post your activity and updates; just check the settings and look for something like “Sharing Settings” or “Connect Accounts.”

First, you can interlink your Facebook Page and Twitter accounts. That way, any post on Facebook gets updated to Twitter, and any update on Twitter gets updated to Facebook (except @replies and direct messages).

Link Twitter to your Facebook Page

You will be prompted to use Facebook as yourself (instead of as your Facebook Page) if you aren’t already.
Your personal Facebook account and any Facebook Pages that you are an admin of will be listed.
On the right side, click “Link to Twitter” for the account you want to link.
On the next page, make sure you’re logged in to the correct Twitter account and click “Authorize app.”
You will be returned to the previous page, where you can choose what to share (Status Updates, Photos, Video, Links, Notes, & Events). By default, they will all be checked so all updates will be shared on Twitter as well.

Link Facebook Page to your Twitter account

Scroll down to the Facebook section and click “Sign in to Facebook and connect your accounts.”
There will be a pop-up prompting you to allow Twitter access to your personal Facebook account. Allow it.
Now your account is connected to Facebook and you can choose to allow Twitter to post to your personal profile page, or one of the Facebook Pages that you are an admin of.

For all the rest, make sure you are signed in to the correct Facebook and Twitter accounts first.

Link Facebook* & Twitter to your Pinterest account

Scroll down to the Facebook section and click “Login with Facebook.”
There will be a pop-up prompting you to allow Pinterest access to your Facebook account. Allow it.
Now “Login with Facebook” will be ON and you can choose to also turn “Publish activity to Facebook Timeline” to ON. If you do, another pop-up will prompt you to allow that type of access to your Facebook account. Allow it if you want Pinterest updates to show up in a box on the right side of your timeline.
In the Twitter section, click “Login with Twitter” and authorize the app.

Link Facebook, Twitter, & more to your Instagram (instructions for iPhone app – Androids may vary)

Open up the Instagram app on your device and click on the icon that shows you your profile (bottom right).
Tap on the settings icon in the top right corner.
Scroll down to “Sharing settings” under the Account header.
Tap on that and choose the accounts you want to link. You’ll be prompted to log in and allow access.
For Facebook, your personal profile will be connected by default, but you can change it to a page by clicking on “Facebook,” then “Post to.” This will take you to a page in the FB app. Allow access here to then be able to connect Instagram to one of the Facebook Pages that you are an admin of.

Link Facebook & Twitter to your Vimeo account

Click “Connect” next to the account you want to link.
You will be prompted to allow access. When you accept, your account will be linked.
For Facebook, you will automatically be connected as yourself, but you can choose to link to a Facebook Page that you are an admin of instead by clicking on the dropdown.
Note that Vimeo will only send updates when you ‘like’ a video. When you upload a new video, you will need to manually choose “Share” in the top right corner of that video.

Link Facebook* & Twitter to your Etsy account

Click on “Connect with Facebook” and/or “Connect with Twitter” under the Connected Accounts section
You will get a pop-up prompting you to allow permission. When you do, your accounts will be linked.
For Facebook, you have the option of sharing your Favorites from Etsy on Facebook. Check the box if you’d like to, otherwise leave it alone.

*Pinterest and Etsy don’t appear to allow you to link your account to a Facebook page – right now you can only post updates to your personal timeline.

Is there another social media platform you’d like to see here? Did I miss a step anywhere? I’d love to hear some feedback. Let me know if it worked for you (or what happened if it didn’t).

Do the Wave

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: friends, google, google voice, google wave, networking, panda, pictures, social media, technology, twitter

01 October 2009

Google is a company that knows how to create. Create lots of online applications for people to use, then create huge hype over them when they (slowly) release them. Remember the days when Gmail was invite-only? Well, now it’s happening with their newest project: Google Wave. Apparently it’s also going on for their service Google Voice, which will be opening up to the public eventually.

Today I got an e-mail from a friend, asking around to see if anyone has invites for Google Wave. That prompted me to go on a wild goose chase, first trying to figure out what exactly it is, then of course trying to find people with invites. My search didn’t get far – after all, Google’s got a central location to explain what Wave is. At first I read about it and understood the general concept – a collaborative tool online, with live interactions. It’s like being in a meeting room, throwing around ideas and sharing documents, but in electronic form. That wasn’t enough to really interest me, but I am a persistent person and I like to help others to make myself feel good and useful. So, I watched the one-hour, twenty-minute, and twelve-second video outlining all the fun little doodads that come in Wave.

The screenshot provided by Google.

Now that is what truly sparked my interest. The usability looks fabulous, there are a lot of functions for all the things you ever might want to do, and plenty of fun widgets! It is open sourced, so there will certainly be a LOT of cool features to come as programmers get their turn at it. It can integrate with websites and sync the information on your blog and in your Wave so that comments from one show up in the other. Same thing goes for Twitter – you can link your account and post tweets from within Wave. It is truly live to the point of being able to watch the other person typing out what they want to say (you can turn that feature off if you make a lot of mistakes or don’t want to have to take back something you didn’t mean to type). It’s easy to drag and drop things into the Wave you’re working on, or take part of the current Wave and create a new one.

Some of the extensions they have are really what caught my eye. Right now it’s smart enough to spell and grammar check in a contextual way, so even if you misspell something and end up typing another word instead, it can catch it and change that for you. Sometimes it will change automatically and sometimes you will get that telltale red underline and then be given options. It recognizes links without needing the http:// to indicate so and you can paste links in from a Google search without having to copy-paste the URL. You can embed Google Maps, pictures, videos, and the like very easily and it recognizes YouTube links as videos and offers the option of embedding that with a quick click. There’s also a real-time translating function that can translate between any two of 40 languages!

photo credit: marketingfacts on flickr

Once I went through that video, I got curious. Suddenly, I was interested in trying it out for myself. First I thought of the people I know at Google. Oh wait, there aren’t any. I have an acquaintance who works for them in Australia last I checked, but I haven’t heard from him in ages. I checked LinkedIn and found that one of the people that Panda knows works for them, but he doesn’t know the guy well enough to ask for favors. So there I was, wondering if I knew anyone who would have access to this kind of thing. I decided to go to Twitter to post a funny observation I had made while watching the video. While I was there, I searched for Google Wave and noticed that it was the top trending topic. I guess this is all newer than I thought it was, since the hype was intense. There were people selling invites! That’s just insane.

I then read a few tweets about people giving them away (most were fakes, claiming they had 1000 invites) and couldn’t really find any leads. I came across a lady who looked legit and messaged her just to try my luck. I then noticed a lot of people offering Google Voice invites for Wave ones. Well, the moment I saw that, I remembered a good friend of mine who has set his Google Voice number as his status for quite some time now. Whenever he signs on, I see a message: “(XXX) XXX-XXXX new google voice phonenumber.” I couldn’t resist telling him how I was reminded of him (and ask what exactly a Google Voice number is for). As we chatted, I learned that not only did he have Google Voice, he has Google Wave as well. After clearing up what Google Voice is for, he mentioned that he had one more invite to Google Wave and asked if I was interested. Well, of course I was! So I took his offer and I should be receiving my invite sometime tomorrow.

Then, let the Waving begin!

((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

Follow Me! :)

laelene

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

Recent Posts

((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

Sunday Social: blogging beginnings

How to: Claim Your Username and Vanity URLs

How to: Link Social Media Accounts

A very special treat

Do the Wave

Follow Me! :)

laelene

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

Recent Posts