VernonGirl

How to create a picture-in-picture video for your blog for under $400 USD

Dear Varada:

Thank you for your question:

    “How did you create the video overlapping the background demo on
    Socialoomph presented in your blog.”

Adding video has been an excellent strategy for adding personality and credibility to my blog and getting people to stay for longer. It has also resulted in exposure through Youtube and now my blog has been bookmarked on the site Delicious which pushes traffic into my blog.

Here is how I do it:

First of all, I believe that the video example you are referring to is this video on how to upload tweets and schedule them using Socialoomph.com.

I use two tools to create my demo videos:

1)    A Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 / QuickCam Pro 9000 that cost under $99 USD.

and

2)    Camtasia Studios 5.0 Screen Recorder Software that cost under $300 USD.

I launch the Camtasia Studios Screen Recorder Software and set the recorder to make sure it is using the Logitech® Webcam Pro 9000 to record my face and my voice at the same time that I am clicking on the screen. In the settings of the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, I ensure that it is tracking my face. This image demonstrates what the face tracking settings look like:

Logitech® Webcam Pro 9000 has exceptionally great audio quality, so I recommend it. And it sits right on your computer screen which means that you don't need a cameraman (or woman) to operate it. You just have to make sure to check that you are centred in the viewer.

For lighting, I have two small table top lights that I set on either side of my computer screen. They seem to do the trick.

In the Camtasia Studios Screen Recording Software, I also make sure that I set the “cursor effects” to highlight the clicks of my mouse with a yellow circle so it’s easier for people watching my video demonstration to know where I’m clicking.

The Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder software records what I am doing on my computer screen at the same time it is recording my face. It essentially makes two video files: one of the video of me and one video of what I’m clicking on my computer screen. It calls this picture in picture (pip) and when you are editing the video, you can decide if the videos will lay side-by-side each other, or one overtop of the other. In this case, I've laid one over the other.

To prepare to take the video, I practice what I am going to do and say a few times before I go through the “real” demo. This is like a sound check to ensure that my audio is being recorded and to see how the video is looking. After practicing, I do the demo in one take so that editing is kept to a minimum. The only editing I do after that is to fade in and fade out the video of me so that the screen recording demo can be seen. Sometimes I also enlarge my video.

When I began producing video, I noticed that my computer was quite slow and this was effecting the quality of my video and causing it to be somewhat stilted. It also took a very long time to render the video, which is also what Camtasia Studios terms as the "produce" phase. So I upgraded to a faster computer. The processor speed is most important. I use an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9300 - 8 Gig System memory - 1 Terabyte hard drive. (I haven't included the cost of my computer upgrade in the $400 USD.)

Occasionally, I will get "chipmunk" voice when I record a video. This is when my audio comes out really fast and I sound like Alvin and The Chipmunks. When this happens, I close all of my programs and restart my computer. This takes care of the problem and then I start the process all over again.

Here is a video from Camtasia Studios that shows you how to place videos through pip (picture in picture).

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher

Newspapers are out, on line marketing is in for Vernon, B.C. Realtors

Social media is changing the way that real estate agents advertise. (Photo credit: The Salt Team Re/Max Real Estate Agents at The Rise overlooking Okanagan Lake in Vernon, B.C.)

Lisa Salt, Re/Max Real Estate Agent in Vernon, B.C. says, “Social media is the main focus of the speakers and panels right now at all of the industry trade shows and conferences I’ve attended. Everybody is using it to differing levels. The people who are doing it well have a system in place to make sure everything is updated every few days. They have information going on everything: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc..”

Re/Max has brought in a number of social media professionals to give people an idea of what users of social media are expecting, who the audiences are, and a little idea of how to start with it.

“I’ve had a few realtors call me and pick my brain. We’re starting, but we’re still feeling our way around. We could do so much better. I can’t say I’ve had x number of sales from social media. Two people contacted me directly through Facebook. One Re/Max referral came directly from LinkedIn. We’re in the beginning stages. It’s a long term effort.” says Salt.

Salt is using Youtube to post video tours of houses she has listed. She says, “Sellers are impressed when their house is on Youtube.” She also posts other videos about local schools and is slated to post videos with beaches, parks, golf courses and lakeshore developments.

“Social media helps us create connections and give our listing clients more exposure. We’re able to contact way more buyers. If you’re not there, it’s going to be a problem.” she says. “The realtors who use social media will be the ones that shine in the next five years. Then it’ll be something else, or it’ll look different in five years.”

That being said, Salt knows realtors who have advertised on Facebook, but have discontinued it. She hasn’t made a commitment to advertising with Facebook yet. But she has been using Twitter and blogging for around the past six months. She is following Steve & Greg Hamre Re/Max agents out of Ottawa on Twitter because she thinks they are doing a good job.

As far as her predictions for Spring/Summer real estate in Vernon, B.C., she says, “I think the market has stopped falling. We’ll see a more balanced market with a one to three percent growth. More back to what we would consider to be normal. Nice and calm. Not a buyers or a seller’s market.”

In terms of traditional marketing, she comments, “Some sellers expect us to have their houses in the newspapers. It’s tough to get rid of what we’ve been doing. Social media doesn’t cost a lot in dollars, but it does cost in time. Re/Max is looking at putting out a monthly booklet rather than have it hodgepodge in the paper every week. It’ll help with the transition to get away from the paper and move forward with online and social media. We’ll advertise with them [the newspaper] in a different way.”

There are six licensed realtors and two unlicensed realtors with The Salt Team (including Lisa Salt and Gord Fowler).

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher

Lannie Houle Set To Carry Olympic Torch For Vernon, B.C.

Lannie Houle (pictured here at Wesbild Centre last week in Vernon, B.C.) will carry the Olympic Torch tomorrow, January 26, in Vernon.

Lannie wrote an essay about how she wants to play on the Women's National Hockey Team and win a gold medal at the Olympics. She has been playing hockey since age five. She now goes to school in Vilna, Alberta. When she wrote the essay, she was living in Vernon and going to Seaton School.

You can listen to me interviewing her here (it takes a moment to download). Interview with Lannie Houle, Olympic Torch Bearer for Vernon.

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher

Get your tickets for a world of dance: Sat. January 30th Vernon Recreation Centre

I am a member of the Hula Halau Ke Aloha Dance Group. It stands for the Hula School of Love. We will be performing at the Vernon Recreation Centre on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the Vernon Winter Carnival festivities.

Join me for an amazing kaleidoscope of world dance that will blow your mind! We are doing it to benefit the students of the four dance schools (to provide money for costumes and competition).

Dance performances by:
Aviemore Highland Dancers
Zirka Ukrainian Dancers
Hula Halau Ke Aloha Polynesian Dancers
Silhouette Dance Studio.

$10 kids and seniors
$15 adults

On sale will also be:
Tea, coffee, pop
Beer and Wine
A taste of food from each of the cultures represented.

Silent Auction.

Tickets can be purchased through me at phone: 250-558-1176

Thanks for reading,

Courtenay Pitcher

6 Reasons Why I Don’t Wear Baby Dolls To Work.

Just in case you’re not sure what Baby Dolls are…they are sheer, frilly pajamas that come down to below the navel to somewhere around the hips and have matching underwear. I’ve also seen them in cotton. They are like a loose, long t-shirt worn to bed, but with a sexy twist.

So why don’t I wear them to work? It’s a funny question, isn’t it? But I get this question often. It’s in the form of: “You’re dressed up nice. You work from home don’t you? Why do you get dressed up?” And this question is really beginning to annoy me.

Is there a law against getting dressed up nice every day if you work from home? Should I stay in my pajamas all day? I’ve been working from home since 1999, with the exception of a few full-time “office” jobs here and there. Over those years, I’ve learned it is best for my productivity and sanity to dress up every day for work. Mostly from some of the blunders I made.


#1 Salesmen Don’t Like To Wait At The Door

One morning, about six years ago, I found myself answering the door at about 9:00 a.m. Two salesmen were at the door. They had driven from a neighbouring city over two hours for our 9:00 a.m. appointment to discuss email marketing. They had confirmed with me the day before, but I had forgotten. My hair was wild, my breath was horrible, my Baby Dolls were red and my face was redder. I invited them in and asked them to wait for me.

It took me fifteen minutes to compose myself, get dressed, brush my teeth and put a little makeup on, while they waited. Then, we sat down in my home office for our meeting, but I felt like all of my credibility and dignity had gone out that front door. I vowed from that day on that I would always get dressed up in the morning for work.

#2 The Purolator Man Cometh Unexpectedly

I often get unexpected courier packages. And what I’ve noticed is that they usually come around 9:00 a.m. It’s not like you can open the door a little crack and say, “Just leave the package there on the front step please.” No, you have to sign for it. Enough said.


#3 Dogma-Pushing Door Knockers Go Away

I went to church for two hours every Saturday (yes, Saturday not Sunday) from when I was five years old until I rebelled at age seventeen. (Stay with me, there is a clothing point here.)

You see, when I was seventeen my family and I were driving home from church one Saturday, and my dad was cut off by another driver. Well, my dad fingered him (a.k.a. flipped him the bird) and the next thing I know, my five foot eight inch father is on the side of the road, blocking traffic, and fighting with a six foot five inch man. They’re taking swings at each other (my dad was swinging up), my brother is standing on top of the car cheering them on and some Italian man with a mustache is pumping his fists in the air and saying “Yah, Yah” in rotation with a waxing-his-mustache gesture. (My father had a very big mustache, so this was a sign of support for the little Englishman fighting Goliath.)

That day, I was so embarrassed that a good “Christian” could be fighting on the side of the road with a stranger, that I vowed it would be the last time I attended church.

So, when people come to my door with bibles in hand looking to preach at me, I’m not too receptive. When I’m in a business suit, they seem to leave with no question at all when I say, “I’m sorry, I’m working.”


#4 Dressing up allows for versatility

I’ve learned that working from home doesn’t mean that I’m here all day. Quite often, my kids will forget their lunch and I’ll have to drive it to them or something unexpected will come up. A potential client will want to meet with me, I have to send a parcel at the post office, my husband will ask me to go out to have coffee with him, a neighbour will drop in and deliver fresh cherries from their tree, or whatever. When I’m dressed up, I can dash out of the house easily and look great. It allows me to be versatile and quick acting and take advantage of business opportunities that pop up.


#5 Having A Routine Allows For Productivity

If I am dressed up and ready to go out the door by 8:15 a.m., my kids take me seriously. They grab their backpacks and get into the car much easier. They are less likely to whine about staying home from school if they see me in a skirt and with my makeup on and hair coiffed. When I get back to my home office, I get right down to work. No dilly dally. No dishes. No house cleaning. When I’m in a nice outfit, my posture is better and I work more diligently on my computer without getting sidetracked with laundry, taking out the garbage, or other chores. Bottom line, I’m more productive.


#6 Looking professional is a sign of respect

I went to a meeting at a lovely restaurant in Kelowna once called the Manteo Grill. The Salesman who took me there was trying to sell me internet advertising. His shoes weren’t shined, his pants were loose (no belt), his shirt wasn’t ironed, he wore white socks with his scuffed shoes and the bottom of his pants were quite ragged, like they had been dragging on the ground. I was embarrassed to be seen in that nice restaurant with him.

I felt like he disrespected me by not making more of an effort to look nice. Needless to say, I didn’t buy advertising from him. But I did him a favour and told his boss that he needed to invest in training his people on how to dress with respect. A dark suit, tie, white pressed shirt, black socks and shiny shoes would have been more appropriate for that salesman.

Looking professional is a signal to everyone that my time is limited. This allows me to keep chit chat to a minimum and really focus on my time to work.I always feel better and have more confidence when I’m dressed up. Dressing up is a sign of respect. It shows that you respect others and yourself.

What do you think about dressing up for working at home?

Courtenay Pitcher

Mitch Joel Video about social media, privacy, equilibrium, group expression

An interview with Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image and Author of "Six Pixels of Separation" as part of the TVO series in an online Podcast called Digital U. 

In this video, you can hear Mitch Joel’s discourse about:

• Group expression: it’s different from a one way or two way conversation.

• How social media sites allow people to congregate and activate their passions.

• How social media sites like blogs or Twitter are creating an equilibrium between “regular people” and large budget advertisers.

• How social media brings transparency. Credibility is hard.

• How “being in the loop” is attitudinal, not generational.

• How it’s a challenge to manage technology and not let technology manage you.

• Privacy and evaluating your public versus private relationships. Your life is being recorded. Anybody can take a picture and upload it to anything without any ramifications.

• How a laptop is no longer needed for travel now with the Blackberry and Iphone.

• Snaptel. Take a picture of a product code, find out where you can buy it, get prices, get a review, and find people to help you buy it.

• Augmented reality: point your phone at a house and see its real estate agent, price and a virtual tour. 

• Meet ups, “Thriller” and facilitating better relationships.

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher, Digital Facilitator

Super Affiliate Handbook Review - Monetize and supercharge your website or blog

Have you been writing articles and posting them on your blog and not getting enough traffic to it?

Are you a traditional brick and mortar business who has a website, but wants to add revenue streams to it?

Are you an entrepreneur thinking about starting a blog?

Do you have a website with good traffic, but are you having a difficult time selling advertising on it?

Do you want to start a business with minimal risk and financial investment?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll want to purchase and read the Super Affiliate Handbook, by the “Affiliate Queen”, Rosalind Gardner.

What percentage of visitors to your site will become your customers?

How much is each visitor to your blog or website worth?

How much does it cost to bring a new visitor to your site?

This book teaches you how to answer those questions.

I’ve been marketing on the internet since the late nineties, but this is the first book I’ve read that really explains in detail how to profit from a website or blog and how to promote a website or blog with software I had not considered.

The Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner was published in 2003, but it has been recently updated. Since internet marketing is evolving with the addition of social media and new technology, I was happy to know that the book wasn’t a dinosaur. It’s current and relevant. In fact, the book even lists changes and improvements since 2003.

First, you’ll learn seventeen benefits of being an affiliate. What stands out for me in this section, is how inexpensive, simple and virtually risk free it is to begin an affiliate progam.

Gardner explains:

 “An affiliate program is a program that facilitates the relationship between online merchants and their affiliates – allowing the affiliate to promote that company’s products or services for a commission. Affiliate programs may also be referred to as:
    *Associate programs
    *Referral programs
    *Bounty Programs
    *Partner Programs
    *Revenue Sharing Programs."

In the book, Gardner, who is a successful webmaster, online entrepreneur and affiliate marketer, shows and links to her own website examples so you can see live working affiliate websites. The well-written book reads like a full-fledged business and marketing plan. She tells you the software and tools needed, the process and steps to take, ways to stay organized, ways to identify a profitable niche, short-cuts, how to evaluate market demand and competition, how to choose a domain name, how to choose a web or blog host, design rules-of-thumb and how to build a website or blog with, or without, a webmaster.

Software she reviews in enough detail to really understand them are: Google Adsense and Keyword Tool, Wordtracker, Google Toolbar, Microsoft Excel, Eudora Email Client, File Transfer Software, Paypal, Wordpress, and Aweber Enewsletter Software to name only a few.

She explains how to create or find content, which content is essential for an affiliate blog or website, how to write product endorsements, secret ingredients every article needs, and how to make your site “Google” friendly. 

The meat of the book is in the middle where she goes into ways to monetize your site simply by adding small snippets of code to them. And, she shows you step by step how to do it and which ones to add. She explains how to evaluate affiliate programs and which ones are profitable and easy to work with. Recurring sales, commissions, lifetime commissions, multiple-tier programs, sales tools and sales statistics are covered. Page 132 of her book has a gem so good, I was too excited to sleep the night I read about it.

After she explains how to fill your site with content, she details thirty-one ways to market your site on-line. I’ve known about many of the tools and strategies she lists here, but she goes into them in detailed ways that shifted my perspective. Also, she reveals software on page 138 so powerful and effective (I watched the video) that I’m scheming of ways to afford it. After all, my internet marketing plan is ever-evolving too. That’s why I read great books like this one.

Like adding icing to a delicious cake, she puts a section at the back of the book called “Evaluate Your Site’s Performance” which explains how to determine:
1.    What percentage of visitors to your site will become your customers.
2.    The conversion rate for each Affiliate program.
3.    How much each visitor is worth.
4.    How much it costs to bring a new visitor to your site.

This section also teaches you how to assess individual product performance (clickthroughs, number of sales, commission amounts), compare products side-by-side for performance, evaluate monthly trends, grow commissions and profit from error pages and exchange rates. The number crunching techniques on these pages will keep your Banker and Accountant happy for sure!

The book is topped off with problem-solving and prevention tips plus a glossary of terms. “Twenty-five mistakes to avoid” is the maraschino cherry of this affiliate marketing masterpiece.

Rosalind Gardner lives in Penticton, B.C. Canada, just down the road (two hours) from me. Her book is 210 pages long and it took me six hours to read. I jumped over some sections I already felt I knew, but took longer on some of the links. This book comes as an e-book. After reading it, I printed it and put it into a binder that I will keep on my shelf and refer to often.

At just $47 USD, this book is excellent value. I give it 10 out of 10.

Buy a copy of The Super Affiliate Handbook here


Thanks for reading.

Courtenay Pitcher, Aspiring Affiliate Marketer

Intoxicating Liquors Act Doesn’t Prevent Gray Monk Estate Winery From Marketing Online

Despite an eighty-two year old law that prevents cross-provincial shipping of wine in Canada, Gray Monk Estate Winery in Okanagan Centre, British Columbia is focusing more marketing dollars to Twitter, Facebook and on-line publications and cutting back on traditional marketing like magazines and newspapers.

Steven Heiss of Gray Monk Estate Winery says, “We are changing our focus. It’s instant, you don’t have to wait to get the information on line. Plus there is the green side of it too, saving some paper and ink.”

A prohibition law from 1928 called “The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act” means that it is illegal to cross-province ship wine (and other liquor) unless it is authorized by the receiving province’s liquor board. “If you look it up, you’ll have a good laugh.” says Heiss. The law didn’t used to be a problem until recently when the Alberta Liquor Board started making threats against BC Wineries. So Heiss is watching WineLaw.ca for updates on a solution, which doesn’t seem to be in sight.

“It’s a pain for tourists” he says. Tourists usually visit the winery, purchase wine and then, in the past, Gray Monk would ship it home to them so they didn’t have to crate it around on their trip.

Although shipping is up in the air, and this does effect on-line marketing, Heiss is working with a Kamloops marketing company to develop a new website, brochure and marketing plan. One topic that came up during strategizing was social media.

Now, they have a Gray Monk Estate Winery Facebook fan page and  have jumped onto Twitter (@GrayMonkWinery). Heiss jokes, “Even our Sales Rep Rainer Wilkins was asking about Twitter." Heiss has given Rainer access to the account to make updates also. 

“The hardest part is what to put on there. I always think to myself, nobody wants to know about that. I already know it, so I don’t think it will be interesting.” Heiss is watching what notable wine and food writers are tweeting like: @NatalieMaClean, Jim Martin (@MetroLiquor) and Tony Gismondi  (@TheSpitter). “I’m finding it interesting.” he says.

Gray Monk Estate Winery plans to participate in local on-line tourism marketing through Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (@totamedia) and Tourism Kelowna. 

Many traditional marketing initiatives will continue. Chef Willi Franz (above) of the on-site Grapevine Restaurant is preparing a list of events for Gray Monk Estate Winery’s participation in the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival Apr 30-May 9, 2010. Those events will be announced in the upcoming weeks. Plus they will attend the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (delayed this year due to the Olympics) on April 23, 2010.

When I asked Steven Heiss for his official title, he said, “That’s a good question. Janitor to President as my dad would say. Or you could say Sales and Distribution.”

That’s a very humble statement from a third generation member of a very successful and respected wine-making family. His parents Trudy and George Heiss established the Gray Monk Estate Winery in 1972 and his grandparents started a vineyard, first, up the road. The family produces some of the world's finest wines from a breath-taking fifty acre vineyard overlooking Okanagan Lake. The Grapevine Restaurant has a seating capacity of 50 patrons. There is an on-site gift shop and wine tours. It seems to me, they have plenty interesting stuff to tweet about.

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher, lover of anything Gray Monk and wine writer wannabe

Follow me on Twitter @vernongirl