Just as the world is getting more social, the web is also getting more multi-dimensional. If you’re only presenting your content in text media, you’re going to miss out on a lot of viral opportunities. Infographics are all the rage and are perfect for pinning to Pinterest. YouTube is the fastest growing search engine only second to the mother ship, Google.
Then there’s podcasting which allows you to gain access to iTunes’ massive user base. Audio also allows you to get your content into the hands (and ears) of people who don’t have time to read blogs, but enjoy having an audiobook to learn from when they’re on the go.
Infographics
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Infographics are an awesome way to package interesting facts and information about a specific topic in a way that’s fun to read. In plain text, people probably wouldn’t actually take the time to read about a lot of facts. But in a fun infographic format, it can really go viral.
Use them in your blog to drive home a point. For example, I’ve included an infographic about SEO so that if I was writing a blog post about ways to improve the SEO of your WordPress blog, the infographic would help the reader visualize the points I was making.
Probably the most popular program to create infographics from scratch is Adobe Illustrator but that’s a pretty pricey program. You can find some good PLR infographics out there on various subjects or you can use a site like Piktochart where they give you a template and then an editing screen to create your own in just minutes. You can get started for free with a few basic templates and if you really want to turn out some cool graphics, you can pay to get the Pro version with over 80 templates.
Videos
There are so many ways to make videos these days. The camera in the latest iPhones is as good as most camcorders. Screencast videos are perfect for demonstrating or teaching something on your computer. Even PowerPoint slide presentations can easily be converted to a video using PowerPoint 2010.
YouTube continues to add cool features for editing your videos right in your YouTube account. You can add annotations and clickable links to other YouTube videos. Just recently they started rolling out the ability to pick your own video splash image. You know, that’s the frame of the video that shows up when you embed your video — usually a frame with your mouth wide open.
I have discovered a cool video tool called Video Scribe. You may have seen some of these floating around. Now you can do it yourself. Try out the free trial — don’t blame me if you get hooked!
Podcasts
I’m just starting to get into doing podcasts which are simply mp3 recordings that are coded to go into an RSS feed. The most popular podcast feeds are located in iTunes. So how do you code your mp3’s for iTunes? One way is to make your recordings through a service like Blog Talk Radio. Another way is with a plugin like Blubrry PowerPress.
When I start learning a new skill, I look around for a great expert. When it comes to podcasting, you couldn’t find a better teacher than Kelly McCausey of Solosmarts. She was a true pioneer in this format and her Smart Podcasting Skills audio series covers everything you need to know.
