Technology Woes? Answering The Question, "How Do You Do That?"
As an author, you are asked to be a jack of all trades when it comes to your book. This is especially true about marketing your book. And many authors don't have the background to market effectively, especially when it comes to some of the web 2.0 marketing. It can be a daunting task when you start to look at things like blogs, Twitter, Facebook and any of the sites that "everyone" says you need to be on.
Then, when you hear that you can automate your posts by automatically having your blog tweet your followers and syndicate to your Facebook page when you post, it can be enough to make your head swim. On top of that, you may have to deal with formatting issues of your blog and adding ways to share your content through social media channels.
Well, I want to share a piece of advice that has helped me tremendously when it comes to answering the question, "How do you do that?"
If you visit YouTube, you will be surprised what you will find. Almost everything you could want to know how to do will be found there. And the time is long past when free video tutorials are offered by amateurs putting out substandard help. Now, you can find professionals sharing rock-solid content as well as professional-grade amateurs doing the same.
And you can expand your search from YouTube by using Google's video search. I usually type in the "how-to" question I need in the search field. For example:
How Do I Create A Favicon?
returns all the instructional videos I could hope for to teach me how to create a favicon (that tiny picture next to the URL in the address bar).
The nice thing about videos, especially compared to written tutorials, is that you can "look over the shoulders of an expert" as he or she walks through the exact steps you need to walk through in order to complete a task. And if you forget something, you just have to rewind the video and watch that part again.
And you will find many videos on any give task you want to complete. That means if one experts is not really helping, you can go on to the next one. Many experts often fly through the steps and assume that you have specific knowledge you don't have; but with a little searching, you will be able too find someone who will be your perfect teacher.
You can also read the comments that viewers make and glance at the ratings. While they are not always accurate, the comments and ratings can give you an idea of which video you might want to watch first.
With me, video tutorials have been my main stop for ideas that allow me to complete a task and move on quickly to the next task. I bet they can become a main source for you to answer that age-old question, "How do you do that?"
Then, when you hear that you can automate your posts by automatically having your blog tweet your followers and syndicate to your Facebook page when you post, it can be enough to make your head swim. On top of that, you may have to deal with formatting issues of your blog and adding ways to share your content through social media channels.
Well, I want to share a piece of advice that has helped me tremendously when it comes to answering the question, "How do you do that?"
If you visit YouTube, you will be surprised what you will find. Almost everything you could want to know how to do will be found there. And the time is long past when free video tutorials are offered by amateurs putting out substandard help. Now, you can find professionals sharing rock-solid content as well as professional-grade amateurs doing the same.
And you can expand your search from YouTube by using Google's video search. I usually type in the "how-to" question I need in the search field. For example:
How Do I Create A Favicon?
returns all the instructional videos I could hope for to teach me how to create a favicon (that tiny picture next to the URL in the address bar).
The nice thing about videos, especially compared to written tutorials, is that you can "look over the shoulders of an expert" as he or she walks through the exact steps you need to walk through in order to complete a task. And if you forget something, you just have to rewind the video and watch that part again.
And you will find many videos on any give task you want to complete. That means if one experts is not really helping, you can go on to the next one. Many experts often fly through the steps and assume that you have specific knowledge you don't have; but with a little searching, you will be able too find someone who will be your perfect teacher.
You can also read the comments that viewers make and glance at the ratings. While they are not always accurate, the comments and ratings can give you an idea of which video you might want to watch first.
With me, video tutorials have been my main stop for ideas that allow me to complete a task and move on quickly to the next task. I bet they can become a main source for you to answer that age-old question, "How do you do that?"
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