Hi there! This week, I was sorta mesmerized by this (watch to the end). Also, I downloaded the free app called Retale* which delivers weekly store ads to your mobile device (for iPhone or iPad). I like the idea of all the sales in one spot while I'm out and about! And if you hadn't heard, WordPress 3.9 (Smith) was released with a lot of new functionality. Make sure you update to keep your blog safe!
1. A very promising editorial calendar that does cool stuff
There's a (relatively) new editorial calendar app/plugin in town. It's called CoSchedule and it looks promising! I was roped in by the ability to write & schedule social media posts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) right as I write in WordPress. Plus, there are great tools for blogs with multiple authors and the integration with other services (like Google Calendar) is cool too! I'm having fun exploring. You can sign up for a free 14-day trial at CoSchedule.
2. How to create a custom Twitter timeline for testimonials, highlights and more
Amanda from Spiderworking has a tutorial explaining how to create a custom Twitter timeline. Basically, you can pick and choose individual tweets, add them to a custom timeline and then embed the whole timeline on your blog. It would work great to highlight testimonials, readers' best tweets, useful tweets from a Twitter party or even hosting contests (if you make the timeline you get a gold star!). Lots of possibilities!
3. A quicker way to merge Facebook pages?
Foodie blogger Justin from Lifesity commented on my post How to Merge Facebook Pages and mentioned how he was able to merge his pages in a way I hadn't thought of – he got the Facebook Ads people to do it! Given how many questions I've gotten about merging Facebook pages, this tip is worth mentioning here. I hope it helps some of y'all (even if we are sorta mad at Facebook). :) (Thanks, Justin!)
4. How to re-engage unengaged email subscribers
In one of my early useletters, I admitted my preference for deleting unengaged subscribers frequently and not fretting over unsubscribers. After all, better a smaller list with active readers than a huge list with a lot of inactive ones. It's cheaper (might as well not pay for all that dead weight) and your open rate will be much higher (hello! more attractive to advertisers). But should you just delete 'em or try to re-engage 'em first? DJ Waldo shares some options and an example of a re-engagement letter. Might steal this idea...
5. In case you missed it...
I updated my Blogging FAQ page this week and did some rearranging of my How to Start a Blog series so all the newest posts are grouped together. You'll see the whole list of them at the end of each individual post. Now people don't have to hop back to the How to Blog index page.
Did someone share this with you? You can subscribe here.
If you're a fellow Christ-follower, He is risen!! That is the best. news. ever.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Amy
*Some links are affiliate links meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support in this way!
