❓❓ What makes a good writer ‘good‘? Or a great piece of writing ‘great‘?

❓❓ What makes a good writer ‘good‘? Or a great piece of writing ‘great‘?

To me, a good piece of writing resonates with both the reader AND the writer.

It has to touch them BOTH.

Then and only then, the writer will write well and the reader won’t stop reading.

💭 THOUGHTS? How would YOU define what makes a great blog post great?

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook demos Prisma-like app that overlays famous artists’ styles onto your live videos

Facebook demos Prisma-like app that overlays famous artists’ styles onto your live videos

The technology lets you transfer the style of an artist, say, Monet or Rembrandt, onto your image by using what’s called Convolutional Neural Networks and computer vision.

Yes, like Prisma app has been doing for a while. ;)

The feature was demonstrated on stage at the WSJD Live conference (http://tgcafe.it/2eeBzel), but it’s not something that will released any time soon.

Interestingly enough, Prisma IS releasing this very feature via Prisma Live. (http://tgcafe.it/2eQ0x5f)

Do we REALLY need these kinds of filters to inundate livestreams like they do Snapchat, Instagram, etc?

As +Nazim Beltran noticed in a comment on the G+ post mentioned above (http://tgcafe.it/2eQ0x5f):

"A bit of a gimmick in my humble opinion. I can understand filters in Snapchat and Google Hangouts but they tend to wear thin after a while."

While I personally agree... here's what Chris Cox, Facebook’s CPO said at the WSJD Live conference on the subject.

He said that the company predicts that in the next 5 years, 70% of internet traffic will be video.

(and they are not the only ones, of course; see a lot more stats plus a lot about the HOWs of video marketing in this post: http://bit.ly/content-samurai-review)


It's expected to be true across all of Facebook’s properties, whether for messaging — moving from voice to video calls — on Instagram, or in other applications.

He revealed that Facebook has been looking at a “perennial product problem for phones, which is how do you make it easy for someone to capture and create a video that’s nice using a mobile phone. This is something that most of us aren’t super comfortable doing; it’s really hard to create something you’re really proud of.” (excerpt from VentureBeat's http://tgcafe.it/2ezb5XD)

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Prisma filters are about to take over Facebook Live videos

Prisma filters are about to take over Facebook Live videos

Prisma's CEO and cofounder Alexey Moiseenkov announced, as well as demonstrated in a broadcast (http://tgcafe.it/2eV2cou), that Prisma Live will now give users the ability to apply Prisma filters to video livestreams, starting with Facebook Live.

THE SKINNY:

☕️ To broadcast a Prisma-style video, users simply need to start a livestream using Prisma Live.

☕️ There are at least 10 styles that can be used, but it’s likely that number could be closer to 17 at launch.

Earlier this month, Prisma announced video editing support, allowing people to create 15-second clips. http://tgcafe.it/2dLwnlV

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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❓ 💡 How long should a blog post be?

❓ 💡 How long should a blog post be?

Here's what I think...

Say what you NEED to. The rest is FLUFF. ✌️

Thoughts?

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[IMAGE]




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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❤️ The BEST. Writing advice. Ever.

❤️ The BEST. Writing advice. Ever.

👉 Write how you speak.👈

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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[🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 ] How to Write Killer Blog Posts Even If You Are a Lousy Writer Like Me

[🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 ] How to Write Killer Blog Posts Even If You Are a Lousy Writer Like Me

<genuine surprise> You, Ana? A LOUSY writer? Not a chance!!! </genuine surprise>

At least, that's what I imagined (hoped!) you'd say when I wrote that post headline... 😂

But it's true - writing has never been 'my thing.' It never came easy – always a struggle…

How does someone like me become a blogger? Good question…

=> http://ift.tt/1arAb31

Please SHARE/+1 this post and THANK YOU for doing that!

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How to Write Killer Blog Posts Even If You Are a Lousy Writer Like Me Does writing blog posts intimidate you? What about writing GREAT blog posts? I know the feeling. My story of being a blah writer + my post writing routine.

from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Does It Pay to Help Customers via Twitter? [STUDY]

Does It Pay to Help Customers via Twitter? [STUDY]

I believe this is applicable to ALL size businesses and solopreneurs alike.

Is there any measurable value to businesses for responding to customers' tweets?

That's what Twitter set to find out in this recent research study and here are some highlights from it.

http://ift.tt/2dxK8Cr

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Twitter users can now add ‘View on Periscope’ links to their web profiles

Twitter users can now add ‘View on Periscope’ links to their web profiles

To link your Periscope profile, click on “Edit Profile” on Twitter, then check the “Show My Periscope Profile” option.

Once implemented, when you go live on Periscope, the “View on Periscope” text will change to “LIVE on Periscope,” allowing other Twitter users to quickly watch your live broadcasts.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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YouTube has a new (better?) way to disclose paid promotions

YouTube has a new (better?) way to disclose paid promotions

YouTube has launched a new, optional video feature that adds visible text on the video for the first few seconds a viewer watches, informing viewers of a paid promotion.

Creators can also choose to add this text disclosure to any existing video without losing their view count or other video metrics.

As always, remember to notify YouTube when a video contains paid promotion by checking the “video contains paid promotion” box in the Video Manager.

Also: "We’re excited to provide this feature in response to requests for an easy-to-use notification, but since there is no global disclosure standard, creators and brands should check and follow applicable laws as they may vary greatly by region." http://tgcafe.it/2dez0YX

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Infrequent Google Crawling Is a Sign of a Low Quality Site

Infrequent Google Crawling Is a Sign of a Low Quality Site

If Googlebot visits internal pages very seldom or doesn’t go very deep into a site when crawling, these are signs that Google probably sees the site as low quality.

That's what Google's +John Mueller confirmed in the recent hangout.

More in +Jennifer Slegg's post http://tgcafe.it/2d36xYk

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Hear, hear!!! ☕️☕️☕️

Hear, hear!!! ☕️☕️☕️

image source: http://tgcafe.it/2doqHiv





from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Is building directory links still a good link building strategy? Google says no

Is building directory links still a good link building strategy? Google says no

Last week, Google's +John Mueller and +Gary Illyes both made comments about directory links, as posted by +Barry Schwartz http://tgcafe.it/2dU0YNU.

Gary later said on Twitter that he was talking about an article they both read on Search Engine Land - Barry suspects it was related to this story which talks about getting links from "highly ranking and well-maintained directories that are relevant to the product or service you provide." http://tgcafe.it/2cNmn68

Sounds like it would be wise to stay away from directory link building altogether.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook has launched Marketplace, a Craigslist-like service to buy and sell items in your community...

Facebook has launched Marketplace, a Craigslist-like service to buy and sell items in your community

Marketplace lets people search for things that others are selling nearby - anything from furniture to books to electronics. It an extension of Facebook’s existing For Sale groups feature.

THE SKINNY:

☕ To visit Marketplace, tap on the shop icon at the bottom of the Facebook app.

☕ Marketplace opens with photos of items that people near you have listed for sale.

☕ To find something specific, search at the top and filter your results by location, category or price.

☕ You can also browse what’s available in a variety of categories such as Household, Electronics and Apparel.

☕ Use the built-in location tool to adjust the region you’re looking in, or switch to a different city altogether.

☕ When you find something interesting, tap on the image to see item specifics. You can also save the item to find it later.

☕ Send the seller a direct message from Marketplace to tell them you’re interested and make an offer. From that point on, it's between you.

TO POST ITEMS:

☕ Take a photo of your item, or add it from your camera roll

☕ Enter a product name, description and price

☕ Confirm your location and select a category

☕ Post

Looks pretty simple.

Over the next few days, Marketplace will be rolling out to everyone over 18 years old in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand on the Facebook app for iPhone and Android. Additional countries and Marketplace on the desktop will be available 'in the coming months.'

Source: FB post http://tgcafe.it/2dMdJXE

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Happy Monday morning, Google plussers! ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ❤️

Happy Monday morning, Google plussers! ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ❤️

image source: http://ift.tt/2dBHtoO #ns




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Periscope has updated its website, Periscope.tv, with curated broadcast channels

Periscope has updated its website, Periscope.tv, with curated broadcast channels

In a blog post http://tgcafe.it/2cViSxZ, Periscope said channels based on hashtags, such as #Food, #Music or #Talk, among others, will be updated in real-time when someone in the community goes live with a broadcast.

Users can also browse featured curated channels based on specific topics or events, such as “Police, Race and America” or “NFL: Road to Super Bowl 51.”

Honestly, Periscope website makes me dizzy... 😲 😩

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A New Periscope.tv Dear Periscope Community, On Periscope, live video brings instant content from around the world. From breaking news and protests to…

from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google Optimize free version will be available next month; you can request an invite

Google Optimize free version will be available next month; you can request an invite

Google Optimize is a landing page testing and optimization tool that integrates directly with Google Analytics.

It's a free version of Google's enterprise-class testing and personalization product, Google Optimize 360.

It natively integrates into Google Analytics, and works right out of the box.

Motley Fool said they went from days to minutes for the same analysis by implementing Optimize 360.

Sounds like something a typical webmaster could certainly use... I, for one, am looking forward to it!

Google Optimize will be globally available next month; o get on the waiting list for it, go to G.co/optimize.

Source: Google blog post http://tgcafe.it/2dvFc2f

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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United States has now officially handed over control of the Internet to ICANN

United States has now officially handed over control of the Internet to ICANN

This happened yesterday, October 1.

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United States set to Hand Over Control of the Internet to ICANN Today Today is the Historic Internet Giveaway Day when United States Commerce Department set to Hand Over Control of the Internet to ICANN

from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Twitter has introduced a new dedicated way to drive website conversions for advertisers

Twitter has introduced a new dedicated way to drive website conversions for advertisers

Twitter is separating its Website Clicks or Conversions ad objective into two separate objectives: Website Clicks and Website Conversions.

In other words, if you are a Twitter advertiser based in the U.S., you'll now be able to narrow down what exactly you are willing to pay for: website visits or website conversions specifically.

To use the new website conversion tracking, advertisers need to implement Twitter’s website tag to track and optimize activity.

In addition, key conversion events must be set, and cost per conversion goals have to be specified.

To get started with the Website Conversions objective, visit http://ads.twitter.com/getstarted.

The new Website Conversions objective is now available in beta to advertisers in the US. Based on user feedback, Twitter will look to expand availability to advertisers in additional regions.

Learn more on Twitter blog http://tgcafe.it/2dn2BRI

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google Apps has been christened G Suite

Google Apps has been christened G Suite

Are you a Google Apps user? Fear not, Google Apps is here to stay, just under a different name to "better reflect this mission": G Suite.

A quote from the announcement of G Suite http://tgcafe.it/2dMx3XC:

"With G Suite, information can flow freely between devices, apps, people and teams, so great ideas never get left in the margins again. Imagine the future for your business, if this was how it could be . . ."

A lot more is promised to be on the way http://tgcafe.it/2cIdsCV.
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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Meerkat is dead; long live Houseparty - the new group video chat app

Meerkat is dead; long live Houseparty - the new group video chat app

The maker of the once-so-popular-now-all-but-forgotten Meerkat, Life On Air launched Houseparty, a group video chat app for Android and iOS.

Houseparty lets a number of people hang out on video.

Actually, the app was launched a while ago (it even reached No. 2 on iTunes in May), but no one knew Life On Air was behind it.

http://joinhouse.party/

"On the surface it feels like it’s a super-fast ‘group Facetime,’ and what’s gets us really excited is that it’s actually the atomic unit (first step) for our vision to build a synchronous social network where people hang with their friends when they physically apart. The app is spreading throughout colleges in America, and we just hit a million users!” Life On Air cofounder and chief executive Ben Rubin told VentureBeat in an online chat http://tgcafe.it/2dekRjU.

Haven't used it personally yet. If you have, would love to hear your thoughts.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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