James Roughton, Social Media Strategist and WordPress Coach

by jamesroughton on April 22, 2011

Meet James Roughton

James Roughton is a Social Media Strategist and WordPress Coach who is very passionate about developing social networking strategies for Small Businesses. I am on a journey of discovery and want to spread the word about how to develop and maintain effective social networking strategies to maximize exposure on the internet.

I intend to bring a fresh point of view to JamesRoughton, on the Social Network Jungle. I am on a continuous journey through the maze of the Jungle and want to share my experiences and insights with everyone who is willing to listen.

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Using PowerPoint to Create Videos

by jamesroughton on January 26, 2012

For those who want a quick method to create videos of their PowerPoint presentations, here is a great tool, PowerPoint 2010. I have just started creating my own videos for YouTube after several years of trying to come out of my shell and getting the nerve to create videos and discovered this tool which has been a great help to me. So I just wanted to share the steps that I use to produce my videos.

As with any presentation development, before you start, you need to prepare your script and/or outline which can include the following: choosing your template, graphics, bullets, etc.

Once you have everything in hand you can prepare your presentation as you always do and when complete you are ready to create your video.

The following are the steps that I use to create a video from my PowerPoint Presentations:

Step 1 – Open your presentation and click on the Slide Show menu. Click on Slideshow. You will be presented with two options:

Start recording from the beginning
Start recording from current slide

Under each of the above options, you will be presented with two more options.

Slide and animation timings
Narrations and laser pointer

I usually uncheck “Narrations and Laser Pointer” and leave “Slide and Animation Timings” checked. Once I have done this I just click on Start Recording.

I am producing videos on Safety Culture and other Social Media Technology, including WordPress. You can check out my videos and also follow me on YouTube.

Step 2 – Once you start recording, you will see the timing of each slide at the top left of the presentation. The best method that I have found is to listen to the audio, if you have audio, and then click the advance button (page down key) when you want particular graphics, topics, etc. to appear. This sets the timing of each slide which allows you to sync your message as you would like to present the information.

When you have completed your recording and come to be end of your presentation you will be presented with a black screen. Just hit the escape button and you will be presented with a new dialogue box. This box will show you the total time of the Slideshow. You will be asked if you want to keep the new slide timings to use when you view the Slideshow. If you are happy with the timings, click yes. You can always redo the timings if when you review the video you find that the graphics, topics, etc. are not as planned.

Here is a sample of what the timing look like on the slides.

Step 3 – Once step 2 has been completed, you are ready to produce your video. With your presentation loaded, click on “File” and then “Save & Send.” You will be prompted with another screen where you will click on “Create a Video.” In the next section you will have the opportunity to choose your parameters that you want to use. I usually use the default values.

Step 4 – Click on “Create a Video.” You will be prompted to save your recording and once you have named your presentation and saved it, your recording will start. You will see the progress of your recording at the bottom right of your presentation.

That is all it is to it. Once your recording has completed, you can go to the directory where you saved your recorded file and view your recording.

In the next section you will get to choose your parameters that you want to use. I usually use the default that is set.

You will be prompted to save your recording and once you have named your presentation and saved it, you will see the following screen showing that you are recording your presentation.

Once the recording has completed, you can go to the directory where you save your files and play your view. Now you can share the video with others and/or send to YouTube if you wish.

So if you have the budget, you can further enhance your slide presentation and incorporate live screen show with your video. I use the following to record and produce my videos.

Now you can share the video with others and/or send it to YouTube if you wish

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How Social Networking Helps in SEO

by jamesroughton on January 12, 2012

Image by the tartanpodcast via Flickr

The following is an article on Social Media written by Paul Smith. Thanks Paul for your contribution. I am looking for other guest post and if interested, please let me know.

Men are called social animals because they enjoy interacting with each other. In fact they can spend hours discussing their hobbies, field of interest and personal lives. What is a better place to interact than the social media websites like Digg, Facebook, StumbleUpon, linkedin?

Social media websites could be used as an efficient tool to share information among their users. If you are intelligent enough and can employ these social networking sites strategically, you can drive more traffic to your blog or website. The huge popularity of social media has made it a significant part of successful SEO campaign. Read on to know the greatest benefits of social media, that can help you in your SEO strategies.

Share Opinions

The first and the greatest benefits that social media offers to its users is they get common platform to share opinions and views and help them to bridge differences quite easily.

Generate More Traffic

Social networking can help you reach the niche market and at the same time help new traffic to reach your websites as well. If you can run it successfully it will curb your reliance on search engines to a certain extent.

Back Links

You might be surprised to know that Social book marking websites can help you bringing back links for your website, which means it can boost your SEO campaigns.

Reach Target Market

The most important fact is with the help of a social networking site, you can communicate wit your target market quite easily. Social networking site will help you to stay updated with the needs, happenings and whereabouts of the industry.

Search Engines

The best part is well known social media sites are in the good books of famous search engines, so if you can use the networking site to promote your website especially when its new and has no such links, it would be easier for your site to get a good page rank. Remember, the more its better. The more number of likes or tweets or Google +1 factor you can have the more attention you will receive from Google or other search engines.

To conclude, remember, Social Media websites plays a significant part in the success of a SEO campaign. Make sure you don’t overlook its importance in any say and make the most use of it to get the best possible results for your websites.

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ISHN’s Magazine Power 101– Safety Professionals

by jamesroughton on January 9, 2012

James Roughton, CSP, Six Sigma Black Belt was recently named by ISHN to its 2012 Power 101 list, a list of the 101 Top Global Leaders in Safety. The Power 101 list was assembled by the editors of ISHN and posted to the magazine’s website in January. It is an honor to be on this list with some of the great contributors to the safety community. To view the entire list, click here.

Based on a quote from the website posting there were:

Two common leadership traits we note in all the different sorts of personalities listed:

Everyone here is a competitor, and everyone has ambitions. Some are quiet, some combative, but all are competitive and ambitious;

They know more, oftentimes much more, than they will tell you.

Supports the adage: “Those who talk don’t know, and those who know don’t talk.”

Another leadership trait: discipline.

ISHN, Power 101 listed me as:

One of the most tech-savvy safety pros you’ll find, and you’ll find him all over the Net. Expert on job hazard analysis.

A little About Me

I am well published. Some of the areas include ISHN magazine, Bay Publishing, Ezine Articles, HubSpot, just to name a few areas. In addition I am an author with several noted books, Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach, currently being used at a college reference at several colleges, such as Columbia Southern University and Job Hazard Analysis: A guide for voluntary compliance and beyond. I am in the process of developing my newest book, Developing a Safety Culture: Implementing Safety Through Human Performance Improvement. More to come!

In addition to my writing and blogging, I am a Safety Professional experienced in Safety Culture, Social Media, WordPress, and Web Technology with many websites under my belt, James Roughton, Safety Culture Plus, My Job Hazard Analysis, Deep Creek Shores, Odie Vision, and others. As I see it, there is the need for more practical down-to-earth guidance that weaves together the numerous techniques and methods necessary for developing a successful Safety Culture. My goal is to help you get from point A, having a strong professional expertise but limited knowledge of social networking or websites, to point B, where you can use your new knowledge to enhance and broadcast your message to your intended audience.

I am now producing videos on Safety Culture and other Social Media Technology including WordPress. You can check out my videos and also follow me on YouTube and provide feedback.

I am also a highly sought after safety and social media consultant and frequent speaker, as my idea for my writing and blogging was formed from my personal Vision: To live my life with PURPOSE and the PASSION to help others succeed!

Respectfully, James Roughton, CSP, Six Sigma Black Belt

James Roughton, EzineArticles.com Platinum Author

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Build Your Own Social Network with Effective SEO

by jamesroughton on January 5, 2012

The following is an article on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) written by Paul Smith. Thanks Paul for your contribution. I am looking for other guest post and if interested, please let me know.

Social media has spread – here, there and everywhere. It has been buzzing all around, with terms like post, comment, tweets, re-tweets, display picture (dp), and many others, finding their way into everybody’s daily vocabulary.

As such, social networking sites have also been identified as an effective tool for marketing and communication of messages. The social media sites are now utilized for Search Engine Optimization or SEO purposes, to increase webpage rankings, and to promote various products and services.

Now, to increase traffic to your website or blog, some popular SEO tricks are employed to bring in prospective

consumers. Check out the below mentioned ones to see whether or not you’ll be benefited by them:

1. Increase brand value through social networking sites – You can definitely create awareness amongst the people through your social contacts. Extend your product identity into a brand, or if you already have a brand value, spread it more through networking. Your product or your website will invite more traffic, as the curiosity increases amongst the consumers.

2. Create a promotional campaign – Try to promote your products or your website through a campaign. Build it into a rage amongst the people. However don’t leave it midway or feel that a few weeks or 2 months campaign is enough for you. It is easy to engage their attention initially, while it is necessary to keep them engaged for a long time. You would need to stick with your efforts if you really want to maintain the continuous flow of interested consumers to your website.

3. Stay active and interact – Develop personal relations with your consumers through the social networking sites. Update latest news, and keep them informed about what is going on. Interact with them directly, because that is what social networking sites are for. Reply through comments and messages.

4. Make your exchanges interesting, don’t nag – Promote your products through your networking skills. Don’t make it too obvious, otherwise people may just start avoiding you. Be innovative, and don’t nag the consumers. Besides, make your posts, tweets or status messages relevant.

5. Find a niche network – There are a variety of social networking options available to you. Select one that suits your taste. Don’t stick only with one. Spread out. Find out the networking site that fall into line with your products or services. Then develop your own niche audience to promote your product or services.

The above mentioned social networking tricks will help you find your way amidst the web confusion. Increase your website visitors through social media SEO tricks and promote your products and services, with immediate effect.

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How to Enjoy the Benefit of Social Bookmarking Sites

by jamesroughton on December 22, 2011

The following is an article on Social Bookmaking written by Paul Smith. Thanks Paul for your contribution. I am looking for other guest post and if interested, please let me know.

We are living in the era of technology; where technology has entered into every sphere of our life. The condition is such that we cannot even imagine our life without these technologies. If we take a look on online business or online marketing then technology has made it extremely easy with the help of SEO i.e. Search Engine Optimization. People who are well-aware with the term SEO and online marketing know how essential it is to have numerous links going into your site from various renowned sources.

Bookmarking is one of the wee-known parts of SEO. To Read More, Click Here

This is one of the best ways to identify, classify, rank as well as share useful information with the help of tags. The concept of bookmarking first came into existence in the year 1996 by the release of itList.com.

Bookmarking sites have gained huge popularity in recent times. These sites enable you to enjoy huge traffic on your business profile. You will be amaze to know that, with the help these sites you can target more the 40,000 visitors everyday on your business profile. There are more than thousands of Social bookmarking sites running on internet but some of the renowned sites are Reddit, Delicious, Digg and Stumbleupon.

Achieving success is not a tough task; you just need to follow the right path that will lead you to the millstones of the destiny. Here we have discussed some of the crucial points, which you can incorporate in your site so as to gain complete advantage of these social networking sites.

First and the foremost thing is to make an attractive headline. Mostly, people prepare good content for their sites but fail to give a catchy title to it. Thus, whole of your content remain unnoticed because of shabby title.

Once you are done with the title, then move on with an appropriate and interesting description of article. Make sure that the description is limited to 100-200 words. These will the interest of readers. Remember, that your site must offer social bookmarking option so that users’ can vote and can also bookmark the article for free promotion.

The most interesting point that you must consider is that, you submit your article at right time. Never submit your article during sleeping hours of visitors. This is so because when the visitors will wake up, until then your article will be left behind by various other websites.

If you follow these simple points then you can surely take complete advantage of these social bookmarking sites.

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Job Hazard Analysis – Making a List, Checking It Twice

by jamesroughton on December 12, 2011

Here is a nice article that was written by my collaborator Nathan Crutchfield and I thought that it may be of interest to my subscribers. Enjoy and provide feedback.

At this time of the year, we are all making lists to keep track of day-to-day purchases, activities and holiday demands. Many of us are carrying smartphones and various PDAs on which we can place notes, retrieve information, etc. These aid us in keeping abreast of things. However, at this time of the year, we may not want to carry certain devices with us or just want to keep things simple. The answer may be in the form of a free little product called “Pocket Mod.”

“The PocketMod” allows you to use an ordinary sheet of paper and turn it into an 8 page booklet for miscellaneous notes and other items. It can be found at PocketMod. It uses a very easy drag-and-drop booklet builder. After printing, it is a matter of following the folding instructions and making a cut or 2 on the paper.

A really nice feature that Pocket Mod developers have provided is the “Download the PDF to PocketMod converter”. Using this module, you can convert a PDF into a booklet.

Your document is limited to 8 pages and you do have to work with font size. In the example video, an outline using excerpts from our book, “Job Hazard Analysis” is developed in a MS Word document and then converted into a PDF. After converting to a PDF, the converter module is used to save it as a PocketMod PDF.

A booklet with reminders adapted from “Job Hazard Analysis” can then be printed, folded and cut for use as a quick reminder.

Pocket Mod provides the potential for developing customized items for quick use. You may want to develop a short inspection sheet, a specific checklist, or guidelines customized to meet a training or awareness issue. The end result is easily made; is disposable, fits in your pocket and meets an immediate need.

We hope you find this item of potential use during the holidays and check into its potential for future use.

Best regards for the holidays.

Reference

www.pocketmod.com

Roughton, James, Crutchfield, Nathan; Job Hazard Analysis. A Guide to Compliance and Beyond, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008

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A Closer Look at the Simple Yet Effective Techniques of Social media optimization

by jamesroughton on December 8, 2011

Here is a post from one of my contributors, Paul Smith, that I think you will find interesting.

These days, there is no better way to prop up your business than using social media optimization techniques. Its quite similar to SEO , both are ways to draw people to a website without pushing a message on them, but instead showing them what value your website can bring to them. Social media optimization is all about using the internet to create an effective online persona for your business. It involves minimum cost, if compare to offline methods of advertising. Read ahead, to know a few useful social media optimization techniques, which can help you increase visibility for your business.

Appropriate social media networks

Your first and foremost duty is to get connected with the appropriate social media networks. For instance, an entertainment copywriter will weaves a network of writers, potential music and film clients on MySpace and Face book, whereas a chiropractor trying to increase his client list would to promote his business on Twitter and LinkedIn. Therefore you must think about your target market and online communities carefully, before joining an online community.

Social media bio

Your next step should be creating a social media bio. This is your chance to convey a short message to your prospective clients by highlighting your services and products. Try to make the most use of it. Use this opportunity to position your company as an emerging market leader. Almost all social networking sites ask users to create an effective biography. Make sure you compose at least two-paragraph bio that effectively recapitulate your company’s vision, mission and product or service offerings.

Social communities

Now you should gradually enroll in a number of social communities and strive to become their active member. Send forth a friendly welcome message from your social media pages to attract other members to interact with your page. Take an initiate to introduce yourself to other community members. Don’t forget to invite other users to become friends.

Help

Your next plan of action is lending a hand of help to others. Make your page more appealing by suggesting interesting websites, articles and information that will add value to the online conversation. For instance, LinkedIn has put up a section where users’ can answer each other’s queries and can suggest questions to be answered by the community of experts. In addition, be certain that you comment frequently on popular blogs and within social networks.

Inbound links

In order to drive more traffic to your website, build up inbound links to your other websites, as a member of the social media community. Make sure you read site’s policies before starting this link building process, because community users like Yahoo! Answers and Wiki Answers won’t tolerate any violation of regulations.

Last but not the least, promote your products and services to a captive audience, who have similar goals and interests as your company or who have shown interest in learning more about your company.

Follow the above mentioned SMO marketing techniques to make your business a success.

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Social Network Tools: FREE Cloud Applications that that I Like!

by jamesroughton on November 3, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

You cannot turn around today without hearing the words “Cloud Computing.” So I decided to look in to it to really understand what it means. According to Wikipedia “Cloud computing refers to the provision of computational resources on demand via a computer network. A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications and allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices.” This is just a fancy name that allows your files to be stored remotely and synced across multiple computers.

With these cloud services there is no longer for you to carry a flash drive around if you have access to a computer.

The following are the four FREE on-line storage applications that I recommend for you to review to see what fits your needs. I have listed them in the order that I recommend.

To Read More Click Here

Dropbox

I have discussed this application in recent post and still think that Dropbox is the best free service that I have found, so I will not go into details here. The great thing is that you get 2 GB FREE Space for just signing up and you can actually get up to 8 GB of FREE space for just referring friends. The one thing that I have found out is that the person that you have invited must install Dropbox on their computer or else you will not get your extra space.

IDrive

IDrive has a basic account, similar to other on-line storage applications, where you can get 5 GB of FREE initial online backup space and an additional 15 GB of space just for inviting others.

IDrive has a great feature if you use WordPress. There is a WordPress plugin available that makes it easy to automatically backup your WordPress data which includes your files and the MySQL database, based on your configuration. I use this to backup all of my websites and it works in the background. The nice thing about this is that when your files are backed up you get an email notification.

ZumoDrive

You can install ZumoDrive on as many computers as you like so that you have the capabilities to access to saved documents, no matter which computer was used to save the files.

According to the website, you can use more than one email address and link multiple email addresses to a single ZumoDrive account. This is a nice feature if you do a lot of texting of files from your hand-held device.

You can get 2 GB just for signing up and a maximum of 5 GB extra free space just for inviting others to download and install the application.

Wuala

I just came across this application the other day and thought that I would try it out. You will get an initial 2 GB FREE of space just for signing up and no more space unless you pay for the service.

According to Wuala, it will store and back up your files online and allow you access your files from anywhere.

You can also sync your files online and across multiple computers that you have.

You can share your files with selected friends and co-workers and decide who has access to which folder in your system.

Summary

I have only provided a brief summary of the FREE use of each of these applications. You will need to visit each website to determine what application works for you. The bottom line is for me: Dropbox is my favorite. Any my second favorite is IDrive as I use this service only for my wordpress backups. The other two mentioned here are do have some good things about them, as the amount of FREE space that you do get. I typically only use the FREE space. The problem is that if you have too many of these cloud applications; you will forget which system has which files stored.

The last thing that I would say before closing is that all of these services provide some level of security of your files, as all services state that there is some level of encryption. But, in my opinion, the best common sense rule that I can provide you is to only store files and folders remotely that are not senstive in nature. For example, I would not store any files such as bank records, social security numbers, tax records, etc, as these to me are very sensitive and should be stored in a safe place.

I appreciate your support and look for your feedback.

Check out my other blogs Job Hazard Analysis, DeepCreekShores,Safetycultureplus, jobhazardanalysisplus

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Social Media | How to Amplify Interesting Internet Topics!

by jamesroughton on August 22, 2011

Are there times when you find something that you really want to share with the world? In a typical case, you have to copy the link (URL), compose an email with the link and a short description of the site, and then send the link to your email contacts. But what if you want to broadcast this information on a wider scale? I have a solution for you and this solution will save you a lot of time and you can broadcast your message to the world with one click of you mouse button (well several clicks.) This solution is called Amplify. Amplify is a “social blogging service that makes it easy to publish, share, and spark conversation around things that interest you.” Based on my use, the following are the five things of many that I like about Amplify:

To share information you will need to get the Amplify bookmarklet. Once you have found the bookmarklet, all you have to do is drag it to the browser toolbar and drop it. Now you are ready to clip information for distribution. There are also Firefox and Chrome add-ons.
Share the selected information with other social networks and blogs, such as Twitter, Facebook pages, Flickr, Google Buzz, Tumblr, etc. As of this post there are 12 different social media sites that you can link to and post your information.
If you find several items of interest, you can schedule your items to be posted to your selected social networking sites at a specific date.
You can use Google Analytics to monitor your statistics and traffic on Amplify.
You can also clip and share your selected information directly from Google Reader. The nice thing is when you Amplify something from Google Reader, the source URL of the post will link directly to the original source, not Google Reader.


Step 1. To clip a post all you have to do is to click on the “Amplify it” on your tool bar.	Step 2. A pop up will show. Choose what you want to do.	Step 3. This dialog box will show up and when you have finished your activity, click on the “Click here when done clipping.” and just follow instructions.

There are many more elements about Amplify that I have not discussed. I would suggest that if you have not used this service, give it a try and read all of the capabilities. Amplify can be found here.

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Effectively Communicating in the Cloud!

by jamesroughton on June 13, 2011

I discussed “Cloud Computing” in another post and thought that I would updated some of my thoughts, based on comments that I have been getting. So here you go!

Are you older enough to remember the 60’s, when engineers used slide rules and if you attached it to your belt, you were considered a nerd. Moving forward to the 90’s, in many cases you will see individuals wearing their flash drive around their neck. Are you considered a nerd in this case? Now to the 21^st century, there is a lot of hype about “Cloud Computing.”

So, just what is “Cloud Computing?”

[click to continue…]

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Honor Our Brave Soldiers

by jamesroughton on May 30, 2011

Remember to honor the brave soldiers who have died for our country. Here are related sites to honor and remember Memorial Day. Source: The Kim Komanodo Show.

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