http://www.PirateLifestyle.com Quickie for the Pirate Lifestyle TV Show. How the heck do you monetize your YouTube channel? Here’s how! The most excellent wa… (If your channel is in good standing, you should get custom thumbnails soon.

See on www.youtube.com

This is simply awesome. Adobe Photoshop guru Deke McClelland has done an entertaining but very helpful video where he shares 101 Photoshop tips and technique…

See on www.youtube.com

YouTube is the best way for people to discover your content if you use video to demonstrate products and services and communicate with clients. Like any other social network, your business needs to be branded and recognizable. This will make sure that people finding your videos and clicking on your channel know where the content is coming from.

A custom background is a great way to brand your channel! Here’s a helpful tutorial to get you on your way to a custom YouTube channel background.

Click here or click the video image to see this great tutorial.

Creative ideas for Facebook Timeline Covers. A new template you can use plus 140 cover photo samples to get you started.

See on agbeat.com

Check it out!

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The Charlotte City Council recognized the Guinness World Records award at its meeting yesterday.
Bravo Charlotte!

Google recently launched their +1 button, and everyone is scrambling to add it to their websites and ads.

According to Google:

“+1 helps people discover relevant content—a website, a Google search result, or an ad—from the people they already know and trust. Adding the +1 button to your pages lets users recommend your content, knowing that their friends and contacts will see their recommendation when it’s most relevant—in the context of Google search results.”

So I’m thinking this rivals Facebook and their like button. It will be interesting to see how this progresses. Google’s +1 button will help to increase your site’s visibility, which may increase the odds of someone clicking through to your page. The +1 button can be seen by users who are signed in to Google.com, and to any signed-in user who has a social connection to a +1. However, any Google user can choose whether or not to display their +1′s on their Google profile.

Google doesn’t have plans to include the button in mobile search results right now, but I’m sure that will come soon. Mobile users will be able to see any +1 buttons you place on your website though.

So will you use Google’s +1 button? Do you use Facebook’s Like button?

Last time we spoke about Skype and their ads. Not to be outdone, Apple has just rolled out their ads for your iPad. The first iAd has officially shown up on the device today – with many more to follow.

Unilever is the first company to put an iAd out; they’re the guys that make Dove’s Men Care products. They set up a series of video ads called “Journey to Comfort”. These will feature  three National Collegiate Athletic Association stars: Earvin “Magic” Johnson, John Thompson III, and Bobby Hurley. Hmmmm…with March Madness kicking off…do you think this was a coincidence? Or damn good timing?

Besides the videos, fans will be able to access the Game Day Fan Zone to check daily schedules, as well as access a Trivia Timeout, where they can answer NCAA themed questions.

Unilever iAds are the only ads on iPads currently, but look for more launching in the coming weeks.

Have a great rest of the week!

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day – Be responsible!

Image via Wikipedia

On March 7, 2011 Skype officially launched their new advertising program with some of the world’s most premier brands. This will be the first time ads will appear on Skype, giving brands a unique opportunity to be part of Skype’s video experience.

Among the first advertisers will be Groupon, Nokia, VISA, and Universal. The Home page ad unit will measure 650 X 170 and will expand to 650 X 340. It will also include the ability to embed audio and video. Advertisers can add a Click & Call button in the ads as another call to action, and users can share ads to their Facebook or Twitter accounts and also close ads with one click.

When asked why they chose to start adding advertising, Skype CEO Doug Bewsher said, “The user experience on Skype is always job number one. So, we’ve spent a lot of time working through the best way to show advertising in the Skype environment. We believe our daily sponsorship ad from one brand per day is valuable for premier advertisers, but doesn’t detract from the experience for our users. We are just taking our first steps in this space and we expect to test and learn a lot as we move forward.”

In the fourth quarter of 2010, Skype saw 145 million average monthly connected users and 29 million concurrent users. This platform will enable millions of people around the world to do things together when they’re apart through voice and video calling, instant messaging, conferencing, and more.

What do you think of Skype’s new advertising? Smart move? Well, being that it has been estimated that advertising could bring the company $200 million in annual revenues – I’d say so!

If you’re interested in advertising on Skype, start here: Advertising on Skype. They partner with Meebo for the US, Ad2One in the UK, and Ströer Interactive in Germany. It will be interesting to see their pricing and if this will be a viable alternative for small businesses. 

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”

May each of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the New Year be a happy one for you.