More Easy Production Ideas for A to Z Video Challenge Entries : Guest Nicole from Madlab Post

Nicole from Madlab Post

         Nicole from Madlab Post is back with some more tips about making videos.  For those who are new to the A to Z Blog or just happened to miss the announcement along the way, we are having an A to Z Video Contest where you can submit a promo video for the April Challenge.  Details can be found by clicking a tab at the top of this page.  There is also a tab where you can go to visit some of the videos that have already been sent to us.  For those who may be intimidated by the prospect of making a video, Nicole is offering some assistance.

More Easy Production Ideas for A to Z Video Challenge Entries – Part 2

        Live shots, which are one of the easiest ways to make a promo for the A to Z Video challenge and get it up online was covered in Part 1 of my production tips for bloggers. Since all videos are not made equal, there are additional ways that you can promote the 2012 Blogging from A to Z Challenge using video editing programs that came with your computer and video footage that you recorded on a camcorder or modern day gadget such as an iPhone or digital camera. Here are some options that can be used to step things up a notch on the editing side when making an online video.

        Import the recorded footage that you want to use into a video editing program that came with your computer. This can be done using either a firewire cable or a USB cable, depending on the camera that you have. If you are using a PC, then you will be making your video with Windows Movie Maker. Mac users can use iMovie to edit their videos.

       To make this process easier, it may be better for you to start off with one or two Live Shot recordings based on the previous post (Part 1) on video tips. Once your video footage is imported into the video editing program, you can trim the footage so that the finished video only includes the portion of the footage that you want. You can also add titles to the video, which makes for a good time to add the address of the A to Z Challenge website in your video somewhere. The screen in Windows Movie Maker and iMovie will display the running time, so you can make sure that it is 2 minutes or less.

      You can also add a music track by importing an MP3 song or audio recording from your computer, into the video editing program and then adding it underneath your video on the timeline (assuming you are either using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, but other editing programs such as Adobe Premiere Express allow you to add music as well…I just don’t remember what the interface of that particular program is like, so I won’t comment on it at this time) for an extra layer to your Blogging from A to Z promo. Once you have the video done the way you like it, export it or save it and then upload it online somewhere where it can be viewed by the public and submit it using the submission form on the A to Z website and then you're done.  

       Actually, you’re not done….don’t forget to promote it to your blogging friends and social networks or mention it or embed it on your own blog.

Related articles

• iPad Video Editing Gets Serious With Avid Studio (readwriteweb.com)
• A to Z Video Challenge: Some Ideas from Nicole (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Benefits of Video Marketing (socialpeel.com)
• Week4 Part6 Workshop (slideshare.net)

Banners and Badges... What Would you like to See?

So we all have been coming up with ideas that would better serve all the participants, to make you feel you are all part of our "A to Z Challenge". I am and have been making several of the animated-styled "Banners and Badges" and I wondered what you all might want to see to put on your site/blog?

Some of the issues that come up are: will they fit to my site, do you want animated, how to get them to your site and that darn HTML codes. I hope to make some simple suggestions into making it a little easier and give you some copy and paste codes that will add flair to your site.

Some of the "How To" answers are on our "FAQ", so I will give you some things I have learned over on my time using "Blogger".

One: If you are looking for any of the banners/badges the codes are on main "A to Z" Challenge at top or bottom. Copy the text in box below and then follow these few steps [Blogger Only]:

01. Go to Dashboard

02. Click on Design/Layout

03. Add a Gadget

04. Scroll down until you find "HTML/JavaScript" click open

05. [New Window] Configure HTML/JavaScript comes up

06. Paste "Copied Code" into lower box

07. Give it a "Title"

08. Click Save [Almost Done]

09. Back to Design/Layout [your new banner/badge has to be placed] You need to put it somewhere on your Blogger site. This is completely up to you, we of course would like to see our "A to Z" Challenge up on the top.

Two: Adding A Photo/Picture to your "Blogger" site using our stuff... see the "Banner/Badge" above if you like them please take them, I will help you do that.

01. Right Click [PC] either of the images above and tab them into another window that image should be in a window all by itself. If there is a MAC person out there please share if this is something different, as I am working on PC.

02. Right Click that image and save that image to your hard drive, somewhere where you save your downloaded images.

03. Go to Dashboard

04. Click on Design/Layout

05. Add a Gadget

06. Scroll down until you find "Picture"

07. Add a Title: A to Z April Challenge

08. Add Link: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

09. Shrink to fit should be clicked on, to make sure it fits your site.

10. Add Image from Hard Drive and look for that image you saved in your downloaded images

11. Find image and click once so it is "Highlighted" from your computer [you can click twice, it will open much faster] then click open.

12. This image is now loading in the picture window, once complete "Click Save"

13. If the image is too small, then try reloading it... this time click off "Shrink to fit"

14. Back to Design/Layout [your new image/photo has to be placed] You need to put it somewhere on your Blogger site. This is completely up to you, we of course would like to see our "A to Z" Challenge up on the top.

Next Time: How to make your own Moving Pictures in your Post.

Any questions, please ask!

-Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]

Ps. Please let me know what kind of "A to Z Challenge" Banners/Buttons you would like to see, I will see what we can come up with.

Super Blog Sunday

        Despite a bit of a glitch with the Linky list on Friday night to Saturday, the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge of 2012 is off to a huge start.  Over 300 sign ups on opening day!  Captain Alex has been fixing the list whenever fixing has needed to be done so we have a purer list to work from once April comes.  Please let us know if your list information is incorrect and needs to be fixed.  Also, if you run across a link that is bad let us know so Alex can fix it.

        Today we'd like to pay tribute to some super bloggers.   A number of you have helped give the A to Z Challenge an extra boost with your guest posts on this blog as well as posts on your own blogs.

         Here are a few of the fantastic A to Z promoting blogs that have been brought to my attention:

Teresa at Journaling Woman gave a textbook presentation of how to do the A to Z Challenge.  This is an outstanding post that you should check out.

Inky the Hamster Mommy gave the Challenge a nice plug the weekend before sign-ups began.  If you want to see what a niche blog is all about, you need to take a look at Inky's place.  You might end up getting diverted for awhile playing with the cute little hamster.

A new entrant to the Challenge is Aimee Kay from How Can You Help?.   In keeping with her blog name she's helping out by promoting the Challenge.  Check out Aimee's blog for relevant ways to help in your community.

Now whenever I hear someone say "Whatever", I'll be thinking of the Gossip Girl since Whatever is the name of her blog.  She also gave A to Z a shout-out and that's all fact and not gossip.  Well, Whatever!   Hmm,  I like that.

Shay from  Seriously--WTH? joined in the list debut day celebrations with a rousing call to blog action.  Thank you, Shay!

More stirring words came on a debut day post from Jamie at Mithril Wisdom.   Jamie will be a guest on the A  to Z Blog this coming Thursday.

Also spreading the news about A to Z was Heather M. Gardner at The Waiting Is the Hardest Part.

We also appreciate the nod given to the Challenge by Beth Stilborn at On Writing, Reading, the Arts, and Life.

       I'm sure I've missed more of your promo blogs for the April Challenge.  I'm trying to keep my eyes open to catch as many as I can.  I want you to know that we appreciate everything each of you are doing to let more bloggers know what will be happening in April of 2012.  Keep on spreading the news!


Facebook fans!!!  Please "Like" the A to Z Facebook page by clicking the button on the sidebar or go to the page itself at:


  http://www.facebook.com/atozchallenge


We are nearly at 100 likes.   Let's push that number up!


Twitter users!!!   Team member Damyanti, our Twitter news editor, has requested that you get the word out on Twitter.  Follow the Challenge and tweet it everywhere.  Here's our Twitter info:

Twitter: @AprilA2Z

#atozchallenge

Can we get the Twitter followers to 1000?

Related articles

• A Big Day!!! Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Sign-ups Are Open (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• How To Choose The Right Niche For Your Blog (basicguideforblogger.wordpress.com)
• Official A to Z Sign Ups open today (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• To blog or not to blog (wordingmythoughts.wordpress.com)

Adding Badges and Banners to Your Blog

Badge by Jeremy at Retro-Zombie

     The 2012 A to Z Challenge is off to an exciting start.  We are hovering around the 500 count right now and growing steadily.  I encourage each of you to continue promoting the Challenge on your blogs and in comments.  Let's aim for 1000 sign ups before the end of February.  We'll give some reasons why you might want more sign-ups in future posts.

       Alana Garrigues from Writercize did a nice job promoting the Challenge this past week. Check this out:

http://technorati.com/blogging/article/benefits-of-blogging-challenges/    

Please show Alana your appreciation by stopping by her blog to say hello and thank you.   We'll probably hear more from Alana on this site in the weeks to come.  

       Have you seen the A to Z Twitter newspaper that Damyanti has been managing for the Challenge?  It's in the sidebar to your right if you want to click on it and see the full thing.  Damyanti has been doing an outstanding job keeping the Twitter buzz going with tweets and the newspaper.   If you're on Twitter be sure to follow the Challenge at @AprilA2Z.   The hashtag is #atozchallenge.  Since I'm not on Twitter yet I don't know exactly what this means, but those who are should know what I am talking about.  Keep the Twitter buzz coming.  Damyanti will be here on the A to Z Blog in an upcoming segment to talk more about this Twitter topic.  

        Jeremy from Retro-Zombie will be also providing you with some helpful information in an upcoming post.  In case you don't know him yet, Jeremy is one of the A to Z co-hosts.  I encourage you to stop by his blog and say hello.  He is a very creative guy.  Jeremy is responsible for the animated badges and banners you can find here on the A to Z Blog page and have probably been seeing popping up on blogs everywhere.  Have you added one to your page yet?

         We've had a number of folks wondering how to add badges and banners to their sites.  Today I'm providing a brief how-to for those of you who have Blogger blogs:      

    How do I add a badge or banner to my own blog? (old Blogger format)   

 Here is how to put the badge or banner that includes code on your site if you are using the old Blogger .

1. Copy the code beneath whichever badge or banner you prefer. The badges and banners  appear on the A to Z Blog page. The code is in a small text box beneath the badges and banners.

2. Click "Design" at the top right hand corner and you should be taken to a page where page changes can be made.

3. You should see a sidebar with a little box that says "Add a Gadget" at the top. Click that link.

4. A pop-up box should appear. Scroll down to "HTML/ Java Script" and click the plus sign.

5. A configure box should appear. You can give a title. In this case something like "Blogging from A to Z Challenge" or "I'm Blogging from A to Z in April". Then in the content box you will paste the code that you have previously copied. Click save and that box should disappear.

6. to be safe also click "Save" on the top right of the Page Element page. Then click view blog and you will be taken to the blog page again where you should see the badge if you've done it right.

How do I add a badge or banner to my own blog?

These directions are for installing the “2012 Blogging from A to Z” badge or the other badges and banners that provide code on a Blogger-hosted blog, using the newest version of the editor.

1) Choose the badge or banner you wish to add.

2) Copy the code from the box under the badge.  Make sure you scroll through that whole window because there's more code than is displayed in that small box.

2) Click "design" at the top, right of your own blog.

3) Click "layout" from the menu down the left side of the page.

4) Click "add a gadget" in the place where you'd like the badge

5) Scroll down the list of available gadgets until you get to "html/javascript" "add 3rd party functionality or other code to your blog", then click the blue plus sign.

5) Paste the code you copied in step one into the big, blank box.

6) If you want to add a caption, put it in the strip where it says, "title".

7) Click "save."

8) Now view your blog to see if it worked!

         Remember that whenever you have questions, you can ask in the comment section or click on the FAQ tab above to see if the question has already been answered.  If there is no answer yet, ask!

          Hope you're having fun visiting your fellow A to Z-ers.  If you're not yet, I encourage you to drop by some of them between now and April.

          Don't forget the Video Contest.  You can read about it by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top of the page.  If you missed it earlier this week, I leave you with the most recent entry sent in by Kathleen at Living 2012:

Light My Fire: Reflections on the A to Z Challenge

Today we have the privilege of helping Jaime D. of Awakenings and Reflections celebrate her blog's 2^nd anniversary! She's guest posting to offer some motivations that will light the fire in YOU  to join us for the challenge!  Let's give her a warm, alphabet-fan welcome!

Light My Fire: Reflections on the A to Z Challenge

       I have been blogging for two years and really enjoy it. There are so many interesting people in the world and blogging connects us on multiple levels. As much as I love blogging, I just don’t feel like I have fully embraced it. I am intentional about creating my posts and I truly appreciate all of the amazing writers and photographers who share their work. I’ve been feeling stuck, though. I have felt like I need to move forward and I didn’t know how to. That is until I came across an A to Z Blogging Challenge badge at Teresa's blog, Journaling Woman.

     After reading about the Challenge, I feel motivated to join. More importantly, I feel motivated to write. Since this will be my first time, I’ve been reviewing the great tips and resources out there. It seems like most people are faced with the ultimate question: to write posts ahead or not? I have decided to choose my words prior to April. They will be words that mean something to me so that when I write I am being authentic. I have created a table with the different posting days in April and am jotting down one or two words (post themes) when they pop into my head. But who am I kidding? I am a procrastinator and I work best under pressure. I’ve always been like this and it is too late in life to pretend that I’m not. I’ll probably end up with a combination of pre-written and in-the-moment posts.

       I’m sure that this challenge holds different meanings for everyone involved and that bloggers are motivated to join for an array of unique reasons. For me, the A to Z Blogging Challenge is the spark that has been missing in my blog world. I already feel a rush of adrenaline from the anticipation, an increased sense of community and the energized feeling I get when I know I am about to embark on an adventure. My creative fire has been lit and I am thankful for the spark provided by the A to Z Challenge.

Wishing that everyone finds their spark,

Jaime, of Awakenings and Reflections