Dustin Stout

Series

Sometimes a single blog post just wont do and you need to write a series of blog posts to fully cover a topic. This category is where you can find the anchor (or index) posts for every series I write.

Evergreen Google Plus Productivity Social Media Images

  • The Essential Guide to Sharing Images Online

    Sharing images online is getting easier and more commonplace every day. With sites like Google+ and Pinterest putting such huge emphasis on great imagery, it’s never been more important to growing your online presence to know how to share great images with your growing audience.

    In this new series I’m going to attempt to tackle the many aspects of sharing images online from legality and etiquette to original creation and best sizes to use.

    Why This Is Important

    To get noticed online you have to give people what they’re looking for. Photos, memes, infographics, inspirational fitness quotes and other visual stimuli are what’s grabbing people’s attention. Moreover, these are what people are sharing more than anything else. Good visuals spread like wildfire.

    Knowing that visuals spread fast, it’s important not only to know how to do them well, but also to do them right. Sharing images responsibly and with a bit of developed skill can help accelerate your online presence and open opportunities and communications that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

    So let’s not just share images online, let’s share them like a boss!

    sharing images online like a boss

    The Table of Contents

    This post will serve as the anchor (or table of contents) for the series. I’ll update the links below as I publish each piece in the series so that you will always be able to come back and easily navigate to the piece you want to read up on.

    The working list of topics I have in mind are:

    I may add some to the list or change some of the current topics listed as the series progresses. This should serve as a basic outline though so you know what to expect.

    In the comments below I would love it if you told me what questions, comments, or curiosities you have about the topic. Is there anything specifically you want me to cover? Any methods in which you want me to cover a particular topic?

    Well, what are you waiting for?

  • Blog Design Essentials: Create A Visually Stunning Blog

    When someone visits your blog, you want them to be wowed. But if you don’t have the capital to pay a Web Designer, how do you make sure your blog design doesn’t keep readers from taking you seriously? I have good news, you don’t have to be a professional designer to create a visually stunning blog.

    Don’t get me wrong, your writing is the most important part of your blog. Creating great blog content is where it begins. And once you’ve got that part down, it’s time to work on your blogs design. If you’re not a designer this process can be frustrating, confusing, time-consuming, and after all that you can end up with something that completely works against your great blog content.

    It’s time for you to learn how to make your blog look and feel like it was done by a professional.

    I’ve already written 5 keys to making your blog visually awesome, but this series is going deeper. I’m going to dive into all of the core elements that I incorporate into my own blog design, as well as every blog design project I work on. Even better, I’m going to be using my own blog as a living example. I’ll be putting my own work on the dissecting table and exposing all of my best design techniques.

    The goal is to help the non-designer understand the basics principles of creating a blog that is visually stunning without spending a fortune. I also hope that any designers who are reading can revisit these principles with me, and offer insight of their own via the comments section.

    Each post in this series will be constructed with simplicity in mind. It’s kind of my thing– I like life to be simple. Some people like life to be complicated– those people are weird. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

    This post will serve as the anchor of the series. Think of it as an index for all the posts in the series. It might be good to bookmark this page if you want to reference it in the future. You may also want to subscribe to my email list (if you haven’t already) so that you will be notified every time I publish a new blog post!

    Want a quick-start way to having a stunning website? I recommend starting with a theme from Studio Press [aff link]. Their themes are the base of every site I build and the only ones I recommend to clients.

    Without further ado, here is a working list of topics I will be covering:

    Okay, that last one wont actually happen. But the others are pretty set. I’ll be adding a few more to the list, but these will be the first of the series.

    I’m going to enjoy this series a lot, and I hope it proves to be awesomely helpful to you!

    Are there any specific topics you’d like me to cover, issues you’d like me to address, or questions you’d like me to answer in this series? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

  • How To: Social Media Series

    There is a serious problem in America today. Well, scratch that, there are a lot of serious problems in America today. One of those problems, however small it may seem by comparison, is something I want to address on this blog.

    The problem in which I am speaking of could be keeping you from being as effective as you should be in your career, organization, or even your personal life. This is a problem I will dedicate much of this blog to (aside from the reason it was first started). The problem I’m talking about is Social Media Unawareness.

    “Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”
    – Socialnomics.com

    If you haven’t seen this yet, it will blow your mind: Social Media Revolution

    Social Media is here to stay, and I want YOU to be able to use it to your advantage. I want you to be able to effectively use it for your company, brand, organization, church, or just your social life. I want to help you become not only literate, but social media savvy. (I like the word ‘savvy’.)

    To start the series off, I wanted to know what you have questions about. I have plenty of things I can start writing on (in fact I have about half a dozen post ideas stored in Evernote waiting to be written), but I honestly wanted to know what people are curious about, confused about, or just plain dumbfounded with. So, in the comments section below write whatever questions you have about social media. Ask anything! Anything at all! I dare you!

    Some examples would be:

    • What’s a hashtag?
    • How do I get rid of annoying people in my Facebook stream?
    • How can I gauge my company’s social media effectiveness?
    • What is this secret code language that Twitter people seem to use?How in the world did Charlie Sheen get so many followers even though he’s a lunatic?

    Stuff like that.

    I will respond to every question that I can, and I may even dedicate an entire post to YOUR question! So what are you waiting for? ASK AWAY!

    So far, I have covered the following topics:

    1. What Is Social Media
    2. The Top Social Sites You Should Be On
    3. Twitter for Beginners
    4. 5 Uses For Twitter Lists

    This list will continue to grow, so be sure to check back to see how the series progresses!