Tony Pinto

I had the unbelievable good fortune of being invited to visit the corporate offices of social media platform Ning this past week to participate in the Ning Network Council program. There were ten community managers in attendance, ranging from my little cooking community (NoTimeToCookDinner.com) to huge communities like Ellen, momlogic, and Extra, which currently has over 800,000 members.

Special thanks to my new friend Alice for this photo.

I met some of Ning’s most outstanding employees, shook hands with (and possibly insulted with a back-handed compliment) CEO Gina Bianchini, and compared notes with some amazing network creators who are just crushing it (as Gary Vaynerchuk would say) on sites like MyModernMet.com, BabySpot.com, tudiabetes.org, BroadwaySpace.com, BJPenn.com, DesignDemocracy.ws and LiveHereOakPark.com.

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Social Media Ning, Social Media Marketing

This was a quick test to see whether YouTube’s Annotations actually appear in videos that are embedded into other web sites.

They do.

So for anyone looking for an easy way to watermark YouTube videos without getting into video production or buying a one-off piece of software, this is probably a good solution. Read more…

Social Media Blogging, Facebook, video, watermark, WordPress blog, YouTube

Here’s another great video highligting the benefits of social media marketing for BUSINESS. Yes, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are for more than just killing time and sharing photos of your nephew’s new cat.

Social Media Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, YouTube

Anyone who questions the power and purpose of Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Ning, and others should watch this video. Period.

Any questions?

Social Media Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, YouTube

As much as I love Google Apps, my MacBook Pro, and the thought of going 100% commercial open source, I’m still very loyal to Microsoft (as are many of the folks that I do work for). So it’s important that I stay current on the latest MS applications, including Windows 7.

A good friend and fellow IT consultant at Sureteq had been encouraging me to get a Microsoft TechNet subscription for quite some time… so I finally did. Read more…

Social Media Apple, Macbook, Microsoft, online discounts, promo codes, Twitter, Windows 7

I can’t believe all of the incredible tools available for bloggers these days. I just downloaded WordPress 2 for the iPhone, and wrote this post ON my phone.

OK, so it took waaaaaay longer to do it this way, and I know people have been doing this for a while, but it’s my first time so I’m feeling quite empowered.

I also just realized that this allows people to blog from virtually anywhere. Including places like the bathroom. Cool. I mean, gross!

But still, it’s pretty amazing considering that 10 years ago most people didn’t even have cell phones.

P.S. I later edited this post and added the screenshot using a web browser.

Social Media Blogging, iPhone, Social Media Marketing, WordPress blog

OK, so I realize these first couple of posts aren’t going to be the most interesting. I just need some content to start populating my WordPress database, so I can see what this particular WordPress theme looks like. Read more…

Social Media Blogging, Social Media Marketing, WordPress blog, WordPress Plugins, WordPress themes