APP OF THE MONTH: 9 Grid for Instagram

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Social Media
Name 9 Grid for Instagram
Product Description Create beautiful Instagram feeds without photoshop by easily cropping your images into 3×1, 3×2 and 3×3 sections to upload jigsaw grids to your Instagram in the right order every time.
Availability Only Available on Android through the Google Play Store. Similar app ‘Grids’ is available through Apple Store and on Desktop.
Key Features In addition to those mentioned above features include:

·         Numerous combinations of arranging your images on Instagram

·         HD resolution for cut images

·         Saving images to your phone or SD card

·         Adding any coloured text to your image

·         Adding emojis and stickers to your image

·         Giving you a numerical order to upload your images on Instagram to get the desired effect looking good.

·         Uploading your images directly to Instagram into both your feed and direct messaging.

Prices and Plans Free! Although you do have to cope with adverts which are inbuilt into the app and can be a bit annoying but again, it’s FREE!  So, just get on with it!
Biggest Pro It is so easy to use and (so long as you upload your images in a minimum quality of 3240px x 3240px when creating a 3×3 Grid) you get great quality results without the faff!
Biggest Con It is only available on Android.  As mentioned above there are different apps available on Apple.

 

There are plenty of other apps out there which also help you achieve this effect so if you use any others to create Jigsaw Grids, tell us about them in the comments!

APP OF THE MONTH: Etsy

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Business Skills, E-Commerse
Name Etsy
Product Description A specialised selling (e-commerce) platform/online shop tailored to vintage and handmade products and craft supplies.
Availability Through Browser at https://www.etsy.com/ and as an app especially designed for sellers from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Unique items sold by small, independent businesses and individuals worldwide through a secure payment system.

The app consists of:

·         A Dashboard in which you can easily see your Shop Overview and any News and Activity from your shop.

·         A Stats (or analytics) section to see your views and visits along with information of where your traffic is coming from and a list displaying the order of your best performing products.

·         An Orders tab where you can see both open and completed orders

·         Conversations (or messages) where you can talk to other members and customers – a great feature of this is that Etsy will save ‘Snippets’ or your personal commonly used phrases to add to your conversations.

·         A place to view listings, your shop, reviews and finances.

·         The ability to shout out about your shop items across all your Social Media Platforms.

·         Etsy Ads in which you can budget what to spend each day in order to rank higher in both Google and Etsy.

·         Links to educational videos and articles about how to get the best out of your Etsy store.

Prices and Plans The app itself is free.  To list an item on Etsy is $0.20 (which with the current exchange rate is around £0.17).  Your listings will be active on Etsy for 4 months or until that item is sold.  When sold Etsy will take a 5% commission and charge a processing payment of 4% plus £0.20 per transaction.  So, if you sell an item for £10.00 Etsy would receive around £1.27.

They now offer Etsy Plus for £8.30 a month which includes 15 free listings, £4.20 to spend on Etsy Ads, a custom web address, email stock alerts for customers and new personalisation options for your store.

Later in the year they will be launching ‘Etsy Premium’ although pricing plans a full spec are yet to be announced.

Biggest Pro Unlike Amazon and eBay on which you can buy anything and everything Etsy is specifically targeted towards sellers of vintage and handcrafted things meaning this is where designers and makers can find their target audience immediately.
Biggest Con Of course, this can also be a con as there is a lot of competition on Etsy.  There is also no way to ‘patent’ your ideas, so to speak, which means similar designs to yours may appear and there is little you can do about it.

 

APP OF THE MONTH: Canva

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Graphic Design

 

Name Canva
Product Description Amazingly simple graphic design software which allows you to make bespoke posts in the perfect size for any social media platform
Availability Through Browser at www.canva.com and as an app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Create beautiful designs for your business in a matter of minutes.

Pick from thousands of existing templates to help you on your way.

Ensure your pictures exactly where and how you want them with their photo straightener, cropping tool, transparency feature and photo blur.

Add text or speech bubbles to any photo so they speak to your audience!

Create the perfect photo collage with premade design grids.

Add lines, shapes and images to make your designs distinctive.

Choose from a range of photo frames to make your pictures stand out.

Create a web wireframe or webpage mock-up to show clients what you can do.  This can easily go on to be developed into a fully working model.

Add stickers and custom make badges to stick to your designs.

Learn how to use Canva in a series of online videos provided by the company.

Prices and Plans FREE for the most basic plan which I have found to include everything I have ever needed!  Simply sign up and start making! Then its around a tenner a month for Canva Pro which comes with additional online storage and features.  They also offer discounts and freebies to non-profit organisations, so if you’re a registered charity drop them an email to see what they can do for you.
Biggest Pro Make slick looking online content and designs in a matter of minutes on your own!  No need for a graphic designer, simply become one!
Biggest Con Restricted features like magically resizing your design to look good for any of your social platforms or animated designs are reserved for the pay monthly pro version.

 

APP OF THE MONTH: Hootsuite

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Marketing, Social Media
Name Hootsuite
Product Description This software allows you to manage all your social media platforms in one place quickly and easily!
Availability Through Browser at http://www.hootsuite.com/ and as an app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Schedule Posts in your own time so your profiles always look active.

Easily find, manage and share content across all your platforms.

Boost all your best posts.

Check all your analytics in one place.

Monitor topics and hashtags relevant to you and see when their activity peaks and troughs.

Assign tasks to others in your team.

Protect your brand with inbuilt security measures.

Learn how to use Hootsuite in their very own cohesive online Academy available for subscribers.

Prices and Plans FREE for the most basic plan which allows you to manage 3 different platforms in each place and limits the amount of scheduling you can do (although it is still a huge amount!)  Handy Tip: They tend to hide their free plan pretty well so when looking at plans simply scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you’ll see a link to their free plan.  Paid plans for more platforms and users available from anywhere between £25-£520 per month.  Find out more here: https://hootsuite.com/plans/upgrade
Biggest Pro Having all your social media profiles and pages in one place to save you chopping and changing between apps and website.  It really helps you get the best out of your time.
Biggest Con If you have multiple companies running through Hootsuite there is currently no way to easily change between profiles so a bit of a faff involved in constantly logging in and out.  I reckon this will come soon though!