Chris Snider

Not sure what your brand should be posting on Instagram, but still want to be one of it’s 100 million active users? Find a kick-ass photographer and let them guest post on your Instagram account. Here, Paypal (why on earth would I follow Paypal on Instagram!) had @pauloctavious (who has 300,000+ followers on his own account) [...]

Here’s a simple little trick to make sure your readers aren’t missing posts from your Facebook page. Tell your users to hover their cursor over the name of your page (1). Then hover over the word “Liked” (2). Now click “Get notifications” (3). When you add an update, it will go into their notifications (the [...]

If you’re looking for a creative, inexpensive (free) way to bring advertising into your Facebook page’s strategy, consider sponsored photos. Perhaps you already run some sort of photo of the week or photo of the day on Facebook. Or you could start one.

In the world of presidential politics, Iowa goes first. Which also means the Des Moines Register goes first – first to test out latest digital tools in its caucus coverage. I asked Register Digital Editor Julia Thompson to reflect on how some of those tools worked out on caucus night.

I know several “print” designers who have yet to take the leap into web design. Heck, I doubt some of them ever will. Even if they never decide to learn HTML and CSS, there is an easy way for print designers to make their company’s better: Infographics.

Want to gain more Facebook Likes? Strike a deal with one of your rivals. That’s what the University of Iowa and the University of Nebraska did in connection with their Nov. 25 football game (the schools’ first meeting since Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference).

I noticed a couple instances today where reporters did a great job using social media, and I felt it was worth pointing them out. The first one was from Tony Leys of the Des Moines Register. Leys wrote a story about a cemetery that is still in need of work after the 2009 floods:

I was looking for a session called “The breakout technologies of the next four years – and how media companies should use them” at last week’s South By Southwest interactive conference in Austin. But apparently it was nowhere to be found. Fair enough. I was going to have to work harder to find the next [...]

This is part of an occasional series dedicated to the ideas that pop into my head: When a sports team wins the SuperBowl/World Series/state bowling title, it’s fairly common practice for the newspaper that covers said team to put out a book. Next time your team wins it all, why not take your photos, videos [...]

This is part of an occasional series dedicated to the ideas that pop into my head: If you run a website where readers have to create their own accounts, why not sell your default avatar as an advertisement (Tastefully done, of course). Obviously people can upload their own avatar to make the ad go away. [...]