How To Watermark A YouTube Video - What The Web Wednesday

How To Brand Your Video Content On YouTube

It's been a while since I have posted a What The Web Wednesday Tip so I thought it was time to post another idea for your website and/or blog.  In the post How To Reduce Bounce Rate I gave some ideas on how keep readers on your site longer and embedding videos was one of those ideas.  To increase your branding I suggest following the five simple steps below to post your logo on your video as a watermark.

5 Simple Steps To Watermark Your YouTube Videos

1. Login to your YouTube account and click Video Manager (located above your header photo)
2. In the left sidebar, pick the drop down menu arrow beside the Channel item
3. From the list that appeared pick branding
4. Now upload the image you want to use as your watermark
5. After the image is loaded you can choose how long you wish for it to appear (I suggest for the entire video) and save your settings.

For an example of how the watermark looks once it is applied to your videos see the How To Cut A Red Pepper With No Waste demonstration below.



You can see the Those2Girls watermark in the lower right hand corner. If you decide you want to remove the watermark, follow the same steps but in step number 4 click remove.  It is that easy. There is one issue, if your channel has advertisment overlays it may cover it, but if the viewer clicks to close the ad your watermark will appear again.

DID YOU TRY IT? POST YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL IN THE LINKUP BELOW SO WE CAN ALL CHECK OUT YOUR WATERMARK. If you participate be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the other URLS listed in the linkup.

For more ideas visit our WEB HOW TO's Pinterest Board .

Easy Tricks To Get New Blog Views - What The Web Wednesday

Wanting To Be Noticed

You spend all that time writing, editing, and cropping photos for your latest blog post only to be frustrated by the lack of post views.  Below are some easy tricks to get your blog content noticed.

7 Tips To Increase Blog Views

1. Start with great content. Think if you would stop and read this post?
2. Have a vibrant image. A bright photo or eye-catching graphic can make people take notice.
3. Link back to another post.  This will help reduce your Bounce Rate and keep people engaged with your blog.
4. Post a giveaway.  People love to enter contests and by using a givewaway widget it can help spread the word about your blog.
5. Share your post on your social networks. Post links to your latest blog post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram or any website where you have built up a following.
6. Use hashtags on your social posts to find those with similar interests.
7. Join a link-up like the one below to connect with other bloggers that are posting content too!

How To Participate In The Link Up

For this link up there are just a few things to do

1. Scroll to the end of this post click the Add Your Link Button
2. Put the link to the actual post (not just the link to your site) in the first field
3. Type a quick title about the post
4. Your email (not visible on the link up)
5. Then click submit link
6. For every link you leave visit another post on the link up and leave a comment on it
7. Share this post on one of your social networks

As a thank-you for participating in the link up I will be adding all the links listed to my WEB HOW TO's Pinterest Board throughout the month.

Meatless Monday - How To Cook With Vegetable Scraps - Carrot Apple Soup Recipe

Save Those Veggies Scraps

Wondering what this is?

I call it my flavour jars.  Every time I chop up veggies I put the peel, tops, seeds etc into jars and freeze them.  Once I have a couple of jars in the freezer I know I have enough to make a vegetable stock.
I use sweet vegetables for my stock

• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Red Peppers

Those are my go to vegetables.  You can also have onions and a few savoury items. Example, sometimes I will add leeks and others like onions and celery.  Just stay away from bitter vegetables, unless you like more bitter than sweet.

The trick is to really wash (scrub) your vegetables before you prep them.  Then you know when you put the scraps in the jars there is no dirt left in the mix.

These jars are just the beginning of the delicious CARROT APPLE SOUP recipe below.

Vegetable Stock To Carrot Apple Soup

You will need

• 8 cups of cold water
• Vegetable scraps (see above) I used approximately 2 jars
• 2 thick carrots
• 2 apples
• Coarse Salt, preferrably Jamie Oliver Thyme, Lemon And Bay Salt
• 2 cooking pots
• Mesh sieve / strainer
• Slotted spoon
• Stirring spoon

1. Start by putting your COLD water in a pot big enough to handle these ingredients.
2. Add the jar scraps.
3. Next peel both carrots, with the carrot peel landing in the pot.
4. Cut carrots into big chunks (see image below)
5. Put carrot chunks into the first pot (they will help keep all the veggie scraps from rising out of the pot.
6. Add salt a few grinds of the salt. Because I am a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Ambassador I like to use Jamie Oliver Thyme, Lemon And Bay Salt it adds some zest!
7. Turn burner on high and get the stock heated.  When it is almost boiling turn down to medium heat.  You will know when it is almost boiling as you will see a bubbly foam begin to form.
8. Let cook for half an hour. Resist the tempation to stir the pot.
9. While it is cooking wash the apples, core and chop them into small thin pieces like the image below.  I leave the peel on because it gives you some extra fiber.
10. After half an hour, use the slotted spoon to remove your carrot chunks from the stock and place in the second pot. You may have to dig a little with the slotted spoon if your carrot chunks got to the bottom of the stock mix.
11. Now place your strainer over the pot like in the image below
12. Slowy start pouring your stock mix into the strainer until all the liquid is poured out of the stock mix.
13. You can now remove the strainer and first pot from the cooking area.
14. Turn the second pot with only the carrot chunks and strained stock on high and then immediately add the chopped apples.  Because the carrots were partially cooked in the first pot, this really cuts down on cooking time.  Once the pot begins to boil turn down to medium-low and let it cook until the carrots are tender enough to get pureed in the blender.
15. Turn off stove and pour contents of the second pot into the blender. CAUTION it will be hot and may splash!  It's better to puree in smaller batches. 
16. Set second pot back on the stove but leave the stove off.
17. Put the lid on the blender, but becareful as the steam will want to make it pop off. Puree the mix.
18. While you may be tempted to pour the soup from the blender pitchter right into bowls, it's not a good idea as the majority of the thicker puree is at the top and the liquid puree is at the bottom of the blender pitcher,. Instead pour it back into the second pot and give it a good stir, then serve it into bowls.
19. This receipe as you can see it made 4 cups of soup.

Save Water By Cooking Pasta In A Frying Pan - Meatless Monday Recipe

World Water Day + Meatless Monday

Sunday was World Water Day and I try to go Meatless most Mondays. So I decided to combine the two of these events into a recipe.

Post by Food Revolution KW.

Recently I saw this video about how much less water you can use by cooking pasta in a frying pan.


I tried it myself, and while I don't think it saved much time it did save a lot of water!  I have made a time lapse video of how easy it is to do. It is a 30 second video but the actual cooking time was approximately 30 minutes of cooking time.

Pasta With Carrot Ribbons Recipe

Ingredients

• Spaghetti Pasta
• 4 Cups Of Cold Water
• 2 Carrots
• Alfredo Pasta Sauce
• 2 frying pans

Start by pouring 4-5 cups of cold water into the frying pan, I went with 4 cups but you may need 5 if you are cooking a lot of pasta (think of how many cups of water you would normally put in your pasta pot and how much water you are saving).

It took my small handful of spaghetti a snaped it in half so that it fit the frying pan well.  Spread the pasta across the frying pan and then turn your stove on high.  Let cook for 15 minutes on high without stirring.

While the pasta was cooking peel two carrots, then cut them lengthwise.  Then use the peeler once more to cut the carrots into "ribbons"

At the 15 minute mark stir the pasta. Then you can see that a lot of the water had been absorbed by the pasta.  Let the past continue cooking, stirring as needed.  Take a few tablespoons of the pasta water from the first frying pan and added it to the second frying pan add the carrot ribbons and cook on high stirring constantly until the carrots start to soften.  Then add the pasta and remaing water (although you should have hardly any water left at this point) from the first frying pan and add it to the second frying pan with the softened carrots.  Add your alfredo sauce. I'm not at the level of making my own alfredo sauce yet so I just used a couple of scoops of Our Compliments Garlic Alfredo sauce because that was what I had in the fridge.  Stir it all up in the pan and enjoy!

International Women's Day 2015

We Are Still Asking Are We Equals?

As in my previous International Women's Day posts I want to begin with the 2011 video EQUALS



The video address many issues women face.  The video ends with

So are we equals? Until the answer is yes we must never stop asking

Fast forward to 2014 when Emma Watson spoke as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador announcing the HeForShe initiative where she raised the question

If not me who? If not now when?

The Spotlight On 2015

This year began with Emma Watson updating the progress of the movement created by her 2014 speech.





She is continuing to forward HeForShe with the IMPACT 10x10x10 Program to prompt corporations and world leaders to take action on this issue. She will also be livestreaming on her Facebook page on March 8th.

Post by Emma Watson.

Find Your Meryl Streep Moment

Last month the movement was recognized by mainstream media when Patricia Arquette's Academy Award Acceptance Speech touched on the topic.




Patricia Arquette's Oscar speech received resounding applause from the audience but what furthered the impact of her speech was the support she received by her fellow nominee Meryl Streep.  The fact that she stepped up to acknowledge what Patricia Arquette said is equally important.  For some making eloquent speeches comes naturally and for others it may not, but for those in the latter category it is important to support those who speak up for issues you believe in.

Make It Happen

What women's initiatives do you support? While this year I have highlighted women's equality in the workplace there are still many other women's issues that need support. That is why this year's International Women's Day Theme MAKE IT HAPPEN is so important. By recognizing an issue that resonates with you or supporting someone that is stepping up and saying something about it are just a couple of ways to make change happen.  Let me know what women's issues you support by linking up or commenting below.

How To Reduce Bounce Rate - What The Web Wednesday - January 28 2014

Tips To Reduce The Bounce Rate On Your Blog / Website

What Does Bounce Rate Mean?

Bounce Rate is a term you may have heard of before but didn't quite understand it's meaning.  Think of it this way, you google something, you click the link that looks best suited for your inquiry, then you noticed it didn't pertain what you were looking for so you hit the back button. Basically you moved on without giving the website/blog a chance. Hence the term "TIME TO BOUNCE"

Google tracks the rate of this action on your site's analytics. The bounce rate is usually a very high average 70% or more, so your goal is to reduce that number, meaning that the viewer chose to stay on your website and/or blog because they found it of interest.

 

3 Ways To Reduce Your Bounce Rate

These are a few ways I work on reducing the bounce rate

1. Link to other posts on you site that relate to the topic
2. Add the Linkwithin widget that shows thumbnails of some of your other posts at the bottom of the page and links to them.
3. Embed a video. You can create your own vlogs, but if that is not your thing, head to YouTube and find a video that coicides with your subject and embed it into your post.

Have an idea on how to reduce your bounce rate? Leave it in the comments!

Have a great Web How To, then join the What The Web Wednesday Link Up!

How To Participate In A Link Up

For this link up there are just a few things to do

1. Scroll to the end of this post click the Add Your Link Button
2. Put the link to the actual post (not just the link to your site) in the first field
3. Type a quick title about the post
4. Your email (not visible on the link up)
5. Then click submit link
6. For every link you leave visit another post on the link up and leave a comment on it
7. Share this post on one of your social networks

As a thank-you for participating in the link up I will be adding all the links listed to my WEB HOW TO's Pinterest Board throughout the month. A new link-up is posted on the last Wednesday of each month.

Buy Dresses In January To Wear At Spring And Summer Weddings, Showers And Special Occasions

Those2Girls Show You How To Save When It Comes To Special Event Outfits

 

Do you know of a wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, graduation, anniversary party or special event that you have coming up?  Now is the time to shop for that great dress or fantastic outfit to wear to it!

Hit The Sale Racks In January

Many stores stock up on New Year's Eve gowns and put them on sale in January.  Now it the time to search those clearance racks!  Most evening wear has short sleeves or is strapless which makes it wearable in the warm months as well.

Know The Tricks To Shopping For Spring And Summer Occasions

As mentioned above make sure to pick a short sleeve or strapless outfit but here are some other ideas

1. Choose colourful pieces. Most don't wear a lot of black or brown at warm weather gatherings
2. Not too much sparkle (unless it's for a black tie affair)
3. Take note of hemlines, as you want to show off your great strappy shoes in warmer weather
4. Try it on and test out all zippers, hooks, buttons and clasps. You won't be able to return it months down the road
5. Make sure the outfit isn't too heavy. Think about what it will be like wearing it at an outdoor wedding or patio event

So whatever your plans our this summer you know you'll look great without breaking the bank!