BIG NEWS!

We didn’t think it was possible, but Glossi just got even better. All of Glossi’s templates, layouts and page elements are now completely customizable. That’s right- now you can edit images, text and videos on existing template styles, or create your own with ease!

(A screenshot of a custom layout from our May “Glossi On: Beauty.”)

If you’re new to Glossi: We recommend starting with one of our Styles, a pre-arranged layout template that makes it easy to create your first Glossi. Simply choose to “Add Page” within the Create A Glossi editor, and choose a layout that you like. If you want to edit anything about it, hover over that page element until symbols appear. The “X” in the upper right corner deletes the element, and the arrows in the bottom right let you adjust the size.

If you’ve created before: More advanced Glossi users often like to start from scratch. To do this, simply select the “Custom” page option in the “Add Page” menu (see below image), delete the text box and begin adding page elements. When you’re ready for the next page, add another “Custom” page, and so on.

One feature about our completely customizable templates that is particularly exciting is the new ability to resize videos. Many Glossi users have asked for this capability, and our (brilliant! wonderful! talented!) engineers were able to make it happen. Now, you can simply drag and drop a video player onto your Glossi page, and resize it using the arrows at the bottom right corner. (See below for tutorial.)

Now that the sky is the limit in terms of creative creation, what will you build with Glossi?

MILLENNIALS & DIGITAL MEDIA

image via Pinterest.

Millennials have been called a lot of thing: self involved, entitled, impatient, discerning, savvy, smart, opinionated, driven. They’ve been the subject of mass research and some ridicule (did you catch the video of Time Magazine writer Joel Stein spending a day as a millennial?). But Gen Y, which makes up 30% of the US population is a generation that has the power to change how media and marketing are consumed. Even more than the baby boomers before them, millennials are defining the times they live in by challenging the norms of media.

Millennials are plugged in: On average, Gen Y spends 14% more time interacting with their mobile devices than other generations, and that time is split across mobile phones, tablets, ereaders and PCs. They are considered early adopters of new technologies as they emerge, and 20% more likely to start using a new tool than older demographics. Since so much of their lives are intertwined with technology, millennials consume a vast majority of their information online— informational, recreational or social. To effectively reach the plugged-in millennial, disseminating mobile-friendly information is key.

Millennials are design savvy and prefer simplicity: To clarify, they are not so much influenced by look as they are by seamless simplicity— this is a generation that was not raised to tolerate clunky technology and complicated processes. “Good design” in this case means that it is simple to use, easily connected to the other portions of their digital lives, and reduces complications rather than enhancing them. This is another significant reason that traditional advertising and marketing doesn’t work on Gen Y. Instead of asking users to move away from what interests them and towards what a brand is interested in showing them, brand content should seamlessly be a part of what millennials already consume.

Millennials want to know “why”: In simplest terms, why they should care and why they should spend their time and money on your concept. With all the conveniences of modern technology there to simplify their lives and all the digital noise in cyberspace to complicate them, Gen Y needs a reason to interact with your brand. Without a doubt, the best way to create this hook is by authentically appealing to shared interests. If you represent a brand, introduce the lifestyle that the brand appeals to. If you market a product, connect what that product enables users to accomplish. Neither of those ideas are new, but what is new is the way to do it for millennials— content marketing.

In the simplest terms, millennials are fluent in digital media and apply it to multiple facets of their lives, from how they consume information, interact socially and are influenced to purchase goods. Communicating your brand to this Gen Y individual requires mobility and simplicity, but above those qualities, it requires authenticity. Advertising is no longer the game of ad men sitting in cosmopolitan offices, it has moved online and changed forever.

How will your business, and your industry, change its marketing efforts to appeal to millennials?

GLOSSI 101: HOW TO RESIZE IMAGE BOXES

One of our most exciting recent software updates made all our templates 100% customizable. That’s right— all Glossi page elements are completely customizable. That means that whether you start with pre-designed template from Styles or a blank one, you have the power to resize, reshape, move and edit everything.

In today’s Glossi 101 lesson, we’ll be showing you how to resize images:

Have questions for us? Tweet us with #Glossi101 and we’ll be sure to answer!

Office Hours Are Back!

Glossi Office Hours are back! Join us at noon PST, next Wednesday for a broadcast tutorial on our new, customizable templates, linking images and user FAQs.

Have questions of your own you want to see addressed? Tweet us with #GlossiOfficeHours or leave a comment on our Facebook page and we’ll answer your questions next week. 

Don’t forget to RSVP here.

Glossi 101: How To Link Out From Images

In today’s Glossi 101 class, we’ll be teaching you to link to a website from one of the pictures embedded in your Glossi. Linking from images is a useful functionality to know since it allows you to connect your Glossi to the web. You can use this for shopping links- pictured in the example below, creating traffic back to your blog or website, connecting readers to image sources… anything you want. (Bloggers, take note, this is also the way you would add your affiliate and/or rewardStyle links to your Glossi to monetize your content.)

STEP 1

(Below) In your Glossi editor, go to a page that has an image you want to link from, like this floral blazer.

STEP 2

Double click the image as if to zoom it. The “Move to front/back” buttons will pop up, as will the “Add a link and display text for this image” field you can see below.

STEP 3

Copy the item URL that you want your image to connect to.

STEP 4

Paste that URL into the “Add a link” field in the pop up window. You can also “Add display text” in the lower field of the pop up window, which we recommend doing. Just type in the name of the item or a short description, like “RD Style Floral Blazer.” Hit “save.”

STEP 5

After you’ve saved, the link is live. You won’t see it in Editor Mode, but once you publish your Glossi, you’ll see the below pop up when you hover over the image. A box will show your display text, and a click will lead you and your readers to the URL. 

Making links that take your audience from image to website is as easy as those five steps!

Insider tip: Stay tuned for updates about shoppable product features. The Glossi team has some great tricks up our sleeve that we can’t wait to release!

Make Something

You’ve browsed your Twitter feed for news, liked your friends updates on Facebook and pinned an inspirational quote you found on your favorite Tumblr to your Pinterest— all before you could Instagram a picture of your morning latte. You’re a savvy social media user, and you want to know why you should care to add Glossi to your list of networks.

One word: creation.

Today’s most popular social networks are all about the loop of consuming, curating and sharing. In short, these networks are focused on enabling you to communicate what you have discovered with others in your network. Sometimes, it’s smart content, like that article that you shared on LinkedIn. Sometimes it’s not, like the meme of Grumpy Cat that you posted on Facebook. Whatever the perceived value, it cannot be mistaken for original.

Glossi is different. The point of making a Glossi is to create something unique, that speaks about a topic that you have chosen, selecting images, videos, etc., combines it all with your voice and let’s you share it seamlessly across all your other channels. This isn’t about reinventing a social network, or a website or a blog— Glossi fills a void in the social space by enabling you to create and showcase your own content, not just curate and share it.

If you’re an individual, this is empowering news. Glossi’s platform is the easiest way for you to create a beautiful, digitally rich web magazine— without technical or design knowledge. It allows you to combine your ideas with pictures, GIFs and videos that you’ve found online, the end result being more personal than anything you could pin or retweet, and more impressive than anything you could simply blog. Glossi enables you to create exactly what you want to create.

Brands and marketing professionals also have reason to get excited about Glossi. It’s a fact that social media drives sales (67% of companies find new customers via Facebook, 53% of them do the same on Twitter*), but since social networks are meant for sharing, companies need compelling content to share. Original and interesting material can certainly be posted to a traditional blog, but formatting, design and rich-media are limited in a traditional format. Glossi’s customization options, linking functionality and easy embedding make it a modern solution to publishing the original content that 63% of companies* have classified as increasing marketing effectiveness.

Twitter, Google Plus and LinkedIn are perfect for distributing information, Pinterest and Tumblr are powerful for image curating, and Facebook and Instagram can’t be beat when it comes to sharing. Websites and blogs are also relevant, their fixed format allowing a wealth of information to be discoverable on the web. These existing channels are all part of the internet ecosystem— and Glossi is here to enable you to combine them all in way that is unique to you.

*source

image credit

Can A Magazine Include Music? Yes!

One of the most innovative elements of creating and sharing magazines on Glossi is the ability to incorporate rich media. This can be traditional text and copy, graphics and photos of all kinds, or it can be animations, videos, and music. Tell a story and incorporate a favorite song, share the latest jam from your own band along with the lyrics, incorporate the music from your wedding, birthday party or other event. There are no limits! You can view and see how music, video and other content can be incorporated into a Glossi above, or check out other examples across multiple categories on Glossi here.

Writing Copy For Your Glossi

Glossi enables the ability to share text of all kinds on any topic. It doesn’t take special writing skills or experience to do. With a few editor tactics and secrets, writing copy and content on your Glossi can be easy and fun:

Start as if you’re speaking to someone about the topic and write the exact words as they come to mind. After all, writing is a form of conversation. Creating yours from this perspective can make it much easier and fun. Here’s a great example on Glossi below:

Get an idea of how long or short you’d like your written copy to be to make the process easier. With Glossi there are no limits to how much — or how little — you can include. The sky is the limit as you can see from these three different Glossies below:

You can also use pictures to compliment or add to what you’re writing about. This Glossi below is a sample of how you can use photos to compliment copy:

Last, review what you’ve written and edit/adjust as you see fit. If its longer than what you envision, or too short, you can pare down or add more copy until your Glossi is exactly what you have in mind.

Interviews, Q&A sessions, and storytelling are also easy ways to generate written content for your Glossi. You can use a variety of fonts, colors and font sizes in your Glossi as well. Of course, if writing isn’t your forte you can always create and include videos and animated GIFs in your Glossi instead and bring your words to life.

Causes On Glossi

The internet has enabled causes to reach people in new and more engaging ways than ever before, with tools that are often free-of-charge and highly effective. It’s one of the most exciting ways we’re seeing creators use Glossi, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be part of these important campaigns. From children’s causes to raising awareness, animal needs and more, charities, shelters and other organizations can create and share informative guides to help educate consumers and raise awareness for issues and needs.

Armor Austin is using Glossi to tell the story of its efforts to bridge two languages and cultures with the ultimate goal of teaching and supporting sustainable living within the community. Each page highlights its efforts with information and photos to inform and educate about its projects and campaigns.

Topical issues are also being addressed with Glossies as well. Hidden Hurt and The Bullying Gazette are two that shine a much-needed spotlight on the issue of bullying among teens. With teenagers today so digitally and media connected, Glossi’s magazine format reaches them in a modern and familiar way.

A local animal organization shares a great example of how Glossi can be used to provide details about pets and other animals in need of help, care and adoption. With Glossi, pet and animal causes can go beyond the common pet profiles online to reach potential owners, provide details about an animal’s personality, share pictures and other media. 

Because Glossi enables a rich media magazine experience, videos, GIFs and animations, causes can bring an even greater touch to their campaigns and tell the story of issues and needs in a single, seamless place. 

Call to action details, social media pages and other important information can be included to help drive fundraising, awareness and other details. What’s great about Glossi is that it can be embedded into websites, blogs and shared across social networks. With our Glossi Stands functionality, charities and causes can even create a ‘magazine stand’ of Glossies on their projects, success stories and efforts to further engage, involve and empower consumers to help a range of important social issues and needs. 

No design experience or technical skills are required to use Glossi, so creating and sharing Glossi for causes is easy for organizations of all sizes and needs.