September
9, 2020

6 min read

This story originally appeared on PCMag

Social media app TikTok has turned short, shareable videos into an art form. Now Instagram is getting in on the craze with Instagram Reels, which allows you to add music and fun visual effects over looping video. 

Once your 15-second clip has been recorded, it can be shared with your Instagram followers. If you have a public account, you can also distribute your video to the greater Instagram community. Let’s see how it works.

Open Reels

Open the Instagram app and tap the camera icon in the upper-left corner, or simply swipe the main screen to the right. At the camera screen, you should see three options at the bottom: Live, Story, and Reels. Tap the one for Reels.

By default, the app uses the front-facing camera, but you can also tap the camera icon in the lower-right corner to change to the rear camera. Tap the flash icon at the top to set whether the flash is on, off, or automatic. 

Add music and effects

You can either use the audio from your video or add music from Instagram’s library. If you add music over the video, the video’s audio will not be included in the recording. To add music, tap the Audio icon on the left. From here, it will work like it does when you add music to a Story.

Scour Instagram’s library for songs in the For You and Browse sections. Under Browse, choose a specific genre, mood, or theme to see songs in that area. To search for music, type the name of a song or artist in the Search field at the top. If you spot a song you like, tap the Play button to hear a short clip.

To add the song to your video, just tap its name. You’re then returned to the video screen where Instagram picks and plays a certain 15-second section of the song to include. You can change to a different section of the song by moving your finger along the slider bar at the bottom. At the same time, the lyrics to the song appear on the screen so you can choose your section that way. When you’ve found a section you want, tap Done at the top.

If you want to change the speed of the video, tap the Speed icon on the left-hand side under the Audio icon. This option lets you set the speed at which your video is recorded and played. Choose .3x or .5x to play the video in slow motion, or speed it up with 2x or 3x. Your chosen song still plays at the correct speed.

Next, tap the Effects icon. You can scroll through the different effects and preview each one. Swipe all the way to the right and tap the Browse Effects button to see all of the effects available in Instagram. Find an effect you like and leave it in place.

You can manually set the length of your video by tapping the Timer icon. Drag the right edge of the slider bar to the right to lengthen the video and to the left to shorten the video. 

If you have added music, the song will play so you can time your video to certain lyrics or a melody in your music. After you’ve chosen your preferred length, tap the button to Set Timer.

Record video

Tap the shutter button to record your video. A three-second countdown goes off, and then your recording starts. If you want to pause the video, tap the shutter button again. After you’ve paused it, you can then change certain attributes, including the AR effects and speed. 

If you see an Align icon pop up on the screen, you can tap the option to straighten your video. Tap the shutter button again to resume the recording. Your video recording ends at 15 seconds. After the video is finished, it automatically plays so you can view it.

If you wish to change the music, tap the left arrow at the top. Make your change, and then tap the right arrow at the bottom to replay the video with the music change you made.

Add text, stickers and emojis 

After your video is recorded, you can spruce it up further by adding text, stickers and emojis, or by drawing something. Tap the smiley icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen to add stickers or emoji. Some stickers display the location or time; tapping them may change the color or style. 

Select the sticker or emoji you want and place it on the screen. You can move the item around by dragging it, or make it bigger or smaller by pinching with two fingers. Tap the Pin option to pin the item to the screen so it moves around when your video plays. If you don’t want to keep the sticker or emoji, press it and drag it to the trash can icon.

You can draw on the video by tapping the pen icon in the toolbar on the top of the screen. The drawing toolbar allows you to choose the type of pen you want to use, the thickness, and the color. If you don’t like what you’ve drawn, you can remove it with the Eraser tool or tap the Undo button to remove your last drawing.

Tap the letters icon in the top toolbar to set the font and color of the text. As you type, the font size shrinks to accommodate the text. You can move the text around by dragging it and change the size even further by pinching it.

Share video

When your video is finished, tap the right arrow at the bottom to share it. By default, your video is shared through Reels. If you also wish to share it in your feed, make sure the switch is on for Also Share to Feed. You can also share it to your Story, or selectively with any of your friends. 

If you have a public account, your video will be shared to the Explore section, so any Instagram user can see it. Tap share to finalize.

View the Reels other people have created from the app’s Explore page. Tap the Search icon at the main feed page and scroll down the search results. Certain videos will be marked as Reels.

September
8, 2020

9 min read

When Michelle Parrinello-Cason and her business partner, Blair Lee, launched SEA Online Classes (the acronym stands for Secular, Eclectic, Academic) in June of this year, there was still no way to know whether schools would reopen. But they knew their model had to accommodate not only their core community — secular homeschooling families — but parents and children first navigating how to augment, or temporarily substitute, traditional K-12 education with remote learning.

For Parrinello-Cason, the endeavor was an extension of her work running Dayla Learning, a resource site for families homeschooling their kids in the humanities, since 2018. She soon found a kindred spirit in Lee, who had been overseeing SEA Homeschoolers (of which SEA Online is an offshoot) as of 2015.

The goal of SEA Online is to provide homeschooling families located anywhere with easily accessible, secular curricula that’s been selected and vetted by Parrinello-Cason, Lee and other experienced academics. The goalposts shifted slightly, however, once the duo realized there’s a greater demand for — or at least more inquiries into — their services and homeschooling methods writ large than ever before.

Parrinello-Cason, who is a mother of two herself and has also taught in on-campus environments, caught up with us from her home in St. Louis about ramping up SEA Online to meet the moment, changing preconceptions about homeschooling and how parents of any background can use this period as an opportunity to explore all options.

Related: 6 Distance-Learning Resources for Working Parents

Michelle Parrinello-Carson (l) and her business partner, Blair Lee.

Image Credit: Michelle Parrinello-Cason/Blair Lee

When schools first shut down last spring, did you anticipate bracing for new inquiries about the fall?

I don’t think it was immediate. Back in March, we were still thinking, “Oh, you know, by the time that fall classes roll around, things will be back to normal.” But when it became pretty apparent that things weren’t going to be back to normal, it did really impact the way that we thought about that platform. We recognized the demand was a lot higher than we were expecting and that there were a lot of people in our community new to homeschooling who we’re looking for options they hadn’t been before. So we did grow faster and launched bigger than we had expected to.

What were the biggest challenges in adjusting for that growth?

When we were going to do a very small pilot, we were trying to keep our expenses really low. We ended up going with Teachable, which has an existing LMS platform, but we [initially] were going to create something in-house and maybe use something like with WordPress plugins and create our own LMS system. But having done that would have required more time and trial-and-error. Because we recognized how quickly we needed to scale up to meet the demand of our audience, we went ahead and budgeted for the expense of using a platform that was already in existence.

Have you had to be emphatic in your messaging about how homeschooling can be for anyone, not just families from more religious communities?

Absolutely. That was already the work — advocating for the secular homeschooling community and making sure that we had high-quality curriculum options out because most of the curriculum that has been available for decades in the homeschooling community has been very religious. The influx of new homeschoolers has largely been people who are looking for secular materials because they’re coming from public schools where that was already the norm. To know we can assure them that there are high-quality materials out there that do meet those needs is an important part of this.

Is your ultimate goal to market your model as a permanent alternative to traditional schooling, or is it more about introducing it as something supplementary for the uninitiated?

It really is a pretty different approach than the traditional classroom, but we also know that a lot of people use homeschooling in periods of transition in their own lives, so they might only do it for a year or two. And in those situations, if they are expecting to go back to a brick-and-mortar traditional classroom, it really can just be a supplement. So we have tried to create classes and materials and resources that meet families where they are and help them get to where they want to go, and we let them know that there is no one way to do homeschooling. You can always adjust it as you do some trial-and-error.

What about all the studies suggesting kids needs to be back in school for the social development as much as anything?

I understand that. I was there too when I was an unexpected homeschooler. When I first was entering into this world, I was like, “Oh my gosh, my kid’s not going to have any friends. What am I going to do?” But there is a very robust homeschooling community. It may not be the majority of parents, but it certainly is a very active and supportive community. And even traditional homeschoolers are struggling this year because our co-op can’t meet in person and our field trips can’t be in person. So we’re also trying to find ways to have social activities through virtual opportunities and adjusting to that kind of thing too. But I think that we are already used to that flexibility and being able to adapt on the fly in a way that gives us an advantage in this position.

I take it, then, that SEA Online is doing well so far?

Yeah. Because our platform is new, we don’t have numbers to compare it to, but it is certainly up from our expectations because we were expecting maybe six or seven classes with two or three teachers. And instead we now have six teachers 30 classes and two book clubs that offer nine books each. So it’s 48 classes really, and they’re almost all full. Now we’re trying to figure out, “What is that going to look like in the spring?” Because hopefully a lot of brick-and-mortar schools are back in session. We’re trying to figure out how to make sure we’re meeting the needs of our audience when our audience isn’t sure what their needs will be in the next step.

So you’re prepared for the likelihood that when schools resume, this surge of interest in SEA Online might dip a bit.

If we lose a lot of people who are just here temporarily, we have a passionate, really connected audience who is going to want these online classes and experiences for their learners for the long term. We’re trying to make sure that we’re walking that balance of really tuning into that specific need that is going to remain. It might not be quite as robust, but I know that those people are still going to be there. And a lot of the investments that we were planning to make some time down the road, we were just able to make them a lot earlier because of this surge. Not everybody is going to continue on this path, but I do think that some people will have found it accidentally and decide that it does work best for their families.

To be honest, it sounds if you’ve been quicker to innovate than a lot of the brick-and-mortar schools. What do you think has been the biggest obstacle for traditional educators right now?

I really feel for teachers and administrators in brick-and-mortar schools, because a lot of this has just been uncertainty. I have the benefit of certainty. I know that students signing up for my classes are going to have stable internet access and microphones and cameras that work and a quiet place to do their work because people who come seeking out my classes do so with that understanding in mind. [Public school] teachers and administrators making these choices don’t know that all of their students are going to have those things. They don’t know that all of their families are going to be interested in that. And so I think that the uncertainty is what has really caused some bumps in the road for them. If we had known in April, “Hey, we are 100 percent all going virtual in starting August 20,” I think teachers would definitely have been able to rise to that occasion. Instead, we’ve gotten a lot of, “Well, maybe we’re doing a hybrid model. No, nevermind, now we’re doing all virtual. No, nevermind, now we’re meeting in person.”

Do you view the trend of independent homeschooling pods popping up in suburban areas as a threat to your business model?

We’ve been approached by some people who are in small pods asking, “Hey, can we get our group into one of your sections?” So I don’t think that it’s a threat to us, because those individuals meeting in person in those small groups still need a curriculum. They still need the expertise and the content to deliver really great classes. And especially if those pods are going to have students across mixed ages and mixed abilities, they’re going to have to differentiate for a lot of different needs. The kinds of classes and experiences we’re offering probably compliment those more than they compete with them. There’s eventually going to be a normal on the other side of all of this, but there’s always going to be a need for individualized education that meets learners’ unique needs. That’s what we’re trying to deliver. We were doing it before this happened because there was already a demand, so I feel like that demand is definitely still going to be there.

Related: The 6-Figure Tutor: Jay Veal of INC Education

Any last words of wisdom for fellow parents pulling their hair out?

I would say nothing is permanent. Don’t feel like any choice that you make right now is a choice for forever. And that kids are more resilient than we give them credit for, and learning happens in ways that we don’t expect. I know it’s extremely stressful right now, but put a little more trust in our learners to be able to get a lot out of situations that aren’t ideal, because kids really can rise to the occasion if they’re given materials and opportunities that will help them get through this.

September
7, 2020

4 min read

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Life has gotten a little strange for entrepreneurs these days, as they’ve been forced to adjust to working from home and managing remote teams. But entrepreneurs are resourceful, so when things get weird, they adapt and push on. Sometimes, though, you need a little help to get the most out of new situations. We’ve rounded up some accessories that can help you thrive in the new normal, all of which are now on sale.

HyperSonic Lite True Wireless Earphones

Getting into the zone is important for entrepreneurs, and music can be a great way to do that. With 4.3 stars on Amazon (out of 5), these earphones are a great option. They offer immersive HD sound, Bluetooth 5.0 connection, and IPX6 water resistance.

Get the HyperSonic Lite True Wireless Earphones for $42.50 (Orig. $79) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10″ Ring Light & Tripod

You’re spending more time than ever on video calls—shouldn’t you look your best? This home streaming studio includes a ring light and tripod to get the perfect setup for all your calls. Whether you’re presenting important information or just facilitating a conversation, U-STREAM will help you get your point across.

Get U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10″ Ring Light & Tripod for $42.50 (Orig. $99) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Aduro Sport Elite Recovery Massage Gun

Entrepreneurs need to break a physical sweat sometimes, too. But maintaining a great workout routine is easier said than done. This high-powered massage gun will provide deep, percussive massages to all of your pain points to help you recover faster.

Get the Aduro Sport Elite Recovery Massage Gun for $68 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller

Comfort is everything when you’re trying to do your best work. Don’t get up to change the thermostat, just use a Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller instead. This clever device lets you change the temperature, schedule airflow, and much more.

Get Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller for $84.15 (Orig. $149) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Urbanears Rålis Portable Bluetooth 5.0 Speaker

With 20 hours of wireless playtime, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and a weather-proof design, this is the perfect speaker to take between home and the office. You can also share DJ duty by pairing two devices simultaneously or using an AUX connection to connect a third. It’s a budget-friendly way to introduce surround sound to your home or office.

Get the Urbanears Rålis Portable Bluetooth 5.0 Speaker for $93.50 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

AURA Band Fitness Tracker

Entrepreneurs can’t thrive without knowing their skill sets. Likewise, you can’t reach your fitness goals without knowing your body. AURA Band uses bioimpedance technology to measure your body composition, hydration, sleep, activity, and heart rate, tracking it all in an app so you can have a comprehensive understanding of your health.

Get the AURA Band Fitness Tracker for $137.70 (Orig. $179) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

EvaSMART 2: Smart Personal Air Conditioner

Staying comfortable is a crucial component to doing your best work. Fortunately, you don’t have to shell out hundreds on the electric bill every month to keep cool. This personal air conditioner uses natural evaporative cooling to cool off your area to a comfortable temperature.

Get the EvaSMART 2: Smart Personal Air Conditioner for $153 (Orig. $269) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Mobile Pixels TRIO: Portable Dual Screen Laptop Monitor

Got used to a dual-screen setup at work? You can still have that dual-screen, and even a triple-screen, while working from home with the Mobile Pixels TRIO. This clever device clips onto your laptop, adding two more screens to work from.

Get the Mobile Pixels TRIO: Portable Dual Screen Laptop Monitor for $215 (Orig. $249) with promo code: SCREEN44. 

Ultraloq Combo Smart Lock & Key Fob

Keep your important documents secure and accessible with this smart lock. Ultraloq uses a deadbolt and latch and has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to use your phone to open it whenever you need. It also has fingerprint access, supports eKey sharing, and much more.

Get the Ultraloq Combo Smart Lock & Key Fob for $280.50 (Orig. $369) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Jetson Eris Electric Scooter

Why drive to work or take public transit when you could scoot? The Jetson Eris Electric Scooter is the perfect machine for urban commuting. Reaching speeds of up to 14mph with a 12-mile range, you’ll be able to get from A to B in no time.

Get the Jetson Eris Electric Scooter for $425 (Orig. $499.99) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

September
6, 2020

4 min read

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Productivity is crucial for an entrepreneur. Getting the most out of each day is absolutely vital when you’re trying to grow a business. Whether you’re having a hard time managing your to-do list or you need help with certain aspects of your business, we’ve rounded up ten top apps that can help your business thrive. Check them out.

FakeClients Design Brief Generator

Starting your own design business? This Product Hunt–featured tool is made for beginning logo designers to practice their skills. With “fake clients” prompting you to create logos, you can add them to your portfolio, share them, and start growing your business.

Get more clients today with FakeClients Design Brief Generator for $17 (Orig. $600) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

 

VideoProc

Video marketing is growing in popularity and will continue to do so in the coming years. If you want to jump in on the craze but don’t have the skills to do it, you’ll love VideoProc, the #1 fast video processing software. You can edit, convert, resize, and adjust large and 4K videos quickly with this program.

Make editing videos for your business a breeze with VideoProc, now $25.50 (Orig. $119) with promo code: GOFORIT15.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited

One of the top-rated VPNs on the market, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited offers a lifetime of AES 256-bit encryption to protect your browsing. They have a strict no-logging policy and offer unlimited bandwidth so protecting your browsing connection won’t slow it down.

Keep your online data secure with the help of KeepSolid VPN Unlimited for $33.15 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Speechify Audio Reader

Love multitasking? Speechify Audio Reader will facilitate multitasking by reading any webpage, document, or whatever else you put in front of it out loud. Whether you need to read a deposition but also have to make dinner or you’d just like to read an article while continuing to work, Speechify Audio Reader has you covered.

Get more done by turning text into speech with Speechify Audio Reader just for $34 (Orig. $390) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

DarwinMail Professional Plan

If you suffer from Gmail overload, DarwinMail will be a lifesaver. With bulk actions and bundling to remove mass amounts of emails, this web app can quickly clear out your email. Plus, it offers reminders, keyboard shortcuts, and more to make sending emails easier and communication more seamless than ever.

Make the most out of your Gmail with DarwinMail for just $34 (Orig. $300) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator

Every business needs a logo so that people grow to recognize your branding. But why pay a graphic designer thousands when you can get a professionally designed logo automatically generated? With My Brand New Logo, just enter a little information about your business, and it will generate you a new logo in just minutes that you can customize to your liking.

Forgo hiring an expensive designer use My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator for just $34 (Orig. $12,500) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Slides Pro Plus Plan

Presentations are a great way to get your point across, but not all of us are very good at them. Entrepreneurs who need to raise money for their ventures, however, need to be. Fortunately, Slides Pro Plus Plan makes it easy to create beautiful pitch decks, regardless of your ability or tech savvy.

Create the perfect marketing deck for clients with Slides Pro, now $41.65 (Orig. $540) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Provify Premium Plan

Social proof is an important element of getting sales for your products and services. Provify makes it easy to gather and surface that social proof to your site visitors. With simple surveys and widgets, you can get feedback fast and show new visitors just how much people love your product.

Surface the things people love about your product or service with Provify Premium Plan for $67.15 (Orig. $299).

Zuitte 50+ Tools for Entrepreneurs

Why spend money on 50 different programs to do 50 different business tasks? Zuitte offers you more than 50 tools for one low price. From Facebook Messenger bot builders to marketing tools, SEO tools, email marketing, a CRM, and much more, Zuitte gives you everything you need to run your business efficiently in a single suite.

Get all of the tools necessary as an entrepreneur with Zuitte 50+ Tools for just $169.15 (Orig. $9,480) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

MindMaster Mind Mapping Software

Whether you were spitballing ideas or something in the middle of the night pops up, making an idea into a reality doesn’t have to be difficult. Mindmapping can breakdown problems into solutions. MindMaster allows you to visually map out structures to ultimately innovate your business. 

Start laying out your ideas and processes in order with MindMaster Mind Mapping Software for $41.65 (Orig. $129) with promo code: GOFORIT15.