Sunday, January 31, 2016

uuuum DEWUT

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replacing white-rodgers thermostat 1e30-910

So, we've got baseboard heating, some of which are connected to an old thermostat:



Here is a picture the backside of a white rodgers 1e30-910 mercury thermo:



Thermostat wires in wall:



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The problem: yesterday the baseboard heaters never turn off. Though it could be a short somewhere else in the system, I'm going to start with the assumption it's this old thermostat.



When I removed the thermostat from the wall, these were the only 2 wires actually connected. The 3rd one was just floating. :eek:





Could any of you please suggest a replacement thermostat, something that is basic, could handle these 2 (3?) wires and is programmable?



I've looked at this one, for example, but it assume about 6 wires to connect. I've got 2: Honeywell









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Multimeter IP67

Can anyone recommend a waterproof multimeter other than the Fluke 28II. as much as I'd like that meter, I not looking to spend that kind of money right now. Was looking at the Reed R5010 or the Extech EX505

External gas shutoff needed to replace range?

We have a condo which still has the original gas range from the 70s or 80s. We want to replace it. When we recently replaced plumbing valves in the kitchen that required water to be shut off in the whole condo building. Is a similar shutoff usually needed to replace a range?



I was told that a similar job was done in the building next to ours by Sears when they delivered the new range and they did not need an external shutoff. I suspect the same might be true about our condo, but what if, for instance, the old pipe (i.e. whatever connects the range to the gas line) is old/rusty? Could it crack even when the old range gets moved from the wall?

Friday, January 29, 2016

Electrostrip [Plug in Receptacles] plugs

In need of 2 maybe 3 plugs for the Semens Electro Strip.. any help would be great.

City of Toronto outside workers closer to labour disruption


A legal strike or lockout date could be as soon as Feb. 20, Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong says after both sides seek No Board reports.

Blower schematic

Could you help me understand this blower's schematic? Most of the schematics on the blower will show what each color wire represents. I'm used to working on residential units. Now I'm working for a commercial management company. All of our RTUs are Carrier.









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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Either humidistat or thermostat causes fan to run

Hey Pro's,



So I have a new system that isn't humidifying so well. Before I call a professional to take a look, I was hoping to understand what is technically possible with my equipment so I don't accept any bad advice!



EQUIPMENT:

Furnace: G9MVE furnace (Two stage)

Humidifier: Honeywell HE100C, (bypass, installed on the return air duct). The

Thermostat: Nest V2



CURRENT WIRING:

See attached



THE PROBLEM:

Based on this setup, my humidifier only runs when heat is on. The problem here is that the house retains heat very well, so the heat does not come on often enough to maintain a reasonable humidity. I'm in Ontario, Canada so the cold weather saps all the moisture from the air and I'm around 23% RH but I'm looking for ~ 50% RH. Just put down $$$ of new hardwood, so maintaining the right humidity is very important!



DESIRED OUTCOME

When the humidistat recognizes low humidity, it turns on the humidifier + turns on the fan, (even if the furnace is not running). During winter I would set the humidistat, and in summer turn it off and close the bypass damper.



I've been reading online and it seems it could be implemented by connecting the EAC (110vac, which runs anytime fan is on) to a transformer (24vac) and connecting the humidifier to that, then bridging the fan on the thermostat to run whenever the humidity on the thermostat is low.



Is this even possible? Could it be solved with some clever wiring/bridging? I'd like to avoid paying for new equipment if it could be solved with what I have!



Thanks









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New Laminate Storage

I am doing new kitchen countertops using Wilsonart HD laminate. I have the laminate on order and it should be here a few days. When I pick it up I am expecting it to be rolled up. Between fabricating the new countertop underlayment (particleboard) and other commitments it will be a few weeks before I will be installing the laminate. How should I store the new laminate? Leave it rolled up or lay it flat.



Thanks

Scarborough transit plan takes step forward


Mayor John Tory’s executive committee voted unanimously Thursday for city staff to study and report back on the plan.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

$800 electric bill

Short & sweet, recently we changed out a reversing valve and since the electric bill has skyrocketed. The unit is a heat pump which even when running purely on electric heat the meter is registering around 8 kwh per hour. With the heat pump it can be slightly higher or round about. The unit is a goodman and thermostat is a Honeywell 1000. The heat kit is rated at 9.5 kwh and the unit is 2.5 tons. The Apartment is apx 1000 ft^2. The unit is short cycling when on emergency and when on heat and lets concentrate on that for now. The unit will run continuously cycle off with no call from the thermostat and cycle back in within a few minutes I should have timed it and then comes immediately on again with the heat cycle lasting significantly longer 10-15 min again should have timed it. This cycle averages with heat kits running apx. 90-95 of an hour. I went under the house and I checked the duct. Originally there was a split hard pipe 7" apx 6 ft and a collapsed return apx day 15. Now after the Property management group sent the maintenance over to repair duct problems I seen there is a tear 10"-16" next to a hardpipe sleeve for where the return was spliced and also the 90 coming out of the return box the take off is collapsed and there was no mastic used, there is a significant gap and the maintenance used duct tape which was very sloppy. I'm not 100% sure the problems lie with the duct or the thermostat but that's where I would go with it.



to answer questions:

the daily reading was on average not vey high 1,2,3 KWH and between but there where some spikes that reached 5-9 for about 8 days in a 35 day period before the repair.



The CFM is 350-500 on all registers and delta t is 30 with electric heat.



No they have not had a problem like this before except a $280 in feb last year. The tenant is a single person no washer no dryer and the water heater is not leaking.



with the unit off kwh was negligible



Anyone ran in to this before no random opinions pros only not to insult anyone but I need to the bottom of this without bad advice.

Leslieville homeless shelter approved despite residents’ concerns


Toronto's community development committee is recommending city council give final approval to an 80-bed shelter on Leslie St.

3 Soon-to-be-Everywhere Social Media Trends You Can Profit on in 2016

What is the next big wave of social media?


Maybe it's Peach—or another hot new social network. Maybe it's a strategy like posting times or text faces. (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧


It's really hard to say!


(And yet here I am saying it.) :)


To ride the wave of the next big thing in social media, it often takes a lot of trial-and-error, a good deal of trendspotting, and some courage to try new things. I've spent some time reading up on what's to come for social media and I'd love to get your thoughts on three new trends that might be monumental.





1. Social shopping


You can buy stuff straight from your News Feed!


E-commerce has felt a bit like a missing piece from the social media feeds. Sure, you can tweet/post/Snap about a product that you're selling, yet your potential customers must still leave the social network they're on to visit your site in order to complete the purchase.


Previously:


Social --> your site --> $$

Soon:


Social = $$

This is already in the works in some moderate ways, on sites like Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook.


Pinterest has a "Buy It" option on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, where you can buy Pinned products directly from Pinterest. Available products have a blue "Buy It" button next to the standard red "Pin It" button.


Here's a preview of how the process works:


Pinterest buy it apple pay


Facebook has been testing a Buy button for well over a year now and has been slowly rolling it out to more and more users. Like with Pinterest, Facebook's option allows shoppers to buy products without ever leaving Facebook.


Facebook buy button


And you might be familiar with Domino's pizza emoji tweet?


Yep, Twitter shopping is a thing, too. In addition to the pizza emoji, Twitter has a buy button that users can access to buy and sell directly from the Twitter stream. Here's an example of the experience with a Warby Parker set of sunglasses.


Twitter buy button


Buying and selling on social media feels like it may be on the verge of something big.


And whatever solution falls into place here could go a long way toward solving one of the Big Mysteries of social media marketing:


How can I accurately measure my social media ROI?


For some time now, one of the biggest challenges for social media marketers has been assigning dollars-and-cents results to efforts on Twitter, Facebook, and the like.


And though this new frontier of social shopping and e-commerce might be only part of the return on investment (there's still the lead gen and funnel parts that are important to consider), it's one of the biggest steps toward tying a direct, monetary result to one's social media marketing.


If purchases take place on social media, ROI becomes clearer, social media's position in the marketplace improves, and we all win—buyers and sellers.


Ways you can profit on this:



  • Join the Pinterest waitlist or use "Buy It" straight away today if you're on a platform like Shopify

  • Check your Facebook page and ads center to see if you have the "Buy" option turned on for your call-to-action buttons

  • Check Twitter's list of partners to see if you've already got access via a service like Gumroad or Stripe perhaps

  • For Instagram, you can look into services like Penny, which let shoppers buy straight from Instagram with hashtag #sold


2. Social media at work


One of my favorite topics to write on (and one that I probably didn't have a really great answer to) is the split between who you are on social media inside of work and outside of work.


Well, moving forward, that might not be an obstacle any more!


Facebook at Work, announced last year, seeks to carve out a work-specific social media zone for coworkers to communicate with one another.


facebook-buy


Like this TechCrunch headline stated: Facebook at Work lets businesses create their own social networks.


LinkedIn is interested in similar work-style social media, and like a lot of other Facebook features, it's possible that this one will trickle out to a whole host of other networks, too.


Even apps like Slack and Hipchat have helped add distinction to the work/life split, making it easy to converse with teammates in a medium that doesn't dip into personal life.


This new, explicit distinction between work social media and personal social media could represent a huge shift in how social networks are used. It's quite early days with things (Facebook at Work is starting its slow roll out, available on mobile currently). Guessing at some of the effects here, you could see changes to:



  • Ideal posting time: If the typical high-engagement window of 9-to-5 is spent with 9-to-5ers hanging out on their own private networks, optimal timing might shift.

  • Message content: Instead of reaching folks at work and play, now a brand's updates might be targeted toward one or the other

  • Ad types: Will it be possible to get a message into a "work" network?


A lot remains to be seen here, but the early signs of work-centric social networks feels like too big a trend to miss.


Ways you can profit on this:



  • Stay tuned into Facebook's updates on the subject so you're first in the door. (Facebook publishes lots of great updates to its Business blog.)

  • Start honing your messages to different types of people and different times of day: Custom audiences and ads provide a good playground for tests


3. Messaging & chat apps


How to reach people who aren't checking their feeds


When we go on our semi-annual Buffer retreats, we all stay in touch with one another not on social media but on messaging platforms: WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.


Is the same true for the ways you communicate with your nearby friends and family?


This seems to be a growing trend for a lot of the back-and-forth convos that take place. If social media is seen as a broadcast medium, messaging apps feel a bit more conversational. 


And it's possible that these two reasons might be why. With messaging apps, there's:



  1. No algorithm.

  2. No ads.


Algorithms and ads have come to define social media more and more. Messaging apps are the complete opposite. For instance, on Snapchat (not quite a messaging app per se but disruptive enough in this sense), a user will choose to view a branded story and give it their full attention, whereas on Facebook the algorithm decides which posts the user might see.


So with people choosing a way around ads and algorithms, how does your content stand a chance of being seen?


This one definitely calls for some outside-the-box thinking. We're currently spinning our brains with this one at Buffer and taking inspiration from folks who are charting new territories here already.


The WhatsApp newsletter


Alex Laughlin of the National Journal came up with a pretty neat experiment last year: She uses WhatsApp to send a daily newsletter to a group of subscribers.


whatsapp-newsletter


The setup for the list is pretty simple. Here're Alex's instructions:



  • Download WhatsApp

  • Save this number in your contacts as Lunch Links: 706–604–5805.

  • Send “Lunch Links” a message on WhatsApp asking to be added to the newsletter.


Essentially, people would opt in with a phone number rather than an email, and they'd get the newsletter messages straight away as chats. It's a super interesting concept! And I quite liked this as the motivation for exploring this type of network:


If my fifteen-year-old sister’s social networking use is any indication, organizations should be hopping on these chat technologies — and quickly.


The Everlane Facebook messages


Online clothing retailer Everlane is one of the first to explore Facebook Messenger as a way to engage with customers and perform those standard e-commerce support roles with order confirmations, updates, shipping info, etc.


Customers can chat directly with Everlane support reps for any questions—even adding more items to an order.


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(Here's a bit more from Facebook's announcement about their Messenger platforms).


The new wave of Slack, chat, and notifications


And then there's all the many different ways to get a message into things like desktop notifications or a Slack chat room (the next frontier!). Here're just a few options:



  • Roost – Let folks turn on desktop notifications for your blog's content

  • Slackbots and integrations: This neat list on Product Hunt features things like a Slack bookmarklet for sharing links, plus lots of other cool marketing ideas


Ways you can profit on all this:



  • Give people more than one way to hear from you: Offer subscription via text, Messenger, and more

  • Survey your audience to find out what new technologies they're using most, then adjust your strategies accordingly

  • Not sure what some of these apps are? Give them a go yourself so it's easier to empathize with how your customers might experience your brand


Bonus: A few extra social media trends


I originally researched more than 20 new trends that social media folks thought might be big this year. The three above are the ones that seemed really promising, and a bunch of these below were simply too intriguing not to mention. They are:



  1. Emoji responses

  2. 360 video

  3. Livestreaming

  4. Social media customer service

  5. "Everything platforms"


I've added all these to a new story on Buffer's Medium collection.


Click to read more detail on any of these. (And feel free to follow us on Medium if you happen to hang out there some. We post cool stuff!)


Over to you


What trends are you keeping your eye on this year?


What do you see coming for social media?


I'd love the chance to learn from you with any thoughts you have on these items or any that I might have missed! It'd be awesome to connect in the comments or on Twitter.



The post 3 Soon-to-be-Everywhere Social Media Trends You Can Profit on in 2016 appeared first on Social.


Aluminum pool enclosures - different ways to screen

I have a house that wraps around the pool and an overhead aluminum screen enclosure that is mounting on the interior fascia of the house's roof framing.



I am looking at redoing the screening.



The overhead screen is like an "A-frame". The aluminum structure has seven "rafters" forming six sections.







The way it is done now, each "section" is one big sheet of fiberglass screen. In other words, there is one piece of screen that starts at the low point where it attaches to the frame at the fascia, that piece runs over the cross member, over the crown member, over another cross member, then down to the bottom on the other side.







One big piece as shown in the sketch below.







Is this the best way to do it?



I am getting different estimates for the rescreen.



One contractor said the way I have it now is better because it is more flexible and less likely to tear.



Another contractor said I should not use one big piece but instead divide into four smaller pieces per section, that way when one piece tears the other three pieces do not need to be repaired.



Any screen experts here? What is the "best practice"?

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Solutions — with a price tag — seen for Toronto Community Housing residents


At places like 220 Oak St., partnerships with local agencies and the province are helping vulnerable TCHC tenants build better communities.

Heater & A/C will NOT turn off

I am not an air conditioning expert! I learn through trial and error. Here is the issue, my Draft Inducer Motor and the main fan that blows air into our vents does not turn off! The only way I can turn it off is by flipping the breaker off. As soon as I turn the breaker back on, the Draft Inducer Motor and main fan that blows air into our vents immediately starts blowing! With regards to the thermostat...I have turned it off, but this does not make the Draft Inducer Motor or main fan stop! I remove the batteries and it does NOT make the Draft Inducer Motor or main fan stop! Only by flipping the breaker does everything shut off. Now, the heater lights up and works perfectly and blows hot air into vents AND the air conditioner works perfectly and blows cold air into vents. If I lower the heat to below the current temperature, the heat does turn off, but again the Draft Inducer Motor and the main fan continue to blow air!



In the last 6 months, I have changed the following: Dual Run Capacitor, Run Capacitor, Pressure Switch, Flame Rollout Limit Switch, and air filter every 3 months! Lastly, I changed the Control Board a year ago. The fuse is not broken!



This is on York unit that is 10+ years old and resides on the top roof of our condominium.

ECM Motor Question

I need some opinions here. MY furnace blower quit tonight. Carrier model 58CVA110 Shows a blower fault. Sure enough the blower rocks but never turns. I pulled the blower out expecting it to be a bad module.



When I checked the resistance on the three wires to the motor windings, I got a strange result. All three coils are about the same resistance (about 5 ohms) but the digital meter bounced all over the place. I even saw some negative resistance readings. I tied down the blower wheel just to make sure I wasn't generating electricity by moving the blower wheel. I saw resistances from about 2 ohms to about 18 ohms. Every once in a while the negative sign would pop up on my Fluke 116 meter.



I don't ever remember seeing motor winding resistances that changed. Has anybody else seen this? If so, what did you find was the problem? Was it just the module or was the whole motor bad? I hate to buy a module - then go back to buy a whole motor.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Toronto police Deputy Chief Peter Sloly’s absence sparks speculation


Deputy chief has been on vacation since he hit the headlines earlier this month with comments about ‘ongoing issues of trust and legitimacy’ in policing.

condensation or is my recently installed window leaking?

Hello,



I was just getting set to trim out my recently installed windows and noticed a small amount of water in both bottom corners. It has been cold where I am (sub 20 degree F), so it's possible that it is condensation, but I'm not sure.



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The window has been installed for several months, but, until now, I've been concentrating on the exterior.

I believe I followed the spirit of the manufacturers (Pella) recommendations for installation (I didn't use Pella branded flashing, but, what I did use is at least as good). The sill is covered with Flex Wrap applied directly to the wood sill. The bottom flange is over the Flex Wrap. WRB is tucked in on the sides. Side and header flanges are covered with DuPont peel and stick flashing. WRB is over the header flashing and 'skip' taped.

I don't want to cover this up with trim until I'm confident that I'm not covering up a problem.



What are your suggestions for determining if it's condensation or if it's leaking? If it's leaking, what are my options for dealing with it? The exterior siding and window trim are installed and sealed, so I'd really be upset if I had to remove the window.

If it's condensation, how do I make sure it won't continue to have condensation behind the trim?



Thanks in advance.









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Where'd the heat pump go?

There they are!

Who said heat pumps shouldn't sit right on the ground? Silly ideas........



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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Furnace not draining?

2nd unit that I found doing this in a week,

Furnace runs for about 3-4 minutes water is dripping from the secondary heat exchanger, inducer at...

Kenmore gas furnace and rollout switch

I have a Kenmore furnace thats about 15 years old and this past weekend it started tripping the rollout switch got a guy to come out he adjusted the gas pressure and said it was high now its correct anyway it hasnt tripped out since but he said the heat exchanger might be dirty or restricted and that it was something that isn serviceable and that i should consider betting a new furnace ...is that true are they not serviceable ? 15years is that old for a furnace these days?



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Saturday, January 23, 2016

Excellent site!

Wow! So many responses!



Thanks everyone. It sure is nice to get so many opinions!



I do have one question though.



Where is the like button? lol:LOL:

Trane Heat Pump Auxillary Light

I have a Trane Heat Pump and I noticed that the auxillary light that use to be blue, when it came on, now it is green. When the heat pump comes on, the outside unit fan will run for a little while and then, when the auxillary light now green comes on the fan will turn off. It has a Trane Baystat 240 weatherton heat pump thermostat on it now. I was going to change it to a Honeywell RTHL3550, but there are too many wires for this one. What is causing the auxillary light to change colors? It use to be blue, now green. Is it the thermostat or something else?

Friday, January 22, 2016

Basement Bathroom Ventilation Fan

Hi all,

Putting a bathroom in my basement and need some advice. Installing a vent fan that will be discharging out the side of the house, roughly 5 feet straighshot from the fan. With that short of a straight run, am I ok without insulation if I use pvc and pitch it downward or am I better off using insulated flex vent?

Honeywell TrueEase HE300 using cold water supply

Hello,



I was wondering if anyone has installed or used a Honeywell TrueEase HE300 (powered humidifier) with a cold water supply. That is the only supply easily available now and I am concerned it might not work very well, especially living in Chicago where the water gets quite cold in the winter.



Thanks!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Cities can use stimulus cash for repairs, Ottawa confirms


Infrastructure Minister says first phase of funding should flow by spring, and may be applied to "recapitalization and repairs,” not just new projects

Suggested materials for exterior attic crawlspace access door.

Hello,

I want to create an access to the attic crawlspace via door in the gable end of the house. I want to disguise it to look like a gable vent. To add to the challenge, I want an "eyebrow" (i.e., arch at the top) shaped door.

I'm thinking of using exterior plywood--perhaps reinforced on the backside with angle aluminum to inhibit warping. On the face, I'll use PVC to (somehow) fake the look of a gable vent.

In case you're wondering, we currently have an access door in the ceiling of a room that we'd like to finish as a living room, so we'd like to finish the ceiling. We have limited closet space and the closets are crowded and shallow, so they have been ruled out for locations for the access door.

I welcome any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

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How to Find Amazing Content for Your Social Media Calendar (And Save Yourself Hours of Work)

"Could you pop into a quick morning standup, Ash?"

"I'll be there in a minute," I'd reply. "I'm just finishing up a Facebook post."

As a community manager, most of my mornings would start along these lines.

One of the toughest, and most time-consuming, tasks in community and social media management is finding a stream of high-quality, engaging content to share with your audience every day.

A social media calendar is an excellent way to keep on top of this. But staring at a blank calendar can feel daunting: How do you find great content to share? How can you keep your feeds engaging? 

In this post, we'll help you to identify some great ways to curate content and create an engaging social media calendar for your business.

Let's go!
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What is a social media calendar?

A social media calendar is essentially a planning document that allows you to visualize your social media strategy. It helps you to organize all the content you are curating and creating and helps ensure you're consistently sharing high-quality content with your audience.

A content calendar can also be extremely useful to give your wider marketing team or other areas of the business an easy-to-digest overview of your social channels and help you organize resources as you'll know what content needs to be published and when. It is super helpful to be able to plan when you may need some help from a copy editor or designer, for example.

Here's how our social media calendar looks within Buffer:

social-media-calendar

Why a social media calendar is important

It will help you be more consistent
Consistency is key to social media success. It's hard to achieve your goals and break through the noise if you only post now and then or whenever you get a chance.

By creating a social media content calendar and pre-planning your schedule, you can ensure you're regularly posting updates and keeping on track.

Social media requires strategy
On the CoSchedule blog, Garrett Moon explains:

"The difference between having a content marketing editorial calendar and not having one is simple: One is flying by the seat of your pants and the other is executing a strategy."

Success on social media requires a strategy. You need to know what content your audience craves, and have the right tools to execute. Having a social media calendar will publish incredible content on a consistent basis.

(P.S. We've teamed up with Hubspot to create a social media content calendar template to help you manage and plan your social media content.)

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5 places to find incredible content and inspiration

Having a social media strategy is one thing, curating and finding all of the amazing content you need to execute that strategy is another challenge altogether.

Here are five places to find and curate great content:

1. Twitter

Twitter is an amazing tool to find great content ideas and talking points from your industry.

Following and retweeting others in your niche is a great way to engage with people and share content in real-time. However, when it comes to planning a content calendar, Twitter can be a great help here too.

Twitter search is amazingly powerful and by searching for topics related to your business you can uncover some real gems to add to your calendar.

Here's a great piece of content I found by searching for ‘social media marketing':

hubspot-tweet

2. Following industry news and trends

Every industry will likely have a focused news outlet (or even multiple outlets for larger niches).

For example, to keep up with the latest online marketing and advertising trends, I regularly check out: AdWeek, Brand Republic and The Drum. These sites help me to keep on top of the latest news, trends and conversation within the industry. If you're looking to curate some great content, it can be a good idea to

If you're looking to curate some great content, it can be a good idea to identify some of the best blogs in your niche and regularly scan them for content your audience will love.

3. Social media analytics

Taking a look back at your own data and analytics is an amazing way to figure out what content has been successful and resonated with your audience.

Here's an example from Buffer analytics showing two of our most popular tweets over the past week:

buffer-analytics

It's always good to experiment and try new things on social and by looking back at analytics, you can start to see what is working for your business and performing best across your social channels – this will help you to refine your strategy and create a calendar full of extremely engaging content.

We've also started to see a trend within Buffer where people are re-Buffering some of their most successful posts to maximize the reach and engagement of their best content.

Pro tip: If you do start to re-share content multiple times, it can be great to make slight tweaks each time, so that the re-shared posts are identical to the originals.

4. Content aggregators and communities

When I first open up my laptop in the morning, I quickly scan through a few of my favourite content aggregation sites: HackerNews and Inbound, in particular.

These sites help me to scout some of the best content on social media, marketing and startups. Content aggregators and community sites are a great way to find content on any niche.

Here are a couple of great sites:

Reddit

Reddit is an amazing place to discover a ton of great stuff you could re-share with your audience and what's even better is that every niche you can imagine (and then some) will be sure to have its own subreddit.

Here are a few examples:

To find the best subreddit for your business, head over to Reddit search.

Quora

Quora isn't necessarily a content aggregator, but it's a great place to find some inspiration.

Keeping an eye on questions in your niche on Quora can be a brilliant way to find some ideas for social media content (posts, images, videos) and blog posts – countless posts I've written have been inspired by threads on Quora. 

For example, if you're a mortgage advisor, following the ‘Mortgages' topic on Quora will give you a ton of ideas for content you could create:

mortgage

From just these two questions and subsequent threads, you could craft a wealth of content and know that there's an audience of people who are interested in it before you start.

The best way to get started on Quora is to sign up (results are very limited without an account) and search for topics related to your niche that you can start following.

Once you're up and running, you should begin to see a bunch of relevant threads on Quora every time you visit the site.

5. Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is a great tool to find out what content performs best in any niche.

By simply searching for keywords related to your business you will find some of the most share blog posts that are centered around your chosen keywords.

Here's a quick search I ran for ‘real estate':

buzzsumo

By identifying the most popular content in your niche, you can find some awesome, highly shareable content to add to your calendar and also find some inspiration for new content of your own.

How to plan your content calendar

Once you find some amazing content, what do you do with it next? Here are three quick steps to planning your social media calendar.

1. Find the best time to post

In 2015, we ran our own study to find the best time to tweet. To do this we analyzed over 4.8 million tweets across 10,000 profiles, pulling the stats on how clicks and engagement and timing occur throughout the day and in different time zones

Here’s the chart for the most popular times worldwide, taken from an average of 10 major time zones (the times represent local time):

This works as a great guideline when you're starting out with planning your calendar, though often, it's best to experiment with different timings to find out what works for you and sometimes you may find it easier to grab attention at non-peak times.

Facebook Insights also has a neat tool that will show you the times when your Facebook fans are online. Here's an example from Buffer's page:

fb-insights

Once you've decided on the best times to post (or at least, best times to test), you can schedule those times in your calendar and start adding content to tell your story.

2. Figure out how you'll tell your story

The content you share on social media is telling your brand story. Every tweet, status or blog post is like a page in a book, each representing a small part of your story.

When you plan your calendar, try to think about how you can pull together all the content you have and craft a unique, flowing story from it.

3. Get your team on board

A successful social media strategy often relies on many people working together.

A calendar helps you to understand what resources you'll need and when you'll need them, to execute your social media strategy. For example, you may need a designer to create some graphics, a copywriter to edit your status'.

If you don't have a whole team to focus on content, having it all planned in a calendar can help you to schedule your own time better and put aside a time to create images or proofread your posts.

Bonus: The Social Media Content Calendar [Free Template]

We've teamed up with the awesome folks over at Hubspot to create a free social media calendar template.

Social_Media_Content_Calendar_Landing_Page_Image_Shadow

Our customizable Social Media Content Calendar will allow you to organize your social media activities far in advance to make your social marketing more manageable and less time consuming.

This easy-to-use Excel template helps you plan your updates, breaking down how to format your content for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest, all while providing helpful tips and tricks along the way.

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Over to you

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments: Do you use a calendar to organize your social media content? How do you source great content to keep your calendar full?

Share your thoughts and experiences below. I'm excited to jump in and join the conversation.

The post How to Find Amazing Content for Your Social Media Calendar (And Save Yourself Hours of Work) appeared first on Social.