Monthly Archives: February 2017
How I Climbed from My Hell to Heaven
This week in PR Pubs we were required to make a business card for any company we desired. I did a ton of research into a company called Cicis and realized they recently changed their logo. I can agree with the change because it looks much better (like if you updated windows XP to windows… Continue reading How I Climbed from My Hell to Heaven
OOPS I did it AGAIN
I had to get a Brittney Spears lyrics in there….. Just kidding. Seriously though, I messed up with class AGAIN! Especially with PR Publications. This class is probably the easiest class to pass and I messed up! All we have to do is show and do our homework and work hard. How hard is it to do your best? It shouldn’t be very hard, but I’m human so all will be righted and okay I suppose. So this past week I totally forgot to write my blog (this blog I am writing now is that blog). I also apparently didn’t turn in my first week’s blog, which I totally did, but in result my professor didn’t count the assignment. I hope he makes an exception but if he doesn’t, I suppose I understand; it is my fault after all.
Let’s move on to what I learned this past week. Publications was really pretty fun. We have started to get into the new program InDesign which is extremely complicated and had me wanting to pull my hair out. I also discovered my laptop will not download InDesign. I discovered this while in class with everyone around me already working on their assignment. Needless to say, I had a mini panic-attack. Luckily for me, a student wasn’t there so I hopped on her computer and worked on it. I actually ended up having to sell my old laptop and buy a new one. Anyways, InDesign is super cool other than not being compatible with my laptop. It is honestly very similar to photoshop but for designing stuff like advertisements and business cards.
Let’s move on to what I learned this past week. Publications was really pretty fun. We have started to get into the new program InDesign which is extremely complicated and had me wanting to pull my hair out. I also discovered my laptop will not download InDesign. I discovered this while in class with everyone around me already working on their assignment. Needless to say, I had a mini panic-attack. Luckily for me, a student wasn’t there so I hopped on her computer and worked on it. I actually ended up having to sell my old laptop and buy a new one. Anyways, InDesign is super cool other than not being compatible with my laptop. It is honestly very similar to photoshop but for designing stuff like advertisements and business cards.
Do you see how many buttons there are? We definitely didn’t even learn a fraction of what those buttons mean. However, we did learn a lot of shortcuts which I don’t remember whatsoever.
If you would like to try out InDesign for yourself they do have a trial! Heres the link
If you would like to try out InDesign for yourself they do have a trial! Heres the link
https://helpx.adobe.com/mobile-apps/how-to/comp-to-magazine-cover.html?sdid=KKQLP&kw=semgeneric&mv=search&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!155829415335!e!!g!!indesign&ef_id=VxbXKQAABIxvmJs@:20170207173617:s
Building Bo’s Brand
First off, I love that I can call this homework. My first task in my social media marketing class was to create a social media profile for a person, place or thing that would otherwise not have one; thus, I have (quite eagerly) embarked upon the journey to createFacebookandInstagramaccounts for my stunningly adorable English Bulldog, Bo.
I have to say, Bo’s Instagram is my favorite. This (not-so) little guy’s personality is best portrayed via picture or video. However, this assignment focused mostly on the portrayal of a brand through Facebook. That said, I wanted to give a little background to my thought-process for “Branding Bo.”
Bo’s Background
-The dog loves football. No, seriously. We put the TV on ESPN when we leave the house. Call us crazy pet owners (because we most definitely are) but we know our dog loves football. He actually watches the games. It’s crazy.
– Bo is a major homebody. While he has never met a stranger, he doesn’t like to leave home. He loves his family and he loves his bed, that much is for sure.
– Naps. I really don’t need to elaborate much on this one, other than to note that this dog spends about 90% of his existence in REM sleep.
– He is a stereotypical English Bulldog. He doesn’t run, he walks. Distance is never his preference. He is the epitome of gassy. He snores. Loudly. He is extremely loyal and loving.
– Lastly, this is one happy-go-lucky dog. He is just happy to have people around him, in his home, scratching his back.
Background to Branding
After thinking about those major facts, I realized they most likely would not translate well into a brand. If I had to personify this dog, he would be a jolly, overweight middle-aged man. Now, since my dog is not Santa Claus nor is he particularly well-known outside of my family and circle of friends, this presents a problem on the branding side.
As a PR professional, I ALWAYS air on the side of the authentic. I don’t want to stray too far from the authenticity of Bo’s personality, but I do want to add emphasis to its really relatable aspects. Thus, I introspected a bit and realized:
– I have grown to greatly appreciate naps in college.
– And free food.
-And light-hearted and (at times) self-deprecating humor.
I have also come to assume an appreciation of such things is almost universal. So I tried to hone in on these fundamentally relatable high points.
Brand Basics
Profile picture, cover photo and Bo’s very own community napping event– all of these cover the basics of Bo’s brand.
(Profile Basics)
Boosting the Brand: Content
Bo’s brand includes articles about his favorite things: food, naps and football (seriously, he’s such a middle-aged man at heart…)
Also, Bo would be a man of few words. Thus, his text posts are short and sweet and generally accompanied with a multimedia element.
Boosting the Brand: Photo Album
Like I mentioned earlier, I think Bo’s personality is best portrayed through pictures. Bo has a bit of a rebellious streak (one I think he’s slightly proud of), so I decided to make it a “thing,” so to speak.
Brand Hypotheticals
Because I opted to do a Facebook page over a Facebook profile, there are a few facts missing on his page:
1. Favorite Quote: “Home is wherever I’m with you.”
2. Favorite Music: Songs about home and family, with a little pop-country thrown in there (courtesy of my dad’s influence)
3. Favorite Movies: Unbroken (the dog legitimately watched the entire movie with me and my brother) and the Notebook (because you have to admit, the dog is a softie at heart)
4. Facebook Group: Cowboy’s Fan Group. I think due to our family’s love for the Dallas Cowboys, our dogs have inherited a love for the Dallas Cowboys. Bo actually watches the games, so I am going to go out on a limb and assume Facebook him would be an active participant in their fan club.
5. Relationship status: “Sorry ladies, but I am already in a committed relationship with long, luxurious naps.” AKA single.
Conclusion
Bo’s brand was one I greatly enjoyed building. It helps that he is a genuinely simple guy and I had a lot of photos to beef up his profile. Overall, his brand was fairly easy to build, which I can partially attribute to how obsessed I am with my Bully.
If anything, this showed me just how important it is to know your brand. I know my dog like the back of my hand, so it made this assignment quite enjoyable to complete. All in all, having a cohesive understanding of a brand is essential to building an effective social media profile.
This Is Me
As a child I was also very curious and apparently self absorbed if you dare to look at the pictures I took as a young child (they were all close ups of my face). As I got older I became quite good at taking pictures and very artistic with painting as well. I eventually took my brothers senior pictures and pictures that were auctioned off at my mothers store for people to buy.
Even before the 10th grade I was very good at cooking along with the rest of my family when I turned sixteen the first place I applied to was a restaurant called Bellini’s. It was at this restaurant that I learned what real life was like outside of having small kid-like businesses. I learned an unbelievable amount of character qualities that are crucial if you ever want to survive in the real world.
When I was in 10th grade, my Bible teacher said that if we did the
Daniel Diet for ten days then we would receive a three percent raise on our overall grade. Of course I can never turn down a challenge so I did the full ten days without cheating (we were allowed three cheat meals) and loved the whole experience and actually ended up doing it for three months. This diet started out just as a challenge but during those ten days I came to realize exactly how unhealthy and unhappy my body was. Within the ten days I lost ten pounds and the difference was amazing. I also learned how to cook foods that I thought I couldn’t live without (i.e. cheese, bread, meat, sugar, processed food) healthy. While learning all these new eating habits, I also learned how to workout. After about three months of doing this diet I ended up losing about thirty pounds and gaining some much needed muscle and became a testimony to people who wanted to lose weight, eat healthy, and enjoy doing so.
Even before the 10th grade I was very good at cooking along with the rest of my family when I turned sixteen the first place I applied to was a restaurant called Bellini’s. It was at this restaurant that I learned what real life was like outside of having small kid-like businesses. I learned an unbelievable amount of character qualities that are crucial if you ever want to survive in the real world.
This is my story of how my adult life got started. It was a rude awakening.
The Start of Food
Growing up was slightly different than most kids because my parents did not hide anything and taught me to be independent at a young age. I remember going to school one day in first or second grade and I was starving. Not literally starving but extremely hungry because I didn’t get breakfast that day and I didn’t want what the cafeteria was serving that day. When I got home I was really mad that not one of my parents made breakfast for me but I knew better than to say anything about it. I knew that my parents would laugh and ask why they had to make my breakfast when I was perfectly capable. So from that day on, it was an unspoken rule that if I wanted to eat that day I needed to make my own food.
My parents weren’t being cruel or mean, to them it was just common sense. They never had anything handed to them so why should I? I had to take care of myself. My whole family knew how to cook so it was actually very enjoyable for me to learn to cook.
I loved to beat my brother at any challenge (because everything was a challenge) including who could cook the best. As we grew older we both became extremely good at cooking but we became good at cooking different things and the challenge switched from my brother to getting others approval. The look on peoples faces when they tasted something I cooked was something I strove towards and still drives me to continue to learn and grow in my culinary talent.
My parents weren’t being cruel or mean, to them it was just common sense. They never had anything handed to them so why should I? I had to take care of myself. My whole family knew how to cook so it was actually very enjoyable for me to learn to cook.
I loved to beat my brother at any challenge (because everything was a challenge) including who could cook the best. As we grew older we both became extremely good at cooking but we became good at cooking different things and the challenge switched from my brother to getting others approval. The look on peoples faces when they tasted something I cooked was something I strove towards and still drives me to continue to learn and grow in my culinary talent.
Is This Real Life?
Were you ever told when you were a kid, “Just wait until you get into the real world”? As I go through my second week of college I have mixed feelings about wether or not I am in the real world. My professors are actually really nice this semester and it seems like I might catch a break and make decent grades. On the other hand, I am starting my new business and it has stressed me out I am pretty shocked I don’t have a full head of gray hairs.
As far as my major’s class this semester, PR Publications, I can honestly say it was fairly interesting. Tuesday the Professor went about explaining how cool images are created. This image, for example, looks like it was created starting with a white background, and then they added some circles that are bleeding off the page. They use color contrast and different types of fonts and font sizes to guide the eye to what they are wanting you to look at. To be honest, I’ve seen hundreds of business cards and advertisements like this and never once thought there was a reason for the design or how the design was created.
Thursday we learning about what types of fonts they are and appropriateness to those fonts. You wouldn’t want to put a circus font on the page of a funeral post. Come to think of it, I probably have used plenty of fonts that were totally inappropriate for the situation. This image is a fantastic example of appropriateness, The left side is super goofy looking and it looks like someone might have forged the certificate. The right side has the font of a more appropriate certificate.
Anyways, that’s pretty much the highlight of my week! Have a great weekend!
Learning Things in College About Not College Stuff
I came into PR Publications completely late and totally freaking out because I had no idea if I would be able to join the class or not. We were learning about the thinking process of making movies and categorizing them into different stages. Personally, I still don’t get it but I did take note of a few things so that maybe I’ll be able to understand later and not lose that knowledge. The Professor had us write down on sticky notes the methods of what the people in the video clip we watched about the creation of Inside-Out. Then he had us go put the sticky notes under each category: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test. I think that he was trying to establish a thinking process of how to write a publication in the future to aid in it being successful. This method is used also in advertisement. However the difference between advertisement and publications is advertisement is paid for and not controlled. Publications is paid for but is controlled. I was supposed to post about what we learned on tuesday however I was not there on tuesday. I did, however, learn that school in fact did start on tuesday and that I should double and triple check when school starts next semester.
Here is a link to what we learned. I’m not sure if it’s the exact link we watched but I read the post and it’s essentially what we learned, I think.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/making-inside-emotions-didnt-make-848249
First Business
As soon as I was able to drive I wanted a job so I could do the adult thing and do whatever I wanted with the money I earned. It seemed that no matter where I went I needed more experience. But, wait, how is a sixteen year old who has never had a job supposed to get experience if no one will hire them? You open a business and become a good interviewer.
My mother, being the business making machine that she is, helped me create a small business of my own. It had no name but it was about selling ice cream. In the summer I would go to Crest, buy dry ice (which of course I lied about my age to get it), buy novelty ice cream and put it in a cooler to sell. I made different routes for the car dealerships that I would sell to door to door. I did this for two summers before I actually got my first job.
I learned that no matter what your situation is, only you can fix it. I needed/wanted money and the only person that was going to get it was me whether I got hired somewhere or not I was still responsible.
My mother, being the business making machine that she is, helped me create a small business of my own. It had no name but it was about selling ice cream. In the summer I would go to Crest, buy dry ice (which of course I lied about my age to get it), buy novelty ice cream and put it in a cooler to sell. I made different routes for the car dealerships that I would sell to door to door. I did this for two summers before I actually got my first job.
I learned that no matter what your situation is, only you can fix it. I needed/wanted money and the only person that was going to get it was me whether I got hired somewhere or not I was still responsible.
Persona
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if a Disney princess had social media? Odds are you probably haven’t, but I know you are wondering now so come take a look at what I think it would be like if Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” had a Facebook page. bellepersona
