Prior to this class I had already had a Twitter because my friend made one for me, but I must  admit I never used it. I had no idea how to use it nor did I care to use it. I just did not see the purpose of Twitter because it seemed like it was just for making statuses, which I could do on Facebook. And I never even make statuses on Facebook, so why would I use a website that does just that. So in my mind Twitter was stupid, but man was I wrong!

Twitter provides people with so much information! You can follow celebrities, companies, anything really. In a world where social media runs everything, having a Twitter can be extremely informative. You can find out news before it even reaches radios, newspapers, television, etc. People “tweet” things as soon as they happen, therefore you can find things out right away! How crazy is that! Also, I think Twitter has made me more knowledgeable, if that even makes sense? What I mean is that by following certain sites that tweet random facts and sports updates, I’m constantly receiving a multitude of knowledge about an array of subjects.

Relating to marketing, Twitter is beneficial to both companies and customers. It provides great opportunities for companies to market products and services to their customers. It also informs customers about new products and sales that might be going on. For example, I follow some of my favorite brands and stores so I know when great deals are going on. It’s awesome!

Follow me!

Getting Started

For my Marketing 470 class, I was assigned to create my own website. At first I was scared that it would be difficult to maintain and manage but with some help and playing around, it became rather easy. After creating my blog, we were required to choose a theme. I wanted to choose a theme that reflected my fun personality but also was easy for viewers to read and navigate. After much browsing of the different themes that were offered, I think I finally found one that I like.

So Many Themes!

And the winner is…Freedream2010 1.1.1 by madzzoni.dk. The reason I chose this theme was because of the use of bright colors. I like that it “pops” and catches your attention. Not to mention, the use of the color purple, which has been my favorite color since I was a little girl. It is actually kind of ironic, that the theme I picked uses purple and green because when coming to JMU as a freshman, I chose a green and purple color scheme for my room. I guess you can say I am consistent with what I like!

Not only did I pick this theme because it reflected my personality, but I also wanted something that would keep everything that I previously had on my website and was easy to navigate. Dr. Clarke told us that some themes would not keep some of the plugins we chose. This new theme kept mostly everything on my site, except for the favicon I created. Because the favicon was such a minor detail, I did not mind that it disappeared.

I hope you all like the theme I chose!

My Website

According to Analytics:

After analyzing my website on Google Analytics, I was surprised to see that of all my visitors, around 17% were visitors who returned to my website and 84% were new visitors. Most of my visitors were from the United States but a decent amount came from the United Kingdom. My blog on false eyelashes seemed to drive a lot of traffic. If I had treated this as a campaign I probably would have gotten much more traffic and helped my website a lot more.  Of the traffic I received, 68% was direct traffic and only 32% came from search traffic. It seems as though my PPC efforts drove more traffic than my SEO efforts did. I think this is because I put more effort into my PPC than I did my SEO.

Key Takeaways:

The most important thing that I have learned in Dr. Clarke’s MKTG 470 class this semester was how to network myself more through social networking. I did not have a LinkedIn before this class, and a lot of people told me I should get one, but I just never did. After having to make one for an assignment in this class, I realized just how useful it really was. I have found and applied to jobs through it as well as connected with previous employers. I already had a Twitter, but I had no idea how to use it. After learning more about it through this course, I have learned how to follow groups and people. I have also discovered job openings through following certain fashion companys on Twitter. So all in all I think that this course really helped me with my future by using social networking. Also, learning how to make myself more visible when people search for me on Google has helped a lot, especially since I am applying for jobs.

A Future for My Website?

After taking MKTG 470 I have realized that I really enjoyed doing HTML and designing web pages. I may look into this option for a future career. As for my website, I will probably change it and possibly blog more about my interests, such as fashion and media. This may help me enter into the fashion industry and lead me to a future career.

Any online marketer or website owner should fully utilize Google Webmaster Tools. So if you haven’t hopped on the bandwagon yet, now is your chance! And best of all it’s FREE! Let me tell you a little about it…

If you want to successfully drive traffic to your site, this is the tool that will help you do so. GWT allows you to see which search queries are bringing traffic to your site, and specifically which pages they are landing on. You are provided with details to let you know what is working and what is not working on your site. Here are some tools that help make this happen:

1. Keywords – Google ranks the keywords on your page based on prevalence. Therefore you need to make sure you are communicating the right message about your site for it to be viewed this way.

2. Fetch as Googlebot – This allows you to see exactly what Google sees when viewing your site. Therefore when it cannot read something, you can better understand why.

3. HTML Suggestions – This page is a quick way to identify problems with HTML. It lets you know exactly which pages you may be having problems on so you can immediately update and fix them.

4. Search Queries – Google tells you exactly which search queries are sending traffic to your site. This lets you know which keywords are providing you with the best results.

Interested in getting started right away with GWT? Visit their website and create an account and you will be on your way to increasing traffic to your site! But don’t worry if you don’t have the slightest idea what you’re doing. Google Webmaster Tools has a Help Center as well as a YouTube Channel where you can find tips and tutorials.

Last week in my Internet Marketing class taught by Professor Theresa B. Clarke, I was provided with some great career advice from our guest speaker, Deb Van Horn. Ms. Van Horn is currently the VP of  Support Services at Rockingham Group in Harrisonburg, VA.

One of the pieces of advice she gave us was to be resilient and flexible. She explained how her experience with moving around a lot has caused her to realize not to ever get too comfortable because things are always changing. With this advice she also taught us how to effectively market ourselves with three major steps to do so:

1. “Googling” yourself - Check Google and know what is out there.
2. Moderate Facebook - Check your Facebook security settings to see what the public can see. Ms. Van Horn pointed out that sometimes the security settings change per computer, which I had no idea so now I keep this in mind anytime I switch computers.
3. Get LinkedIn – Build a profile and create relationships by connecting with professors, former classmates that are working, and different groups.

Along with a few tips on career advice I wanted to discuss an important point Ms. Van Horn said about Facebook Timeline since recently it has been getting much criticism. She explained how it actually works better for companies than the previous form of Facebook because it shows only posts made by the actually company instead of posts from others.

Finally, I wanted to thank Ms. Van Horn for her time and advice that she provided to our MKTG 470 class. If anyone is interested in contacting Ms. Van Horn you can email her or follow her on Twitter.

After reading an article about re-targeting ads in The New York Times, I still cannot decide how I feel about them. Don’t get me wrong I definitely think they are a little creepy but I also see the advantages they provide marketers. For those of you who don’t know what re-targeting is:

 Retargeting – a form of online advertising where ads are targeted to consumers surfing the web based on their previous actions on the Internet

 Basically, if you were to search for a certain pair of sunglasses, ads for those sunglasses may continue to pop up on other websites you visit and seem as if they are following you everywhere. Consumers have been complaining that they don’t like that their every move is being tracked on the internet. Privacy issues definitely come up with this type of marketing tool.

My personal concern about this advertising method is that if I am looking for something on the internet that I do not want others to know about, I would not want them seeing ads pop up everywhere if they were to borrow my computer.

As for re-targeting with respect to being a promising marketing strategy, I think that it is. By knowing what consumers are interested in, and constantly making it available to them, keeps the product in their minds. For example, sometimes I will just online browse for shoes but never actually make a purchase. If the shoes I searched for and wanted kept popping up, I would want them more and more and eventually just buy them. But, if they never kept popping up in ads all the time I probably would have forgotten about them and never made the purchase.

I am a magazine junkie and I love flipping through the ads in them. Recently, I went on spring break and bought a ton of magazines to keep me occupied while in the airport and on the plane. As I was flipping through them a question that had always irked me just kept coming back to my head: do cosmetic companies get in trouble for using false lashes in their advertisements?

I am no rookie when it comes to false lashes let alone makeup. I have been using false eyelashes for years now and I absolutely love putting on makeup. So I’m pretty sure I know the difference between real and fake eyelashes.

When looking at these ads I know that there is no way that the eyelashes on the models are real. After doing research on Google, I found out that these mascara companies put in extremely fine print that their models are indeed wearing false lashes and then the mascara is applied afterward. Although they may have covered their backs by placing this fine print in the ads, how many customers can actually read that small of print?

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned commercials from running due to the failure of making clear that false lashes were used. And, recently CoverGirl has been questioned on whether they should make their font in their ads more readable for customers. In this article, you can see the controversy that CoverGirl is facing.

I think that companies should not be able to use false lashes even if they state that they do. I want to see the real effects of something before I purchase it, and it seems that every time I buy mascara I am disappointed because it comes out nothing like the advertisements say it will.

In today’s society, social media is a part of everyday life. We live in a digital world. New social media websites are emerging more frequently than they ever have before. This has affected the way in which companies now hire their employees as well as how colleges accept prospective students. After reading a few articles on marketing and careers I realized things I never knew before about social media as well as things that I was already well aware of.

Online Presence

With new sites liked LinkedIn, those seeking employment no longer need to send out resumes because employers are already seeking them out by searching for their “online presence”. This is helpful because it makes it easier for people to find jobs and for employers to seek out their idea of the perfect candidate.

However, social media may also be detrimental for people seeking employment. Those who are online and using social media need to be careful of what they post. Many times when we are young and naive we do not think of the consequences, but posting something when you are a freshman in college may “pop up” years later when you are applying for jobs. This can potentially cause you to lose certain opportunities. Just look at all the pageant queens that lose their titles due to pictures resurfacing from years prior.

Utilize Social Media

In order to fully utilize social media to get a job you must constantly network, be creative, and attract companies to your websites. It is all about how you network yourself these days.

If you successfully take advantage of the perks that social media has to offer and network yourself appropriately, you never know, you may find yourself with many new job offers!

Read more about your online presence.

Welcome to my blog.  I am currently enrolled in Strategic Internet Marketing (MKTG 470) taught by Dr. Theresa B. Clarke at James Madison University.  As one of the course requirements, all students will be completing some of the assignments as blog posts.  This is my first official blog post for Dr. Clarke’s course in the JMU Department of Marketing.