Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Week 5 Post 2 Open House Media Management





Open House Media Management is a business that is going to help real estate agents and brokers manage their social media, and web based needs. This will involve keeping social media and other platforms current with postings and valid information., photos etc.

The demographics will vary because agents come in all ages, gender, sizes educational background and ethnicity. I think what will be manageable will be to chose a certain area, such in my case to start I will choose North County San Diego. It will be easy to meet with potential clients and find out what the individual needs are. I have spoke already with agents and brokers about their needs. The ones I have already spoken with all share a common need. They do not have enough time to be tied down to the computer when they are busy with clients or spending time on documents or in meetings. However they do like the idea of having a nice website and using social media for business.

I have looked to see what competitors are doing and what I am finding so far is that it is an online service that costs a monthly maintenance fee, so it still involves the client to take the time to sit and sift through and upload and things like that. So my service will consult and do all of that for them, and determine the best platforms to use etc.

I think there is another layer to this service I want to provide because not only am I looking at my target market but I will also have to establish the clients target market as well.

As we are learning in this class and when I think of things in the perspective as if I were a client, the agents and offices that stick out with me. I want to do business with are the ones who have the most and best media information and updated sites. Those are the ones who draw me in and get my attention.

I think the clients, and the clients clients, are going to be motivated people with decent incomes because if people are looking to buy they have some kind of stability and/or credit. I think income bracket  is key to my target market These will be hard working and reliable people with most likely higher standards in either case. These are people who can afford to service a need. I think all of us are people who are going to be excited about things strive for progression.


Friday, September 22, 2017

Week 5 Post 1





For this assignment I chose

http://www.econobum.com/homepg.php and http://www.justcheapdiapers.com/

I believe the demographics in this target market vary between the two companies,The econobum diapers I think are geared more for an established family with larger incomes and the just cheap diapers seem more like for anyone or families on a tight budget.

I think the age target is pretty wide as also grandparents could be part of this target market as well as young parents and all ages in between.

I think the econbum targets an educated market because there is a lot of information about the diapers and honestly even though they are diapers they can be complex, especially being non disposable, I would think that a more educated person would have concerns  in their call to action such as environmental and health reasons for using the eeconbum diapers. On the other hand with the just cheap diapers, all those concerns are out the window and the call to action is to get the cheap diapers.

As far as ethnicity I think all can be considered with either diapers. Although the just cheap diapers are Philippines based they do not seem to target just Philippine people.

For both diaper companies gender target is mostly women but certainly men could be consumers as well.

I think the econbum may consider psycographics more as they seemed to invest more marketing towards certain values, ,again based on their call to action about the landfill waste with disposable diapers. The cheap diapers one seems to have just one basic gear and that is the cheap diaper factor.

It seems like there could be a cross over but it would depend on the money and education factor. Although someone may value conserving the landfill but may not have the money for the econbum diapers. Or vice versa someone may have money and not know or care about the landfill.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Week 4 Part 2

https://www.orbitz.com/

I visit and use https://www.orbitz.com/ when I want to look for deals on travel. My opinion is they cover the C.R.A.F.T.E.D attributes. The site is pleasant to look at with soft colors, easy to navigate and organized in order with hierarchy. I like that they include lots of description and real live reviews of the hotels and services. They are catching with deals to click on but not annoying pops up that you have to click on to move forward, such as email sign ups or.

Even if I do not use Orbitz for my reservations I always go to them first because they will have the most information and usually the best deals in what I am looking for in travel. They will also often compare with others. Also I can save my trips I am looking at and come back later to modify before purchasing  on their site.

I looked through it again to see if I would change anything and honestly I could not think of anything off hand.

I also visit https://www.overstock.com/ often. I use them for online shopping. Although they are not they best looking aesthetically, they are not unpleasant in any way. There are a lot of items on the site but the organization is well done that it is not too overwhelming or stimulating. The search is nice to narrow down what I am look for and easy to sort through everything easy enough that I do not get lost like I feel I do on Amazon. I like them more than Amazon actually. They are always my first go to site for shopping online.

I am not sure what I would change, I use this site often and I have never had any problems.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Week 4: Aesthetics, Design & Branding

http://www.pennyjuice.com/htmlversion/home.htm

Penny Juice' website to me has many problems. Three right away is that it is outdated, it is too bright and hard to look at as the information is all crunched together. It is way too much. Most of the links are not clickable, especially important is the locations and contact email none of which work. The information is also vague.

I think it would help Penny Juice to update their website by addressing their target market by having some  social media connections. Some photos of the juice product would be helpful too. Personally  I liked that they had reviews but that did not seem enough, also seemed so outdated. I would like to know more about where the juice concentrate comes from exactly. I think they also need better navigation, it was hard to click through their pages and if I were a customer I would lose interest pretty quick. It seems like addressing these issue would sell the product better and build trust with customers. Having such vague information also makes me think they are not a real company, especially being it is something I never heard of before.

http://www.arngren.net/

Arngren is way too much information with no aesthetics  and way too confusing. The site in my opinion has none of the C.R.A.F.T.E.D attributes at all. It is horrible to look at. I tried adding items to a cart and it was very confusing. I even translated the site and that did not help. I had to click off of it to do the assignment because it was making my head spin.

Arnget should really break down the items and aesthetically organize. The site looks like a cheap magazine and it does not seem to me to feel trust worthy. I thought some of the items seemed pretty cool to order but I would not buy from them as it does not feel trustworthy due to the chaos of the site. If they broke it down and made it look nice I would feel more comfortable ordering. It seems they have a little effort in navigation but when I click the nav bar to the item page the item comes up with too much. For eample I click scooter and jeeps and vehicles come on the page. If the broke it up it would be better and cleaner. Some of the items are categorized but it is too much information on one page.

https://www.riversideartcenter.org/

Riverside Arts is well done I think because it is aesthetically pleasing t o look at. I think the slide shows of the art and community activities is very pleasing and engaging. The responsive design with the drop down hamburger menu is excellent for navigating. It is very clean and the soft colors are pleasant. I think it has all the C.R.A.F.T.E.D attributes. The site seems up to date and well managed. I think it is a very lovely website and I enjoyed visiting it.

https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

National Park Service is also well done. They too have the drop down navigation and hamburger menu with the responsive design. Everything is updated and pleasing to look at. Tons of information organized appropriately for what a visitor is looking for from visiting, taking classes, or getting involved. Contact information is easy to find as well as social media links. Another very pleasant website to visit.


This week I commented on:

Deanna's blog

Joshua's blog

Jennifer's blog



Thursday, September 14, 2017

Monday, September 11, 2017

Week 3 Business List part 1

The business type I have chosen is massage therapy. I am in the process of going full on out on my own. I am building my personal website and this is the perfect assignment for me right now.

Massage Envy, they did not have links on their site or if they did they were not easy to find because I didn't find any. I went directly to Facebook and found the local ME branches. I just clicked on the Vista one, it is closest to me.

The date on ME's last post was 7 hours ago. It looks like they just started using social media because the only had about 23 or 24 likes. They had a link on their FB for Pinterest and that seems to be all they have.

I do not think they are using social media too much yet and I am very surprised. They did have their own comments section on their own website and had mostly good comments. I was surprised to see they posted a negative one to, so that shows a little honesty to me.

San Diego Massage and Spa The only had clickable links to Yelp. They had links to FB and it did not work.

Their website is a WIX and it looks like they have not upgraded to one that is not advertising. They must have SEO though because they came up on a search I never knew of them.The website did look nice and if I had ti guess I think they are a newer business and things are still in progress.

What We Think We Were Doing....






What We Really Do...
Massage Green, they also did not have and social media links, or again if they did I did not find them.I went to Facebook and found the San Marcos branch, and I have also been a customer there.

MG's last post date was May 19th.. They have almost 1500 likes..

I did notice when I googled MG they had Yelp reviews. They do not seem to be usuing social media too much which to me is a surprise and I also think they should because they do not ever seem super busy. Also they offer so many services and specials I would think they would want to get that information out there.

Elements Massage they do not have links either on their site , maybe it is the norm for these chain type of massage places I do not know why.. They do have an FB and I know the chain is pretty new and they only had 52 likes and about 270 check ins. They had their own blog on their website with a post as recent at Sep 7th. Their Fb is pretty recent as well, not sure why they don't have links.

Karma Spa Same thing, no links but they have a FB with about 1000 likes and over 1000 check ins. They had recent posts on FB and I thought were informative and of quality. They too have their own blog on their site. I do not know much about Karma Spa, I have seen it in Carlsbad and it looks nice. 

I am very surprised that none of these businesses have links to any social media on their sites. They are obviously using social media but not to promote business I guess. I would think they would want to extend all resources as they all could use more traffic.When I build my website I will  link a FB at least and most likely a yelp, and take it from there. If I were a larger business I would have someone do the twitter and Instagram thing too. The more the better I would think..

Week 3 Comments

This week I commented on:

 Izik

Krong

Felipe

Janet

Thank you!!

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Week 3 Communication-Business and Consumer Part 1

I have experienced communication issues on social media with a business that I purchased a Groupon 90 min massage from. They were a local business in Carlsbad. I tried for over two weeks leaving phone messages with this particular business, or when I would call it would say the voicemail is full. They had no website or email to correspond with. I finally gave up and was able to get a refund with Groupon. I noticed this business was getting reviews on Yelp and Groupon from other customers stating the same problem. I did not take to Yelp or any other social media to blast them but I thought about it.


I have personally had a positive experience using social media. Being a massage therapist myself I have received good comments and reviews on both Facebook and Yelp. I always respond with a thank you in return. If I were to receive a  complaint.. first I would be mortified... then I would gather myself together. Next of course I would respond to try my best to communicate back to this unhappy client to get the issue resolved. I would reach out to them using the platform in hopes first of to satisfy the complaint and to show other potential customer that I am attentive. I believe people tend to realize that things happen where every single customer will not be satisfied. Also I think that the effort put forth to resolve it would show good character on my part. Because of the resolution, or attempt to resolve, a potential customer may still choose  to do business despite the complaint or negative review.

Sunday, September 3, 2017


Blogs I commented on this week are:





Click on name to be directed to:



Cody H

Jennifer L

Jasmin V


*clickable name links  idea is courtesy of Jennifer L :)


Week 2: Social Media Use

Week 2: The social media I think are geared for personal use are Snap Chat, Facebook and Twitter. The reason I think this is based on just my personal experience and observations. For example Facebook and Snap Chat seem long term especially FB in my opinion, because people post pretty much everything on FB from eating, drinking, family events, photos, locations and pretty much anything. You can follow your personal likes in music, food, news or pretty much anyone or thing. For example I am in a few groups private and public. The private ones are from school and alumni. There are church ones and I follow the Red Wolf Coalition as well as my dog breed group which is the Catahoula. Many people are not as familiar with Catahoulas so I love sharing pictures and information with people all over that have this breed which is the Louisiana state dog. So I follow a couple of groups from there as well. 
I would not even know my family if it were not for FB, seriously I do not live near them and FB is great for staying in touch. I personally like FB because it is a little slower to me and has more substance to it than snap chat. Of course everything happens on Facebook and doesn't stay on FB, oh the drama, lol... I see the appeal in Snap Chat when you are on the go a lot and just want to snap and share and keep it clean like that. Twitter I have not figured out yet, so I do not see the appeal. I guess since our country is ran off Twitter I should figure it out, lol. Just kidding and I will not get political, that is one thing I do not care to partake in on social media at all. To me what it comes down is I can see the extension of socializing through these media outlets and how it does keep a person in a social loop even if not physically in person.



For business I would think Facebook would be good because it is easy to follow a business and get information. The business can reach out to many with promos and ads. I notice often if one of my friends like something it may show up on my feed. For me if I am looking for the latest information on a place or event I will most likely turn to FB or friends who may in turn refer to a FB page. I think some of the other platforms may be fun for just little tid bits of information such as Instagram or Snapchat. It would seem though that FB would more of a hook and allow for more interaction and links to the business website.

I think it is a good idea to keep the business and social media use separate. I would say if you have a bakery and you post a photo of your family at the bakery or your dog or something on your business site is ok so that customers can get a feel of who the people behind the business is. On the other hand I would not suggest a photo of yourself in a speedo sipping Long Islands on your business site, lol. All in all  I would think to  limit the personal and business interaction on the social media.