Aesthetics, Design, and Branding: Week 3, Part II

1. drive.google.com

a) this website performs the functions to organize myself and my business. 

b) the user interface is clean and concise and is very user friendly. 

c) I really like the fact that they constantly update their design to  make sure it is as user friendly as possible. Its super easy to use and the fact that everything is on the cloud makes my life much easier!

d) It would be nice to have video tutorials when new features come out. When new features come out I usually skip on reading them because I get distracted easily. But I would watch a 1 minute video than read about it :)

2. blackboard.miracosta.com

a) All of my classes for Miracosta are on Blackboard. Everything can be found on the dashboard.

b) Everything is ordered in tabs and links. Each class is separated so it's easy to find,

c) The only reason I come back is because all of my homework is on there :) 

d) I think a lot could be improved. It needs to have a cleaner user interface, and with the library and career services tabs available to click on right next to my class make things look cluttered. Sometimes hitting the back button takes forever to get to the page I want to go to, and I find myself having to retrace unnecessary steps pretty often. It definitely needs to be cleaned up a little bit. 

Aesthetics, Design & Branding: Week 3

Not so good!

a) http://www.tectorch.com

1. Lacks organization
2. May have trouble finding what I want to buy. There is no shopping cart and doesn't present itself like a reputable company.
3. The aesthetics of the page are bland and boring, It's outdated!

By having a cleaner looking website with a simple shopping cart widget, shoppers will feel more confident buying from this store.  This would help shoppers deal with confusing details that they have to scroll through to find the product they are looking for!

b) http://www.headhunterhairstyling.com/

1. Seriously outdated website design. The background picture repeats itself a million times and makes me dizzy!
2. Their "stylist and personnel page" gave me the bare minimum information. It would be nice to click on a stylist's name and read more about them and some of the work they do.
3. Pictures on the site are of different sizes, totally random, and take forever to load.

This website needs to be completely redesigned from the very beginning. They need a solid plan of what they want to portray to their visitors and convince them to want to come to their salon. I felt like I was looking at a page made in 1995 (especially with the cheesy GIFs). Simple HTML code was used and the design was not cohesive. I would not go to that salon!!


The good ones!

a. www.ford.com

1. Cohesive and clean design. I can almost immediately find what I am looking for and I know what this company is selling.
2. It is clear where I can find contact information and find the local dealer. I don't need to search for more than a few seconds to find the information,
3. The images are clear and look beautiful.

Aesthetics, design, and branding absolutely make or break my impression of the company. If they have a desire to make themselves look good to the public and to demonstrate why I should choose them out of any other company, I am willing to hear them out. I need to see that they can deliver what I am looking for.

b. www.toyota.com
1. The design flows very nicely and the drop down menus are organized to where I can find what I am looking for.
2. All contact information is easily accessible. 
3. I like that the graphics are clean and that they are interactive, it really shows off the product they are offering. I like that their aesthetically pleasing products are the first thing you see when you go to the page.

Same thing as ford.com. If I didm;t know what this company offered, I would know immediately as soon as I see their home page. Their graphics tell me that they put hard work into showing off their product and all of the information on their website shows that they can be trustworthy. 

Businesses and their social media: Week 2

My goal in this class is to expand my knowledge on social media and how I can incorporate that into my floral design business to create more leads and ultimately paying customers! I took a look at 5 different florists that are local to my area and would be considered "competition."
The florists I chose were Bloem Hill, Siren Floral Co., Pick Tulip, Plenty of Petals, and my own company - Bloom Babes.

Listed below is what I found. I think the growth we have seen this last month is promising because we are making sure we are keeping all of our social media outlets updated and engaging. It was interesting to see my competitors progress and how we are doing in comparison.

BLOEM HILL - www.bloemhill.com
facebook - 438 likes - last post Nov 4, 2014
instagram - 4,483 followers - last post 2 hours ago
no twitter


SIREN FLORAL CO - www.sirefloralco.com
facebook - 503 - last post feb 18, 2015
instagram - 9,574 followers - last post feb 18, 2015
twitter - 28 followers - last post feb 11, 2015

PICK TULIP - www.picktulip.com
no facebook
instagram - 1,446 followers - last post 5 hours ago
twitter - 5 followers - last post feb 4, 2015

PLENTY OF PETALS - www.plentyofpetals.com
facebook - 597 likes - last post 7 hours ago
instagram - 4,481 followers - last post 8 hours ago

BLOOM BABES - www.bloombabes.com
facebook - 232 likes - last post february 13, 2015
instagram - 1,480 followers - last post 5 hours ago
twitter - 45 followers- last post 14 hours ago

Communicating with Businesses via Social Media

Getting in touch with the leaders behind big businesses used to be really hard. You could stay on the phone for hours trying to reach a higher up executive, write countless letters, and send a million emails that end up going unanswered. Now, with social media, people's complaints (and praise) is 100% transparent and now big companies have a choice... they can take charge and address publicly people's feedback, or, ignore it. Each side has its consequences. However the business decides to handle the situation, becomes publicity.

Now that these companies have a whole new element to the future of the reputation, the public is utilizing this new tool to get their feedback across. I have definitely experienced difficulty communicating with a business in the past, but now with social media, I foresee it being a lot easier than before to get a message across. I think that my problem could be solved quicker because companies, small or large, can't afford to have negative publicity. As a social media user, I have left comments on other business pages (all praise) and some even respond back with a simple "thank you". Right there already I love that company even more because they took the time to reply a simple thank you and tag my name. They went through the extra 10 seconds to acknowledge me and/or ensure I have a good relationship with them. I feel valued, necessary, and more powerful in the way I can express myself. 
One company that I believe does "social media" well is Staples. They have received beyond rude remarks on some of their photos and on their page, and their response is always quick, witty, and funny. People gravitate towards the sense of humor and by seeing that they are being acknowledged. 

Personal Social Media vs. Business Social Media

So this topic of distinguishing the two was a little challenging for me. I don't feel that it is so much black and white when it comes to which social media sites are geared towards an individual's personal life, or if it is geared more for business marketing.
I think that LinkedIn is one that is geared more for business, to connect with colleagues, and job opportunities. On the other end of the spectrum, Facebook is a place for friends and acquaintances to connect and share photos. However, businesses market themselves with paid advertisements as well as organic hits to the content they post.
Each site has their share of business mixed with personal. From my own experience, I use Instagram as my social media go-to for my personal account AND my business account. Instagram has been a huge asset to my business and love that both personal profiles and business profiles will connect with my business page. See for yourself! instagram: @bloombabes

Hi! This is my first entry for week #1.
I chose the template because I liked the colors. I wanted to have a clean and crisp interface for my blog. I am excited to get in the hang of blogging and use it for my floral business.