Week Seven

I found two businesses on Facebook that I thought were similar to mine- Kitchen Cuisine and Goody's Kitchen. On Kitchen Cuisine's Facebook page, they have an interesting cover photo, but I have a hard time figuring out what exactly it is. Whereas Goody's has a yummy looking cover photo that is very inviting and makes me wonder what kinds of food they make. Goody's has spent a lot of time advancing the look on their Facebook page; they have menus, photos of customers enjoying their meals, they have liked over 1,000 pages on Facebook-showing that they are engaging with customers and other businesses in order to get their name out there. One thing I do like about Kitchen Cuisine is their links to other sites, they have their Instagram hastag up there and their tumblr name, encouraging others to engage in those sites as well. I think for these two businesses Facebook is the site they utilize the most- they have not spent much time with the other visual sites even though those are the sites that are going to help them the most.

Get Visual

The site I think will best help promote Mama Brown's Kitchen is Youtube- an international site that is easy and cheap to use! Youtube is beneficial because word of mouth and simple buttons can have businesses grow insanely fast. This interests me the most because I can make videos similar to the ones that are on the food channel (one of my favorite things to watch on TV). There is no going wrong with videos; they are easy to make and can attract a variety of people by simply knowing what target groups you are going for.
Tumblr and Instagram are visual sites that are also easy to use, and are engaging in the same kind of way videos are with a tad less details. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words"- the right picture there is. This is when quality and detail comes in, a lot of people have good cameras on their phone but the question is do they know how to use them well enough to enhance the look of the food. The food in magazines look amazing! That is the kind of pictures people want to see of food, something that makes them salivate. I think these two sites are easy to use and will help with the promotion of Mama Brown's Kitchen because it can help bring in customers and make them want to come and try the delicious-looking food they see through their phones.
Pinterest, while it is a good site to use for most businesses, I do not think it will be the best of all of these for my site. The food categories in Pinterest include recipes, secrets I do not want to reveal! It wouldnt be Mama Brown's Kitchen if you could make the special sauces at home!

week 5

1. gforceracecars.com

• Negatives- The page seems very full and it is hard to filter out what is important enough to be on the front page. It is super busy and has lots of words just on the very first page.
• The moving text is a bit too much to handle with the "busyness" of the home page.
• A lot of information in one area, there are a lot of photos and videos that distract from the reason viewers visit.
• Positives- The color scheme really suits the purpose of the website, red and black with checkers makes me think of cars...for some odd reason. 
• Lots and lots of info.
• Suggestions- Create sub-links other than the ones in the margin that lead to other places so the viewer can choose what exactly they want information on. It would allow us to have more control over how much we are viewing at one time.
• While photos are good to have, too many can become overwhelming. Maybe cut down on the amount of them used.

2. Apple.com

• Positives- Apple has a website that is really viewer friendly. There is no searching for information, everything is easily attainable and I never have any problems. 
• Not many websites can pull of a white color scheme, but Apple does it. It is really sophisticated and inviting!
• The brand and logo are wide spread, everyone knows an Apple product when they see one.

-I do not really have much negative to say about the Apple website. It is easy to navigate and fun to be on reading new information about products.

week 3

businesses & their social media

1. GreenPeople-http://www.facebook.com/GreenPeopleDirectory (Facebook)
2.KSON Radio-http://www.facebook.com/kson973?fref=ts (Facebook)
3.Tilly's- http://www.facebook.com/Tillys?fref=ts (Facebook)
4.BestBuy- Twitter Account @bestbuy
5.McDonalds- Twitter Account @Mcdonalds

week 3

Surveys, Surveys, Surveys...

Okay, so I know we have all gone to a restaurant and had a rude hostess or had hair in our food...something that makes us not want to pay for what we are eating. Unfortunately, I have had this experience one too many times! My most recent instance would be eating at Panda Express, where I asked the servers for fresh chow mein (they always leave it sitting out forever and it makes me want to barf). Do not get me wrong, I love Panda's chow mein...when its FRESH. Simple request, I am a paying customer I deserve the best for my money. Well, the manager on duty thought otherwise. She did not see a problem with the old chow mein, but then again she wasn't paying 8 bucks for a plate! Makes me wonder, do they actually ever taste their food??? Anyways, I ended up waiting 20 minutes to get fresh chow mein, after arguing with the manager! She was so rude to me it made me just want to leave, but I knew I could get something better out of it. Working in retail, I have learned that the customer is always right and surveys are like gold to a store. Bad survey scores are the worst, especially if names are mentioned in them. I sat down and did not realize the chow mein was ready, the manager kept serving it to more and more people that came after I did. When I came up, as you can imagine I was livid. I paid for my food, asked for her name, and left.

I went home and went on their website to fill out a survey. Corporate needed to know about the bad service and old food I was being served. While I did let the manager know I was not satisfied with the service or the food, I know surveys are a better way of going about such a problem. Nevertheless, I got 15 coupons for free entres!!!! It did not necessarily solve the food problem or get the manager fired (I did mention her name and I know she got chewed out for it). In this instance, social media really helped me communicate with the company about the problems that are going on in their store. It was easier than confronting the rude manager and I got what I wanted in the end :) POWWW..

Week 2

Business? or Personal?

Facebook. One of the most notorious social media sites out right now. People use Facebook for a variety of reasons: to rant about their day, post videos, talk to friends, have relationships with people they do not know, promote a website or mixtape, and there are many more ways people utilize this site. However, the question still remains in my mind as to what Facebook is really about. What did Zuckerberg intend for people use it for? The closest I have come to answering that question, is people use it to stay in the loop on things that are going on in the world, society, and with other peoples' lives. So in addressing the question at hand, Facebook is geared towards personal use. Although, many companies do use it promote.

Twitter...Oh twitter. All I can really say about twitter, from personal experience is it produces too much drama. Lets just say there is a lot of #subtweeting going on in this site, my twitter users know exactly what I mean. Oh and do not even dare retweet something that was intended to talk about anyone else on your timeline, you will be dragged into a never ending hole of drama! Twitter is ultimately used for personal matters.

Now for my favorite of all social media sites: Instagram! This I believe is the best and most effective way of promoting a business. There are so many people on instagram and all it takes is a few photos and lots of followers and you have people behind you liking all your pictures. In a way, this site is used for business promotion. I have seen a few people posting merchandise on there and getting a lot of replies for people wanting to buy. However, it is also used for personal use. The most drama-free site I have come in contact with thus far.
..follow me- @taelebeauty

Wordpress, the site for bloggers galore. This site is a bit different then the others in that you are not necessarily in full contact with the people you follow. They do not pop up on a timeline or a newsfeed, you have to take the time and browse. I believe this site can go both ways, just like Instagram in that it can be used by businesses and also by people like me who just love to write.