Marketing/Web Design Candidate

Personal Website

Tiffany Moed — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:16:26 +0000

It has been about a year and a half since I graduate Ramapo College with my Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing. I have been on numerous interviews and each job I interviewed for I found that I failed to be qualified for the position. Most of the time I lost the entry-level position to someone who has years of experience on myself. It has been a very hard time finding a professional job in my field when highly qualified individuals are settling for jobs that recent college graduates should be fulfilling. No matter how frustrating it is I am not a quitter. I enrolled myself back into school to gain my webmaster certification. In these courses I was taught how to use my marketing skills in a more interactive way. This way was of the web. I began as a college student that only knew how to use Microsoft Office to a college graduate that can create a website. I learned how to use basic HTML, Adobe Programs (Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash) and the use of social media sites for business interaction.

With a lot of hard work and devotion, I have finally created my first website. TiffanyMoed.info is my originally interactive website that displays my creativity, education, experience and achievements. Please visit my site and let me know what you think. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Social Media the new way of life

Tiffany Moed — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:50:08 +0000

As we all know the way of interaction is turning more and more everyday to the world of the web. To some people this is scary. The internet, if not familiar, can be a scary place. The vast array of websites makes it difficult to know which sites are the best to focus on. The most popular sites for internet consumers are related to a new type of media called “social media”. Social media has become the way internet users turn to, to interact with each other. This type of media is becoming very popular in the business world also. This media is a cheap and cost-effective way for businesses to attract and grab a mass amount of consumers.

Popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn. Among these sites, there are other social media sites that are important to become familiar with. In the article Social Networks and the World We Live In, author Daniel Pintilie breaks down the importance of Social Media in the current world we live in. He also gives the names of the top ten social media sites. These sites are important to consider and to become familiar with.

What is your favorite social media site and why? Please comment and share your answer.

More prices on the rise?

Tiffany Moed — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:03:04 +0000

The last thing the average American needs right now is for common everyday necessities to be going up in price. In the article “10 things you’ll be paying more for soon” on cnn.com, the author names ten items that consumers will see rise in price. Even though prices have been on the rise for most of the items listed, consumers should be advised that they are still on the rise. Some of the items like coffee have been noticeable in the price increase. Mainly when it comes to places like Starbucks that charge outrageous prices for a product that is low in price for the company.

The prices are not going up because of demand alone. There are other factors that are causing these prices to rise. Factors like weather and the abundance of the product. Out of the products listed what is most likely to affect you personally? Your company? Your Family? Also, do you think there are other items that should be on this list. Please share your opinion here.

Acronyms that accidentally turned naughty

Tiffany Moed — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:07:48 +0000

Starting a new business has many startup operations that are very crucial in making the company survive. The easiest but the most crucial part of starting any service/product is the name. A name can take seconds to come up with, but if you don’t research your company name it can make your company fail right from the start-up. I’m not talking about legally, but more socially. Your company name needs to be socially accepted. This means making sure your name doesn’t offended anyone or be interpreted in a wrong meaning.

In the article “Acronyms that accidently turned naughty” the Author takes a look at 10 organizations and the mistakes they made with thier companies names. The author in this article looks at companies that have professional names but when it came down to the acronyms the meanings were socially unacceptable. The acronyms range from web savvy terms (ex:wtf) to easy mispronounciations (ex:AIDS). A simple mistake like this could make your company fail. People can either be offended or not take you seriously as a business professional for making such a simple mistake.

All marketers beware! Make sure you do research when it comes to your 4p’s of marketing (product, placement, price, and promotion) for your product/service. It is very easy to lose customers on the message you are trying to send. Every marketer knows that at the end you want to retain customers not lose them.

A new way of endorsement advertising

Tiffany Moed — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:42:16 +0000

Brand Affinity Technologies has a great niche. This company broke away from the known way of advertising with celebrities. This company doesn’t focus on the major players like Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning, but all the other sports athletes that get put on the waiting list behind these A-list athletes. An athlete (retired or active) signs up for the website, if they are accepted then the athlete will take numerous stock photos. These photos are just general poses that can be used in advertising. The price to use one of these photos ranges from $4000- $50,000, depending on the athlete. A company takes a bid on the celebrity they want to use and they get to use the picture for a certain time period for any type of advertising campaign (print, multi-media, billboards and etc.).

This is a very creative way for athletes to make extra money. Instead of athletes waiting for big gigs like Sony or Gatorade to call them, if they put themselves on this site the companies will choose them. As a marketer this is great. Instead of having to deal with big stars or athletes you can bid on whatever celebrity works best for your business. No contracts, no meeting demands, no photoshots. Just alot of work with digital editing programs like Photoshop. This is a good idea for small to mid-size companies to use. They can have advertising with celebrities that fit in their price range. I mean a small company will not be able to afford athletes like Jorge Posada of the NY Yankees, but they could use someone less expensive, that will still have an impact on their target audience.

Want to learn more about BAT? Read this article from CNNMONEY.com called The future is now:Adventures in Advertising

Too Rent or Too Buy.

Tiffany Moed — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:51:25 +0000

Before our economy slid into depression, the question of “should I rent or should I buy?” would have come with an easy answer. The answer would be to buy a home. This can be due to the illusion that is etched in Americans heads from birth. The illusion of the “American Dream”. The dream of getting married, having children and owning a beautiful home in suburbia. Before the Recession, this dream was working for the majority of Americans. Banks were handing over huge mortgages, so that people could buy a nice two-story home in good school districts. The problem is the banks were playing the role of “Santa Claus”. They kept giving. The banks never looked into the big picture of credit history, job stability, outstanding debt and etc. This seemed okay in the booming economy, that lead to high paychecks and which in turn lead to higher consumer spending.

With our economic crash, went the so-called ”Santa Claus” banks and they turned into modern-day ”Scrooges”. To cover their mistakes they began to hide in hidden fees and made it hard for struggling Americans to borrow money. How are Americans going to buy a home in our current economy when they have large amounts of debt and a bad credit score? Well time to wake up and realize your not going to be able to. One of the big reasons we are in such tough economic times is because majority of American spending was greater than their salary. As a financially unsound adult, how are you going to put a roof over your head? The answer is to rent. Many people feel renting is like throwing your money away, with no investment opportunity. No offense, look at many of the Americans that relied heavily on investment. They don’t have too much to show. Renting has the only commitment that comes in a lease form (usually 6-12 months). There is no worry about upkeep/upgrades. If their are any problems you give a quick call to your landlord and they will take care of the problems. There is also no need for high interest mortgages and 30+ year commitments. When it would come time to sell, there is no worries about sellers and buyers. As a renter you can pick up and leave town.

Should you rent or buy?, is an article from CNNmoney.com. This article goes into further details about the positives and negatives of renting or buying.

What are your thoughts on renting, buying or our current economy?

Interesting Budget Cuts

Tiffany Moed — Sat, 29 May 2010 16:55:15 +0000

States nationwide are finding it hard to met budget quotas. These states are millions to billions of dollars in debt. This is due to the careless spending that the states overtook when our economy was booming. So how do states met these budget cuts? I know in my home state of NJ, Chris Christie has taken the budget cuts to our school system. These budget cuts where to save millions by cutting Administration and majority of the extracurricular activities in local schools. Many are outraged about Christie’s budget cut to get NJ back on track. But what else can you do? If you look around in your local community their is alot of costs that can be cut that will make a difference, difference in thousands to millions of dollars.

11 quirky budget cuts, is a good compilation of ideas that cities across the nation are putting in effect to help save some money. In Utah, Senator Buttars proposed that the state get rid of Senior year in high school. This would save the state around $102 million annually! This plan would help Utah to reach budget quotas but what about the High Schoolers? Will they be educated enough to compete with other students from other states trying to enroll in college? With the budget cuts their are pro’s and con’s to each situation. In the end you have to look to the future and see if this decision is a good one to make. Even little budget cuts like in Miami, where they got rid of the “chicken catcher” job which saves them $20,000 a year. Yes they are saving money on what seems to be a useless position, but what if Miami becomes overran with chickens once again. Then in return they may need to hire more than one catcher, which will cost the township more than if they have never cut the position to begin with. It’s all about the pro’s and con’s.

Budget cuts are everywhere. Is there any wierd or quirky budget cuts in your town or state? Let me know.

Error Error

Tiffany Moed — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:13:54 +0000

A major aspect of web design that companies seem to forget about is the 404 error page not found page. This error comes on a web users screen when the link they clicked does not exist anymore or never did. This can happen alot when a company tries using pay per clicks like AdWords. The problem is the company will create individual links to lead customers to certain pages based on what pay-per-click ad they choose. The company will run analytics, and realize one or more of the links is not bringing in many customers, so they will end the use of that link. The problem then is if a web user clicks the old pay-per-click (still have the clicks until they run out) they will be taken to a 404 error page and they will have no way to be directed to your webpage. This problem can be solved by making a custom web page. The problem with 404 pages is that if you don’t make a custom error page, the searcher will not know how to get redirected to your page, and in return you may lose this viewers interest and they will continue onto a competitors web page. Which I don’t think that is what you want. Web developers have developed creative 404 pages, so that the users can be taken back to the main page.

70 Unique examples of 404 pages by Valters Bergspics, has creative examples of how developers created 404 error pages to keep the user interested in the site and to redirect them to the companies homepage. The main thing is you want to keep the pages simple so that the user can easily navigate back to the homepage. An easy way to loss a customer is by making navigation complicated on your webpage, which in turn they will go to a competitors site.

Are certain products Recession proof?

Tiffany Moed — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:11:09 +0000

Recessions cause consumers to watch how they spend their money. A consumer tends to cut down on luxury items in this time of financial crisis and focuses in on what is essential for daily life. By observing past recessions, there have been apparent trends in the actual increase in sales of certain products. These products/services make the “depressed consumer” feel better about themselves in the short run. These products tend to be alcohol, gambling and cosmetic products. Analysts tend to call these products “Recession Proof”, meaning no matter how the economy is, consumers will still spend money on these luxury items.

The consumer isn’t stupid, by Mina Kimes, tells us that these “Recession Proof” items are not really. In actuality in the years during this recession, sales of these products have been down or not reaching quotas. The main reason is that consumers have changed. Instead of throwing their money on expensive liquors, Americans are becoming more cost conscience and saving their money. This is just an example of how unpredictable the economy really is. Even what we thought were “Recession Proof” products/services aren’t really. Do you think there are any other products/services that are “Recession Proof”?

Incorrect English a good way to market?

Tiffany Moed — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:40:39 +0000

As a marketer, I always am looking at how companies are communicating the 4P’s of marketing to get the public to buy their product. If you are not familiar with the four P’s of marketing they include product, price, placement and promotion. Vitamin Water recently started using a interesting form of packaging on certain flavors of their water. This packaging can be found on their “focus” Vitamin Water. The whole point of the packaging is to get customers to buy this particular water if they feel they need the nutrients (vitamin a and lutein) to help them to become more alert and to pay better attention. This is a part of their labeling on the package, “A rceent sudty funod taht it deosn’t meattr waht odrer the ltteers of a wrod are in, the olny ipmraotnt tihng is taht the fsirt and lsat ltteers are in the crrocer piotiosn.” It further goes on to tell you that Vitamin A helps your eyes to focus. The message they are trying to send on their packaging is that if you are having trouble reading this message, then you need to drink this Vitamin Water, so you can grasp the message.

In my opinion, this is a creative way to market the product, but also very annoying. The problem is the message is written the whole way in this incorrect English. So even after drinking the Vitamin Water and reading the message I was left with my eyes strained and a slight headache. I feel a better way to market this would be to just write the first sentence of the message in improper English, and then finish it with proper English. This way consumers won’t be left annoyed. Do you think Vitamin Water has a creative marketing strategy or should they change it?