Week 17 Final Post


I would like to start off with how much I actually enjoyed this class! From the weekly blog posts to actually applying them to our business pages, I really learned a lot. Social media has never really been a big part of my life and therefore I've never really cared for it's benefits. Once I got certified and started training my clients, I realized that social media is actually a free advertising platform, not only a social media platform to message and keep up with friends.

My use of social media has changed over this semester by actually starting and growing my business Instagram. It started with posts I thought people wanted to see but have now learned otherwise. Using the interesting tools shown to us in this semester, I am able to now learn more about the specifics of the users that visit my Instagram or website. This has changed my use of social media to focus on preparing a lot of content for future posts, compared to before when I wasn't posting at all.

There has not been a huge impact on my business just yet, but I have gained 2 clients just through this semester. However I have gained a huge amount of interactions, of which 2 decided to hire me! These interaction are all very similar and although that might not sound good it does to me! I have now created categories of common questions I receive and am prepared to respond to most of my followers questions now.

I really believe that with a consistent schedule, I can really utilize all of the tools I've learned over this semester to actually make an impact to increase customers and interactions. I still feel like I have a long way to go. Over the next few months I will be studying other similar business pages and outlining a social media marketing plan. Although I learned a lot from this course specifically, I think there are finer details that can really help my Instagram page, especially in the fitness industry.

I still have my personal Instagram account but realized that creating one for my business allows my friends and followers to stay updated on my posts. I think the best plan for me is to just start posting. Gradually over the next few months I will tweak every post to increase the engagement and target a specific market. Thanks for everything Claudia, I really enjoyed this course!!

Week 16 Blog Post 2:

I commented on these blogs:

https://margmansd.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fall19-andream.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-sque.blogspot.com/

Week 16 Blog Post 1:

I actually enjoyed writing the blogs the most. Although what I wrote in my blogs were interesting as well, I really believe that writing blogs is similar to brainstorming. I think I'll be starting a personal blog to keep me on track. Otherwise I also did enjoy using the social media platforms to expand my business. I learned a lot in terms of what to post and other smaller details such as google analytics to help finding my perfect target market and what they're looking for.

The social media platforms that integrate the best with a personal training business include Instagram and YouTube. I will attach a website to my Instagram and use both google analytics on my website and Instagram's business profile to monitor the results. Instagram is best for personal trainers because it's filled with potential clients that are browsing for advice or even to hire a personal trainer. These tools are extremely effective and helpful in finding out who visits my posts, what posts they spend the most time on or receive the most engagement, and therefore I can eventually provide posts that really resonate with my followers.

I think my business can spend a long period of time on social media marketing because it's a very effective method of posting content to receive exposure without a limit. The more active I am on social media, the more posts I create and like will increase the total amount of followers (potential clients) and exposure that my social media account will receive.

I will be posting everyday on Instagram starting 12/16. For the first week I will be posting a variety of content to better understand my current followers. Eventually once I find out what kind of content most people are looking for, I will start posting multiple times a day, once in the morning and once at night. This will help grow and sustain my business because I'll be able to target my audience and provide content they want to see.

Week 15 Blog Post 1:

After reading through the specifics of what exactly google analytics can do, I have picked a few that I believe will be the most beneficial in growing my business. The audience reports, specifically active users and the user explorer will help me understand how many of the users visit my website daily and what exactly they do on my business website. This will help me understand the users that really enjoy my page and content to better my content. The advertising reports of the Google Ads will give me specifics on who clicked on my Ads and visited the website. This will help me understand the demographic that is currently being targeted by that advertisement. In other words I can fine tune advertisements to either focus on a specific demographic or broaden my demographic to receive more exposure. The acquisition reports can also be useful, especially when combined with behavior reports, I can understand who exactly is interested in my website and why. The behavior of the users on my website will allow me to better the ease of use for common behaviors. Finally I believe that the conversion reports, specifically the goal flow will clarify the reasons for high drop-off rates or unexpected loops throughout the use of my website. I can fix these issues by targeting the source of the reason and fixing it so it doesn't happen for future conversions.

Week 14 Blog Post:




Displayed above, I created 3 advertisements. The banner advertisement is for Twitter or any placement where it can be used such as my website, Facebook, or even Instagram. The larger picture is the Facebook advertisement, and finally the square advertisement is targeting Instagram users. These advertisements will be effective because they have an aesthetically pleasing but attention grabbing look. It also has limited text and has a simple objective. The objective of all these advertisements is to expand my social media through targeting the 18-30 year old individuals. I believe that although these ads don't really show what they might be receiving, I was trying to make the most effective details to entice a potential client that will visit one of my social media pages to learn more.

An objective could be any of these: brand awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, app instats, video views, messages, and store traffic. I feel as if the objective that makes the most sense for personal trainers would be reach or traffic. This is because once a potential client has been reached it really is up to the personal trainer to reel the client in. Although engagement, messages, or video views might seem important, those don't really bring clients to you. Those type of objectives do increase your overall reach though. In conclusion the most effective objective is reach.

Week 13 Blog Post 2:

As far as designing and implementing ads for social media using the principals of good design specifically regarding banner ads, I would use clear and concise wording, keeping it simple, aesthetic design, and making the banner ad instantly readable. Essentially regarding other social media advertisements, I will need to create a simple but eye catching advertisement that displays an example of what the results will be if you join my training program and even also giving a small but informative ad.

The sort of advertising that my business could use include any form of social media advertising really, but I believe that the most effective advertisement would be previous client statements explaining why they enjoyed my business and why they recommend others to try it. Other advertisements that can be effective are YouTube videos that display a short overview of the specific exercises to act as a teaser and have them wondering and looking forward to my training session! I believe I should use these advertisements at least once a week, slowly building a more consistent reach, then I believe posting an advertisement daily will be the best.

There are a few different formats for Facebook ads, video, photo, slideshow, carousel, and dynamic product ads. The most effective formats for my business would be video, photo, and slideshow formatted ads. The reason for this is because these types of ads each serve an effective purpose in displaying different information or products in the fitness industry. I would use photo advertisements to effectively display an outfit, supplement, or specific form for an exercise. Video formatted ads can be very effective for informational videos explaining exercises or diets. A slideshow can be very effective in displaying information and pictures of clients or exercises targeting specific areas. Again, regarding ads in general, I believe that once a week for any type of these advertisements will be the perfect amount to serve as a reminder and bring in new clients.

I have never used Instagram boost but I feel like if I used more hashtags and used a boost I'd really reach a lot of new users that I wouldn't have before.

Week 13 Blog Post 1:

1. I researched the top 5 personal trainers as of 2019. They all actually use the same social media platform as their main form of overall advertising, which in this case it's Instagram. I listed their names and Instagram pages at the end of this paragraph but I just wanted to explain what I found. Throughout scrolling through hundreds of posts, all of these personal trainers actually did many key things in common. They were posting almost everyday, their content was always something new, if it was an informational video it was kept short and to the point, and finally they all had some sort of theme or flow through their posts that can be noticed just through their smaller images. They all also advertised their packages at some point or had a website in their bio where their followers can purchase any of their services.
- Ben Bruno @benbrunotraining
- Katie Crewe @katiecrewe
- Jen Widerstrom @jenwiderstrom
- Kira Stokes @kirastokesfit
- Joe Holder @ochosystem

2. Scrolling through personal trainer pages on Facebook and YouTube, the only videos or posts that really draw my attention are labelled with capital letters and/or have a short informative message. Their call to action on Facebook and YouTube is the same as in Instagram but is seen much more often. They make their packages or services readily available especially things such as diet or workout plans that are claimed to be custom per individual can easily be found by many personal trainers using these platforms. They do use imagery and it is effective to a certain extent. Sometimes the images aren't relative to the post and just show someone working out which I don't even look at the picture anymore. I wouldn't say those ads are annoying but I don't think I'm alone on this but any post that is asking me to buy or pay for something makes me less inclined to purchase from them because I already know how to do that, in other words I didn't read their post to buy something from them necessarily.

3. Comparing the impact of traditional advertising to advertising done on Social media I would notice that many things are similar yet just digitized versions of traditional advertising methods. For example Craigslist or Ebay are like the magazines you used to buy and sell things. There are many other similarities but what I like to notice is that content created now isn't really the same. Society now gets bored really quickly and therefore you cannot really post anything unnecessary because people will view your business or content as pointless or too much therefore receiving no reach. Advertising done on Social Media, although specific methods must be applied to use effectively, is much more effective in my opinion because of the amount of possibilities it can provide you as a business. Especially the fact that it's free means that if you have been a business for a long time and the word of mouth has brought you many clients then Social Media will definitely bring you even more!

Week 12 Blog Post 2:

I researched personal training groups on Linked In and didn't really find much. The few group were businesses or individuals that would teach continuing education units to maintain your certification for being a personal trainer. The other ones weren't really groups but businesses that help personal trainers gain more clients by teaching them specific methods. Facebook seemed to the more useful personal training social media group. I found a few local personal trainer groups and joined them to see what kind of upcoming posts they will have. Analyzing their previous post made me realize that this social media group can actually help me understand what clients want and how they view their personal trainers. It seems as if they do meetups every month and I might actually join in one day!

The second option I researched was Yelp. Although I couldn't really find any really popular personal trainers in San Diego, I researched bigger cities such as LA, NY, and San Francisco. I found multiple personal trainers with hundreds of reviews. I think Yelp definitely has an impact as it would be the first thing to pop up when you google your name or fitness name. This would allow prospective clients to validate hiring you as their personal trainer based on the reviews. I feel like Yelp can be detrimental to the success of a personal trainer if he/she doesn't have that many reviews because one bad review can mess everything up. Therefore I will definitely be creating a Yelp but after I have built a strong relationship with at least 20 of my clients. I think Yelp is more important to some businesses however specifically in the fitness world it's not that important because most personal trainers do not use Yelp. I think most don't use Yelp because of the same reason I said, it's key to have a strong client base otherwise having one unhappy client that can post everything you did wrong can make your Yelp business page useless.

Week 12 Blog Post 1:

After reading the lecture, the additional online marketing tools I believe could be important to the growth of my business would be Yelp, YouTube, and Spotify. Yelp will be beneficial for receiving reviews from previous clients. YouTube can help me have previously recorded workouts for clients to watch as they try with my supervision. Finally Spotify can only be helpful when clients ask me for my workout playlist. I would integrate them after the New Year as I'm in a transitional stage of my life and can't focus on my business at the moment. The specific methods would be simple, in other words I would ask a few of my closest clients that I have built a meaningful relationship with for a review on Yelp. YouTube videos I can start recording now to have a bunch of content for the future! I do not have anything to post on the discussion because I will never really use a business location on google maps unless I buy my own fitness studio which won't be for a few years at least.

Week 11 Blog Post 2:

I commented on these blogs:

https://csit155-fa19-stephanied.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-bkarp.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-apagatpatan.blogspot.com/

Week 11 Blog Post One:

1. I believe that specifically because the fitness industry relies on new product whether it's a supplement or something that customers can where. I would make newsletters that are sent out monthly. This way every month, the customers that have previously purchased a service or a product from me would be able to see any new products/services that may have just recently been created or found.

2. Information such as new products and services would be the most effective way of sending out a newsletter as a personal trainer. In these newsletters, sometimes they are diet related or strictly informing potential clients of the results in new foods to eat or exercises to do that weren't previously created before. I think that my customers will enjoy seeing newsletters with information regarding, exercises, dieting, supplements, gym equipment, and finally anything to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle from the comfort of their own home. I think that these categories are the key factors when taking a step back and analyzing what customers are most interested by. These categories fit all of the questions I receive from a day to day basis. Many of my customers would love to read about new diets or foods to try, and some even ask me for a new exercise every session I train them.

I signed up with a few of my "competitors", the newsletter that seemed to get the most attention was from Bodybuilding.com. Their newsletters covered all of the categories I was going to except added even smaller specifications such as weekly fat loss tips, other dieting methods, and overall their newsletter is something that they use to generate sales. The amount of product in supplements and fitness equipment they have was very pleasantly displayed throughout their newsletter. I'd have to wait to get sent a few more to really see how/if they change their newsletters.

Week 10 Blog Post 2:

The kind of categories I would use on my blog include informational, workout videos, nutritional videos such as what I eat and how I cook it, and finally physique pictures. This will help me stay organized and utilize reaching my target audience. I want them to see that the process is simple and can be done by anyone really. There are a lot of small details that matter which makes these categories very effective in staying organized. These categories will help the business grow in different ways. Generally speaking it will show that I'm organized and the business page is easy to navigate which results in the audience returning. The informational category will allow all of my audience and prospective clients to learn something from my videos. Or for example a physique picture will give someone the motivation they needed to start a lifestyle change.

I commented on these blogs:

https://csit155-fa19-apagatpatan.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19reckhardt.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-agau.blogspot.com/

Week 10 Blog Post 1:

Adding human interest to a post can appeal to peoples emotions because it describes personal experiences that result in a feeling of emotion. These emotions consist of happy, sad, afraid, surprised, angry, or disgusted. All of these emotions can cause someone to remember a personal experience they had that would allow them to relate it to the current advertisement or situation that triggers that specific personal experience. For example n regards to being happy, most posts that go viral or receive the most attention are positive posts. Sad posts such as hungry children or animals can trigger that emotion. If someone feels angry or disgusted by a post then they are less likely to share it. 

It makes sense to add a personal touch to a post when its regarding something positive or beneficial to you and others. It doesn't make sense to add a personal touch to a post that makes someone feel negative in any way, usually angry or disgusted is the emotion you try to stay away from. If the post is regarding someone that did something disgusting or unjustified then it would be okay to add a personal touch. Otherwise adding a personal touch should only be in posts that are focused on talking to your followers rather than in informational posts. 

Week 9 Blog Post 2:

I used the search words gym, fitness, workouts, health, and weights. I definitely had to play around with a few key terms to even find a page in the same industry. Although eventually I found numerous good ones, I decided to follow some smaller follower based people. As a personal trainer I feel like the most beneficial pages to follow would be other personal trainers, fitness, weightlifting, dieting, and exercising pages. I ended up finding the people I was looking for such as Steve Cook and Christian Guzman.
I created a current and future clients list to help me stay organized regarding clients and reach my goal of increasing the number of clients I have. The second list I created was called Influencers because I look up to these individuals as they have influenced me in one way or another regarding fitness.
Looking at the timing of the posts in the fitness and personal training industry on twitter, I noticed that most of my customers tend to check tweets early in the morning or later in the day. In other words before work or after work. I believe these are the times to be most effective as people tend to be starting their day or finishing their day using their phones, and some may actually work out before or after work as well. This can actually be influenced by the timing and quality of the post.

Week 8 Blog Post #2:

Visual media most definitely works for the type of business I have started, which is a in the fitness industry. Visual media is quite frankly the source of all the income that people make from the fitness industry. Every video or picture combined with products and accessories worn by fitness professionals to help promote their sponsorship's. The 4 businesses or fitness professionals I have picked today include Bodybuilding.com, Christian Guzman, Fitness Blender, and ATHLEAN-X.

Starting with Bodybuilding.com, their visual media is very effective for them with all of their related supplements and gear are on displayed and can be purchased on their website. They are using almost all social media with the most activity on Instagram. They have over 2.9m followers but surprisingly only receive anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 likes. The type of content that gets the most response is their workout videos or videos regarding nutrition. The hashtags that they use depend on the post but they repeat these hashtags which are fitness, workouts, bodybuilding, gym, and motivation. Their last post was 11 hours ago and they post everyday if not every other day. I can take a lot from inspecting this Instagram, starting with the number of posts and content that they have is insane. I need to be able to create enough content to post as often as they do even though they don't receive as many likes I think that because they post so much no matter what people will eventually see the post if it really is that enticing or important.

Christian Guzman has 1.2M followers and receives anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 likes on average. The type of content he has on his Instagram is completely different from bodybuilding.com with the most significant difference being the overall quality of the content displayed. In other words Christian prides himself in providing a very aesthetically pleasing video to display his workouts with him explaining the content or video being posted. The 2nd important factor is the modern touch to his Instagram and his pictures giving it more attention from the younger fitness driven generation. This is something important I'd like to learn and add to my Instagram page in order to help create an overall aesthetic, modern, and sleek Instagram page. The hashtags that Christian uses are pretty much the same repeated ones in all fitness Instagram pages, but the difference is half of the time he doesn't use any! I can actually learn that although hashtags may seem important, in order for an organic following to happen you want people to come to your Instagram page rather than search and happen to come across it. The posts that receive the most likes and comments are the most aesthetically pleasing videos or pictures which just goes to show I need to create great quality videos.

Fitness Blender is something I came across earlier this year and really appreciate what they did. They provide free workouts which can help everyone in the fitness industry when they plateau and want to try some new exercises. They only have 277k followers on Instagram and average 1,000-5,000 likes on their posts. The ones that get the most likes aren't the ones with recipes or related to food, but actually a new exercise people haven't seen but try and end up enjoying a lot. It seems as if most of their attention comes from other people seeing a video and sending it to their friend, creating a domino affect. They post everyday but tend to steer away from the repetitive hashtags that most fitness Instagram accounts follow and instead depending on the content of the post use a few hashtags relating to the picture of food or video of an exercise. The most important thing I would take away from Fitness Blender is the amount of free and useful information they give out. I would like to do that using my Instagram just because I feel as if for showing someone how to do an exercise you shouldn't charge money if they want to try it for themselves at home.

Lastly the business that has gotten the most YouTube attention, ATHLEAN-X. Although most of their followers came from YouTube, this company thrives just as much on Instagram. They have 1.7m followers and receive anywhere from 50,000-75,000 likes on pictures. The videos that are posted almost every day on this Instagram receive anywhere from 400,000 to 600,000 view. They have been known to go viral for some of his exercises which is what I'm trying to learn the most from. The type of posts that receive the most likes and comments are new exercises, specifically ones that target your arms and abs. I noticed this because most people in the comments were asking about exercises to chisel out their biceps and abdominal muscles. Although his videos are good quality, they don't compare to the aesthetically pleasing Christian Guzman posts and this makes me realize maybe I can take a few things from each of these Instagram pages and create a nice balance of aesthetic posts that make people stay, look, and learn.

Week 8 Blog Post #1

I already have an existing Instagram for my clients. I only have around 98 followers but I don't follow anyone and I'm trying to grow my Instagram organically compared to most personal trainers on Instagram. It is very effective for business as I have either received clients/income from Instagram and through word of mouth. I don't spend any money or promote my Instagram. I know I should but I don't have the time due to personal priorities that inhibit me from posting more and growing my account. I only have 4 posts but have a lot of already written potential posts. I use a lot of different hashtags, it depends on the content of the post. The main hashtags I use include the keywords fitness, workout, diet, gym, and personal trainer. I don't follow any other business as I should but that would expose my account to bots and other Instagram problems and I haven't had any random accounts follow, comment, or like my posts which is exactly how I want it. The Instagram name is @fit.sadegh.

Week 7 Blog Post 2:

The posts that I have scheduled will engage the audience that visit my Facebook page because of its relevancy to most people. Two of my posts are related to fat loss tips that many see on YouTube or even advertisements of personal trainers offering tricks to fat loss. I did not really delve too deep into the technical details but instead explained it quite simply to help people or future clients understand how fat loss works. The third post I have scheduled will engage the audience by changing their mindset on supplements. Everyone in the fitness world usually has or continues to take supplements when they actually don't need to. I explained that and I hope these first three posts will help people understand how to live a healthier lifestyle!

Week 7 Blog Post 1

The Facebook pages I have liked as my page include:
Paul Beaman
Christian Guzman
Personal Trainer Development Center
Steve Cook
Alex Carneiro
ATHLEAN-X
Bodybuilding.com

I picked these Facebook pages for numerous reasons. Firstly I wanted to cover my bases on having the most popular fitness influencers, specifically personal trainers, liked in order to help show that I'm aware and up to date on the most current fitness models. Steve Cook and Christian Guzman are two fitness trainers that have changed my life, along with thousands of others. They have very useful information all over their social media, including their Facebook pages. The Personal Trainer Development Center page is actually quite interesting and can help me out tremendously by guiding me with advice on how to better my online personal training business. I liked Bodybuilding.com and ATHLEAN-X because they are the most visited sites when people are looking for new workouts or just reading articles to help increase their knowledge about the fitness world.

I might use this feature of Facebook to grow my page by liking the most current and trending influencers. This will allow me to learn how and what other fitness related Facebook pages post especially in terms of pictures, text, and overall content. I learned quite a few things from just a quick scroll through of other personal trainer's Facebook pages. I have a few things I'd like to change on my Facebook page such as how my posts are displayed and adding more relative content now that I have seen what other similar pages are posting.

Blog Post Week 6

1. Post reach refers to the amount of users that are "reached" or access the post, not how many times they view that post, that is referred to as impressions. Post engagement refers to when users engage with the post in any or all ways defined as the number of likes, shares, comments, reactions, and clicks. 

2. Knowing the difference is extremely important because of how different these terms are. This allows you to understand what kind of posts people view the most, like the most, or even posts that get people talking. All of this can be understood through the analyzing the post engagement. The post reach is effective to understand what people want to click but don't go as far as engaging with the post. This will help social media managers understand what their users like to see and how to increase their post reach to help with creating more relative posts. 

3. A business can use Facebook Insights to better serve their customers simply by learning what kind of content their users like to see. The best way to maximize the benefits of Insights is to see where the Reach has peaks and use the Reach to eventually increase the engagement on the posts. This can be better analyzed by comparing Reach peaks and Post engagement differences. Once the content is found that receives more Reach, the business can help focus on what content will receive the most Engagement as well. The more Engagement a post receives the more likely the business page will continue to receive more engagement from other users. 

Week 5 Part 2: 

Last semester one of my classes helped me analyze my target market, specifically for personal trainers in the fitness industry. The most ideal client would be a recently graduated college student that landed his/her first job and wants to start taking fitness more seriously. These individuals generally start wanting to start taking care of themselves better, especially in terms of their health. Although most people focused on fitness are the younger generation, there tends to be more girls that are health conscious. These clients temporarily use a personal trainer to learn more about the fitness world and living a healthy lifestyle and end up quitting after a few sessions. Students that have graduated and received a job will be more likely to be a stable client. 

Week 5 Post 1:

Quickly overlooking both choices, I have always been fond of gardening but haven't really done any since I was a child. I have however had many sandwiches and will continue to do so. I was intrigued to see a sandwich place that I haven't heard of and I was excited to see that they're in San Diego! After analyzing both websites, Subway and Hungry Bear Deli have a lot of similarities in terms of menu items and overall as a place to customize a sandwich.

I noticed that the Hungry Bear website was better overall compared to Subway because the website was more interactive and easier to navigate, even to read the content! The demographics of Subway include the younger generations which include anyone from 14-40, who generally know exactly what they want in the specific manner that they like. Although Hungry Bear follows Subway similarly, I believe that their demographics and psychographics are different that Subway. Hungry Bear caters to not only the younger generation but also the older. They have numerous menu sandwiches but also give you the freedom to customize your own. Their overall appearance isn't as bright and exciting as Subway which allows it to give off a more relaxed, home-made appearance.

The obvious difference between the websites is the contrast of color. Subway has a bright combination of green and yellow giving it a lively and exciting aura. Hungry Bear Deli has the bear as its logo and a more classic touch to the website. The subtle differences include the user experience on each of the websites. When visiting Subway, you kind of already know what you're searching for with less menu options than the Hungry Bear. This allows the Hungry Bear to give off a display of a wider variety of sandwiches that can cater to everyone's specific wants.

The conclusions I can draw about their audience by their website design is that Subway seems more mainstream following what most good websites do while Hungry Bear does that with a touch of a Local home-made/gourmet. The calls to action for both websites are similar in terms of urging/assuming you already want a sandwich with options of ordering within minutes. The overall tone and message of both websites are similar with a white calm background and an interactive website allowing users to browse and decide what they want.

Blog Week 4 Post 2:

https://alphaleteathletics.com/collections/accessories

I visit the Alphalete website pretty frequently just to browse and keep up with their new product. This website is very effect because firstly the homepage has extremely good quality photos with a moving slideshow of different photos. It is modern with a sleek aesthetic design which makes it so engaging. The specific principles of good design Alphalete uses is contrast, repetition, alignment, and ease of use. The contrast on this website is well displayed with the white text and a dark background, also a smaller text with big pictures allows the user to focus on the product they're trying to sell. The repetition is displayed with the homepage link and logo placed on a bar at the top of every page you visit in the website. The alignment is well displayed with no open spaced and instead high quality photos between the website links/text. Finally the ease of use is perfectly put to use with a bar that has all of the links including the homepage following your every click. 

The overall pleasing modern looking website makes me come back mainly also due to the ease of use. I always know where to go and how to navigate where I want to go in the website. I honestly don't think anything can be improved. I would switch up the theme or contrast of text because although it's not too bright of a background it could get boring if kept the same over years.

slickdeals.net

This website is effective not only due to the endless categories but also because it has a large cloud sourced forum. These members help you confirm if it's a real sale or even if there's a better deal out there. The specific principles of good design they include concept, repetition, and ease of use. The concept of this website is the foundation of why it's so effective. This website is basically almost a social platform except for finding deals for any item you can imagine. People including the moderators of the website post deals and people can also comment if they purchased it or found a cheaper price somewhere else. Repetition is very well displayed in this website because there are so many links with pictures but there's always the top navigation bar that makes it easier to search for all your items without getting lost or confused. The ease of use on this website is well shown with their great navigation bar. Although there's a lot of text and drop down menus there's also a search bar in case you don't feel like finding the category.

The main reason why I come back is because the concept is so great. You can always find insanely cheap deals on items you would normally be spending more on. Sometimes you wait a day and there are 100 more new items similar to the one you were searching for yesterday. The only thing I would improve on this website is not having the front page featured deals. Although this is better for marketing to help people notice what others are buying more of, however it is a little overwhelming for the users that first visit the website because there's so many pictures and text linking to another page.

Blog Week 4 Post 1

https://jamilin.com/

Looking at this website, I immediately noticed a potential problem for visitors. The most serious problem in my opinion is the fact that there is too much text going on. I didn't know what to look at and where to click, let alone read anything on the website. If someone was coming to the website for a specific reason, I feel like he/she would have a hard time finding whatever they were looking for. The 2nd potential problem is advertisements that keep popping up, unless you have some sort of ad blocker installed this would be an annoying website to browse. Finally another issue I had while browsing this website is the inability to easily find your way back to the home page. Every other time you click anywhere an ad pops up and sometimes the links don't even take you to the right page. You can easily get "lost" on this website. 

There are numerous things that can be improved on this website, the most significant variable that can help the user experience on this website would be less text. There is too much text everywhere and too many unnecessary links. The reduction of text will help make a more clear, concise overall website. I would also work on having less advertisements that will help with the maintaining of the user rather than losing the clicks because it would be annoying to browse through. Finally the most simple thing that could be improved is adding a home page or some method of returning to the home page without any confusion for any users. 

http://www.roverp6cars.com/

The most noticeable potential problem for visitors on this website would be similar to the previous website, too much text. Users/visitors of this website will feel overwhelmed and confused as to where or what to click on. The contrast of the text on the links aren't clear and easy to read so some visitors may have an issue on reading the text. The 3rd problem I would say is the fact that there are again a lot of unnecessary links that can be combined and put under a single link. Another potential problem is the moving text on the website which can be distracting to the user experience. 

The improvements on this website include the visual aspects and overall link/text on the homepage. They also do not have a homepage link. These improvements will help maintain a fun and easy user experience. I would change the font used and darken the background, if not change the color of the text to help improve the navigation for users. Finally the last and best improvement would be to make the text concise and combine a lot of the similar links which will make the website easier to navigate. 

http://artcenter.org/

This website is so simple yet engaging. They have a lot of useful text and entertaining pictures but not too much to confuse a new visitor to the website. The user experience of this website is phenomenal mainly because of how clear and easy it is to navigate. You can access the homepage from any link, and if you chose to click on any links they have, you already know where it's taking you. In my opinion this website made it easy to see any upcoming events which helps visitors see recent or in the future shows they would want to see.

Design, aesthetics, and branding impact my reaction and other users reactions by being engaging, pleasing to look at, and most importantly enticing. The design of this website is simple but has a good combination of the theme and colors that aren't dull. Aesthetics of this website provide a smooth, easy to navigate overall look. My reaction to this is surprising because I thought it would be a boring website to browse through. Branding impacts my reaction to this website by providing me a positive, happy theater connotation between browsing the website and the brand.

https://www.apple.com/

Apple's website is limited in text but has amazing clear pictures that immediately engage the visitor. They have a dark background with white text making it easy to read. Not only that but they also only have less than 10 links which makes the navigation of this website very easy. People can easily find what they're looking for without being confused by any unnecessary links. Apple even put a search bar in their website in case you don't immediately see what you came for. Finally this website is attractive to the eye, especially by having familiar visuals spread aesthetically through their page.

The design of this website makes my reaction very positive. It is so simple and has just the right amount of text and links. The theme and design of this page provides an overall very pleasing and aesthetic look to the website. My reaction to the aesthetics makes me want to spend more time browsing the website even though I have no need to. Finally the branding impacts my reaction by already expecting that this website had a lot of time and money put into it. Specifically if the website wasn't as nice and pleasing as I expected it to be considering it is Apple, I would have browsed their website and left disappointed. However it's Apple and you won't have to worry about that!

Week 3 Part 2

Business #1

1. BodyBuilding

2. https://www.bodybuilding.com/

3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodybuildingcom/

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Bodybuildingcom/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/bodybuildingcom

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bodybuildingcomvideo

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bodybuildingcom

4. All of the social media platforms posted on their website are well used and post actively, everyday.

5. Instagram: 09/08/2019

    Pinterest: 09/02/2019

    Twitter: 09/08/2019

    YouTube: 09/06/2019

    Facebook: 09/08/2019

6. BodyBuilding is definitely using their businesses social media extremely well. They constantly post new content on each of the social media sites which keeps the users of all platforms attentive and waiting for their next post. Their Instagram and YouTube seem like the two social media platforms they use most. 

Business #2

1. Gym Shark

2. https://www.gymshark.com/

3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gymshark/

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/gymshark/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gymshark

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GymSharkTV

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gymshark/

4. Very active on all social media platforms with the largest following on Instagram. 

5. Instagram: 09/08/2019

    Pinterest: 09/01/2019

    Twitter: 09/08/2019

    YouTube: 09/05/2019

    Facebook: 09/04/2019

6. Gym Shark does use social media platforms effectively doing most of their sales from "influencers" on Instagram. They do post often on their other social media platforms but not compared to the attention they receive on Instagram. They don't have many subscribers on YouTube but have a dedicated follower base that purchase a lot of their gear through YouTube and Instagram.

Business #3

1. Alphalete Athletics

2. https://alphaleteathletics.com/

3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphalete/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/alphalete

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alphaleteathletics

4. Most active on Instagram with every other day posting on other social media platforms.

5. Instagram: 09/08/2019

    Twitter: 09/06/2019

    Facebook: 09/06/2019

6. Alphalete Athletics uses social media platforms somewhat effectively due to the fact that they don't have a YouTube or a Pinterest. Although they still have a large following on Instagram, they can increase revenue if they had a YouTube channel. 

Business #4

1. Men's Health

2. https://www.menshealth.com/

3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menshealthmag/

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/menshealthmag/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/MensHealthMag

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MensHealthMag

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MensHealth

4. Active on most social media with a new post every other day. Most of the followers are on Facebook.

5. Instagram: 09/08/2019

    Pinterest: 09/03/2019

    Twitter: 09/08/2019

    YouTube: 09/05/2019

    Facebook: 09/08/2019

6. Men's Health has a massive follower base with over 8million on Facebook. This allows their reach to potential new customers or subscribers is endless. They have followers around the world and have used social media platforms very effectively to increase revenue and/or subscriptions.

Business #5

1. Live Strong

2.  https://www.livestrong.com/

3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livestrong_com/

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/livestrongcom/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/LIVESTRONG_COM

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/livestrong/videos

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livestrongcom

4. Very active on all social media platforms but don't have nearly as many followers on Instagram compared to the previous businesses. 

5. Instagram: 09/07/2019

    Pinterest: 09/07/2019

    Twitter: 09/08/2019

    YouTube: 09/05/2018

    Facebook: 09/08/2019

6. Live Strong doesn't have a lot of influence on Instagram, however they have a large following on Facebook and Pinterest. I also noticed that they haven't posted a YouTube video in a year now. I believe Live Strong has focused their efforts in the social media platforms that worked effectively for them, in other words Facebook and Pinterest.

Review

What I learned collectively from reviewing these 5 businesses and their social media sites was that there are a lot of small details involved. For example every social media platform has a specific algorithm where you can have the most reach on new or browsing people. Once those are mastered, the social media platform can be used effectively to increase the sales in specific departments just by creating a post about it. For example I noticed a lot of the Instagram pages had posts of discounts and sales that they were trying to basically get rid of product quickly. These flash sales actually can produce a lot of revenue from product that was sitting in a warehouse. 

The other main thing that I learned was that Pinterest is quite useful when it comes to finding new things to try and getting new ideas. A lot of the followers for one of the businesses was on Pinterest and they actually had extremely useful and creative ideas! I'm sure each business now knows what to post on what platform to receive the most likes while creating more sales. It was very intriguing to do a little research on these massive companies and see what they do on their social media platforms.

Week 3 Part 2

I commented on these:

https://dburkscsit155fa19.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-isabelf.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-apagatpatan.blogspot.com/

Week 3 Part 1: Blog Post 

Have you ever experienced difficulty communicating with a business?

Yes I have experienced difficulty communicating with a business in a few circumstances. I used to work in the Auto Industry, specifically buying and reselling cars, there were more than a few instances where communicating with the body shops or repair shops. Usually if we couldn't resolve the issue we'd have to drive to the physical shop location to get a hold of them. The main two communication issues we ran into were lack of communication and miscommunication. Every car we bought had specific issues that need to be fixed so when the shops wouldn't pay attention to every detail that was communicated to them in written, printed form. This would provide some delays in our ability to sell the car which slowed down business. Eventually we found out that if they don't answer or understand our situation we take it elsewhere, personally, to make sure the problem(s) get fixed. 

Does social media make it easier to get noticed or get your problem solved?

Yes to both. Social media definitely makes it easier to get noticed in terms of your online profile. Whether it be a business or a personal account they both give you the ability to get "noticed" overnight. Although this usually doesn't happen that often as people would like, the rate of growth is extremely high for most social media platforms, especially Twitter and Instagram. As far as problem solving I don't usually go to social media to get a problem solved but I've definitely used social media to help solve a problem. That being said I never intentionally went searching on social media but rather saw a post that was related to a problem I recently had. For example I was googling how much it would be to replace the front windshield in my car. Later that day I scrolled onto an ad on Instagram that was a service that would come to you and replace your windshield. Rather than going out of my way and spending a few hours solving my problem, I decided to spend a few more dollars to conveniently stay at home. 

Have you ever had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media?

Yes! I have a few posts of attending festivals on Instagram. I've been contacted by businesses to feature their products in return for receiving a free product. The only time I had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media was specifically Instagram where I received multiple free items I usually buy for attending a festival, but instead I didn't pay for them and all I had to was post a picture and actually wear them at the festival. They even surprised me by contacting me to reward me a pair of free tickets to a festival after I did everything they asked!

If it was your own business on social media, how would you respond to positive or negative comments?

If it was my own business on social media, positive comments will be responded to in an also positive manner. As far as negative comments, it really depends. If the comment is negative but more so a poorly worded criticism claim I would leave it and maybe even respond in order to switch it into a positive manner. Otherwise if they're just plain negative comments I would just delete them as to maintain a positive environment. 

[Week 2: Part 2]

I commented on these Blogs from my group:


https://csit155-fa19-apagatpatan.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19zacks.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-fa19-lindsayw.blogspot.com/

Week 2 Part 1:

Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use? Why do you think so?

In my opinion, the social media platforms that seem geared towards personal use include YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. I think YouTube is mainly used for personal use because of the endless videos you can find on that platform. For example, YouTube has a tutorial for just about anything, but it is also available for educational and entertainment purposes. These cover all the bases in terms of personal use. Instagram has a good balance between pages that are for business or to make purchases off of, and then there are pages on Instagram, similar to YouTube, that are either funny videos or even educational videos. Another factor why Instagram is definitely a personal app is because of how quick and easy it is to use. All of the videos are less than a minute which provide a convenient way to learn something quick or instead, take a quick break. Finally, Facebook is the most suitable for the word personal use. Everyone used to use Facebook as their main platform to access social media, however, today most people use Instagram or even Twitter. Now Facebook has become a social media platform that is mostly used by professionals or helping old friends find each other. 

Which ones seem to work better for business? What makes them seem more suitable to business use?

In my opinion, Instagram and YouTube seem to work better for business. They seem and are now actually have made online shopping much easier. For example regarding Instagram, you can now make purchases on someone's profile, if supported by the company, which makes buying something a consumer sees and immediately likes a more convenient transaction. As far as YouTube, the potential for a video or something to viral is extremely easy. Not only that but there are a few big name YouTube channels that only release videos of them trying or opening products. This is a great way to make sure a consumer sees exactly what they like and what they're expecting which can help with the business use side of YouTube.

Do any seem to work well for both? How are they used differently?

Instagram and YouTube are social media platforms that perform well in both personal and business use. Facebook unfortunately has "died" and is not nearly as effective as the other two platforms. They are used differently in terms of the purchase made regarding the business use of these platforms. In other words, if a consumer is purchasing something relatively important and expensive, they will turn to YouTube and spend 30-60 minutes finding the best product. However if we're talking about impulsive or even influenced consumer purchases, Instagram is the platform consumers use to make those kind of purchases. 

Hello!

I picked the template "Travel" because of a few key reasons. Firstly, I love to travel, I always have and always will. I know I'll never get tired of traveling, but maybe flying. Traveling means new experiences which could open doors that you weren't seeing before. Among the pretty sights and nature surrounding us in this world I know that traveling is meant for me!

Secondly, traveling is one of the methods I use to relieve stress. I bought a car when I turned 18 and I took myself anywhere I wanted to. This was especially useful after a stressful week. I would jump in my car and just drive up and down the coast for a weekend getaway. Either Newport Beach, LA, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and even the Bay area. This really helped learn myself better and keep my head on my shoulders!

Finally, the last reason why I picked Travel as the template is because who doesn't like to travel? I met so many amazing people that have contributed to my success and my personal growth through traveling. If I had not traveled so much I wouldn't have explored the little things I like in order to better learn myself. I've met some friends I know I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life and would like to keep adding to the new experiences and the new people I meet!