My breakfast of champions has consisted of two mini three-musketeers and a V8. At least I got my one serving of vegetables. I’m eating this minimal breakfast because I didn’t want to be late for work, so I didn’t get to eat breakfast and now I’m raiding the candy bowl in the showroom. I was almost late for work because I was trying to dry my shirt with a hairdryer. Luckily, not only was I on time for work, but blow drying my shirt worked surprisingly well.
And, this is all very exciting because I HAVE A JOB! I am the new Marketing Coordinator/Assistant Office Manager at Classic Kitchen and Bath. I’ll be handling SEO, social media, and more general marketing stuff (and yes that link was a plug, can I interest you in a new kitchen?). After months of sulking around my parents house, I have joined the ranks of employed recent graduates, which seems few and far between, so I know how lucky I am!
I will be continuing my marketing education by reading everything I can get my hands on and testing out some ideas on this blog, so try not mind anything random and please let me know of any fun ideas that you have!
In an attempt to jump start my blog, and get my creative juices flowing, I thought I would do a 30 day picture thing, but instead I’m just going to pick out the ones I like and let you guys learn a little bit more about me!
Day 01 – A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
15 Facts
1. I am a senior at James Madison University, but I feel like I just got here.
2. I am freaking out about graduating and finding a career/job/life.
3. I drink an obscene amount of Propel daily (two so far today and it’s only 10:30 AM!).
4. I have way too much homework to do to be doing this.
5. My guilty pleasure is Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family and Buffalo Wild Wings Honey BBQ wings. The bouncers know me because I go there so much, is that bad?
6. I wish that I was more creative.
7. I love dogs, I am definitely getting a puppy when I have a yard and and landlord who allows it. I’m not sure which kind to get but my brother’s golden retriever, Hank, is pretty much the greatest dog ever, so a golden retriever might be in order.
8. My favorite color is turquoise, but I appreciate every color… except maybe brown. I do not like brown.
9. Sometime in my life, I want to live close to the beach. Anywhere close to the beach. I can’t get enough of the ocean.
10. Inside my Jeep Wrangler is my favorite place to be on the planet, top down-music up never fails to make me feel better.
11. I can’t stand this cold, windy weather. I just want to be in the sun and warm again. I feel like I am suffering from seasonal affective disorder, but I think I’m just cold.
12. I did not optimize this blog post, sorry Dr. Clarke.
13. Classic animated Disney movies (Lion King, 101 Dalmations, etc.) are my favorite. The Disney vault makes me angry.
14. I am trying to get into yoga, but having trouble because I feel like I my mind won’t let me slow down to enjoy the relaxation.
Over the course of this semester, I’ve used Google Analytics to collect data about this site, and use that data to better understand the value of marketing a website. I can understand how tools like this generate revenue for businesses online.
Traffic
The majority of my traffic came from organic search results in Google, which generated almost 50% of my visits. According to Google Analytics the keyword “JMU marketing” delivered 82 visitors to the site. My optimization efforts on that phrase contributed greatly to these results. The next highest-ranking keyword was “Sarah Bonner”, which only generated 14 visits. Obviously, the work I put in to optimizing on “JMU Marketing” paid off. Facebook also generated 43 of my site visits. I’m glad I posted my blog posts on my wall, because my friends were interested to know more about what I was up to. Even though I did the exact same thing on Twitter that I did on Facebook, Twitter only had 8 referrals to my site. Twitter needs to be a bigger part of my Internet persona before my tweets generate more referrals. My PPC efforts generated less than I expected, a lowly 10%. I realize now, after Professor Clarke’s comments and evaluation, I could have done a better job with the Google AdWords campaign.
Visitors
The visitors to my site were mostly from Harrisonburg, Virginia with others scattered around the state and country, with a few from other parts of the world, such as Canada, the UK, and South America. I am completely blown away that people from around the world have stopped by to look at something I made.
Content
The content that is most popular on my site are my interests page, my resume page, and the JMU Marketing Review post. My optimization and AdWords Campaigns really helped on this too. These pages were also the most interesting to some wanting to know more about JMU marketing or me.
Overall Learning with Internet Marketing
During the Strategic Internet Marketing class, I’ve learned a great deal. The subject matter has dramatically broadened my interest. The most important thing I’ve taken away from this class is how to use the tools available on the Internet to collect data and how to use that data. Tools like Google Analytics and AdWords were exciting to use. I visit Analytics every day to check what’s going on in the site and I am in awe of what I can do with it.
My Future in Internet Marketing
I want to continue learning. My plan for the future of this blog is to post more personal items that tie in with a marketing theme. I enjoy having an online presence and learning more about what I can do online. To continue my education and stay on top of Internet marketing trends I will use my Twitter account for a more educational purpose, as well as continuing to read and searching for marketing blogs. Next semester I will have another AdWords campaign to drive traffic to my resume page and come to a better understanding of that tool.
A Career in Internet Marketing
The Internet Marketing class has definitely impacted my future. Until now, I did not know how to mix my interest in computers with my marketing degree. This class has made me realize how much the Internet is changing not only marketing, but business in general. I want to do something in the digital space and I believe I would be good at it.
I don’t usually spend much time on my Twitter account, @smb1213, so I was a little concerned as to what to do for a whole hour exploring Twitter. After an hour, I have a new appreciation for Twitter. I can see that Twitter has something for everyone.
Twitter for Businesses
Companies can maintain relationships with their customers with a simple click of the “follow” button. Information can be gathered from their followers, their followers’ posts, and whatever other information people wish to share online. It’s a relatively easy way for companies to stay in their target customer’s heads. If a company’s hashtag starts to trend, it can mean huge impressions on potential customers. There are also tools available for companies to monitor topics, some of which are described in this interesting article from SocialMediaExaminer.com.
Twitter for Customers
For customers, Twitter can keep them updated about almost everything. They can see what’s happening in the “Trending” category and join the conversation or start their own conversations. They can always check out what’s going on with their favorite brands.
Twitter for Professionals
As a professional entering the workforce, I can understand that Twitter is very helpful in the professional world, too. Marketers can learn about new trends in the field. It’s very important to stay on top of what’s popular and useful in Internet marketing because it changes so quickly. I can monitor what’s going on with the products I’m using for my business and find out what I should be using and why, just from the other professionals I’m following. I’ve learned a lot just from my professor, @TheresaBClarke and her counterpart’s tweets.
Many thanks to Janet Driscoll Miller for visiting our class Thursday and giving us some valuable insights into Search Engine Marketing. Ms. Miller works as the President and CEO of Search Mojo, a company that specializes in search engine marketing. After listening to her presentation it’s obvious that Ms. Miller knows her stuff. As a JMU marketing student, I am very interested in what Ms. Miller had to say.
Search Mojo’s Take On Keywords
Keywords, and how to use them, was a major point Ms. Miller brought up. Keywords can create effective targeting and increase traffic to a page. Keywords should not be too broad or too specific. It is also important to realize that keywords should be descriptive, and thus can be long. Keywords should appear in as many places on the page as possible, including the file name, content, etc.
Janet Driscoll Miller on Inbound Links
I was also very interested to know that Google now accepts tweets on Twitter as inbound links. This is very important to me, as I am trying to optimize my site and inbound links help direct the search engine spiders in a positive way. Ms. Miller guesses that Facebook “likes” will do the same in the future.
Search Mojo says “No” to Flash
I’m sad that Flash is such a problem for the search engines. Marketers can do some very interesting things with it, but it is not for SEO. This fact shows me that search engine marketing focuses on the basics and it is important to keep everything simple.
I’ve learned a lot in the past four years at JMU. It took two years of general education classes and COB 300, but I’m finally within my major classes. The JMU marketing classes are what I’ve been working towards and the classes I’ve wanted to take for a long time, even before coming to JMU.
JMU Marketing Professors
JMU marketing professors are outstanding with their educations and their experience in the marketing field. I’m impressed by the amount of experience and acknowledgements each professor has achieved either as a professor of marketing or a marketer in the field. It assures me that at least part of what it says in that 200 dollar book will be useful when I start my career after JMU.
I’ve also been impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the JMU marketing professors within the department.
JMU Marketing Courses
The JMU marketing courses have been interesting and informative. My favorite classes have been Integrated Marketing Communications with Dr. Clarke and Consumer Behavior with Dr. Larsen. These classes have been interesting and fun, and I definitely learned a great deal about marketing from these professors.
The required JMU marketing courses I’ve taken have opened my eyes to the world of marketing. It is amazing to know what’s going on when I get an email or see a commercial. I really like knowing that I’ve learned something. I still have the JMU marketing capstone class to take, and I will be finished with my degree. (woo hoo!!)
Final Thoughts
It took a lot of hard work and time to get through the prerequisites to actually get to my JMU marketing classes, but I think it was totally worth it. With a degree in marketing from JMU I feel prepared to take on whatever happens after May 2011.
Choosing a new theme for MKTG 470 gave me a little bit of trouble. Originally, I searched openly and didn’t find any on the WordPress theme search that I liked. I decided to use Google to find other “free WordPress themes”. I was looking for something simple, professional, and hopefully with a burst of color to give some indication of what I might design for a new theme if I had the time to do so.
I found a theme that I liked on a random site found through searching on Google. I should have known better. “Sleek Yellow” was aesthetically pleasing, but did not support my widgets or the pages I had created previously. It also made everything, including every page in my dashboard and posts, have a little code at the top. It was something like //Ggo56789OoOp. It even had an advertisement for weight loss tagged onto the footer. It was sketchy and made me uncomfortable.
When I searched again on the WordPress themes I put in the criteria of color (green) and my chosen theme was on the second page. Of course it was that easy.
I chose “Elements of SEO” for my new theme. It’s simple and professional. I really enjoy the paint splatters at the top. Without that detail the new theme would be bland and boring, but that gives it just enough to be kind of fun, I think.
I think I have gained functionality with having an extra column for information and having my pages presented in a better view as the header.
Thank you very much to Deb Van Horn, the Vice President of Marketing at The Rockingham Group– a Harrisonburg based insurance firm.
Other than thinking about how annoying “Flo” is from the Progressive commercials, I don’t often think about marketing in terms of insurance. Ms. Van Horn came to MKTG 470 class last Thursday and enlightened us about how important social media is for any company, and especially hers–The Rockingham Group.
The Rockingham Group is a small insurance company that helps people with every insurance question or need after they have bought their insurance. The Rockingham Group is attempting to connect with customers through social media to help the company and consumers understand each other better. Facebook and Twitter are especially important for small companies like The Rockingham Group, because while they might not have the resources for some forms of marketing communication the can still connect with customers and potential customers on a very personal basis.
I learned quite a bit from Ms. Van Horn’s presentation. I didn’t know how Facebook tracked advertisements and impression rates or what an engagement rate was or really how a business actually uses Facebook, and now I do. Facebook provides so much information for a business. They have reports on the people who “like” a page, as well as reports on total impressions, clicks, click through rates, actions, and the average cost per impression.
The Rockingham Group’s Internet marketing strategies spread through Twitter, blogs, Youtube, email marketing, and more including Google Analytics. Ms. Van Horn said that their vision at The Rockingham Group is to go beyond the simple interaction and be able to provide the customer with what they need when and where they need it. If their customers want online options, The Rockingham Group is ready.
After half of a semester and more experience with social media, I realize that Facebook is much more complex than the personal page where pictures are posted and friends are connected. Ms. Van Horn brought so much more to my attention. I hope I can get a deeper understanding of how to use these different applications on the job through the rest of my time at JMU and hopefully in my future career.
Deb Van Horn is the VP of Marketing at The Rockingham Group. She can be reached at dlvanhorn@rockinghamgroup.com. For more information contact Professor Clarke.
Hi! My name is Sarah Bonner. I graduated from JMU in May 2011, with a degree in Marketing. I'm currently job searching and ready to go anywhere. Please look around my blog and I welcome any comments!! Go Dukes!
