10 Tips for Staying Inspired in College

Hey everyone!

So this week’s Friday blog is based on staying inspired in college. I’ve just finished my first week in college, and it was great getting back into a routine again. So I’m going to share with all of you my 10 tips for staying inspired in college!

 

1. Daily Top 3 Tasks:

Every morning when I wake up, I make a list of the top 3 things that I need to do within that day. I think that its a good way of motivating someone to accomplish/do the things that need to be done. It’s a great feeling once you’ve accomplished these!

2. The 50/10 Rule:

This is the 50 minutes of study with a 10 minute break. This is one rule I stick by in college. I think its good for my concentration whilst studying. I know everyone studies differently, just thought I would share my method. In the ten minutes, I watch a YouTube video or check my Facebook and Twitter accounts. For me, it helps me to refocus and figure out what I’m going to do next.

3. Reflect:

At the end of every day, I think everyone should reflect on the events of the day for about 5 to 10 minutes each day. It can help you make sense of your day better and help you figure out what needs to be done for the next day.

4. Read:

I enjoy reading and always have. Reading can help you to increase your knowledge about certain things. Nowadays, there is a multiplicity of ways to read books, be it an actual book to an e-book to listening to it on Audible.com.

5. Browse the Internet:

Expand your knowledge through the internet. The Internet is a plethora of information just waiting for us to acquire it. (College assignments, people! )

6. Brainstorm!!

Brainstorming is great in groups for project work or on your own for a essay. Its a creative goldmine!

7. Clean your Study Area:

I like to study in a clean environment, because I get less distracted by the clutter around me. It lets be focus on what has to be done.

8. Get Some Sleep (if needed):

If you need to sleep to replenish your energy levels, do it. No one is going to judge you.

9. Express Gratitude:

Gratitude promotes happiness!

10. Indulge in some of your Favorite Things!

Set aside time for you just to relax and do some of your favorite things like going to the cinema or watching re-runs of your favorite shows. My favorite TV-show at the moment to binge watch is Game of Thrones.  😉

So I hope you all enjoyed it, please let me know in the comments what ye do to keep inspired in college!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Until Next Time,

Cody ♡

Inspirational Wednesday!

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the President. You realize that you control your own destiny.

– Albert Ellis

This weeks Inspirational Wednesday is about learning from yourself. You need to be able to say that you’re in the wrong sometimes and not blame it on someone else. Your problems are your own. It’s okay to talk about them with others, but at the end of the day, you need to solve them on your own and in your own time.

Life is long and meandering. No one knows where each day might take them. Everyone has their own problems to deal with in their journey through life. Sometimes the world has a mysterious way of working your problems out for you unknowingly. But you have to take them and figure them out along the way. After all, you are the master of your destiny.

Until Next Time,

Happy Hump Day

♡

Inspirational Wednesday!

Don’t say that you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.

– H. Jackson Brown

This week’s Inspirational Wednesday comes from a place where I think that everyone should utilize their time better! That means include more creative and imaginative thought into your day. I believe that everybody is creative in their own ways, like one can be amazing at designing buildings and another can be amazing at cooking. We are all unique, no one of us is the same. We are made that way so we can all leave a special imprint on this earth.
Utilize your day to where you can do something for yourself! How did Einstein, da Vinci or Gandhi do it? They made time to realize what they thought was important. They all had to start somewhere. So where do you? I think you should start today! Make a difference, start a change in your life. It doesn’t have to drastic, start small. Soon you’ll realize how big your idea has grown or maybe you’ll have to start over. That’s okay, not everything is going to work out on it’s first attempt. Be patient and everything will sort itself out in the end. It’s nature’s way of telling you everything’s going to be okay!
Let your imagination run wild!

Until Next Time,

Happy Hump Day

♡

Ice Bucket Challenge Phenomenon!

                       

     

 

 

Recently on social media, the pop culture phenomenon that is the ice bucket challenge caught my attention. From my friends, to celebrities, thousands have been dumping buckets of ice cold water over themselves.
It is to raise awareness about ALS or, known as in Ireland, motor neuron  disease.

There has been a lot of trends that have been popularized by social media in recent years – planking, Gangnam style, the Harlem shake and the no makeup selfie. So now we have the ice bucket challenge.

It began by a young man, named Peter Frates who has this debilitating disease, telling his story. He was a collegiate athlete who had his whole life ahead of him. So he thought he would spread the word about this disease, hoping to educate others. And everyone knows the rest.

This phenomenon has inspired others to raise awareness of Lou Gerig’s Disease by taking part in the challenge. This gives people the opportunity to pitch in and make a difference to an amazing charity. In a way, it is like what the brand TOMS do when people buy a pair of their shoes, one pair goes to someone in need. It has a broad impact on society. Everyone from your neighbor to Bill Gates has taken part in it. Nominations are never ending. Some are being creative in the way that they do the challenge. Bill Gates created a contraption to pour the water over himself, Vern Troyer poured milk over himself whilst holding an Oreo, and Mark  Wahlburg and the Kennedy’s  involved their families, with Ethel Kennedy nominating the US president Barack Obama. It’s engaging and inclusive to everyone in society.

But as with everything, there is always controversy. Some say it’s a waste of time and water and the effect it has on people, which I disagree. This challenge has made more people aware of this disease, this creating less ignorance in the world. But haters can say what they want because at the end of the day, the ice bucket challenge has raised over $30 million in the US alone. These people have raised awareness for a deadly disease that affects thousands of people all over the world, including one of the greatest scientists, Steven Hawking.

Although unfortunately, Peter Frates’ friend and co-founder Corey Griffin has died in a drowning accident. So our thoughts go out to him and his family at this time. His family should be proud knowing that their son has started something great.

So let us know in the comments below if you have done the ice bucket challenge!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Until Next Time,
Cody ❤

10 Tips for Optimizing Digital Marketing!

This week I wanted to address Digital Marketing and how it is important for any company nowadays. Since we spend so much of our time on Social Media, companies could and should share their brands online to connect to customers outside of their locality. Connecting with consumers online is a sure-fire thing for businesses today. It is how companies stay relevant. So I think that Digital Marketing is the way to go. So I have come up with a short list of what companies should use and have in their Digital Marketing campaigns.

So I have comprised a list of 10 Tips for Optimizing Digital Marketing within companies:

1. Before running your campaign, look at the terms and conditions for popular search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing! as they all have slightly different formatting techniques.

2. Use target keywords in your in your headlines. They will capture your targeted audience if you use the keywords effectively.

3. Never go CRAZY with capital letters in your headlines. Capitalize the first letter in major words.

4. Do use correct punctuation in your headlines.  It makes sense for your customers to read something that looks and sounds right!

5. Don’t use abbreviations that people don’t know the meaning of. Use relevant and correct abbreviations to connect with consumers of all ages.

6. Have a business blog! I mean why not? It could attract bloggers to your site through your blog! In my opinion, it’s a winning feature for everyone.

7. Use a simple, clean, easy-to-follow website design, one that is user friendly to people of all ages. Also make your website mobile friendly. (Key in a technology driven society)

8. Enable share buttons on your website connecting to popular Social Media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc.

9. Since employees also represent your brand in both offline and online situations, companies should implement a policy wherein they are not allowed to share internal information online.

10. The use of #hashtag, companies should look into the origin of it before jumping on the bandwagon!

 

Well that’s all from me today, hope you all have an amazing weekend. Let us know in the comments below some of your tips for companies starting Digital Marketing campaigns.

Until Next Time,

Cody ♡

 

 

6 Reasons of Why We All Need A Social Media Vacation

 

Hey everyone,

So this week, I decided that I would write about why we all need a break from Social Media. Social Media is taking over our lives in many ways. Nowadays, we can’t breathe without checking our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts. I know this because I’m constantly refreshing all of those feeds. It’s addictive! There’s a void in all of us, whether we know it or not that we try to fill by being distracted by Social Media 24 hours of the day. So does one really know what they are missing? The answer is NO. If we took our faces away from the screens of our phones, tablets and computers, what would we see? The world that is happening around us. One also must ask themselves a question; Are there benefits to taking a social media break? I think only the person that tries it can really answer that question.

So, I’ve come with 6 things that you could do whilst on your Social Media break;

1. Learn New Things:

The world are you is full of new and interesting things that you can explore. I truly believe that you can learn something new everyday. Put your phone down and take in the world around you. I recently saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and I thought it was an amazing movie. There’s a line in it that goes “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, life moves pretty fast and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This line helped me create this blog for you today. Maybe we should all take a leaf out of Ferris Bueller’s book? 

2. Get Things Done:

When you’re off Facebook or Twitter or YouTube, you’ll get work done. I’d say many people use Social Media as a way of procrastinating (I do!). You can get the work done that you’ve been putting off. One of your friends can let you know if something majorly important happens.

3. Read A Book:

I personally prefer to read a novel that’s in a physical book form. I know there are devices today that allow you to read an e-copy of a book like e-readers and Kindles. There’s millions of books out there for you to read, you just have to be willing.  As an added bonus, I just love the way a new book smells. (I know, I’m a tad strange :P) Book Recommendation that I have for you all is Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. I think that it’s a book that should be read by all.

4. Help Out Somebody:

You could help someone out who doesn’t know how to use Social Media. You could put your knowledge and expertise to good use. The people you could are your younger siblings, your parents, even a friend whose new to technology scene. By doing this, you could feel better about your Social Media obsession because you’ve someone else.

5. Spend Time With Family:

For me, family is the most important. Do I need to go further? 😛

6. Travel:

It’s summer time! This is the time of the year where everyone should be having fun. Go on a road trip or a cruise. Or just stay at home and explore the local tourist attractions in your area that you’ve never been to. And then after that, you can post up all your lovely photos on your Social Media accounts for your friends to enjoy.

 

I hope you all have enjoyed this week’s blog! Let me know in the comments below what you thought of it! I love to hear/read feedback on blogs.. 🙂 Anyways, hope you all have an amazing weekend.. 

 

Until Next Time,

Cody ♡

Branding on the Internet!

 

Hey Everyone!

Today, I’m going to talk about Branding on the Internet. This topic isn’t anything new to us as most, not if all, companies advertise/market their companies online. Every website you click into has a form of advertising on it, be it for their own or for others.

Social media has facilitated the networking between people. I mean how would any of be able to connect with people who share similar interests if it wasn’t for likes of Twitter or Instagram or even Facebook. It can be, most of the time, a positive environment for people. Celebrities, for example, have fans who connect with one another through forums, ‘Like Pages’ on Facebook and hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. It’s a sort of Revolution.. They say that if Facebook was a country, it would be the fourth biggest in the world, after China and India. That’s scary to think about!

Nowadays most companies have social media accounts in order to constantly update people with whats happening within their company. With the likes of Facebook, you would have to like their page their page to be updated regularly on whats new with person/company. On Twitter and Instagram, you have to follow them to be updated. Some companies have even launched products through social media. Let’s take the Ford Explorer, this car was launched through the company’s Facebook page. It’s funny how things have changed for companies. Before there was press conferences where a product could be launched. Nowadays all one needs to do is post a photo or a status on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and millions of people will know a product within a few seconds. This just shows how the traditional ways of advertising is dying.

Another example of how traditional ways are dying, is the Volkswagen advert for the 2011 Superbowl. It got more views on YouTube than on the night it aired. That’s the advert where the kid thinks he’s Darth Vader from Star Wars trying to make things move or do something with his mind. This eventually ends with him “revving the car” that his father just came home in. Its a sweet advert about childhood imagination  and how innocent kids are.

How social media is so accessible is through smartphones. I have an iPhone
and I’m constantly connected to my emails, Facebook, Twitter and all the other apps I use. A typical scene you’ll see in a cafe is a group of people at a table all on their phones not uttering a word to one another. Or the new phenomenon, taking a #selfie for either Instagram or Snapchat. This is the portrait of a 21st century group of students.

Viral videos wouldn’t have been created if it wasn’t for social media. The most successful form of advertising for companies is to have a viral video or a photo that is distributed worldwide through social media. The most iconic/strange advert that I’ve seen recently is the Little Baby’s Ice Cream Ad. This ad contains a man covered in ice cream, eating the ice cream from the top of his head and creepily staring at the screen while a man does a voice over of why he eats that particular brand of ice cream. The ad from start to finish is creepy/disturbing but it most be working for the brand considering that this advert has nearly 6M views on YouTube. I’ll link it below so you guys can see it for yourselves.

Another example of good viral ads is the T-Mobile ad in 2010 where they had singers in Heathrow Terminal 5 singing as people were arriving in to meet their loved ones. Its a sweet ad of how bonds between people can’t be broken no matter how far apart they are. It’s quaintly titled “Welcome Back”. I will also link that below for anyone who hasn’t already seen it. 🙂

Anyways guys, I’ll leave it here today! Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

To Be Continued!

Peace Out Gurls! ❤

Here are the links to the videos mentioned above:

Volkswagen Ad 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

Little Baby’s Ice Cream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erh2ngRZxs0

T-Mobile’s “Welcome Back”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3NPNM4xgo