2010

Time to get back into the swing of things. New year, new attitude, new ways ...

Cyber Monday

Well, Cyber Monday was pretty unsuccessful for me today. I was browsing all day on a public wi-fi network, so I didn't buy anything. When I finally got home, the three things I really wanted were sold out - very disappointing!

My new beauty product obsession

Well, I've slowed my pace on the blog updates ... once again.
I thought I'd go with a different angle today - my current beauty product/hair care obsession: Sexy Hair Organics.
My mom is always trying new hair products and her latest finding was Sexy Hair. We used their original shampoo and conditioner, which wasn't all that - so the company recommended we try their "Soy Tri Wheat Leave -In Conditioner" (I know, what a mouth full.) This leave-in conditioner is absolutely amazing (and it's organic!) I'm been using Chi's Keratin Mist for as long as I can remember, but once introduced to this new fabulous product - I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch. I have nothing bad to say about Chi's product, but I do like Sexy Hair's product better. I suggest trying this leave-in to anyone who hasn't because it does wonders!

Hope you enjoy!

A poorly written cover letter

So, I was going through people's tweets on Twitter yesterday and came across @MarkRaganCEO. He posted a link to someone's take on a horribly written cover letter - so obviously I clicked.
This is what it led me to:
"Is This The Worst Cover Letter Ever?"

Okay - well, I have mixed feelings about this, as do most of the commenters.

As a recent college graduate myself, it's hard enough job searching and applying for jobs without the criticism.

What I've learned is that a cover letter is supposed to be about you and why you're the best candidate for the position you're applying for. Yes, you should always talk about the company & at least prove you did a little research, but not to the extent of "over-doing" it. I cringed when I saw that she didn't spell the company name right. Okay, I'll give the blogger that, but I think he went a little too far with his "constructive criticism."

As I read some of the comments at the bottom of this post - I agreed with the idea of him posting a "good" rewritten cover letter - one that would lead to the company considering the candidate for an interview. For the time & effort this person put into criticizing the cover letter, he could have written a cover letter which we could all refer to in our job-searching rather than what NOT to do.

To be honest - I never learned how to write a cover letter in school. They never taught us that. I used Google to figure out what a cover letter should consist of. I would benefit much more from a well written cover letter rather than this one.

Win $500!!

Oh man, I seem to have forgotten (once again) that I started a blog.

Well, it's Monday - I hate Mondays! Weekends go by so quickly!


I thought I'd post BettyConfidential's November contest: "Win $500 in 5 Minutes!"
Who couldn't use an extra $500 in their pocket?
BettyConfidential.com has created a survey on money, the economy and how people are managing their personal finances. Once the survey is completed you're entered into the giveaway to receive $500!


http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/ld/a/Tell-Us-About-You-Money-and-the-Economy.html


I could really use this money!!

First week on the job

So, this week is my first official week working for BettyConfidential.com. I've been interning for them since June, but just came on board "officially." I've learned so much these past few days including how much time, energy and overall effort goes into creating and maintaining a website.

[sidenote: According to compete.com, Betty had over 1 million unique visitors last month and we are continuing to grow. Through the grapevine, I've hear our number was much higher than that, so I'm not too sure how reliable compete is.]

Anyway, since I do not go into an office every day, but rather work from home - it can be quite difficult communicating amongst everyone (from editorial to marketing to interns). Another issue I came across is that the staff is spread throughout the country, which puts us all in different time zones. Since there are so many different aspects of Betty, being able to target the right person for the right question can be rather challenging. I've been doing a lot of research for blogs and websites with content similar to ours and that alone takes up a lot of time. Then, going through each individual site, relating to it and constructing a personalized email to the editor is another solid amount of time. I think the key to all of this is organized. By tracking the things I'm doing, and building relationships with writers and bloggers, I can hopefully be able to develop a system where I can link exchange and get our content placed.

I think I'm all over the place in this post. Maybe I'm still all over the place in life, which is why I'm a little frazzled this week.

Eh, tomorrow I'll sum up the week (after my research, conference call, and weekly reports ...)

Pitching Tips

This is a great blog post I came across today. First off, I love mediabistro ... and they had a post today: "How to pitch: 5 Mistakes to avoid." I think the community just posts and submits topics all the time, but I really liked this one.

In summary, personalize your pitch:
1. Address your pitch to a specific person
2. Acknowledge something said, reference an article, etc.
3. Don't suck up
4. Don't say "awesome"
5. Stick to the point

View the whole blog post here:
http://mediabistro.posterous.com/how-to-pitch-5-mistakes-to-avoid