falynims201-blog - Tumblr blog

falynims201-blog · 12 years ago

Text

Nordstrom

Since the establishment of Nordstrom in 1901, it has transformed into a nationwide fashion specialty chain selling the finest apparel, shoes, and accessories in America. Then and today, Nordstrom continues to offer their customers the highest customer service, selection, and value. And since the phenomenon of social media sites, Nordstrom has adapted in order to maximize profit and develop a more personal connection and interaction with their customers. After conducting some research about the utilization of social media that Nordstrom carries out, it is evident they have taken full advantage of social media sites for advertising their products and their store. Firstly, it is vital to have the knowledge what media sites Nordstrom has connected with. Nordstrom is connected on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Yelp, their own personal website, a blog, and even a phone application. Their connection to these famous social media sites makes it evident that Nordstrom attempts to stay connected with its customers in every way possible.

Their Facebook page includes constant pictures, new products, and an interaction with their customers with comments on their pictures. Not to mention the thousands of likes the customers post on their page on a day-to-day basis. For example, Nordstrom’s recent activity includes a “Buy 2 Mascaras, Get 1 FREE! Saturday ONLY!” I think that the Nordstrom Facebook page is one of the strongest and most beneficial media sites for Nordstrom. Through the posts, Nordstrom has the ability to post sales, events, new products, and pictures of products asking the customers what their favorites are, enabling customers to post responses and reviews. On Twitter, Nordstrom tweets more than once a day about sales, new arrivals, and even current events like the election. They post links to products from the store and respond to customers who tweet @Nordstrom with comments/reviews. I think that Twitter as well as Facebook is one of the biggest social media sites that helps benefit Nordstrom. Twitter and Facebook include many of the same posts of sales, products, reviews, etc. I think the links on the Twitter site provide customers convenience by being able to access products by one click of their mouse. Nordstrom’s tweets are upbeat, positive, informative, and appealing to members of Twitter.

The list continues with more sites that help Nordstrom maximize their business. Nordstrom has a YouTube channel and post how to's, sneak peaks, behind the scenes, etc. I think that Nordstrom should attempt to provide more awareness about their YouTube channel. I found it so interesting and innovative that Nordstrom even had a YouTube channel featuring makeup tutorials, behind the scenes of fashion shows, and interviews with designers. I had no idea this was available on YouTube. I think that if Nordstrom made customers more aware of this, their customers who would find it helpful and entertaining would positively review it. Nordstrom also has a Tumblr page that looks extremely similar to their personal website with mostly pictures of products. Each month on Tumblr, Nordstrom posts pictures involving fashion, beauty, clothes, designers, or anything related to their store. Of course, Nordstrom has their own personal website featuring the products of their store that you can purchase online with free shipping and free returns. On the bottom of the website they have a "Follow Us On Twitter," "Read Our Blog," and "Get Nordstrom Apps" under a title called "Connect With Us." Lastly, Nordstrom has actually more than one blog. Each blog Nordstrom has created targets a different consumer audience. They have a blog called “Beauty 24/7,” targeting the beauty collection in their store. Furthermore, they have a “Men’s Shop Daily” blog, clearly targeted at their male consumers. They also have a “B.P. Fashion Blog,” meant for their female teenage buyers. These are just a few examples of Nordstrom’s blogs.

Nordstrom interacts with customers on their blog page, they tweet customers who tweet the Nordstrom twitter page, they have online customer service that you can access on their website, and they have even made Nordstrom available with one tap of a finger on your smart phone with their free downloadable app. I think that Nordstrom does a phenomenal job of utilizing a variety of social media sites to benefit the store and to create a personal relationship with their regular customers, and attempt to attract new customers. Their sites are all professional, aesthetically pleasing, and up to date. I think Nordstrom takes advantage of these social websites by not only having them, but also by updating them constantly. They are concerned with customer reviews and having the utmost customer satisfaction possible. Furthermore, Nordstrom tries to interconnect all of their social media sites. By putting their Twitter page, blog page, and a direction to how to download their app on the smart phone, Nordstrom tries to make every social media site they are connected with known to the customer. They have 1.4 million Twitter followers and their 1.7 million likes on Facebook, validating how much positive effect social media sites contribute to the company.

The critique I would have about Nordstrom’s utilization with social media sites is that in an attempt to have more connection with the customers, they could maybe have a little more interaction with them through questions on Twitter about a certain product, or live tweeting sessions, or even maybe offer ways for the customers to be able to be put on their blog with a review blog or a personal experience blog with Nordstrom. I’ve heard companies that have done a live tweeting session before, interacting by commenting followers on Twitter and I think it would allow customers to see how much Nordstrom cares about their customers opinions and thoughts regarding the store, products, customer service, or even by answering any questions the customers may have. I think that overall, Nordstrom does a fantastic job of using social media to reach a broader audience of customers. Nordstrom is a higher class and more expensive store, but I think that through these social media connections, Nordstrom attempts to reach a more wholesome audience of families, trying to make Nordstrom appealing and affordable to all groups of people and to all ages. Through social media sites, Nordstrom, and all companies, have the opportunity to express their stores unique taste and offers. I think that Nordstrom’s variety of connections on social media, up to date posts, millions of followers, and constant adaptation to the social media phenomenon enables Nordstrom to explore all of their opportunities in a positive and successful way.

#ims201

0 notes

falynims201-blog · 12 years ago

Text

Blog Post #1

Photo cred: cuteheaven.com

At my high school, the English department was one of the top departments. Therefore, writing English papers at my high school was an extremely detailed and complex process. Every year we would learn and relearn MLA format. We would have to write two research papers a year. Our research papers usually consisted on a novel, play, or some other reading material we read and discussed in class. We would then get what seemed like a thousand handouts explaining the process, tips, guidelines, and rules for writing research papers. It went so far as receiving a “forbidden words” list that emphasized words we were not allowed to use in our papers. My junior English class was the most intense and the hardest for writing the research papers. Looking back now, it was beyond helpful for preparing me for college, but back in my junior year, it appeared as the most ridiculous thing in the world. My junior teacher made us go through a research paper writing process. We would need to first pick our topic. Then we would have to decide on a thesis statement that she would correct and critique. After our thesis was approved, we had to make a brief outline that highlighted the main points or topics we were planning on discussing in our paper. Then on our own, we had to create a blueprint. We would need to write the main point out, provide quotes from the book, and show evidence through outside sources and site them. We would need to write a paragraph explaining the importance of this main point and analyze how it was used in the book and go further to draw conclusions on the affect it had on the reading material we were writing about. As tedious as this sounds, after the blueprint was done, the research paper was a million times easier compared to just sitting down and starting to write the paper from scratch. Senior year emphasized more MLA format when writing research papers. It went so intense to the point that if you added a citation or forgot to add a citation in your annotated bibliography, you automatically received a D on that portion of the grading. Overall, the department’s main goals were to readily prepare us for college papers.

In terms of me writing research papers, I struggle the most with the formality of research papers. When I write, it is a more creative writing process that doesn’t need to draw as much facts as it does imagination. But when writing research papers, there is a great deal more of fact involved that it most likely doesn’t leave space for imagination. Furthermore, I tend to procrastinate just a little bit. J Unfortunately, that is a terrible attribute, especially when writing a research paper because it takes a huge portion of time. The amount of time it takes to find reliable sources and read them and relate them to what your research paper is on and then write about it is an extremely time consuming process that would clearly take more than just one night. I think those are my biggest struggles when writing the paper. On the contrary, my biggest strengths are probably following directions. If someone hands me guidelines on what to complete and how to complete it, it’s most likely that I will complete it mirroring how the guideline advises. Furthermore, I think most of the time my papers flow well instead of being sporadic with random tangents and thoughts. Lastly, I usually try to perfect my papers to the best of my ability and that can count as one of my main strengths. Every since I was little I loved to read and write. And the fact that my major is Journalism/Strategic Communications implies that basically I want to have a career that involves writing in some form. Therefore, I enjoy writing and feel as though it is my biggest academic strength.

What I fear the most about writing papers in college is probably the professors. In high school, you just had one teacher for the entire year. Most of the time, the only class that required a research paper was your English class. Throughout the year, you could become acquainted with the teacher and detect their likes and dislikes and writing styles and requirements. But in college, you could have to write research papers in other classes besides English. Furthermore, you barely know the professor or his/her writing styles and techniques. Even if you did realize his/her style over time and could adapt to it, I fear it would be difficult to continuously have to adapt to every professor and their guidelines. It is not just straightforward and consistent in college as it was in high school. A large portion is independent work as well. That differs from high school when you were constantly guided through the process of what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

Considering what I learned my junior year, when I have to write research papers in college, I think my writing and research process will model the similar expectations I had to do in my English class. I will decide upon a topic, construct my thesis statement, research outside sources, write up a brief outline, create a blueprint, and then use the blueprint as my foundation when I actually sit down to write the paper. I saved some of my old handouts from high school that I will refer back to when I am getting into the technicalities of writing and the uses of grammar and recommended transition words, etc.

I am only worried about plagiarism because I feel that with turnitin.com (that my teachers used in high school as well as some professors do at Miami), it is possible that you could accidentally plagiarize without knowing it. But in high school, if we found any source of information that did not come from our own previous knowledge, the original author who had the idea I was conveying was included through the MLA format of paraphrasing. Other than that, I am not worried about academic dishonesty because in reality, when you are writing a research paper, it is basically your own analysis and thought. It would be foolish to try and submit a paper that someone else in the past wrote or that you bought somewhere online because it could be clearly recognized or evident to the professor, especially if they’re using turnitin.com. Lastly, I think that the point of the research paper is to research outside sources and use it to draw your own conclusions. Therefore, it is obviously encouraged to read other ideas and views about the topic. All you simply have to do is cite the authors or other works that you derive ideas from. If you include that, it is not considered plagiarizing. Overall, I really do think my high school teacher helped us prepare for writing research papers. In my own opinion, I just don’t think they’re the most exciting homework to be assigned because of the time consuming work it takes to complete them.

#ims201

0 notes