Unit 1 Revision:
For unit 1 I struggled a little bit at the beginning but after a good feedback from the teacher which was to focus more on my introduction and thesis I change it up found a way to make a kind of a focus on one main events while still including different experiences Looking back I should’ve probably narrowed down a little bit more but the pizza paper method actually helped refining my essay specially my introduction and thesis.
UNIT 1 – Education
Education is confusing or maybe it isn’t, maybe I just have hard time adapting to it. I could pass the exams, do well in class, be the best student, but does all that benefit me outside of school ?
I mean I can still succeed another way.
There is many other alternatives to education, the question is how far can they really get me , I went from not understanding the benefits of education to not liking it all to enjoying education and actually benefiting from it.
Having a good teacher and doing a subject I liked changed my whole experience in school because I felt motivated to learn.
My education experience was all over the place but I’m glad to say that at this present day I believe in education and that my experience has helped shape me into the person that I am today and all thanks to my college experience which is what shaped my relationship with education.
Learning new languages, adapting to a new curriculum was not always as easy, which was what caused my confusion with school over the years.
My emotions in middle school were feeling scared of embarrassing myself or frustrated because I was doing something simpler than other kids.
Being someone that doesn’t like asking for help or even asking twice when I didn’t understand made me work harder but also more difficult as this caused me to learn myself in the context of when I didn’t understand instead of asking and get an answer straightaway I will wait till I get home and find out by myself but when I was studying in Switzerland ,I realize that it’s easier and faster to learn languages when your communicating and letting yourself make mistakes
As I was growing up I started adapting quicker enabling me to fully learn and feel more comfortable even though I was still very shy, specially back in Spain, one of the things teacher would always say that I would never put my hand up despite knowing the answer or needing help as I barely talked but it did not help that I could sit in class all day no teacher would make sure I’m updated with all the work or anything as I started in the middle of school.
To be honest when I was young I loved learning but when I moved high schools to the UK I started falling behind ,at first I always kept to myself and tried to adapt but in high school everything was different.
Between lack of motivation and being distracted I limited myself to learning and it did not help that I didn’t like the school at that point I was only looking forward to the fun at lunch time and after school rather than how to get good grades. I left with 3 Gcse which according to my school I wouldn’t be able to “move forward” and that didn’t help at all as it just made me not care rather than motivating me.
My college experience it’s what made me focus back in school, this one particular teacher really helped me ,she made sure me and my friends always completed our work at the best possible ,she would tell us to stay over and review what we done so far to help us even though we wasn’t the best students but she always looked out for us and kept us from getting in trouble and excluded as schools in UK are very strict,as well the course I was doing was art and travel and tourism, getting to go out and travel every now and then was a nice experience which made us enjoy the course more and kept us motivated to pass the class. Before this I was really unmotivated and didn’t see the point in school. The only thing kept in there was because of my parents and friends. The qualification from this school and my high school is what brought me here today as this is what got me into this university/college and opened many opportunities for me which is why I’m not able to do the major of my choice and pursue my career.
In conclusion my college (high school in the US) experience is what benefited me the most ,it taught me that if your good with your teachers and is interested in the course you have higher chances of passing it ,this is also where I had my first work experience which was made by the school and this benefited me outside of education and I am very grateful as this the reason I’m still in school today ,I am also at a more mature age to know what my priorities are and how to move forward.
Unit 2 Revision :
For this unit I kind of just went straight into the final draft this was kind of like an easier assignment as it was with research and backing up my hypothesis , one I might’ve done maybe narrow down my hypothesis but I feel like I did quite well on this assignment and finding the right the resources ,and choosing my own genre/ topic really helped me.
UNIT 2- annotated bibliography
Why is social media and online retailing important for businesses today and what are the benefits?
The reason why I’m interested in this topic is because I plan to launch my own business and was researching on the methods that made other familiar businesses successful also as why others weren’t. Due to the growth of social media and technology in our generation I wanted to see how important social media is for a business success, specifically the fashion industry. This is a topic I’ve come across in my marketing class and also while searching for what topic to research for this annotated bibliography, it was the one that intrigued me the most. As there are a lot of successful businesses that aren’t using social media to promote themselves such as Primark but are they as successful as the one who are online and using social media Or have they dropped down?
In this research I expect to find the benefits of social media/ online retailing and how it can increase and plays a part in a business success as much as why it is better than other traditional methods that were used before the growth of social media and online retail, and a clear example of business who have been more successful due to social media and being online also how beneficial it is specially considering the pandemic we are still going on.
If I find answer that does not match my hypothesis while doing my research, I will firstly reevaluate the answers I’ve found and do further research then re-evaluate my question as well as re-write it then lastly if that doesn’t work out I’ll explain how it contradicts my hypothesis and add the new information I’ve found and write a new hypothesis taking into consideration the new information I’ve found.
Social media marketing
Newberry, C. (2021, January 12). “23 Benefits of Social Media for Business”. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/
This article was written by Christine Newberry, it states “23 Benefits of Social Media for Business” which is also the title, this supports my hypothesis and gave me the answer I was looking for as it’s basically persuasive and gives people 23 reasons to choose social media for their businesses. The first benefit mentioned is “Increase brand awareness” and this is the biggest advantage a company using online marketing could have on a business who is not using social media as they would gets 2x exposure, this article also states that “60 percent of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform.” This is entirely true social media has become very influential specially for most of us young adults. It is the number one source of research and buying decisions specially for products like clothing and shoes.
Another good point that was said in this article was “Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website.” This again supports my hypothesis that using social media marketing overall can increase website traffic just by posting content on social media which is at the same time promoting your brand and product as well as every now and then doing ads which you can modify to reach your target audience.
The importance of social media today.
Smith, K. (2021, March 9). The Importance of Social Media in Business for Entrepreneurial Success. Digital Marketing Blog. https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/importance-social-media-business/
This source was written recently and it perfectly explains the importance of social media and how it contributes to a company’s success. First starting with the statement that social media “ It’s booming like never before.” At this point we all know that the majority of people are using social media or are familiar with it, as this has become a number 1 source for everything whether it’s for jobs to meeting new friends to simply posting yourself. This source states that “71% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand to others if they have a positive experience with it on social media.” I find this statement to be true not only because it was from an infographic but also because I myself and many other people are like this when we are checking out a company, we like to see from their reviews to social media status as that’s where we get more information from and better understanding of the brand.social media allows you connect better with your customers as much as growth,as it helps your other potential customers see your customer service, look through your brand and products easily and more thoroughly.
Online retailing/ e-commerce
Hudson, M. (2018, December 26). “What Are the Pros and Cons of eCommerce and Selling Online?” The Balance Small Business. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/selling-online-retailing-storefront-alternatives-2890252
This online article was written by Matthew Hudson, it states “ the pros and cons of e-commerce” the first 4 paragraphs supports my hypothesis as to the advantages of putting your business online , overall it bring you more profits as it allows you to be open 24 hours a day and have access to a wider range of customers geographically as the internet is international aso allows your product to be bought from anywhere especially now with COVID 19 ,this a choice a lot of business should consider as many people preferences has switched to online shopping.
In this article it also speaks about “ Disadvantages of Selling Online” such as security issues due to it being a globally accessible platform ,there might be risk and some cost to keep it secure and this applies to everything online but that still doesn’t override the advantages as technology is getting more updated and secure by the days and it’s definitely not as expensive as running a store in fact it’s small monthly fee which most companies are comfortable paying and it’s worth it.
Why should you use social media for your business ?
Popovic, K. (2015, May 13). 7 Reasons You Should Not Use Social Media For Business. Online Marketing Institute. https://www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org/blog/2015/05/7-reasons-you-should-not-use-social-media-for-business/
This particular article mostly contradicts my hypothesis as it encourages people not to use online marketing / social media for their business by giving 7 reasons , the first reason of this audience is that “ Your audience isn’t there.” This might be slightly true but using social media boosts up your chances of finding and reaching more customers with social media than without, as it opens up a wide international platform with every type of customer.I would say your audience is most likely there just need to find the right platform and strategy. This brings us to their next reason “Social media doesn’t work for every business.” which I definitely agree with social media marketing might not work for every type of business specially among does who aren’t selling products or who target audience is older people however companies who sell services can definitely make it work such as nails services spa and more simply by posting your work and promoting your services and could even gain international customers such as people who are go on holidays often look online or on social media platforms and if your business happens to be the perfect match then there goes your first international customer as well if your content goes viral online you will gain a lot of customers especially with new platforms such as TikTok.
Another reason was “Social media is not free” most marketing strategies aren’t free and online might be one of the cheapest ways of marketing besides social media is free such as Instagram and Facebook these are platforms with millions of people who could be your potential buyers.
Also this article is from 2015 were social media wasn’t as popular so their data is based on a whole different time were technology wasn’t so updated and the current pandemic isn’t taken into consideration but the reason why I chose to use because this articles because it was popular and came up few times during my research.
Conclusion
Although I learnt that social media might not be for all business however most of my finding supported my hypothesis and answered my questions ,social media definitely has very strong presence in this modern day and it’s a easier and effective way for business to grow, it’s important for companies to take this into consideration especially with the current pandemic going on, as even though I found some articles who mostly contradicted my hypothesis, they were from a different time and taking in that technology updates every year and new method come to light everyday even I might have a different hypothesis by next year but as of right now knowledge and information it’s clear that social media and online retailing it’s important for business today.
Unit 3 Revision :
For unit 3 I didn’t really change any major things as I didn’t really have a lot of time except for changing it up some visual ideas I had for brochure and made it bit more a simple and also added bit more information about the brochure itself based on the teachers feedback , If I had more time I would’ve had a more information or more information and emphasizing how it reaches my audience best.
UNIT 3 – Genre
Before I began this project I did some research on what type of genre was used for my topic related topics while taking into consideration the accessibility and the time consumption of it , the topic being the importance of social media and online retail today which I did a research on and find out that was really effective in a business growth and how more businesses need to use this method or includes method in their marketing plans as it is is a easier cheaper and efficient way than other marketing methods
The reason why I chose this topic and genre is due to my interest in business as social media has grown immensely these past few years and I believe it’s important to communicate that with businesses and upcoming entrepreneurs that aren’t aware of how much of an impact online retailing / social media has in the successfulness of a company specially today or business owners that are struggling to further success . Also I did a lot of research on the best way to communicate information to business, looked at some examples and find the most convenient way was by e-booklet or brochure as most business owners don’t have lot of time and they need something quick ,easy specially since this is a idea thats being presented to them.
For the background of the booklet/Brochure I decided to use simple business related pictures mixed with a bit of digital marketing and success pictures to relate it to the outcome if the step in the process is followed, I also tried keeping the colors simple that were more on the brighter side to give it off happy and excited energy touch while also keeping simple and professional as this is related to social media and business and community’s picture was added on the front page to give off the idea of business connecting with customers and I decided to make a brochure form inside of a booklet as this was the best way I could fit all the information.
The purpose of making this project is to help business to find more efficient not money consuming ways to succeed , I chose to make a booklet/brochure because I felt like is the one that best fits my audience considering that my audience is business owners and entrepreneurs I believe the e-book/brochure would be more convenient to them and less time consuming, this a good way to present my idea as I could use colors, choice of words ,and persuading methods that would keep my audience interested and even convince them to try it out.
Distribution wise I originally thought getting distributed into the stores but then I thought more about it and found that it will be more effective if I sent it to the marketing department as if the idea is validated by the owner is the marketing department that would execute it this is for larger companies , for a smaller companies who do not have marketing department it would be sent straight to them or physically sent to them.
While doing the project I first started looking at examples for some inspiration on how to make it look professional, what colors should I use . My original idea was a brochure but I started seeing booklets and thought out of booklet or brochure form which would be more effective and which one would could contain more information at the same time keeping it simple so I tried both and ended up choosing to do both combined because I was really stressing myself on which one to do as a brochure looked more simple but a booklet looked more informative also I was choosing between which editing apps to use watched some YouTube videos to see which apps are best for this project then ended going with Canva as I’ve used the app before and seems to get the work done.
Now that it’s done the booklet/brochure actually turned out good, I didn’t really do anything different from what I said before I actually enjoyed putting all together , I would say the only part that I found a bit long would be writing the information down which is the main reason of this project but I’m more of a creative person, only thing I would change differently it’s given myself more time and spreaded through the week instead of last minute.
My happiest hour of this whole project was definitely doing the booklet/brochure cover and editing it , I also did enjoy doing the research and putting all my ideas together. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to be honest. I wouldn’t mind another college project like this after all I did find some tools and articles that I’ll definitely be using for future projects and making the booklet/brochure helped me better my skills in graphic designing so that’s a bonus.
