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I’m a BIG fan of Emily the Bachelorette! Probably because I’m a huge supporter of smart, classy, single mamas. So in honor or premiere night I had to share with you my fantasy…

A colleague of mine sent me an excerpt the other day from Tony Schwartz on “reprioritizing your life.” When I skeptically read it I was
thinking to myself, “I know how to prioritize my life, this is nothing new.” However, I have to say that Schwartz makes some very good points on how easily we can get carried away without knowing it.

It’s ok to say ‘no”

With so much going on in our lives, one would say that it is easy to say ‘no’ to things. But if you take a second and just ponder that thought, the reason why we are busy is because we don’t do just that.. say no. Tony goes on to touch upon how saying ‘yes’ is addicting and an adrenaline
rush, and he’s right. It’s in people’s nature to say yes because no one likes to say’ no’, let alone hear no’s. But we have to snap out of this addiction and back to reality to focus on what really needs to get done.

Important vs. Urgent

It is imperative to make a list of important tasks that need to be completed. Urgent things are going to get done first and foremost regardless
of whether you write them down or not so why waste the energy. Those important tasks are the ones that although need to be done sooner rather than later, will be pushed out of your mind unless they are jotted down in your calendar or otherwise noted in a specific, frequently visited area.

Schedule ‘Me’ Time

This may sound a little narcissistic to those of us who are always worried about everyone else…But “Me Time” is when you allow yourself to  reflect on your day, gather your thoughts and get organized. By taking 30 minutes to analyze the days’ events, you can create or reprioritize your task list. Say ‘no’ to TV, online shopping, Facebook and any other distractions to really give your mind a break and a chance to gain some
clarity.

‘No’s are your brick walls

Randy Pausch’s book The Last Lecture has an amazing quote on tackling challenges in your life. He names these “brick walls.” These brick walls he says, “are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough.” By taking on this perspective, any time you are confronted with a ‘no’ in your life, turn it around and realize that you have the power to overcome it if it is an obstacle in your life. Forbes just published an article on a woman that turned her rejection at a prominent company into a job offer. By tearing down those “brick walls,”  identifying the problem, which was the recruiter’s underestimation of her skills, confronting it and demonstrating professionalism and skills for the job she wanted, she was able to the door open on a seemingly closed opportunity.

These are all easier said than done but I’m on a mission to establish balance in my life. I’m sure you are as well. I want to take time to
be still. I believe these are 4 steps to help me get to that place.

-Robin

I’ll celebrate with you by sharing one of my fav pics from one of my fav books “Porn for New Moms”. Now that I’m back on the dating scene this is the type of man I’m looking for… Think he’s a unicorn? I don’t think so. I’m an optimistic kinda gal! -Robin

Crap. It’s Mother’s Day Sunday! I love Mother’s Day. Even more now that I am a mom. But it always sneaks up on me and I just can’t seem to get organized enough to buy my gifts ahead of time. So I have 5 gift ideas for you last minute husbands (or thoughtful adult children).

1. A spa gift card, babysitting and breakfast in bed

What mom wouldn’t LOVE to wake up LATE (keep the kiddos OUT!), to breakfast in bed (made by an adult not a toddler) and be gifted a day to herself at inSpa?! You will laugh when I tell you this. But my ex-husband said to me this week, “You don’t want Zoe on Mother’s Day?!” To which I replied, “Of course, I want to see Zoe ALL the time. I love her! But Mother’s Day celebrates moms who selflessly give of themselves 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. So  yes, I would like you to watch Zoe for me on Mother’s Day so that I can treat myself to a relaxing day of whatever I feel like doing.” If you’ve followed my blog for more than a year (the only person who has probably followed my blog that long is my mom),  you will remember that last Mother’s Day I told my ex (while we were still married) that all I wanted to do was take a relaxing bath. Since he is a man he had a “kill two birds with one stone idea” half way through my bath and brought my 1 year old upstairs to take a bath with me so that she wouldn’t have to take a bath before bed. Of course you’re thinking, what part of RELAXING did he miss?! But that wasn’t the worst part! The worst was that she POOPED in the bathtub with me!! So my one mama’s day request for a quiet, peaceful bath turned me into a screaming, leaping mommy covered in poop and bubbles… So Yes Ex-husband, I would like to spend part of Mother’s Day alone. Thank you.

2. The gift of health

I met with my girlfriend Sarah today. She is a certified nutrition and health coach in Seattle.  Her training not only involved whole food and nutrition studies, but also and more importantly, learning to look at the whole person and bigger picture to truly help boost someone’s health. She does a lot of one-on-one personal health coaching for individuals, families and kids, businesses & corporations with a lot of grocery store lessons, family & kid in-home teaching sessions, pantry makeovers, menu and business consultations, and food prep lessons for any and all ages. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! Sarah sells packages to help you learn to eat and cook healthier. I personally would LOVE this because I am such a rookie in the kitchen. All I want is someone like Sarah to come to my house, look through  my pantry, go with me to the grocery store, show me how to shop and then come back to my kitchen and personally teach me how to make 3 or 4 healthy meals. Sarah sells gift certificates and I can’t think of a better gift idea for me personally. MOM, are you reading this?! I would like a gift card for Sarah’s cooking lessons. Thanks!!

3. Clarisonic Mia

I am obsessed with my Clarisonic. It’s the best thing to happen to my face. Tomorrow night I am going to a Real Housewives of Bellevue Party at Dr. David Stephens office where these are on sale. I want one. I have the Clarisonic Pro but I want the Mia because it comes in cute colors and it’s the travel version of the Pro. Here is an invite. If you want to come to a fun event with great prizes, food, people and networking join me tomorrow at 6P.

4. An hour at Swink Style Bar

I love having my hair done. It makes me feel awesome. The best part is that once you get a blowout you can usually rock the hairstyle for a good 3 days. What mama wouldn’t love to have gorgeous hair for 3 days? They also do lash extensions and fun mommy and me packages. Bonus points if you get her a gift card for Swink, book her an appointment and then take her out to a nice dinner so she can show off her perfectly tousled hair!

5. Wine Tasting

Take your wife/girlfriend/mom/sister/best friend wine tasting. Be the designated driver or hire a town car for the day. Make it a great experience. Woodinville Wine Country is only 30 minutes from Seattle and has 90 wineries and tasting rooms. Make it extra special and book a room somewhere for a mini vacay, treat her to dinner and let her know how much you appreciate all that she does year round.

Ultimately it’s not about the gift as much as it is the ability to convey that you genuinely appreciate the mom in your life and all that she does. Any of these gifts would make me smile. But in the end it’s all about the people I love showing me that they appreciate my efforts as a mother.  If you’re on a budget a homemade dinner and a grocery store bouquet of flowers with a handwritten card is sure to do the trick. Just make sure that she feels loved and special on this day we have set aside to celebrate one of the greatest roles we play as women, being a mother.

-Robin

This napkin sketch was tweeted on Tuesday by Babs Rangaiah of Unilever (@babs26). It has been attributed to Demetri Martin, the author of a book called This Is A Book.

Facebook is no stranger to anyone these days. Every employer has one; almost every company now has a fan page. We need to be careful what is being posted online and what we would want potential employers to know about us. I have always been told, “whatever you upload to the internet is there forever, there is no such thing as deleting.”

According to the 2012 annual technology market survey conducted by Eurocom Worldwide, “Almost one in five technology industry executives say that a candidate’s social media profile has caused them not to hire that person.” Previous Eurocom Worldwide surveys had found almost 40% of the survey respondents from technology companies review job candidate’s profiles on social media sites.

Here are a couple tips to use your social media profile to avoid being rejected by potential employers:

Facebook: Don’t use to your Facebook profile to vent about your job, work, someone you don’t like or your company. Leave it off of the internet. If you need to vent, do it to someone who will listen. You should also not express your love for partying. This is not the place to update the Facebook world about your night last night. Think of your Facebook profile as the front page of a newspaper; don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want on the front page because most likely a recruiter will be able to dig up anything. Privacy settings mean nothing.

LinkedIn: Use this social media profile as an electronic resume. Have this represent yourself and all of your skills that you can possess for a company. Be sure to write a sufficient summary, list all of your qualifications and be sure to be detailed in your accomplishments for each positions that you have held. This is also a good opportunity to connect your personal websites and blogs so employers can see your personality.

Twitter: Use your twitter to connect with your interested industry. This will show your potential employer that you keep up on trending topics and are up-to-date with news.

*Thank you Thrive Advertising Intern Amanda Wong for writing this guest blog post.

 

Coca Cola’s Red. Tiffany Blue. UPS brown. Starbucks green. Barbie Pink. The relationship between a brand and the color plays a huge role in the minds of consumers. Colors have a much greater role than a graphic design on a logo. It is a valuable messaging tool that marketers use to give consumers a visual memory or even elicit an emotion. Color is an important factor in determining the value and characteristics that a brand wants to portray. Below are some traits from Perls and Bleicher that many consumers believe when thinking of a brand:

Red is a powerful color, symbolizing energy, passion or even danger. Red is an intense color. It is often used in logo design to grasp the viewer’s attention and has been known to raise one’s blood pressure or make people hungry. You will usually see red in foods and powerful products.

Orange connotes adventure and fun. It is less intense than red, but still packs in a lot of punch. It is more playful and like red, is an attention grabber. It has also been used to convey value and discounts. Many brands use this color to create playfulness or stimulate emotions and even appetites.

Yellow is has a varying representation. Like red, it can have conflicting messages. It can represent sunshine and happiness or caution and cowardice. Its more vibrant shades elicit feelings of well-being and are said to stimulate mental activity.  However, yellow has been proven to create stress among people, which is why it is used in road signs to caution people.

Green has been a recent favorite for marketers. It is used literally and figuratively. Green promotes cleanliness, freshness, renewal and environmental friendliness. It is seen as a restful and soothing color, but can also represent jealousy and inexperience. Many brands have been using this color to portray themselves as eco-friendly and organic.

Blue is one of the most popular colors used within the technology industry. It is regularly associated with security, efficiency, productivity and clearness of mind. It also symbolizes cleanliness, openness and relaxation and works with cleaning products. Brands that tend to use blue are high-tech companies, cleaning products or fortune 500 companies.

Purple has symbolized nobility and wealth. For centuries, purple has been seen as a powerful color for luxury brands and products. Since purple is a combination of red and blue, it has both warm and cool properties. It implies mystery with sophistication. This color can be found in brands that promote education related products or luxury products.

Pink is a feminine color and denotes feelings of innocence and delicateness. It is often joyful and bubbly. Today, many people associate the color pink with breast cancer. It is often a color used in logos to add a feminine vibe to the brand.

Brown is a strong, earthy color that notes honesty and dependability. One of the most popular brands that have embraced the color and associations with it is UPS. Their slogan, “What can Brown do for you?” denotes that they represent that color and the association of dependability.

Black is known for being classic and strong. Many marketers use this color to conjure authority, boldness, elegance and tradition. This color is used in most marketers strategy as a font color or outlines of logos.

White is universally known for being pure and peaceful. Thanks to Apple, white has also been known for being an innovative color. Apple has adopted characteristic and applied it to their brand. Many brands will use the color white for their backgrounds to enhance another color.

Some brands decide to include multiple colors into their logo. They chose not to associate themselves with one color and would rather have more variety. This makes sense for brands that are platforms or marketplaces as they host vast amounts of different applications or goods.

These color interpretations are only for the Western world. Many cultures have a different connotation for each color. For example, white may be considered pure and peaceful here, but in parts of Asia mean death.

If you are deciding on a color for your brand, ask yourself these questions:

• What color represents your brand’s personality?
• What color suits the characteristics of your product/service?
• What color does your competitor(s) use?
• What kind of culture is your brand going to be represented in?

*Thank you Thrive Advertising Intern Amanda Wong for this guest post.

My intern Amanda Wong wrote a guest post that I thought would be valuable for my readers. Thanks Amanda! – Robin

As an –almost— recent graduate myself, there have been many tips that I have learned over the past year or so about what to do to nail your dream job. You always hear the “know what you want” or “never give up,” speeches, but you rarely hear what not to do. Here are some tips of what NOT to do that may be valuable if you don’t want to blow that dream job opportunity.

Blow off your phone interview

If you get the to have a phone interview with a recruiter, most likely your resume and cover letter has already passed the initial stages. This opportunity means your skills have impressed the recruiter and they want to speak more with you.

It is important to take a phone interview seriously like a regular in-person interview. Be prepared. Know the company’s background and product or service. Prepare questions to ask the recruiter. Sit in a quiet room. Stand-up or sit-up straight. Dress professionally. Research has shown that people who are sitting up and dressed well, sound more confident than those who are slouching and sitting in bed in your PJs.

Talk About Other Job Opportunities

Recruiters don’t need to know what other jobs you may be apply for. They may ask you during the interview, but unless they do, keep quiet and don’t brag about other opportunities. You never know, they may just tell you to take that other job, so they don’t get bothered anymore.

Provide T.M.I.

It’s a rough world out in the job market, but your recruiter doesn’t need to hear your sob story. This goes for all people, new graduates, long time workers and even veterans of the workforce. It is always better to put a positive spin to that topic than ask for sympathy.

Talk Negatively About Former Supervisors or Positions

It’s a small world. You never know who someone is and who they know. The worse thing to do is vent about previous jobs or supervisors at another job. If you are frustrated, leave the venting to close friends or family. With the help of social media and networking, the degrees of separation have dropped to six to about 4.74. This means that someone may be connected to someone else in less than five connections.

Act Cocky

There is a fine line between cocky and confident. You should go into an interview with confidence and your head held high, but not too high that you forget you are seeking a job.

What are some other tips you could give a recent grad of what not to do in an interview? Or tips on what we should do? Let us know!

The saying reads true, “a picture is worth a thousand words” or at least more than 140 characters. The social network of Pinterest has become the third largest social media platform, trailing Facebook and Twitter, with over 104 million total visits in March.

Pinterest is a content sharing service that allows members to “pin” images, videos and other objects to virtual pinboards. It allows users to create customized theme boards and pin whatever images their heart desires.

The biggest contributor to this success is, women. According to the Inside Network AppData, 97 percent of the sites users are women. Hitwise classifies these women into three main categories:

• Boomers & Boomerangs: These individuals are the baby boomers adults and their offspring that live with them or out of the house. This group accounts for more than 10 percent of the Pinterest visits, in which they will pin travel plans, imagery related to their online shopping habits, fantasy weddings and delicious desserts. This group loves to window shop and will pin anything that may only be a dream. Most often live in older houses which will also spike some DIY projects and home improvement ideas.

• Babies & Bliss: This group of individuals is the mothers of large families (with five or more children in their houses). They will most likely be in their 30s and 40s and are usually working full time. They gravitate towards upscale items and value deals on high-quality products. They like to pin things related to convenience and good deals.

• Families Matter Most: The last group includes the young middle-class families with active lifestyles. They are the fastest growing segment. They are interested in things that allow for effective multi-tasking. They will pin anything that relates to making life easier. Unlike the boomers & boomerangs, this group avoids window-shopping and will most likely pin useful and practical things such as easy recipes, child friendly activities and healthy living habits.

There a few key reasons why this site has succeeded rapidly. The main contributing factor is that women trust recommendations from other pinners more than any other social media platform. Women get their ideas from other women in their circle of friends more than anywhere else.

This site is a gold mine for brands targeting women in this demographic. Here are some ways this site can benefit using this new social networking site:

Traffic

According to Sharacholic, Pinterest has sent more referral traffic to websites that Twitter did in February this year.

Many brands have been using Pinterest to attract traffic to visit their sites. It has become a cheaper and easier form of advertising. Instead of spending an advertising budget on sidebar ads or click-through advertising, many companies, especially those featuring CPG’s, have found a more efficient way to drive traffic to their sites.

Sales

Marketers have an open window to what their consumer’s interests are. This removes the research that needs to be done to reveal what consumers are wanting and looking at. Pinterest has virtually allowed marketers to easy access to discover their target market’s needs.

The site Etsy is a prime example of storeowners who have boasted sales because of Pinterest. Etsy is a virtual channel in which store owners can sell their own products on and it caters to creative, interesting and unique items.

Another example I have recently come across is an Australian based company called Esther Boutique. They design beautiful, trendy clothing for young adults. Thanks to Pinterest, I stumbled upon this site and have fallen in love with every piece of clothing. Small, private businesses are able to use Pinterest to market their products and are even able to go international.

Building Brand Loyalty

Many brands including Martha Stewart and Kate Spade have started pinning like crazy. They have acquired 19,000 and 34,000 followers, respectively.

Kotex was one of the first brands to use Pinterest in an advertising campaign.  Kotex found 50 “inspiring” women and looked at what they were pinning on Pinterest. Then, the brand sent the women a virtual gift. If the recipient pinned the gift, she then got a real one in the mail that was based on something she had pinned. Smoyz, the agency behind the effort, claims nearly 100% of the women posted something about their gift, not only on Pinterest, but on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In total, there were more than 2,200 interactions based on the 50 gifts.

Is Pinterest the new upcoming trend for advertising? Share your thoughts!