Welcome to the World (Wide Web)

To round out a project-filled semester, my digital portfolio is complete!  My portfolio includes information about myself, my career aspirations, work samples, and my resume.        

http://amyclawrence16.wix.com/amylawrence

The Ultimate Branding Tool

Branding is a familiar and necessary marketing tool in the communications world.  But perhaps the most important thing to brand is oneself.  A website provides an effective and simplistic format for an individual to brand oneself and that is what I'll aim to do in my webpage.  

I seek to create a digital portfolio with the hopes of achieving many future goals I have set.  My site objectives are to produce a searchable website that showcases my communication skills necessary for a career after graduation.  I would like my site to display writing samples, my resume, and work samples from previous courses and internships to display my proficiency in communication studies. 

With aspirations to be a press secretary on Capitol Hill, my audience is any potential employer in a Congressional office in Washington, D.C.  They, as the user, will need to be able to easily navigate my site in order to quickly determine my potential as an employee.  My audience would need to know a little about myself, including education level and previous experience, in addition to what programs and platforms I am capable of working with.  Most importantly, I will need a way for users to contact me with questions (and potential job offers!).

The scope of my website is important as I begin to build it from the ground up.  I could embed a professional Twitter account, Instagram, and LinkedIn page to showcase social media skills.  A contact form and my resume are definite necessities for a successful webpage.  I also would like to include writing samples from previous internships, which include public relations blog posts, social media posts, and press releases.  Other work samples would include papers written on the topic of government from my political science classes.  Digital media can be provided from the slideshow created in Digital Communications in addition to photos taken while on a study away trip which visited 13 countries in 108 days.  Displaying photos can show my abilities to use Photoshop professionally, as well as capture important moments.

Here are a few website designs that were really aesthetically pleasing to me!

I like this Pilates Site's social media icons in the top left corner.

The simplicity of Stapleton's site exudes class and creativity!

Jason James's portfolio displays his subcategories uniquely.

The design of A Naturally-Aged Story invites their audience warmly.

To Blog and Beyond!

Blogging is now not only a hobby, but is also a talent in which people strive to make a living.  Chapter six entitled, “Blogging Brands,” denotes that blogging these days is a novel way to make money.  The reading suggests: “Ultimately, it seems, the question of whether blogging is journalism has to do with money.”  Blogging has reached an all-time high level of notoriety, especially in creating business for people in the business. 

Two things seem to matter when blogging for a brand: Truth and integrity.  Gaining the trust of readers is the name of the game.  People don’t want to feel pressured or manipulated, but want to feel that they can form their own opinions on bloggers’ suggestions and opinions.

Post Secret is one of my favorite blogs of all time. I have followed it since the Britney Spears and *NSYNC days that were middle school, making it my first blog reading experience.  It is as real and truthful as I imagine any blog could ever hope to be.  The creator, Frank Warren, decided to start an art compilation project in which he encourages people to mail their secrets on postcard to his home address.  This simple act of affixing a stamp to a secret enables people to let go of a Dirty Little Secret by mailing the inner workings of their soul   Frank Warren makes his money as a motivational speaker and author, selling books full of spilled secrets and true confessions.  The site also doubles as a suicide prevention organization for those in need of assistance.      

to a complete stranger. As a site without advertisements, how does Post Secret continue to operate?  Do you think he started Post Secret with the intention of turning the blog into a money making operation?

Bloggers with a smaller reach still maintain the equal opportunity of blogging for a brand.  Starr Struck promotes her own yoga classes, music choices, and Etsy store.  The blog succeeds as a valuable resource for women searching for a compilation of all life’s wonderful things, including her Friday posts of her selected “Simple Joys of the Week.”  In her FAQ section, she denotes her experience as a yoga teacher and student, establishing her credibility to her readers.  A multifaceted woman, the author advertises her own artwork for purchase on the site.  The many facets of this site lend itself to a blog worthy of making a living on!  Do sites with several links to advertisements, shopping sites, and other blogs overwhelm you, or interest you?