Membership cards

So stores are now into offering you membership cards or asking for your e-mail so you can receive coupons.  My work offers a membership card, but you have to pay an annual fee of $25 for it.  While working I have had some insight on membership cards.  One customer said she doesn't think its right to pay us for shopping at our store.  Another customer said she doesn't even support membership cards that she has to pay for in order to get discounts.  One of my coworkers asked me if I was a customer if I would buy a membership card and I said no.  My reasons are because I shouldn't have to pay to get a discount.  I think that since I am a loyal customer I should get the membership for free.  If this were to happen I think we would get a lot more business.  I have a membership from pesmart and the reason I got it is because one it saved me a lot of money on my purchase, and two it was free.  I buy all of my pet supplies from them just because they always have awesome deals going on for there members.  Anybody would be insane to not sign up for free member cards.  More examples are albertsons preferred card, and smiths card.  They both are free and not only save you money in the store, but also depending on how much money you spend in their store you can get three cents off per gallon of gas or more.  I love this because gas is expensive and any time I can save I will take it.  I guess I'm just trying to say that if stores had free member cards more people would visit their store and spend more money.

Truth vs. Lies

     So how do you know what you read or hear is the truth?  Honestly with all of the political campaigns going on right now it's hard to know a truth from a lie.  To me its hard to believe anything you hear today.  Things you read in a magazine one week is different the next week.  Political people say things just to please the people and then once they win they don't do anything they said they would do.  What just happened to telling the truth and doing things that you said you would do.  It's all about money and that is all that matters.  Who ever pays the most gets the story.  It is a disappointment to think that you can't trust anyone anymore.   

Ethics

Ethics are the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group.  When you think of ethics it applies to everything you do in life, whether it is at work, home, school, or anywhere else.  I was watching a movie the other day and it had a scene in it where one of the workers got an opportunity to be in a higher position at work.  This position would give him a raise which him and his family desperately needed, but there was a catch to getting this job.  The manager said that if he wanted to be in this position he had to do one thing.  There was a shipment coming in the next day that was suppose to bring 17 crates and he told the guy to write down that only 16 came in because he had ideas for the extra crate.  This was a hard decision for him to make because he really needed the money, but he knew it was unethical.  When the manager asked him what he was going to do he told him that he wasn't going to lie.  The manager stood up and shook his hand and offered him the job.  He wanted someone he could trust to be in that position.  So what would you do if you were in his position?  A lot of people are affected by these decisions lately and some even get fired for wanting to do the right thing.  It definitely sucks to know that the world we are in now is okay with lying and most of the things people do today are unethical.  Think about politics  they all lie in order to get ahead of there competitor.  What happened to people trying to win by telling the truth?  So you choose are you going to be ethical or unethical in your next decision you make.   

America: At it's finest

So while working I decided to pick up a MAD magazine and started reading the article an article they had in there called "The 50 worst things about America."  Some of them were either funny, random, pointless, or actually good points that needed to be made.  I picked up on three points that I thought were very interesting and also very true.  Number 4 was, "Our national obsession with cosmetic surgery, which somehow equates "growing old gracefully" with paying to have someone give you a shiny, bloated ham face with humongous lips."  This statement is very true especially with all of the stars doing it just to keep them looking young so they can still be paid to be in movies or commercials.  When did being the way you are made be such a bad thing that you have to go and change yourself to look like someone else?  In many years to come we might not be able to know if the person sitting next to us is real or if they had some sort of cosmetic surgery done to make them look that young.  Number 5 was, "Not only does America have the best medical facilities in the world, but we also boast the largest number of citizens who can't afford them."  This is very interesting for me to grasp, but I know that this is very true.  We have awesome hospitals to go to when we need them, but if not many people can afford them is it such a great idea to keep doing what were doing?  The prices for certain treatments are ridiculous and yes most people do have insurance, but what is the point to have health insurance if you can't afford the medical bill after insurance covered the percentage that they cover.  I honestly think there needs to be a better way of handling this.  Do we really need to charge outrageous prices just so the doctors can make big bucks?  Our country is greedy and all they think about is the money part of things and not how they are actually helping people.  Now don't get me wrong I do know there are hospitals out there that run off of donations like St. Jude's and that not all doctors are just in it for the money.  Our government needs to figure out better ways to lower the costs on medical care.  Number 10 was, "Electric companies that encourage you to protect the environment and "go green" by signing up for "paperless billing," while they continue operating old, outdated carbon belching, coal-burning plants."  This is a very good point made in the article.  A lot of business' are turning to paperless billing because it not only saves the business money, but it also helps the environment, but we are still damaging the environment with places like Exxon who has refinery's emitting this stuff daily. 

With all of this said I believe that if wanted our generation can change this for the better.  We need to be not only street smarts, but also be aware of things going in on in our country.

The 50 worst things about america. (2012, June). MAD, (515), 46-52.    

Communication

Okay most of know that communication can be very easy and also very hard.  Most of us communicate with text messaging and with that comes along all of the abbreviations we made to make it that much faster.  For me I got all caught up in the abbreviations and when I would type up papers I caught myself using my so called "text" language.  Now I decided to actually spell out all my words when texting.  For me I believe that face to face communication is the best way to get a message cross, especially if it's important.  At least for me I can better understand someone better when I am talking to them face to face and I can read their emotions.  Emails can be effective, but most people don't check their email every minute of the day like they do their phone.  When I look around there are kids that are 8 years old carrying around newer cell phones than I have.  With this you have people getting so used to communicating over phone that when they grow up they aren't used to talking to someone face to face.  This makes applying for jobs and interviews extremely hard for people.  If you have something important to say it should be face to face.  Other than that to me it seems just like you are scared to see the persons reactions, plus with emails and texts you can have a long time to think about the words you need to say.  Communication is the key to success.  Without it there is no way to get anybody's point across.

Tattoos, piercings, and business professionalism

There are many different thoughts on tattoos and piercings showing in a job.  So what happens when the generation we are in now loves getting tattooed and pierced and doesn't really think to much about the placement being able to be covered.  I have piercings and a tattoo, but i have them in places that I can hide and if needed be I can take the piercings out, but what about the people who have sleeves?  Depending on the job they have they might always have to wear long sleeve shirts to work so no one can see them.  My opinion is that I believe people should have the right to express themselves, but to a point.  There are some people out there who have inappropriate tattoos that I wouldn't want showing in a company that I owned or managed.  Don't get me wrong I love tattoos and looking at them, but I believe that in certain circumstances they need to be hidden.  I used to work for a restaurant that was a family restaurant and they had strict rules.  Those rules included on one set of piercings aloud on your ears, no facial piercings and no tattoos showing.  From that job I worked at other restaurants and businesses that didn't care how many piercings you have as long as they were clean and we didn't play with them while at work.  They were also fine with some tattoos as long as they were huge or distracting.  People like my parents or relatives don't like that people who are at a job have a bunch of tattoos showing and one my relatives even has an employee who does have sleeves but he has to cover them when he comes to work.  Business professionalism is all about how you present yourself so it makes sense as to why some businesses want you to cover up your tattoos and not have facial piercings in.  The down fall though is that sometimes when you go in for an interview and they see all of your tattoos and piercings they automatically start judging you.  Instead of listening to you in the interview they are now distracted by all the things covering your body.  So when getting a tattoo or piercing realize that there is a possibility that you will have to take them out or have them covered.

It's called respect for a reason, right?

Everyone's heard of business professionalism, but do you think it actually works like that.  Unfortunately for most people it doesn't.  You expect that there would be respect and professionalism at work, but from experience there isn't.  While on the floor at my work the managers were talking to us about what the plans for the day were and after that they started going off about another manager.  Not only did this shock me, but it made me mad because its not right.  This isn't the first time something like this has happened.  Another manager took a call on the floor that should have been taken in the office especially since she talks very loudly and everyone in the store including the customers could here.  When I work for a place I expect there to be professionalism and respect for each other.  When this happens it makes people wonder that when were not around are the managers talking badly about us.  I believe that when you have a problem with someone or how something is being run you go and talk to that person you don't just bitch about to everyone else.  With this going on you just keep going around in circles with everything.  This situation throws respect out the window which isn't fair, but yet it happens all the time.  So is there such thing as respect in a work place anymore?

Another Day, Another Dollar

Everyone knows the saying, "Another day, another dollar" because most of us either have heard it from our parents, friends, or even coworkers.  Mostly to me this has to do with motivation in the work place.  There is different factors that motivate each and everyone of us.  For some it could be money, recognition, or even just a the fulfillment of reaching a goal.  Last summer I worked three jobs, not because I'm insane but because I had the drive to make money and each job I went to gave me great motivation to go back everyday.  One of my jobs was working for a car rental agency and that job was the one that gave me the greatest motivation because I made hourly plus commission which was great!  The job I have now for me doesn't have any motivation for me.  We are suppose to promote and sell memberships, but what happens when we do sell them?  Nothing, but if we don't sell them we get in trouble and told that we can do better.  To me it seems like a lose lose so I usually try, but don't push them on the customers.  So like the saying says another day, another dollar.  No matter where you work you will always experience something that doesn't make you happy.  As I have heard from my parents so many times, its a job and your making money so just take it as it is.  What's my motivation for staying at the job?  The money because with out I wouldn't be able to afford rent, groceries, or of course clothes on my own.

Why we buy what we buy

Everyone says diamonds are a girls best friend, but for me my favorite brands are my best friend.  So why exactly do I buy the type of clothes that I buy? Or the type of shoes that I buy?  Well honestly its because I either like the design or I love the brand.  My favorite brand for clothes is fox.  The reason why this is, is because first of all its a dirt biking logo and I love to ride dirt bikes.  I also wear fox because I love the colors and designs.  When you think have Rob Dyrdek you think off DC clothing, or his shows.  People who are fans of Rob wear is clothing brand.  So why exactly do we choose the brands that we do?  Is it because of the people or things that they represent or is it to give us a status in the world.  If you have a Prada bag people think you have money, just like if you decide to buy the real thing or a knock off brand.  But does the type of clothing you wear, or the things you buy define who you are?  Some people may think so, but others disagree.  I wear my clothes because they look good and represent things that I do.  If I see a famous person wearing certain types of clothes I don't just go out and buy it cause they wore it.  I am my own person and if people judge us for how we dress they could essentially be missing out on someone very cool.  So let what you wear express yourself and don't let people judge you for the type of clothing you wear.

Why Advertise?

So with my last blog I talked about how advertising works and it gets people through the door of your company that want to buy that product.  So what happens when the company doesn't have the product in stock?  Well from experience I can tell you what happens.  Our company launched a new product at the beginning of April.  We put up signs and advertised for it so we could get people to come in and reserve one.  The advertising did work and it brought in a lot of traffic to our store, but since we have gotten the reservations we have only received 8 of them since Mother's Day weekend.  We have more than 8 reservations to uphold to so when the customers call us asking when their product will be in we can't even give them an honest answer because no one truly knows.  Sometimes the customers understand this and other times they don't and we get yelled at.  So why advertise a product that you don't even have enough quantity of to fulfill peoples reservation?  You have customers coming in excited for the product, but you have to tell them that we don't have any in yet and were not sure when were going to get more in.  In all honesty, company's should have enough of the product on hand and prepare for the worse before they decide to advertise a product and say that they are in the stores now.    

Advertising Appeals!

For most companies the way they get their product across to the customers that they want to reach is through commercials.  Commercials are usually annoying and some people including me automatically switch channels whenever commercials come on.  Yet during the super bowl I tune in to watch the commercials because they are new and usually the best ones.  So the best way to get customers to see your product is usually during the super bowl or you get a catchy song to go with your advertisement.  According to Ads of the World the best ways to appeal to customers are emotional appeal, personal, social, fear, human, sex, scarcity, rational, and music appeal. How is it that the annoying commercials are the ones that you here people singing the jingle to?  It's because the tune is so catchy, they repeat it over and over again, and it is easy to remember.  So think about any advertisement off the top of your head and see if you can just remember the jingle that goes with it.  Mine is "Like a good neighbor, state farm is there."

How to sell the right product

In my line of work I have to be able to give customers exactly what they're looking for or at least be able to suggest products that they would enjoy.  I work at a book store and we have to be able to give assistance to customers even if that means spending a half an hour just to track down the book they are talking about.  The best part is when you get customers who come in saying that they don't know the title or author of the book, but they remember that the color of the book was blue.  With just that much information it is very hard to pin point the book they are talking about, but yet they expect us to find it with our computer system which is very difficult to do.  We also get customers who want suggestions on what to read and we have to be able to give them the right suggestions and meet their needs in order to get the sale.  Marketing is a big part of my job.  We set up displays in order to attract the customers eyes, we also set up displays in front of the cash register because that is where a lot of people do their impulsive buys whether it be magazines, toys, or more books.