With all the big changes, I’m feeling inspired and plan to make a few modifications to my blog in the coming months. Stay tuned!

A simple google image search served as inspiration. My starting point quickly became: What do I have lying around my house that I can use, or rather, re-use? I hit up every junk drawer and closet looking for items to upcycle. As is often the case, the simplest idea was the best: Newspaper and brown paper bags. I wasn’t able to avoid tape all-together, but did experiement with reuseable materials that could augment its use, such as ribbon and yarn.

Brown Papers Bags:

I had a lot of fun playing around with brown paper bags. The biggest challenge was taping; brown paper bags don’t hold tape well (especially once crinkled)  so reinforcing with ribbon or yarn was a must.

The “polka dot presents” on the left were really easy to make. I cut and crinkled a brown paper bag, gathered yarn and old paint swatches lying around the house, and made a garland of sorts. Different shades of red and green against brown look really festive, and I love the idea that it could be re purposed for a tree or other household decoration.

After all the trouble with taping, I wanted to try one present without the crinkles. I used as little tape as possible and reinforced it with a ribbon. (I recommended using a wire ribbon to help keep its shape.) It worked well and held better, plus the final product looks damn classy if you ask me .

Newspaper:

Newspaper as wrapping paper doesn’t get any easier. Black and white text set against a big, bold, red or green bow does the trick, and the best part is that the ribbon can be reused once opened! I even tried to take newspaper squares and make a bow to give that Anthropologie feel.

My goal for next year is less paper and more fabric. A year or two back, my mom got the idea for fabric gift bags. They’re 100% reusable, and cheap if you skim remnant racks at JoAnn Fabrics right after Christmas.

Not too bad for my first time around with green gift wrap. Fun, easy, cheap and more importantly, eco-friendly. Oh, and my disclaimer is that all opened newspaper and brown paper bags will be recycled.

Happy holidays everyone!

When I was younger I used to bead. Of course the necklaces back then were on fishing line and fell apart after the second wear. I’m happy to say, I’ve graduated to sturdy findings, natural materials, and a love for bold, statement pieces.

The overwhelming majority of beads I use are recycled from necklaces bought at rummage sale, thrift, or antique stores. The price is right, the quality is high (Yes mom, they sure don’t make things like they used to) and I’m a big proponent of going green. Not to mention, anything vintage is a great talking piece.

I will admit that I’ve been frequenting Joann Fabrics to augment my supplies…sign up for their flyers and you’ll get a 40 percent off coupon mailed to you weekly!!

In any case, I often browse Anthropolgie’s necklaces for inspiration. Instead of spending anywhere from $50 – $150 on their pieces, I can make most of them ,myself for under $30. Luckily, Anthro’s designs are fairly simple, and that means replicable.

I really enjoy mixing colors and textures and am feeling anything asymmetrical at the moment. I even invested in an awesome book: 1,000 Artisan Textiles to fuel my creative fire. My next project, this awesome DIY yarn scarf.  Soo cute.

I’ll be opening up my own etsy soon so if you like what you see, stay tuned!

The good news is that most apps roll out updates fairly often. A few months back for example, Twitter updated its Android app to allow search, list and trend functionality. It was a big improvement and made for a smoother user experience. My main quarrel to date however, is the limited profile functionality…I can see someone’s bio, but not their live feed of tweets.

It’s a similar story with foursquare; after some recent updates the Android app now includes functionality for tips and to-dos. Despite the last three updates, I still have issues with the search feature. I have to go through the process of searching for a venue twice before the actual search field pops up.  As a cool, level-headed individual I can’t equate the loss of certain mayorships to glitches in the app,  but it sure makes it a pain to check in.

Oddly enough,  Facebook’s Android app (the giant of social media) has given me the most problems. It often returns errors on the news feed and only allows search functionality for friends –that’s a big issue when I want to check in on pages I monitor for work. I haven’t seen any progress in this area over the past few updates, but I’m crossing my fingers.

I’ve had pretty bad luck with Twitdroid (the client application for Twitter that comes standard on the phone) as well as Google Googles. Twitdroid eats up my battery life and pales in comparison to the official Twitter app. As for Google Googles, it just never seems to return valid results.

My qualifier in all this is that compared to the iPhone, the Android is still an adolescent. I love the platform and will continue to purchase their phones, developers may just need to spend more time with the app platform, while Android itself makes improvements.

Now, to end on a positive note, here are the apps I can’t live without. If you haven’t already, check them out:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Foursquare
• Gmail
• The Weather Channel
• Dictionary.com
• Wikipedia Mobile
• Abduction ( Have to throw at least one game in there)
• Barcode Scanner
• Tippy Tipper
• Maps
• Uninstaller

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Xz5j9eXW8]

If I may add a friendly plug…if you’re ever in need of graphic design services, drop Jackie a line: jxdsgn@gmail.com! Now if only I can get her to guest blog on the infinite rummage sale finds she used to outfit her apartment.

Also available for download: ApartmentChecklist

Note: This checklist was modified from one I found on Bed, Bath & Beyond’s website.

Plainly put, this blog is about my attempt to furnish an apartment and  wardrobe on the cheapest means possible. I invite you to share your stories, rummage sale steals, and do-it-yourself projects in the hopes to make this blog a source of inspiration and collaboration.

Advertisers are all too familiar with the phrase “I want a viral video for my website!” (I can already hear your groans.) Sure, it’s a great sentiment, who wouldn’t want a viral video?! But just how realistic is this statement?

To help us understand, Denise broke it down:

“I want”: Video is the fastest growing segment of social media. (They are predicting a 40% growth this year and next.) But it’s not what we want, it’s what the audience wants. To help us understand audience needs, Denise presented us with the 3 “Commandments” of video.

Commandment 1: Clearly define thy marketing objectives in advance.
Commandment 2: Know thy target audience.
Commandment 3: Don’t let the killer idea destroy all that is good in the world.

Now, these commandments sound like marketing 101 – and they really are – but you’d be surprised how many companies ignore them.

“a video” : Who doesn’t love a cute little puppy? Well, video is a lot like a puppy: it’s not a whim, it’s a commitment. You can’t stop caring for it, so plan beyond the first video and work to keep content fresh and interesting. Think “evergreen” not expiration date.

“Viral”: As Denise so eloquently put it, what the hell is “viral” anyways?! Well, here are a few examples….

(Love that first one…hehe). The point here is that when creating videos, it’s important to define expectations in advance, set goals and objectives (commandment 1), develop a distribution strategy aligned with those goals, and define metrics to track progress.

“for my website”: When promoting online video, consider a mix of paid and unpaid placement. Think beyond your website and engage with your audience where they spend the most time.

Unfortunately, there’s no magical formula for creating a viral video. BUT there are steps to ensure viewership:

• Develop content that’s entertaining or informative; make it fun and it will resonate.
• Make sure your video appeals directly to your target audience. Not like this video by craftsman.
• Lastly, make it easy to engage (keep it under 2 minutes), locate (use SEO) and share (optimize).

To end her presentation, Denise left us with one final reminder to “feed the puppy”.

To see live tweets from today’s event, check out the #prsms hashtag.
Note: This blog will be republished on the blog for my social media class.

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When talking SEO, most people think Google, and rightly so. Google dominates the market with roughly 80.8% of all browser usage. While no one knows the exact algorithm Google uses to rank websites, we do have some insight into the process. It starts with “robot” or “spiders” that mine websites for keywords and links. The information they gather is then inserted into the algorithm, which in turn calculates search engine ranking and what  keywords searches return your site.

Now, the first step in optimization is to decide which keywords to target. From a business perspective, keywords should stem from the organization’s name, product/services lines and even names of key employees. The goal here is to pick terms that are actually being searched… Google’s Keyword tool is a great resource for this.

Next, insert these keywords into your webpage title, headline tags, and page text.  In general, good writing directs SEO: important words appear a couple of times at strategic places. Do be careful of keyword stuffing; beyond a certain number of mentions, Google ranks content less relevant. Inbound links (when another site links back to your content) are also important for SEO. Think of links as “votes” for your website. Simply stated, if your content is interesting, people will link to it.

Once you cover the basics, the rest is a bit of guess work. That’s where specialists like Kevin Barnes comes in. So, there you have it! SEO 101.

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First let me say what a dynamic, insightful speaker. He’s one of those minds I’d love to pick over a beer. Now, in my ongoing effort to share the wealth, I want to highlight a few insights I gained.

• Boiled down, social media involves content, community, tactics, agility and control. That is to say, content can come from anywhere, community is a MUST, you need to learn the tools and platforms, you need to stay vigilant, and you gotta give up control.
• “Perfect” doesn’t exist. “Perfects” exists. Research doesn’t lead to one insight or one spot. This point is best illustrated byMalcom Gladwell’s TED talk on Spaghetti Sauce.
• Social Bookmarking is a BIG opportunity, but remains unrealized. Every company should have an account and aggregate related third party content as a “gift” to their customers.
• Your audience on social media is a content creator. Take for example this commercial for Budweiser that aired in Ireland. Two days later, this video response was submitted in the US.
• Don’t be afraid to put things out there. Trust in the community and know that people will correct things. Tweenbots is a great example of this principle.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out these great social media examples and resources, per Edward Boches:

• Change by Design by Tim Brown
• Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta
• Estee Lauder’s Free Makeovers and its social media connection

Oh, and get on StickyBits for the iPhone. Or else.

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