hallmark ink

Lesley's Surprise Shower & Project 365: Pictures 109-130

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:22:00 +0000

I'm sitting in the hospital waiting for news about my nephew's birth, so I decided to blog about our secret event yesterday. My sister Stacey and I coordinated a surprise baby shower for Lesley at a lovely restaurant called Zupas. So yummy. Several of Lesley's friends came from Draper and Provo, and it was lovely that they came to support her.

My invitation:

My photos from the event:

Taken 27 July 2010

It's New and Lovely...

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:00:00 +0000

and I took a picture of it with my iPhone about 11:30 pm last night. It arrived yesterday and I'm such a nerd for being so happy about this.

Hooray for an updated Chicago Manual of Style edition 16. What are the changes? Subversive Copy Editor gives some highlights.

Project 365: Pictures 103-108

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:23:00 +0000

My cute little niece got to explore the world of fireworks when we went down to our family's house last night to celebrate Pioneer Day together. However she had more fun playing with her second cousin in a little swimming pool and hauling around a bell from my aunt's back door. At least the bell made it easier to know where she was. :) What a cute little thing.

Taken 24 July 2010

Chantelle's Bridal Shower Open House

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:42:00 +0000

My mom has been volunteering me to make bridal shower invitations for people in the neighborhood who are getting married. So this was one of my latest creations.

You're Not Just Firing Off Emails into Hyperspace

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Last year I wrote a post about how I feel bad when people send me unsubscribe reply emails that are ridiculously rude.

Today I read a post outlying the same idea, except that the writer actually felt like doing something about it. She took an incredibly rude response and turned it into an apologetic response. From her blog entry:

"I have been in charge of teams of people and had otherwise intelligent people say the nastiest things to me - as their supervisor - and then expect no ramifications. They always stammer when confronted on their rudeness and when pointed out that they would never speak to a superior, or anyone, like that in person."

"I am not expected to answer people who send nasty rude emails because they think our emails are stupid or they wish to be removed from our email list. I usually just remove them and do not even answer since they don't want to hear from us anyway. Today was different. I am tired of people not using the same manners they would use face to face OR even worse yet, maybe they don't have any to speak of."

Why is it that people still think that they can act totally different online and have their manners be acceptable? Sometimes I try to kill people with kindness in other mediums, but I should try her approach with email responders and see how it goes. Unfortunately our customer service department serves as the middleman, which could either be a good thing or a bad thing... I'll let you know how it goes.

The Alyssa Milano & Old Spice Guy Relationship

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Last week I was thoroughly entertained by Old Spice Guy's personalized YouTube videos to the masses (as noted on his Twitter account).

Well, one of my favorite sequences was the interactions between Old Spice Guy and Alyssa Milano. Of course, Old Spice Guy's PR agency started it (here's a review of the entire campaign).

Here are the videos in order.

He really did send flowers. Alyssa posted a photo.

So Alyssa replied with her own video (that apparently can't be embedded here) and basically challenged Old Spice Guy aka Proctor & Gamble to donate $100,000 to the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Oil Spill Restoration fund.

And her Twitter account has gone crazy with people asking her questions about this, asking if that guy has enough money to donate.

Later this message came up from Old Spice on July 15:

@Alyssa_Milano Apologies for dlay. I'm saving village by damming flash flood w/left pec while typing u this msg w/right pec. My ppl 2call.

So now we're left waiting to see if Proctor & Gamble will come through with the donation. What do you think they're going to do?

New Media Workout Plan

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:30:00 +0000

This seems to be my kind of workout plan, considering how much time I spend on the Internet. (I did go down to the local rec center in RL last night for strength training.)

Storms of Life

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:19:00 +0000

I should buy this and hang it up. It would be better if it said "someday I will be grateful for this day"...

[via source]

10 Career Management Tips in the Age of Job Fear

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:14:00 +0000

Thoughts by Rehaul.com

Know what you want to do - We all need to reflect on our career and determine if what we do each day is really what we “want” to do. We shouldn’t be in the survival mode. Not healthy at all.
Network inside and outside the company - You’d think that we wouldn’t have to even have to mention this anymore. But people still refuse to effectively network. We need to understand that networking isn’t about a job search, it’s a business tool that keeps you as a vital commodity to not only your company, but your profession.
You can’t help yourself until you help someone else first - You will see countless rewards if you reach out first vs. expecting someone else to reach you first. It honestly will make you healthier when you need help yourself because you’ve taken the time to put others first. It only helps!
Intentionally seek professional development - The business world moves now faster than the speed of light. If you aren’t seeking to be ahead of the curve, you will fall back exponentially. In the past when the pace of work was slower, this wasn’t a big issue. Now, if you don’t seek to develop yourself and your skills, you can be forgotten and never found again.
Make it a priority - Like all things, we think we have time to always get to managing our career and then one day we’re “transitioned” and wonder where that time went. This is something that is as important as any aspect of your job. Know where you stand and where you want to be. It doesn’t automatically mean that you have to change jobs. It just means that you are aware of where you are at all times and therefore less likely to be caught by surprise.
Don’t be a lurker or a slug - Managing your career isn’t anyone else’s responsibility. If you have the “woe is me” approach to your career, others will move past you and not even notice. Be active in all forums you are involved with including – your job, your presence on social media, and your connection to your profession!
Volunteer and be broad in your scope - Be a giver outside your narrow focus of your job. Find out where you can add value from a civic perspective and get involved. You will be more well-rounded and be a better human. That is good no matter where you are in your career!
Your career is just one facet of your life so be balanced - Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? One of the greatest facts about the newest generation entering the workforce is that this is something they expect. It’s time we all took their example. It would make us more productive and valued people.
Involve recruiters in your career management - People never network with recruiters just to know them. That’s a mistake. They are a great resource and if you have a genuine networking relationship, they may reach out to you when you weren’t even looking and get you to the best opportunity you never knew was there! Don’t just use recruiters as your “placement agency.”
Stay relevant - Seems basic, but too many people become irrelevant each and every day. This isn’t a technology/social media speech, but the landscape we all work in is changing and becoming more and more fluid especially electronically. If you aren’t contributing in these forums, you aren’t relevant. They will continue to evolve and if you aren’t in the mix, then you will become archaic and won’t be able to catch up. Get engaged!

Stumble: PatternCooler

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Cool alert! Seamless background patterns that you can use anywhere on the Internet. They're found at PatternCooler, a free (beta) pattern-spreader suite. Create your own patterns or use one that someone else has already made. Fun fun!

How Do You Measure True Influence?

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:38:00 +0000

If you're intrigued by the effects of great marketing campaigns and social media, read this fantastic article by The Next Web about how brilliant Old Spice is with their marketing right now.

The interesting thing that I didn't notice is that it mentioned the Influence Project, something I blogged about previously. Did I even think that the Influence Project was promoted as a social media campaign? Absolutely not. In fact, The Next Web's article basically slammed the Project, saying it did everything wrong while Old Spice did everything right.

Here's my thinking on the Influence Project. It was an interesting idea. But it was like a webinar to me, and I'm really good at finding those to collect information to apply to my professional future in whatever capacity it happens to be that day.

A few days after the Influence Project was launched, I got an email from the Project with an invitation for me to contribute my ideas and possibly be on the next round of the Influence Project. Previously all the ideas came from well-known social media folk; is their objective to reach out to the regular masses their idea of trying to save a campaign, or was this planned all along?

Here's the catch. Old Spice doesn't require anything from you. The Influence Project, on the other hand, has terms and conditions. They can send you advertising emails. They have your information. They want something from you. And basically what you get is a chance to build your pride and ego. Sure it's an interesting experiment, but there are a lot of people out there who want to feel important, and this project seems like a way to deflate people's ambitions really quickly.

Can true influence really be measured? Sure you can with numbers, but I would be that a lot of influence isn't even known. For you, is influence a matter of pride and people knowing what you've done, or is influence a matter of self-satisfaction, like service, that doesn't need to be broadcast to the world? It seems like there are enough sites that can monitor number influence like LinkedIn, which asks how many people are you familiar with in the business world? But instead, this Project asks to know how many people would jump if you told them to. "Click on my link and I'll click on yours" doesn't seem much like a valid influential move to me.

Yeah, interesting, but I define influence differently than clicking on links for an ego boost.

Old Spice Guy Replies to Tweets via YouTube

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:21:00 +0000

This is some of the best marketing I've seen in a long while. The Old Spice guy replies to comments/tweets that ask him questions or simply mention his name. Brilliant! This concept is awesome, and my coworker and I are going to try and craft a witty question and see if we can get a video too.

Here are some of my favorites.

On Twitter, matthewsinclair wrote "Feeling like the Old Spice guy! Over the weekend I went for a run, went horsehiding, and chainsawed firewood. #sadlyidontlooklikehim #true "

On the Internet, Anonymous wrote "Use old spice. Our dads use it, our grand fathers used it, because it works. Stop asking or begging for hugs. You smell bad!"

On Facebook, Fate Demo wrote "what do you do you do on youre free time.....

On Facebook, Anna Heavens wrote "Please, please, always be in my life."...

On Facebook, Levi Hunter wrote "Is it the Old spice that gives you these magical powers or were you just born Awesome? "

Family Weekend Narrative

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:32:00 +0000

In a picture. My family is all over the place this weekend, and my sister and I were laughing about a service circle of sorts. This is what I came up with. You probably won't think it is as funny as we did.

Project 365: Pictures 96-102

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:59:00 +0000

This is one my favorite series ever: my niece playing her version of Rummikub. And the lighting wasn't too horrible either. She loves her sparkly clip, too.

Taken 4 July 2010

Project 365: Pictures 93-95

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:54:00 +0000

At the lake with Granddad and Nana.

Taken 3 July 2010

Design Humor is the Best

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:43:00 +0000

I enjoy this man's sense of humor. Even though he doesn't like cats (I do).

Clueless Secretary Prompts Hilarious Office Email Thread

The Influencer Project

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:48:00 +0000

Yesterday I listened to the "shortest marketing conference ever" and it was pretty awesome. Sixty some-odd people came together to give short ideas about how to influence others. I would recommend that you listen to the recording, or sign up to receive the transcript when it is available.

How are you planning to influence your world?

Work-related: Social Media Presentation

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:13:00 +0000

I just finished writing my Friday blog entry on my company's corporate blog, and although that post was, obviously, a little more network-marketing heavy, it has some concepts I want to share here from a social media presentation I gave in May. (Social media is something that everyone can benefit from, so there are no industry secrets I'm giving away. Sorry!)

The first part of my presentation focused on a video called I Love Blank. The object of this video is to show you how powerful word-of-mouth marketing truly is--social media. It's simply to help you see how it works in real-world situations. Additionally, I showed a second video that expands a bit more and shows the power of social media all over the world through statistics and examples (Is Social Media a Fad?) I assure you it is not!

Next I talked a little more about social media itself. I tag-teamed the presentation with one of my distributors; we both went around the room and introduced ourselves to people. I was the more personable individual--"How are you today? The weather is great today, isn't it?"; he was more spammy, boring, and advertising-type--"BUY MY PRODUCT! I had eggs for breakfast." After taking a quick poll around the room, most people liked my introduction better. The same goes with social media. Be yourself online! Would your friends want to read posts on Twitter asking them to participate in your business? Nope. They'd rather see your personality, which is the person I was trying to represent. People don't follow you on social media to join their business--people follow you because of who you are. It's about building relationships. If they like you first, and you happen to have a business, they might be more inclined. Nobody likes telemarketers--or social media marketers.

Third, I talked about our social media policy. A lot of companies have social media policies; basically they help protect the company, but also yourself. I like to try and help people focus on their personal branding to build relationships with people. Some do's and don'ts on social media: don't share specific business offers in public; post appropriately; keep in mind that Google never forgets anything, so don't post anything you would regret later; and avoid discussing sensitive information while online.

That was pretty much the jist of my presentation; there are lot of other questions that I could have answered for days, but I was limited to an hour, so that is what people got. :)

Friday, July 2: Justin Hackworth + Photography

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:59:00 +0000

I found this post from Stephmodo and I figured I couldn't do a better job summarizing this... if you're in the Provo area, check this out. Justin Hackworth's photos are amazing.

Looking for something different to do on Friday night? Something that will appease your senses and leave you with a warm fuzzy? Head to Justin Hackworth's 30 Strangers exhibit in Provo, Utah [tonight] between 6-9 in the evening. Here are a few important details:

Where : 26 West Center Street, Provo UT – (Map) Two doors West of Los Hermanos, and 1/2 block West of Justin Hackworth Photography
Who it Benefits : The Center for Women & Children in Crisis (great cause!)

What it's all About: For each day in April 2010, Justin Hackworth photographed a mother and daughter he had never met before. Instead of the usual session fee, Justin asked participants to make donations the Center for Women and Children in Crisis.

Attendance Counts: On July 2 at the opening reception, you can schedule your own mother-daughter portrait session with Justin Hackworth for a $75 donation to the Center.
As Justin says, "Everyone’s invited. Don’t be a stranger."

Project 365: Picture 92

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:03:00 +0000

My niece loved to help me edit by "coloring" all over the paper. Every blank sheet of paper in my hard copy was covered with red drawings. I love my niece.

Taken 27 June 2010

Project 365: Picture 91

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:02:00 +0000

I just finished editing the second draft of a freelance book project. The book is fantastic, and I love being part of the creative process. And there's something crazy about red pen markings.

Taken 27 June 2010

Project 365: Picture 90

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:53:00 +0000

An abandoned mitt during a softball game. It's not quite what I pictured in my head when I took the picture, but it works.

Taken 22 June 2010

Birthday Present #3: Personalized Stamp

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:48:00 +0000

For my birthday, my sisters--though their husbands claimed they helped with the idea--decided that I needed something that would incentivize me to get back into a craft-creating mode. Little did they know that I've had the same idea for months but hadn't acted on it yet...

They ordered me a custom stamp that says "handmade by erin" along with my website address, hallmarkink.com. And the idea is that I can put the stamp on all my projects. It finally came, and Lesley wrapped it up to give it to me. Thanks family!

Now I just need to find more time to start making stuff again...

Stumble: Hyperactivitypography from A to Z

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:21:00 +0000

If you're looking for a fun way to learn typography, and don't mind learning at more of a child's level, check out this book called Hyperactivitypography from A to Z by Studio 3. No really, you can read the entire thing online here and you can buy it here if you want. (Looks like it is out of stock right now, so just enjoy the images.) A fun idea, don't you think?

Project 365: Picture 89

erin@hallmarkink.com (erin) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:38:00 +0000

Beautiful Castle Rock, Lake Powell.

Taken 9 June 2010