Social Media Blog – Article Review

Coming Up With an Epic Topic

http://socialmouths.com/blog/2013/12/04/real-advice-for-epic-content/#more-12338 By : Shannon Willoby

 

            In this blog post, Shannon Willoby discusses how to come up with an epic topic for a blog post. Willoby first suggests that you must come up a topic that has not been written before simply provide a new spin on an old topic. She also states that one should try challenging a popular opinion, incorporating themes, being edgy, capitalizing on seasonal and reoccurring events, and not being afraid of a little newsjacking. She also gives Google Hot Search as a reference to check out what posts are hot and trending in the present.

            This should be a very popular blog post, as all bloggers, facebook users, and twitter users are always trying to post something that will gain the attention of all the friends and followers or even a significant amount of them. The suggestions that she does give for an epic post are all items that social media users have thought about over and over again but aren’t sure if they should do it. For example, she gives the suggestion to not be afraid to newsjack which is taking advantage of trending news and turning it into a post. We are all afraid of jumping on the bandwagon at times but she is right this will make for an epic post if you can add some interesting perspective on it.

 

5 Mistakes You might be Making on Social Media – Shanna Mallon

http://socialmouths.com/blog/2013/09/10/5-mistakes-you-might-be-making-on-social-media/

           

            This article is aimed towards the mistakes brands are making with social media and how they can find success on these social networking sites. The five items Mallon gives as mistakes a brand can make would be to ignore social media completely, thinking “likes” = sales, talking more than listening, being consistent, and not biting off more than you can chew. She discusses how each one of these items can be a mistake and how a brand could take advantage of this area in order to successfully promote their brand and actually earn sales.

            I believe that this post is extremely useful for a business who does not know exactly what they should do to boost their business via social networking sites. The mistakes she has provided are ones that we, as Facebook users for example, can see every time we log onto our accounts. For example, we see companies always appear on the side of the page and there is a like icon along with it. People simply like items because they like it but this does not mean they will go out and buy a product. Specifically, if the Nike page appeared and I liked it, it translates into nothing for the business besides the like. Mallon basically says that businesses needs to have an end goal other than likes.

           

 

 

           

 

 

Education First

All throughout my life I have took pride in my school work and my grades. Throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school I basically got all A’s. I graduated high school number 6 in my class with a 4.3. Transitioning that to college requires a whole different type of work ethic. I had no problem working harder for my grades as I am only happy with high grades.  

Lately in my senior year of college, I have let a lot of things interfere with my school work and have found myself in a situation where I am struggling to finish my classes. I let the constant road trips for basketball to Miami, Jacksonville, Naples, Lakeland interfere with my opportunity to stay on track and remain focused. What many student-athletes fail to see is the fact that student comes first and if you aren’t a good student then there is no basketball.

Even though I am struggling at this movement, I am not nervous that I will fail. I just wished I had done things differently this semester, even If I had to bring a book and a pencil and write all my HW assignments out on the van and then just type them up when back from the trips.

I did not necessarily agree with travel arrangements made for these road trips which was basically leave early in the morning, play the game at 7, eat dinner, and then return to FC at like 4 am. But this goes back to taking responsibility.

You can say whatever you want about how this and that caused your under normal performance. In the end the responsibility falls back in the hands of one person alone. When you want something such as good grades, in my case all A’s, you have to put way more effort than I did. Somewhere along the line, I let numerous external factors influence what I was doing with my time and my time management skills went haywire.

I realize what I did, and I have enough time to correct my mistakes and show what a good student I can be when I put my mind and time towards it correctly. I want to end my senior year right with no let ups so intend to continue moving forward with my head on straight and vow to always find a way to get the important things done first next time.

All student athletes may have the mindset that it is tough to get school work done with all the road trips, practices, games or whatever it may be but at the end of the day, if you want to pass and get good grades it simply requires better time management. You may have to give up doing something socially here and there but it will be worth it. Remember, everyone’s basketball career comes to end sooner or later. What will you do when that happens? It’s essential to have a degree to fall back on. Never lose sight of what comes first as a college student-athlete,

“My Good Deed for the Day”

I currently work at Sweetbay the supermarket and there a number of unusual things that occur on a day to day basis whether it may be with a customer or even an employee.

One day while working my assistant customer service manager comes over to me and says “you can take your ten minute break now if you would like.” So, I grab a snack and a drink and get in line to pay for it. There are two people ahead of me. First, there is a man getting ready to pay for his order, then an older woman, and then me. The man starts grabbing his pocket to find his money and he pulls out his wallet. He only had one item he was purchasing. It was a fruit snack tray sampler.

The older woman just walks forward and tells the cashier “just ring this stuff up too, I got it.’ “It is my good deed for the day,” the older woman tells the man. The man, reluctantly, starts saying no, it’s okay, I got it. The older woman simply refused and kept saying things like it’s not a problem, it’s my good deed for the day. Finally, the man caved and said thank you very much.

At first, I was sort of shocked because I have seen people help each stranger out when they were short of money and have seen people who simply could care less about the person in front of them in line. This situation that just transpired right in front of my eyes put me in some thought for the rest of the time I was at work.

I began to think, why don’t I do something like this? Not a onetime thing, but what if I found something to do each day that could simply be a good deed for the day. I started to brainstorm about things I could do because lets be real, sweetbay does not pay me that well for me to pay for someone’s item every time I am at the grocery store. But some of the ideas I came up with include simply paying someone a compliment, starting a conversation with someone who looks bored, actually give someone begging for money some kind of food item or a dollar or two. It could be anything that would simply put a smile on someone’s face.

I am the type of person who is happy because the people around me are happy. If I can put a smile on someone’s face it brightens my day. So every since then, I have given a dollar here and there to someone begging for money. I have complimented several people of numerous aspects, whether it was their shoes, clothes, or simply the way they carry themselves. Wouldn’t you like it if someone did this for you and made you smile, especially if you are having a rough day?

Simply by doing this, you allow yourself to not only brighten someone’s day but ultimately make yourself a better person. Is that what we all are trying to do with our lives? We go to school to become successful and be a better person, so down the road we can provide for a family and have nice home. Let’s not forget we are people and we are social creatures. One compliment can open many doors to your life.

We Hold the Power to Our Success

Through the first ten games of our basketball season at Florida College, you could say I was having the best season of my college basketball career. Averaging nearly 14 points per game and having some big games against Division 1 Jacksonville University, NAIA Embry Riddle and Johnson and Wales. We had a solid .500 record and hoped to pick up our level of play for the remainder of the season and make our way to nationals.

Over the next 4 games, I really struggled shooting the ball and frustration started kicking in when I found myself on the bench at certain times of the game when I felt like I should be on the court helping my team. As controversial as it is to me and no matter what I felt, I started to take responsibility.

I was sitting here thinking what is it that I am doing wrong? Why am I not in the game at certain times? I could sit here and blame the coaches, other players, or even the refs. Some point in life you have to step up and say it starts with me. I realize that since I have been caught up doing so many different things with my time, that my work ethic fell off a little. I was not in the gym shooting on a consistent day to day basis. I didn’t lift weights anymore like used.

It all made sense now. When I was keeping up with my work ethic, I was having a great year, and was helping the team in every way I could. When I stopped putting as much effort in, the results spoke for themselves. The moral of this story is that the results you get out of something is reflective to the work you put in. No matter who you are, when you are doing something, give your full effort and commitment. If your heart is not in it, then maybe you need to find something else that you could do to better satisfy your wants and needs

I can almost promise you that once the season resumes after the winter break, I will be contributing to my team as I did throughout the first bunch of games and I will do all I can to help my team make it to the national tournament and hopefully bring home a banner.

Never lose sight of your goals, no matter what is going on around you. Although at times you may get side tracked and adversity may hit you in every way possible, remain focused on your goals. Find ways to overcome whatever it is that may be restraining or pushing you back. It’s better to work for what you want now, rather than look back and regret it. It starts with YOU.

Relationships

Where to begin? I have been in a couple of relationships and there are some major things I have learned over time. The relationships I have been in were ones in which the girl and I spent all the time we could together. This is the first mistake one can make at a young age because it can to start to feel like you are getting bored and there is nothing special to do anymore. You sit in the house watch movies, go out to eat dinner, go to the movie theater, go to amusement part, or whatever it may be. When you spend all your time together, you never have a chance to miss the other person. You can simply start to feel overwhelmed and the outcome of this is space. And we all know what space leads to.

Next, in a relationship you want to make sure you always do what you did when you first got the girl/boy. This is a very important thing to remember the whole time you are with someone. Girls like to be brought flowers when you are taking them out or simply for no reason at all. Every so often when you are going to see them stop at the store and bring them their favorite candy or drink. And when the big occasions come around make sure your gift is extremely thoughtful and something they want. Lets own up to the front that we put up right when we meet these women and want them to remain in our lives. It should not be a front, it should be the truth. This would make it easy to keep them happy and surprised. It will add a spark and spontaneity to the relationship.

We must be understanding of the other person needs and wants. For example, girls love to talk about their days and want us to be there to listen to them. If they have had a long day, and you are with them make sure they don’t have to move a muscle and they can just relax. They want a drink or a snack, help them out and bring it to them. The more effort you put into someone the more effort they will give in return. Relationships are not a walk in the park, so you must be willing to go out of your way to make the other person happy. When you care for someone, it will not be that hard because their happiness will be the reason you are happy.

I have experienced it all. I have been in relationships lasting over a years. A successful relationship depends on how much you are willing to put in and work with the other person. Communication is the key and if it is not used there is no to even begin to do the things I have mentioned. There’s way more to relationships that I have mentioned.

Some people will hardly fight others will fight on a daily basis. But as long as you can communicate and get through ups and downs there’s no stopping what may be possible. It’s depends on how bad you want it and commitment. There’s also trust, loyalty, and honesty, but we all know how to maintain all of these.

You must also have someone who is willing to put in the effort you do and fight with you through everything

From my experience, I KNOW that these two things I have mentioned are keys to a good successful relationship.  I will never change what I do, because women love these things.

Flat Tire

A while back, my roommate came bursting into the apartment with the biggest smile on his face. He said he never felt so good in his entire life. In my head I’m thinking he might have got a beautiful girl’s number. He began to tell us what happened.

He was driving back from Tampa Bay Grand Prix, where he works, and he saw this car pulled over on the side of the road the four way signal on. It was an older Buick and he figured it would be an older person driving the car. It was slightly raining out but that didn’t stop him from checking up on this person to make sure they were okay.

It turned out it was an older woman who had a flat tire and she was kind of just stranded there with no help. He ended taking it upon himself to help this woman out and change the tire. After changing the tire he said they woman hugged him and repeatedly thanked him. This is what made him feel that good.

He felt so great about himself because he was able to help someone else out. Does that make sense? He got happiness out of doing a favor for someone else. Yes, it makes absolute sense. There are studies out there that show people who are given money and spend it on other people are happier than those who spend it on themselves. This says it all.

This gave me the motivation to help out elders in any way possible, especially my grandparents. I don’t think many people realize that they are simply not able to do all the things they did in the past. As people age, the still will want to be independent and do things on their own. We can do more than just help them physically. We can call them on a day to day basis and make sure they are doing well and see if they need anything.

It takes nothing but 5 minutes at the most to pick up the phone and have a conversation. Most of the time grandparents love their grandkids. Most of us do not think to go see them or make a call to see how they are doing but I can almost guarantee they will be so excited and happy you would do that for them

It doesn’t have to be only with your grandparents or older people. It can be with anyone including your parents, aunts and uncles, friends or whoever.

Be A Leader

As a senior playing college basketball, I have had plenty experiences playing and have faced all kinds of adversity. Over the years I have learned from all of these experiences and should pass this knowledge down to all the younger players on my today. This can simply be to help them with their attitudes on and off the court, help them to understand that they are young and have some good time ahead of them, and to simply take care of business on and off the court.

 As a freshmen in college, I was forced to redshirt for my junior college, meaning I did not play my first year. This happened to me because there were two sophomore guards on the team that were really good and I simply would not have played. I thought I was really good coming out of high school, which I was but I was not on the same level as the returning players at the college. I understood this, and now days many people believe they should play big minutes and be the man right when they come out of high school, especially when they were the best player on their high school teams.

Also, when freshmen actually get their chances in games, they tend to get mad if they don’t get big minutes. I need to step up in a leader role and let these guys know that they will get their chance and opportunity. I should share my experience from previous years. I have witnessed several players over the years who were freshmen and were really good who didn’t play much because there were people ahead of them class wise and were just as good or better.

These players who did not play, most of the time understood that playing time is based on skill, performance, and experience. Also these guys came back the next year to get more playing time and did well. They were now in the position they wanted to be last year and were ahead of the freshmen or underclass players.

Also, I have witnessed several great players over the year flunk out of school and not get to finish their college careers. Most of the time everyone knew who was not doing well and school, and I feel like I could have done more to help these guys stay in school.

I want to take all these previous experiences and turn it into motivation to help others. I want to work with these younger players to develop their game. While developing their game, I can help build their attitudes positively to take advantage of the time they get in games and not worry about what they cannot control. I can speak up, and let them know that academics come first. Its not simply about helping people to feel better about yourself. When you are part of a college basketball organization those guys on the team become your family for yours.

It’s our duty to guide and be role models to younger players. We can have a profound effect on them and be an example of what they need to do.

Who is a Role Model?

During my sophomore year in high school, I played Varsity basketball. I was a starter on our very good team, but my primary role was to play defense on the best player on the other team. That was my only job and it showed as I only averaged less than 5 points per game that year.

After the school year was over, my teammate and good friend Mike and I began to work on our games every day. He sort of took me under his wing. We would go to the gym everyday and shoot a combined 700-800 shots. Even on days we had summer league games we would get in the gym shoot, play one on one, and then head over to the games later in the day. As time went on I knew everything about my game was improving but I still did not perform how I would practice when it came time to the games.

Our team was invited to the East Coast Invitational, a big high school tournament in the summer, with numerous top high school teams along the east coast. Two top players from last year came to this tournament straight from Kentucky where they played several games in a showcase tournament and they were worn out. Coach simply told us other people had to step up. This was basically my arrival, because I went on to play extremely well in the rest of the tournament and provided a 24 point game performance against Kinston a nationally ranked team in the championship game.

Although we made it all the way to the championship game and lost, several of my teammates and I realized how much we could actually do. I finally came out of my shell and performed as my coach and teammate Mike knew I could. Without Mike working with me every day, the countless hrs in the gym battling with each other, and his encouragement I cannot say I would have ever been the player I am today. After my junior year my high school coach told me “I need you to take him (a certain player) under your wing like Mike did and make him a better player because we need him next year.”

I certainly did that, but it came a year later when I met one of my good friends Adam. I saw his work ethic and I told myself this kid is going to be good. After a few times playing together we started working out together and shooting all the time. We played one on one all the time. This kid would not leave me alone or want any days off. I’m glad I was able to help him because he deserved to play college basketball. And he currently has made it to that level and is now part of a college program.

Anyone can be a role model in any way. Take the things you are good at and pass that on to someone you know has the ability to follow in your footstep or simply do something else greatly. Think about it, if we all find one person to take under our wing, we could change a person’s life. We can even keep younger kids from getting involved in the wrong crowds and push them to use their talents, intelligence, or whatever skills they may have to make something of themselves.