Setting Up Goal Conversions

Hello Everybody,

In this post I'm going to show you how I set up goal conversions for my very on website.

This is my website.

I decided to set up a goal for people to fill out my contact page.

Once users fill out the form and hit the submit button they are taken to my thank you page.

So I set up Google Analytics with a goal conversion that will let me know when people make it to this page, which they can only get to by filling out the contact form, which is what I want people to do.

Keep in mind for this to work, you will need Google Analytics already connected to your website. First select which website (if you have multiple sites connected to your analytics) you want to add the goal conversion to, and select the admin option at the top of your Google Analytics page. Once there select the goal option.

Once you have selected the goal option you will be taken to a page with your current goals, again if you have any, and select the red button to add a new goal.

One you have selected that you will be able to add specifics about the goal you are setting up. I for one hit custom.

Give a name of your goal, and pick which type of goal you are trying to set up. My goal in this exercise would be a destination goal because I want people to get to a particular page on my site.

Next you add the page you want your destination to be. You add the words that are after the / part of the url, including the / . Then hit save.

And there you have it, that's how you set up goal conversions through Google Analytics.

On a side note, please check out my website and see all the art and design possibilities I have to offer. And this way I have some analytics to poke around with.

A Guide to Dealing with your Feelings While Out of Work

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to go over Appendix B of What Color is Your Parachute, A Guide to Dealing with your Feelings While Out of Work.

The psychological cost of job search rises the longer someone is unemployed. But don't worry, Bolles is here to help.

Ten Things We Can do to Deal with Our Feelings, When We are Unemployed

1. We can catch upon our sleep. The world never looks bright or happy to us when we are very short on sleep. The world never looks bright or happy to us when we are feeling depressed.
2. There are other things that we can do to keep ourselves more physically fit while unemployed. Get regular exercise, involving a daily walk. Drink plenty of water. Eliminate sugar as much as possible. Take supplementary vitamins daily. Eat balanced meals. All that other stuff our mothers always told us to do.
3. We can do something about the physical space around us. Our surroundings often mirror how we feel about ourselves. When we determine to always put our things away in a timely fashion, neatness will begin to appear.
4. We can get outdoors daily and take a good walk.
5. We can focus on other people. Help people worse off than you.
6. We can go on fun mini-adventures. Places tourists would first "hit" but maybe we have never been to.
7. We can deal with our feelings by expanding our mental horizons, and learning something new. Read about things that you've always been interested in but never had time for. Learn something about the mind. Or explore he world around us.
8. We can talk, talk, talk with our loved ones, or a close friend, about all the feelings we have. Stuff bottled up inside us tends to fester and grow.
9. We can pour a punching bag or even some pillows, to get some of the angry energy out of us.
10. We can make a list each day of the things that makes us grateful, glad, or even happy, day by day. Focus on what precious gifts we have, don't brood over what's wrong in our lives.

We can revisit or picture of God and how he works in this world. To believe in someone is to trust them, and to trust that they feel toward us as they say they feel. We can, instead of abandoning our faith, put some energy into rethinking our faith on a higher level. God isn't responsible for every small thing, because of our freedom. We can, realize that religion isn't necessarily a blessing. 

Feelings are often a messenger bringing gifts. If being unemployed makes us do all the things listed above, than maybe our unemployment is a gift in disguise.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Finding Your Mission in Life

Hello Everybody,

In this post I will be covering Appendix A from What Color is your Parachute, Finding your Mission in Life. Just to pre-warn you guys this section in the book might come off as a tad preachy, so if you're not religious this might not be the post for you. Feel free to browse any of my other wonderful posts.

Now let's get down to it. Job-hunts offer a chance to make fundamental changes in our whole life. We want to feel we were put here on Earth for some special purpose, to do some work that only we can accomplish. Use your unemployment as life transition. Just keep in mind while writing this section that Bolles is writing from a lifelong Christian perspective and trusts his readers to translate what he says into our own thought forms and that the steps he describes are not the only way.

These are the steps towards finding your mission.

1. Seek to stand hour by hour in the conscious presence of God, the one from whom your mission is derived.
   To do this you need to unlearn the idea that our mission is primarily to keep busy doing something (here on Earth) and learn instead that our mission is first of all to keep busy being something (here on Earth).
2. Do what you can, moment by moment, day by day, step by step, to make this world a better place, following the leading and guidance of God's spirit within you and around you.
   "Being" issues into "doing". We need to unlearn the idea that everything about our mission must be unique to us and learn instead that some parts of our mission here on Earth are shared by all human beings. We need to choose the paths that bring my love in the world.
3. a) Exercise the talent that you particularly came to Earth to use - your greatest gift, which you most delight to use
   b) In the place(s) or setting(s) that God has caused to appeal to you the most
   c) For those purposes that God most needs to have done in the world
   You need to unlearn the idea that the part of our mission that is truly unique, and most truly ours, is something our creator just orders us to do. Also unlearn that our unique mission must consist of some achievements for all the world to see. We nor those who watch our lives, will always know what we have achieved by our life and by our mission. Unlearn the idea that what we have accomplished is our doing, and ours alone.

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

How to Start Your Own Business

Hello Everybody,

This week I will be writing about chapter 11 in What Color is Your Parachute, How to Start Your Own Business.

Is starting your own business as difficult as everyone makes it out to be? When looking at past success stories there are a few things that they have in common. These people didn't need a whole lot of money to launch their own business. They did have to do research, sometimes plenty of it, to make it work. A lot of them use the internet to make their product, service, or expertise, known. None of them went down the traditional paths that people used to go down, when considering self-employment, such as buying a franchise, or being sucked in by one of those well-advertised "work-at-home" projects. Being "self-employed" wears quite a different face.

When you have no idea what business you want to go into there are four steps.

1. Write.
   Do the flower diagram, (see posts part 1, part 2 and part 3). Ultimately, what you decide to do should flow from who you are. Jot down any ideas. Use same piece of paper for any ideas as you read the rest of these steps. Write your resume answering all the questions in chapter 2 under a starter kit for writing your resume (or read my post on that chapter). If nothing inspires you, try Daniel Pink's Prescription. List 5 things you're good at, list of 5 things you love to do, list of where the 2 lists overlap, and read that list and ask yourself, "will anyone pay me to do these things?" If none of that works check out O*Net.
2. Read.
   Read up on all the virtues that perils of running your own business. Self-employment has become a broader concept than it was in another age (not just people with own businesses but also independent contractors, temps and contract employees, limited-time frame workers, consultants). Try checking out Working Solo, Small Business Administration, A Small Business Expert, Business Owner's Toolkit, The Business Owner's Idea Cafe, Nolo's Business LLCs & Corportations, and Home Businesses.
3. Explore.
   

   A - B = C

   "A " is what skills, knowledges, or experience it takes to make this kind of business idea work, by interviewing several business owners.
   "B" is skills, knowledges, or experience that you have.
   "C" is list of skills that are required for success in such a business. Go hire someone that does.
4. Get Feedback.
   Are you cut out for this sort of thing? Only you can answer that.You can try to find out by doing self-examination questionnaires on working solo. Check out Checkster, which is a free talent checkup. It emails 6-12 people you choose, and asks them to answer a few brief questions about you and your past work. Then it removes the names and mashed the info together and gives you a summery report. 

This may go without saying, but since Bolles felt the need to specify, I will too. If you have a spouse or partner, tell them what you're up to and what you're thinking. Find out what their opinion is and explore whether this is going to require sacrifices from them, and not just you, and how they feel about that. You only have one life, so while you're here you should do what you want. There is always some risk in trying something new. Make sure ahead of the time that the risk aren't avoidable, but instead manageable. Talk to others who have already done what you are thinking of doing; then evaluate whether or not you still want to go ahead and try it. Have a plan B as to what you will do if it doesn't work out.

Good luck!

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

The Five Ways to Choose/Change Careers

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to be covering chapter 10 from What Color is Your Parachute, The Five Ways to Choose/Change Careers.

The First Way to Choose/Change Careers : The Internet

Richard N. Bolles suggests the used of O*Net Online, a digital, online treasure house of information and it's up to date. Suggested careers are grouped by industries in great demand, green economies, largest number of openings anticipated, STEM discipline, amount of preparation or training required and more. When you find an occupation they have a specially developed content model to help you learn more.

The Second Way to Choose/Change Careers : Tests

They're not really tests, but more so instruments or assessments. Before  you proceed with the "tests" method there are 6 things you should know

1. You are absolutely unique. There is no person in the world like you. It follows from this that no test can measure you; it can only describe the family to which  you belong.Tests divide the population into groups, tests are about families, not individuals. You may be exactly like your group or you could be completely different.
2. Don't try to figure out ahead of time how you want the test to come out. Stay loose and open to new ideas. If you;re going to take tests, you need to be open to new ideas.
3. In taking a test, you should just be looking for clues, hunches, or suggestions, rather than for a definitive answer that says, "this is what you must choose to do with your life."
4. Take several tests and not just one. One can easily send you down the wrong path. Tests are notoriously flawed, unscientific, and inaccurate.
5. In good career planning, you're trying, in the first instance, to broaden your horizons, and only later narrow your options down. You are not trying to narrow them down from the outset.
6. Testing will always have "mixed reviews" some people it helped, others it has ruined.

The Third Way to Choose/Change Careers : Using the Flower Exercise

This refers to an exercise we completed in a couple posts back. Click here for the intro, part 2 and part 3. Basically look at your past, break down those experiences down into its most basic "atoms," then build a new career for the future from your favorite "atoms," retracing your steps from the bottom up, in the exact opposite direction.

The Fourth Way to Choose/Change Careers : Changing a Career in Two Steps

This is not a way to identify a new career, as more a way to move into that career, once chosen. Changing careers in two steps, not one. A job is a job-title in a field. A job has therefore, 2 parts : title and field. Title is really a symbol for what you do. Field is where you do it, or what you do it with. a Difficult path is changing both at once (one step). But in 2 steps, you can claim experience.

The Fifth Way to Choose/Change Careers : Finding Out What the Job-Market Will Need

Not based on your wishes, but rather the job-market. Not what you want, but what the market wants. Technically called "projections" or also, "hot jobs". "Projections" is really just a nice word for guesses.

Conclusion : Eight Cautions about Choosing/Changing Careers 

1. Go for any career that seems fascinating or even interesting to you. But first talk to people who are already doing that work. Every man and woman may see their vocation in a different light. Don't assume that the way the person you are interviewing defines it, is the way you must also. Beneath any job-title, there is often lost of room for you to maneuver and define that job in a way that unique suits you, your gifts and your creativity.
2. Make sure that you preserve constancy in your life as well as change. Don't change everything. You need a firm place to stand when moving your life around you.
3. You'll do better to start with yourself and what you want, rather than with the job-market, and what's hot. The difference is being "enthusiasm" and "passion".
4. The best work, the best career, for you, the one that makes you happiest an the most fulfilled, is going to be one that uses: your favorite transferable skills, in your favorite subjects, fields, or special acknowledges, in a job that offers you your preferred people-environments, working conditions, salary, and goals and value.
5. The more time and thought you can give to the choosing of  anew career, the better your choice is going to be.
6. It's okay to make a mistake, in your choice. Most of use will  have 3 careers, and 8 or more jobs in our lifetime.
7. Choosing and then finding employment in a new career that you really fancy, should feel like a fun task as much as possible.
8. College degrees do no guarantee you a job. Do something that you feel passion for, rather than just getting a degree to get a degree.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

How to Deal With Any Handicaps You Have

Hello Everyone,

In this post I will be covering chapter 9, How to Deal with Any Handicaps You Have, from What Color is Your Parachute.

There are a million different kinds of handicaps (physical, mental, past, foreign, age). But you only have a handicap that will keep some employers from hiring you, not all. All employers divide for you into just 2 tribes, employers who are interested in hiring you for what you can do vs. employers who are bothered by what you can't do. When you run into the latter, ask if they know of anyone who would be interested in your skills, thank them and courteously take your leave.  Everyone is handicapped. A real handicap means dis-ability: there are some things that a person does not have the ability to do. This encompasses everyone. So what's so special about your handicap? Nothing.

What about a disability that negates your dreams? Try to find a way around it, great minds are inventing new technologies everyday. Just a few years ago people were marveling over smart phones now look at us, some babies even have one. So google experts in a field dealing with your type of disability, contact them and ask for advice or help. If nothing can help, look for jobs that are similar. Remember there are two different types of handicaps, disability or prejudice. A disability is something within you. A prejudice is something within the employer.

Here are key prejudices

1. Out of work too long. 
2. Age. There are a lot of baby boomers out there that don't have quality pension plans so they're still working within the "retirement" years. They will hire you if you have a positive attitude towards aging, if you convey energy, and if you keep working at it.
3. Returning Veterans. This usually has to do with the fear of PTSD. But keep in mind a lot of employers are actually biased towards veterans and hold a lot of respect and would be proud to give you a great opportunity.
4. Ex-offenders. Look on the internet, there are a lot of great resources out there to help you reenter the work force. And Obama is trying to pass new laws to help people with past records so hang in there.
5. Former patients (psychiatric or mental hospitals). 19% of U.S. adults had a mental illness in the past year, you are not alone. Stigma is slowly lightening.
6. Others. Just remember employers are human beings, they are flawed just like the rest of us. And no matter what your prejudice is, keep working at it. There is some employer out there that will look right over that just in order to hire you.

The last and most strong handicap is shyness. One way to take care of this handicap is through enthusiasm. This is where the PIE method comes into play. In order to conquer shyness you need to focus on the P in the method, pleasure. Find something you are enthusiastic about and talk to someone you don't know about it. Remember self-esteem is an art, an art of balance. We are on a tightrope between egotism and thinking too little of ourselves. We are taught that egotism is bad so we usually dive the other direction which can also be departmental to ourselves. The more you see your own gifts clearly, the more you pay attention to the gifts others have. You make yourself equal by not lowering yourself, buy by raising others.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Exploring Google Analytics Certification

Hello Everybody

This post is going to covering chapter 8, Exploring Google Analytics Certification, from Intro to Google Analytics.

Web analytics is one of the core skills for online marketing. To be able to understand performance of websites and ad campaigns makes you a resource to businesses. You don't have to be a numbers person in order to appreciate the value that Google Analytics can provide for you. With all that being said, the next step is to get certified in Google Analytics for proof of your skills and knowledge in web analytics. You can do this through signing up with Google Partners. They provide the certification test, which is quite a bit to handle, so don't get too stressed out if you don't pass it on the first try. It took me three tries to finally get the over 80% needed to become certified.

When approaching the certification exam use the resources that are out there. For example, actually poke around Google Analytics to get a feel for all the possibilities it offers. I personally utilized this blog in order to help me pass, click here to read it for yourself. Honestly though, if you don't feel up to diving into all that information I really recommend utilizing the Analytics Academy videos, these are what I found the most useful.

And there you have, you have no excuses. Go out there are get certified.

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

You Need to Understand More Fully Who You Are : Petals 1-4

Hello Everybody,

This post is the second post going into detail about What Color is Your Parachute, chapter 7 : You Need to Understand More Fully Who You Are : Petals 1-4. If you would like to read my introduction to this please click here. If you would like to proceed to the next post, petals 5-7, click here.

I am a Person Who Knows These Particular Things

First Petal: My Favorite Knowledge or Friends of Interest

Goal: Summarize all that you stored in your brain, subjects you already know a lot about.

Look For: Guidance to what field you would most enjoy working in.

Form: Nouns

Begin making a worksheet, treat it like a gathering place

1. What you know from your previous jobs. Even if it seems obvious, list it, it could help you see the bigger picture (hiring, bookkeeping), then pick your favorites.
2. What you know about, outside of work (like stuff you learned in high school, training seminars, or studied at home).
3. What fields, careers, or industries sound interesting to you. Start broad then drill down. The job market consists of 4 broad arenas: agriculture, manufacturing, information and services.

I am a Person Who has These Favorite Kinds of People

Second Petal: My Preferred Kinds of People to Work with

Goal: Avoid past bad experiences. The people we work with are either energy drainers or energy creators.

Look For: 1) What people will help you 2) Who you want to serve

Form: Adjectives describing different kinds of people.

Fill out the columns by using the help of the Prioritizing Grid. This will be used for several exercises for our petals so try to make a note of it.

These are the instructions for using this grid

1. Write down all the factors from the second column. (Focus on the 10 you dislike the most)
2. Compare 2 items at a time. Circle the one you dislike the most. Go diagonally down the list, so as to not be biased.
3. At the bottom of the gride write down how many times each number got circled. Resolve any 2 way ties by going back to when you compared these 2 and give the winner (the one you dislike more) half a point. 3 way ties mean you contradicted yourself, pick the worst one and then give 3/4, second worst 1/2 and then none to the last one.
4. Recopy the list in order of most disliked to next most and so forth.

Then you can go back to the first chart and copy first 5 factors from section D into the 3rd column. Write opposites in the 4th column of the first chart. By putting your negative list in the exact order of what you want to avoid you now know what you want to find by writing their opposites.

There is also the Party Game Exercise. Basically there are 6 people environments.

1. R=Realistic. These people like nature, animals, athletics, tool and machinery and being outdoors.
2. I=Investigative. These people are curious, investigate and analyze.
3. A=Artistic. These people are artistic, imaginative, innovative and don't like time clocks.
4. S=Social. These people who are bent on trying to help, teach or serve.
5. E=Enterprising. These people who like to start up projects or organization, sell things, influence and persuade people.
6. C=Conventional. These people who like detailed work and like to complete tasks or projects.

Everyone has 3 preferred people environments. So look at the party game exercise. Think about which corner you'd go to first. Then if those people left, which one would to head to. Then if those people left which group would you head to next for the rest of the party. This way you know your 3 preferred people environments.

I Am a Person Who Can do These Particular Things

Third Petal: What I Can Do and Love to Do (My Favorite Transferable Skills)

Goal: Discover  your transferable skills.

Look For: Not just what you can do, but what you love.

Form: Verbs

Here is a crash course on "Transferable Skills". Understanding the word will help you put yourself ahead of most other job-hunters. These are the most important truths you need to keep in mind about transferable skills.

1. Your transferable (functional) skills are the most basic unit - the atoms - of whatever career you may choose.
2. You should always claim the highest skills you legitimately can on the basis of your past performance. Look at this chart below, simple skill at the bottom with the more complicated ones at the top.
3. The higher your transferable skills, the more freedom you will have on the job. The higher the skills you legitimately claim, the more discretion to carve out the job the way you want it.
4. The higher your transferable skills, the less competition you will face for whatever job you are seeking, because jobs that use such skills will rarely be advertised through normal channels. If you can legitimately claim higher skills, you may approach any organization that interests you , whether they have a known vacancy or not. You will find fewer job-hunters to compete.
5. Don't confuse transferable skills with traits. These are the style in which you do your transferable skills.

In order to try to recognize your skills

1. Write a Story (the first of seven). Human beings are "a writing people" we only need a topic we have passion for or interest and Bam! This will be your office blog. Each story should have the following Parts
   a) Your goal: what you wanted to accomplish
   b) Some kind of hurdle, obstacle, or constraint that you faced (self-imposed or otherwise)
   c)A description of what you did, step by step (how you set about the ultimately achieve your goal, above, in spite of this hurdle or constraint)
   d) A description of the outcome or result
   e) Any measurable/quantifiable statement of that outcome, that you can think of
2. Analyze your story to see what transferable skills you used. Look for patterns.
3. Write six other stories, and analyze them for transferable skills. Even look for skills outside of work.
4. Patterns and Priorities
   a) Patterns because "once" proves nothing, "again and again" is a way of convincing.
   b) Priorities (skills most important to you) because the job you chose may not be able to use all of your skills. Know what you're willing to trade off and what you can't. Use the Prioritizing Grid to get scientifically your priorities. Copy the top 10 on to building blocks diagram (above) and favorite transferable skills petal. The virtue of breaking down "who you are" into building blocks is that the top will help you define the kind of job or career you're looking for. But the rest show the other possibilities you have also.
5. "Flesh Out" your favorite transferable skills with your traits.

I Am a Person Who Has Favorite Working Conditions

Fourth Petal: My Favorite Working Conditions

Goal: State the working conditions and surroundings that would make you happiest

Look For: Avoid past bad experiences

Form: Descriptions of physical surroundings your physical setting where you work can cheer you up or drag you down. We do our best work under certain conditions start with what you disliked in previous jobs chart.

Utilize the Prioritizing Grid above. This time when comparing, ask yourself, "if I were offered 2 jobs, 1 had 1 bad thing but not the other and vice versa, which one would I take? Write the opposite. Copy into the favorite working conditions petal.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Fun with eCommerce Analytics - Gumroad

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to cover chapter 7 of Intro to Google Analytics, Fun with eCommerce Analytics -Gumroad.

This chapter talks about Gumroad, a free, easy to use platform for eCommerce analytics. First let's talk about conversion vs. "infersion". When you have a "direct" conversion tracking analytics, you can trace exactly how effective a specific ad was, or individual keywords. These "conversion analytics" help you optimize a campaign, by deleting poor keywords that don't work and focusing on what keywords do. It helps you to make your advertising campaign more effective and more efficient, generate more revenue and budget more wisely. "Infersion tracking" is when you infer, or guess what is going on, but you really don't know, such as billboards, radio or television, etc. Gumroad is about infersion, it has built-in analytics that will tell you how many people visited a site and how many people went on to actually purchase the item. Keep in mind that a "conversion rate" is how many sales divided by how many visits. This provides insight, and measures effectiveness. Gumroad provides limited insight but is still very much, actionable.

In Gumroad there is a basic way to hook up with Google Analytics but there's also a way to set specific goals, in order to gain more insight. So first you are going to want to start by setting up a Gumroad account. Once you set up an account you should consider convincing a friend to go to your site and to buy a product so you'll have some data to work with. When you're in Google Analytics, go to "add new property" and copy and paste the link to your Gumroad site store. To paste the tracking ID that Google will provide you, go into settings, advanced section and then paste the tracking code. And there you have it, your Gumroad and Google Analytics are connected. Try to get some traffic to sell the product you have on your Gumroad store by possibly making a Facebook ad (to see the post on how click here) or working with Adwords. Gumroad makes it easy by having built in connections in order to post your store's link easily on your Facebook's timeline.

You'll actually need a purchase an order to "activate" your analytics on Gumroad. And then from there you can improve, lower price, or do more research. And when analyzing in Google Analytics, go to behavior, events and then overview. Pay close attention to "abandonment,"or how many people go along the process of visiting the site and where they "drop off" at. For example if you keep losing people after they click "buy" but before they "check out," you might be having problems with clarity on your checkout page or people may be having issues with shipping prices.

Good luck and until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

Fun with eCommerce Analytics Part II: Adwords

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to be covering the chapter 6 of Intro to Google Analytics, the second part of Fun with eCommerce Analytics. Click here if you haven't read part one.

This post is going to complete the "full life cycle" of analytics and have a close look at ROI. Shopify provides the foundation for eCommerce and Adwords provides a way to advertise a site and track conversion. And when you're in an eCommerce situation you can use Google Analytics to track behavior on your shopping sites. All these different components work together in order to help you create a better marketing strategy and better your business.

So welcome to part 2, Adwords

When starting Adwords you might want to consider exploring Google's learning material and getting Adwords Qualified. For more information on that, click here. First you need to start an account and get a tracking code. This is the code that you'll bring into your Shopify. It'll let you know when someone makes it to your confirmation page. You'll need to connect your Adwords to Shopify. You can do this by going to settings > checkout > additional content and scripts > save. It will show as only 1 conversion unless you change it, for example you can have it show how much money you're making instead.

Make an Adwords campaign. Adwords does cost money so be ready to roll up your sleeves and put in the effort it takes to make this work. How it works is Google charges you when people click on your ad. It also works like a bidding situation. The less people there are bidding on the same words, the cheaper they'll be and the higher you'll end up ranking, if there's more people it goes in reverse happens due to the extra competition. Try experimenting with different headlines, try to focus on something you think you'd click on. Keep in mind that if you don't put things in quotes Google will make variants of the different words, as opposed to the specific group of words you might be aiming for. Make use of the Keyword Planner that's available. Also be sure to keep track of when your Adwords campaign is going to end. You do this by going into your campaign settings, otherwise it will automatically be set to never ending and you'll keep being charged.

Just remember, that clicks do not equal conversions. So never lose site of your actual goals and what results you are actually getting.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Making Your Social Media, Analyzing Facebook Ads Campaigns

Hello Everybody,

Remember how we talked about the popularity and importance of setting up Facebook Ads and then the process of actually setting Facebook Ads up? In this post I'm going to go over the results.

When first logging onto Facebook to check the progress of your ads you will come to screen much like the one featured above. I ended up doing two separate campaigns for this blog with only slight differences in wording and audience but all using the same image. So now let's go through and compare and analyze the differences in results.

First I am going to focus on the $20 ad that I placed from September 29th- October 3rd. This ad ended up resulting in 41 clicks and reached 2,351 people and costed me about $0.49 per click. With this campaign I had 3 variations in my ad, focusing on one of the three main marketing topics covered by this blog (SEO, Social Media, and Google Analytics). I had very slight differences in my target audience from this ad compared to my second campaign.

Overall this campaign applied more so towards males especially in the 35-44 age range. This I found surprising, I was expecting my blog to be more popular with the upper 20 somethings. Most of the traffic that I ended up getting came through Mobile News Feed, which if you read one of my recent posts on how frequently people use their smartphones and Facebook, shouldn't be surprising in the least.

This second campaign I ran for two days from October 8th- October 10th, for only $5. I was able to reach 10,404 people and got 32 website clicks and paid around $0.16 for each of them. Surprising results for only a fourth of what was spent on the first ad. These major differences I am contributing to the placement of the ad. For this second ad I had disabled the "display in news feed" option. Meaning that while I had taken away all my mobile ads for the desktop right column ad I got to pay substantially less for similar results. Again my ad appealed to males more so than females, but in substantially larger percentage than the last campaign. This time my ad appealed more so towards the 18-24 years old demographic, with very few older generation views. This I find surprising because I assumed that my mobile ads would be more appealing to younger generations than the ones that actually ended up clicking it.

Next I went to my Google Analytics account to see what my clickers of my ad actually ended up doing once they found themselves at my blog. It's a little disheartening to see that my bounce rate is as high as 77.17%, meaning that more that 3/4th of my viewers clicked away before actually exploring my blog or visiting other pages. The average session duration was just under two minutes, meaning that odds are my blogs aren't actually getting read thoroughly.

All of these things I will be keeping in mind when I go towards advertising for my blog in the future. Hopefully you see fantastic results with your own Facebook Ads!

Until Next Time,
Caitlin Campbell

The Six Secrets of Salary Negotiation

Hello Everybody,

In this post I will be covering chapter 5 of What Color is Your Parachute?, The Six Secrets of Salary Negotiation.

The Six Secrets of Salary Negotiation

1. Never Discuss Salary Until the End of the Whole Interviewing Process at that Organization, When (and if) They Have Definitely Said They Want You. If a possible future employer raises the question of salary early on in the interview process, try to hold off the conversation by simply saying that you want to wait to decide if this is a good fit before discussing salary. If they're pushy say something like, "I'll gladly answer that, but can you help me understand what the job entails first?" And if they won't let it go, give them a range, but try to avoid this until you have a chance to make an impression on them. You want their decision to be based on you and your skill set, not a dollar amount.
2. The Purpose of Salary Negotiation is to Uncover the Most that an Employer is Willing to Pay to Get You. Range between the lowest they're hoping to pay vs. the highest they can pay.
3. During Salary Discussion, Never Be the First One to Mention a Salary Figure. Whoever mentions a salary figure first, generally loses. But at the same time don't go as far in this game of chicken to not determine a salary before ending the interview, you can't just assume that you'll automatically get a fair wage.
4. They'll Try to Get You to Say it First. Respond with something along the lines, "well you created this position, so you must have some figure in mind, I'm interested in hearing that figure". 
5. Before You Go to the Interview, Do Some Careful Research on Typical Salaries for Your Field and in that Organization. The internet is your friend, so use it to get salary research. Try to not turn to books for your information, they become outdated too easily and quickly. Also try talking to other people. If you don't know where to look, ask teachers at a local  college and they can usually point you in the right direction.
6. Research the Range that the Employer likely has in Mind, and then Define an Interrelated Range for Yourself, Relative to the Employer's Range. Start by defining your goal. It'll be less than the person above you makes and more than what the person below you makes. You can look at their competitors for an idea of their range. Be prepared to show in what ways you will make money or in what ways you will save money for that organization. If you're dying to work somewhere but they can't afford you, offer to work part time.
7. Know How to Bring the Salary Negotiation to a Close; Don't Leave it "Just Hanging". Be sure to discuss "fringe benefits", trust me, you never realize how important these are until you need them. Be sure to get the amounts and other information you agreed upon in writing and signed. You can do this easily by Googling a letter of agreement to make it official.

And there you have it. Salary negotiation is always and scary and stressful conversation, but if you have a plan of action and research under your belt, you can enter that conversation confidently. 

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Fun with eCommerce Analytics

Hello Everybody,

In this post I'm going over how to set up a Shopify account.

You can use Shopify to track exactly how much money you are making. The benefit of doing "real" conversion tracking is that in Google Adwords, you can tell exactly how effective a particular ad has been doing due to the money that it is bringing in. Shopify does cost money at $30 a month, but it is probably one of the cheapest options out there for the services it provides. Conversion tracking is what allows Google to make money. With Adwords you can get analytics that tell you exactly what you spend, whereas with advertising with something like a billboard you can't tell if you are getting your money's worth. Google Analytics and Adwords work hand in hand.

When going through Shopify you should consider setting up a "live" shopify shop. Think of either selling a physical or digital product, and don't worry about not having experience in eCommerce or Adwords. The process is relatively painless. Start by going to Shopify.com and "pick your plan". There you'll enter you e-mail, address, store name and other relevant information. In order to add a product click "add product" and upload your images and save. Shopify's wizard will literally walk you through the process of setting up your account. When setting up your front page, customize your navigation. Take out anything that might give viewers the idea that you're unprofessional.

And there you have it, you have your own online store that provides "real" conversion tracking!

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

Sixteen Tips About Interviewing for a Job

Hello Everybody,

And this post will be covering Chapter 4 of What Color is Your Parachute, Sixteen Tips About Interviewing for a job.

Job interviews can be a stressful experience for both sides of the desk. But thankfully, What Color is Your Parachute is here to help by giving us some tips.

1. There is no such thing as "Employers." Work on breaking yourself on the idea that all employers are alike and all want the same thing. Do your best to not generalize and become discouraged.
2. An interview should be prepared for, before you ever go in. Do research on the company before you show up on their doorstep.
3. Honor Agreements. For example, if it was you who asked for the interview, set a specific time and then stick with it. Say something like 19 minutes on the dot, and HONOR that. It shows that you're quirky and that you take your promises very seriously.
4. An interview for a job is a lot like dating. We've covered this idea before, an interview isn't only about you trying to get the job, a lot of it is has to do with you deciding if it's a job that you actually want.
5. Questions to expect from them, then questions you can ask. They will more often than not, ask you, "tell me about yourself". This question is a test. Don't answer it with a question, be prepared and ready to go with a your previous experience, skills or other things pertinent to the job. Don't mention your hobbies unless you think you're in a type of situation where they will actually end up helping you. The main questions you can expect in different forms are 1) "why are you here?" 2) "What can you do for us?" 3) "What kind of person are you?" 4) "What exactly distinguishes you from 19 or 900 other people who are applying for this job?" 5) "Can I afford you?" And don't forget this is a two way street, be sure to have your own questions in mind and ready to go.
6. During the interview determine to observe "the 50-50 rule". They talk half, you talk half, as simple as that.
7. In answering the employer's questions, observe "the 20 second to 2 minute rule". This one goes hand and hand with the previous tip. In your half of talking try to answer every question between 20 seconds and 2 minutes. You don't want to be to short that it looks like you're hiding things or too long where you just go on and on and on.
8. The employer is primarily concerned about risk. Keep in mind that the employer is worried about hiring the wrong person, because it can cost the employer 1 to 5 times the bad hires salary or more. They'll be on the look out for people who can't do the job, or can, and will leave once they find a better one. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
9. Its the small things that are the killers in a job interview. Losing to mosquitoes when you were prepared to fight dragons. A lot of employers believe that microcosm reveals macrocosm. So they will be looking out for the little things like your appearance and volume of talking, to determine how you will carry yourself doing this job.  
10. Be aware of the skills most employers are looking for, these days, regardless of the position you are seeking. Things like being punctual, dependable, good attitude, self-disciplined, can handle people well, use language effectively, computer skills, committed to teamwork, flexible, trainable, project-oriented, creativity, integrity, loyal, and able to identify opportunities are something that every employer wants.
11. Try to think of some way to bring evidence of your skills, to the hiring-interview. For example, as a graphic designer I will always need to bring my portfolio. Bring whatever proof you have of your past work.
12. Do not bad-mouth your previous employer(s) during the interview, even if they were terrible people. This will help show that you are the bigger person even if they know of this past difficult relationship, and reassures them that even if things don't pan out between the two of you, that you won't go around bad-mouthing them.
13. Throughout the interview, keep in mind employers don't really care about your past; they only ask about it, in order to try to predict your future (behavior) with them, if they decide to hire you. Try to figure out the reason behind the questions that they are asking you about your past in order to understand the question they are actually trying to answer.
14. As the interview proceeds, you want to quietly notice the time-frame of the question the employer is asking. They're going to start off asking about your past, than slowly proceed to current than hopefully futuristic questions. If this is happening the interview is looking good for you, if they're staying in the past maybe not so much.
15. Before you leave the (final) interview there, assuming you have decided that you like them and maybe they like you, there are five questions you should always ask: 1) "Can you offer me this job?" 2) "When may I expect to hear from you?" 3) "Might I ask what would be the latest I can expect to hear from you?" 4)"May I contact you after that date, if for any reason you have't gotten back to me by that time?" 5) "Can you think of anyone else who might be interested in my skills and expertise?"
16. 1)Thank you notes must be sent after every interview, by every job-hunter. 2) Most job-hunters ignore this advice. 

And there you have it! 16 tips to help you ace that interview. And even if you follow all of these steps and still don't get the job, remember that all employers are different and that you're just one more "no" closer to hearing that "yes".

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

Reviewing Performance Google Analytics of Campaigns

Hello Everybody,

Ads will help you get people to come to your page, but analytics is what helps you to understand what people are doing once they get there. Facebook helps you manage your ads. If you're interested in how to make a Facebook Ad read this post, or if you just want a general overview about Facebook Ads read this post here. Facebook however doesn't give the best data on personal sponsored posts. They just give you a graph with how your ad is doing relating compared to others, but doesn't actually give you any numbers. So you'll still want to dabble in Google Analytics

You should try to view Google Analytics as a tool, you don't necessarily have to know every option that is available with Google Analytics, because the list just goes on and on and on. A good way to first approach Google Analytics is to think of a specific question and then search through their options for an answer.

Things to keep in mind while you're poking around Google Analytics 

• Session is a technical term for a visit.
• Bounce Rate or Metric is the percentage of visitors who enter the site and leave rather than continue viewing other pages within the site.
• Geo will show you where people are viewing from location wise (to an extent).
• Trending means looking at how things perform over time and looking for patterns. The longer your site has been around in Google Analytics, the easier it'll be for you to spot trends.
• Traffic doesn't always actually mean you're getting visitors. There are bots that crawl sites, so look at what sites they're coming from. If it looks fishy, it probably is, so think critically.
• Mobile, see what devices people are using to view your site. If you have a lot of people coming from their phones, try to cater your site to their needs. Less visuals, more vertical layout as opposed to wide.
• Dashboards/Reports, you can use this to select specific sets of dates to focus on a certain trend or gather information for like a financial quarter or so forth.

Until Next Time,

Caitlin Campbell

There Are Over Eight Million Vacancies Available Each Month

Hello Everybody,

This post will be covering chapter 3 of What Color is Your Parachute? 

Yes. You read the title of this post correctly. "There are over eight million vacancies available each month". Trust me, I read the chapter and I'm still a little weary of it, but it seems legit enough. The author, Richard N. Bolles also goes to say, "the job-hunt hasn't changed at all in its essence since 2008." Contradiction? Yes, but then again no. He goes on to explain that while the behavior of the job hunt is always changing with technology (internet, computers, social media and so forth), the essence remains the same. Job-hunting is like dating. First question, "Do you like me?" Second question, "Do I like you?" It's a two way conversation. So while you might feel powerless remember, there is always at least a small part you have control of. And that small part could be the thing that makes or breaks you.

There are jobs out there. It might be hard or difficult to get one. But they are out there! The reason things look so bad is because that is how the information is presented through the media. Moral of the story is to take everything with a grain of salt. In conclusion, job-hunting is not a science, it is an art. Job-hunting is always mysterious, we will most likely never fully understand it. There is no "always wrong" way to hunt for a job or to change careers. Job-hunting is, or should be, a full-time job (what you put in to it, is what you're going to get out of it). A lot of it just comes down to luck, so keep your fingers crossed!

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

Getting Traffic for Analytics

Hello Everybody,

This week we will be covering Intro to Google Analytics's chapter 3, Getting Traffic for Analytics.
And yes, this post will also be talking about Facebook.

I know guys, you're getting bored with all the Facebook talk by now, but I swear this post focuses on it in a different way. Because this post is about getting traffic.

In order to get into analytics you need data to analyze. The way you get data is through traffic. So before we can actually start doing anything productive, we need to promote. An easy way to do this is through your own social media, mainly LinkedIn or Facebook. For LinkedIn you can simply share the link of your blog or a particular post in the update option. For Facebook you can share it as a status. When writing your blog posts, one thing you should keep in mind is adding photos to your posts. When sharing these links on Facebook, it will automatically feature that photo you had in the post, which will attract more eyes and views (trust me, I'm a graphic designer, its what I do). Also make sure you keep updating your blog, like around once a week, this will keep your data nice and fresh with new pages to look into.

If you're having trouble getting traffic to your blog posts through your Facebook status, you might be tempted to peak into promoting your post. Yes this does cost some money, but it helps get your post out there more.

Another way would be to create a Facebook ad campaign. These are fairly simple to create. You enter your link from your blog. You upload a high quality large image, otherwise it won't post your ad. You write a headline and a short description (it will tell you how many characters you have available). You are more likely to get more clicks and views if you specify the interests for your ad, because it will try to focus on your target audience. You can set up your payments either day by day, or lifetime, really whatever floats your boat.

And now you will get more traffic, which means more data, which means let's get to analyzing.

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

Google is Your New Resume

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to go into detail about the second chapter of What Color is Your Parachute? 2016.

This chapter focuses on job-hunters' favorite things, resumes. Resumes have evolved over the ages. No longer is it just simply a list of your experience, it has become bigger than that. It has taken the form of your online footprint. 91% of U.S. employers have visited a job-hunter's profile on social networks to weed out if it is the type of person they actually want to hire or not. Things that will get you rejected by an employer are things such as bad grammar or misspelling, lies, talking trash of your previous employment (avoid this in interviews also!), racism (avoid this in your life all together!), prejudice, screwy opinions, indicating alcohol or drug abuse, and inappropriate content. If you fear you may have some disconcerting posts on your social media, it's simple enough to edit or delete. If you're unsure on how to do something, Google it. Some social media sites even have built in features that will help you monitor who gets to see what on your profiles. So unitize privacy settings and use discretion before posting.

While it's easy to see how your "Google resume" could be departmental it could also be the reason why you get a job. Here are somethings to keep in mind when building your Google resume.

1. Volunteer, community, and unpaid work.
2. Educational
3. Sales or Account Management
4. Administration, customer service, and accounts
5. Responsibility
6. Events or Conference Planning or Logistical Management
7. Computers
8. Mechanical
9. Building, Construction, Electrical, and Plumbing
10. General
11. Positive Feedback
12. Memberships
13. Published or Presented Work
14. Looking Ahead.
15. 
    

Just remember that traditional resumes are still important even if they aren't as important as they used to be. And just keep in mind that some employers prefer different styles of resumes than others. Like the person that had created the resume featured above. He was able to get a job with that resume but after the fact, when a lot of employers were shown his resume, their reactions were more negative than positive. Everyone's tastes are different so you never really know what you're going to get. Just work hard to make sure you give yourself the best possible chance. The purpose of your resume is to get an interview, which will hopefully lead to a job.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell

Blogalytics

Hello everybody,

Today we will be covering chapter two of our Intro to Google Analytics, called Blogalytics.

In this chapter Todd Kelsey advises readers to set up their own blog to test out analytics. If you are also following along in my Social Media Marketing blogs, you'll see that setting up a blog is also good for strengthening your social media skills. So overall, you should try to dabble some experience in blogging. A good place to start up a blog can be through Blogger.com and you can create your own blog like this attractive one you are reading right now. Just remember it's okay to start simple. You can play around and try out new things as you and your blog grow. Blogger is not the only place you can set up an effective blog. You can check out wordpress.com, that has a few great opportunities too. It was there that I had created my alcohol packing design blog, but I digress.

Next you need to start a Google Analytics Account, and it's free (Thanks Google!). Google pretty much holds your hand through the whole process of setting up the account so don't stress! It defaults to focusing around websites, but you can use Google Analytics and integrate it into apps also. To register your particular website, or in this instance the fantastic blog you just created over at Blogger, you add a new "property". Once you do this it will give you a tracking ID number. You copy and past this number into your blog. To find the correct location differs from Blogger and Wordpress. But on Blogger you go to your blog, click other, find the sections that says Google Analytics (makes sense right), and it will ask for your property ID in which you will place your tracking ID number. And presto! You're all set.

I know what you want to do. You wanna get on your Google Analytics and start optimizing your site! But first you have to wait 24 for it to kick in. And on top of that you have to keep in mind there won't really be much for you to analyze until at least a month. Analytics is all about studying past data in order to pick up on trends that can help you in the future, such as page views and new users. It can help you see what type of campaigns work and which don't. Google Analytics can't start until you paste that little tracking number into your site, so be sure to keep all this in mind. It takes time, but once you get rolling it can make all the difference.

Until next time,
Caitlin Campbell

It's a Whole New World For Job-Hunters

Hello Everybody,

This post is going to go into detail about the first chapter in What Color is Your Parachute? 2016.

The first chapter covered a lot of different topics but I'm going to mostly focus on what stood out as the most important aspects for me, what has worked in my personal experience and what I have seen work for others.

The most difficult part for job-hunters is that they go in practically the opposite direction that employers go when looking to hire someone. The reason why this happens is that job-hunters and employers value different things. As job-hunters we value time. We know how difficult it can be to find jobs now a days, so our main concern is spending as little time as possible on each job opportunity so that we have time to apply to other positions and increase our chances for getting an ideal job. Employers value risk. The less risk the better. The less riskiness of a hire the less likely the possibility for loss time and loss of money.

• So the number one way to hire with the least amount of risk is to hire from within. I worked for 4 years at a retirement home and they were constantly providing incentives for wait staff employees to go to school so that they could become CNAs or nursing staff and promote employees from wait staff into those open positions. This worked out best because these employees already knew the campus, the residents, and the other employees. And if there was only a few CNA shifts open, these employees could lob between wait staff shifts and CNA shifts to get in all their hours. 
• The second choice to hire is using proof. This is something as a graphic designer has been engraved into my brain. I don't know how many times I've had to explain to my dad that my grades from college don't actually mean anything in the real world. A 4.0 does not mean you can actually design an effective poster. Showing a potential employer a powerful poster you designed, means you can design. Straight and simple. So whatever your skill is collect proof, make a portfolio, or act least come up with real life examples of your skills to share in the interview. Hearing a true story of how you utilized certain skills means more than you simply listing them.
• The third is using a best friend or business colleague. People take into account people they trust's opinions. Network, network, network. It might not be entirely fair but the world is all about who you know. This was how my mom was able to leave a job that was weighing her down. While she had a lot of interviews at a lost of different companies and her resume was impressive, the job that she actual was able to get only happened cause she knew an employee already at that company.
• The fourth is using an agency they trust. 
• The fifth is using an ad they have placed.
• The sixth is using a resume. When I was looking for an internship for the summer, I contacted a design firm in my town with a  thoughtful email and I attached my resume. I never heard back. I doubt they even opened the attachment. Just sending out a resume is the least effective way to get a job.

For more helpful information order your own copy of What Color is Your Parachute? 2016.

Until next time,

Caitlin Campbell