Week 17: My Final Blog Post!

            Although I do not own my own business, this class has taught me invaluable information on how I can market, promote and advertise for a future company should I try and create one. I never knew how many different apps and tools there were to help improve a business and make sure it is reaching further and further into the Internet. I have enjoyed experimenting and learning how to use so many different ones, in addition to just having knowledge of how company’s work and what they do to advertise to me as a consumer. Finally, this class has taught me the importance of consistently creating content across multiple platforms in order to keep a store in business. This class was one of my favorites during this semester.

            Before taking this class, I was not aware of the different uses of social media. I had my own profiles on some of these platforms like Facebook and Instagram but I never posted anything and mostly just used the to look around when I was bored. I did know that companies advertised on Instagram of course, and I know this because I have been sucked in to and introduced to multiple new clothing, jewelry and restaurants while lurking across it, but I did not know the energy it took to stay updated on Instagram and how many options were possible when it came to advertising. This goes for all social media platforms as well. I really only thought their main use was to discuss and post things that go on in my own life but now my eyes have really been opened to the endless uses of these apps for both personal and business use.

            In addition to my perception of these social media apps changing, my perspective on how to use them to properly advertise for a business completely evolved. I learned that you must constantly post content through these tools, monitor how that content is being consumed and if the popularity of your site equals a bigger customer base. I know that you can reach a further audience and you must utilize this in order to grow and improve your business. In addition, I learned how important it is to monitor and get ideas from other businesses in your field, both big and small, when it comes to staying relevant and trendy in a city that is constantly changing. Overall, because of this class I now know how to individually use each of these apps to successfully to build my own business.

            One more positive I gained from taking this class is finding new businesses that I want to visit and purchase from myself. I currently do not live in San Diego, although my sister does and I visit at least once a month, and because of this I am not entirely familiar with all of the businesses that exist there. Through my own research I found new coffee shops that I want to try and more specifically, their cold brew coffees. Through reading blog posts of my classmates where they mentioned stores similar to their own, I discovered different clothing stores, crystal shops, restaurants and food shops that I will make sure to visit in the future when I am down here. My eyes were opened to all these different places that I never even knew existed because I was used to staying locally in North Park with my sister. I will be excited when I finally get the opportunity to visit these stores.

            When I first signed up for this class I was unsure of what exactly I would be learning about. I figured it would be more like just studying examples of how social media is used by businesses and not that it would be so interactive. I really enjoyed getting to “build” my own coffee shop because it is something that I have always thought about doing. This class brought the idea to life and if I do ever decide to open a store in the near future, I will have all of the tools that I need. This class has changed my opinion and view of social media, from top to bottom. Learning how to use all of these sites as tools, in addition to using them as a social profile, can only help me in the future and I am glad that I learned everything I did now and my new perspective.

See you soon...x