Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Power of Advertising



We all can hate the word "Advertising" as much as we want... that won't stop you from being exposed to it. If you think about it, everything you own has come from some form of recommendation that is advertising.

Examples:
We bought our furniture from (enter local furniture store here) because we heard they were having a sale.
How did you hear they were having a sale? Commercial? Sign outside of the store? A friend told you about it? All of these are forms of advertising.

I'm an advertising major, marketing minor at school. Let me tell you the four main themes I see in nearly every ad class I have.

1)Find your target market/audience.
These are the people that have a need or a want to use your product or service. Example: If I sold a bow for a child, my target audience is those who want a bow for their daughter/niece/whatever. Not only do they have to want it, they have to have the abilities to buy it (i.e. MONEY HONEY!).

2) After you've found your target audience, find out what communication style works best for them.
Example: If I were selling cute bows for little girls do you think the ladies wanting these bows would rather see a cute picture of the bow, or a detailed graph on why your child should wear a bow? Probably a picture> Am I right?

3) After you decide how you are going to communicate your message, you have got to find where your target audience/market congregates.
Example: Back to the bow idea, do you think that the ladies (assuming ladies are our target market) would congregate at an outdoor sports facility? Or possibly at the mall? (Sorry women, but this is where most of us congregate, we are the primary decision-makers when it comes to buying clothing. > Am I right?)

4) And Finally, tell your audience what you want to tell them. This comes back to communication. Example: Bow idea; I want my audience to know that I have the most adorable little bows for sale, at a lower price than my competitors. That's most likely what I'm going to want in my ad. >Am I right??


So why am I rambling on about this? I've entered a giveaway for free ad sponsorship from http://livinginyellow.blogspot.com/2011/08/click-here-to-win-sponsor-giveaway.html


I really want to change the negative image that people have about advertising. We all use it, we're all exposed to it, now it's time to really think about what it can do for your life.
>Am I right?

I hope this doesn't sound horrible. If anything else, you can use this information to avoid advertisements!


But if you want to enter the giveaway too, visit it here:



Saturday, August 13, 2011

Tree Through The Window


I'm from Oklahoma. We've been having 40+ days above 100 degrees and with no rain. 

This week it rained. This week it STORMED! 

We've been in one of the worst droughts since the depression era, so storms are welcome. 

But with storms comes damage, inevitably.


One of the storms from this week had what they call "straight winds". These are damaging winds without it being a tornado. The winds were 90+ mph. FUN STUFF. (Sarcasm)

Peoples roofs were ripped off, trampolines were flung into other yards, and trees were ripped from the roots and blown over. 


My best friend lives in a duplex not far from where the worst of the storm damage occurred. 

She had 3-4 trees in her front yard, about 15 feet away from her bedroom window. 

At 4 a.m. the worst of the storm began howling at her window. 

She began to pray. 

For safety. 



She heard the first tree snap, and then the next. 

It was God's loving protection keeping her safe that night. 

The trees in her yard could've fell the opposite direction and be in her bedroom right now. 


But that didn't happen. 

Our God is a mighty God.

Sometimes it takes a tree NOT going through your window to see that. 


Here's some pics: 











Sincerely, 
Kylee 












Photobucket

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thirsty Thursday!-Week 4-The Hollywood









It's Thirsty Thursday again! I love this day of the week. It's Thursday for you guys, but it is actually Thirsty Thursday on Wednesday at my house. The drink is the "Hollywood". Sounds fancy huh? Here's the ingredients: 




  • 1.5 oz of vodka
  • 1 oz of raspberry liquor (Sidebar: I used raspberry schnapps type liquor. The lady at the store said to buy Chambord, but we don't necessarily have that money at the moment, so I went cheap)
  • 2.5-3 oz of pineapple juice (Sidebar2: The recipes online will tell you to just add a dash of pineapple juice, but in my mind; that's a shot not a drink. So I added more. Do it to your preference.)
I rate the drinks on a scale of 1-5.
1= terrible
2= bad
3= okay
4= good
5= awesome

We judge them on five categories: appearance, overall taste, consistency, amount of alcohol, and frequency (meaning would you buy a second round at a bar). 

Meet your judges:




  • This is my best friend! 
  • She loved this drink. 
  • Her rating: 4.2
  • Recommend? "Yes, to someone that wants a free fruity alcoholic drink." 
  • Quote: "Yum... I love pineapple. 







  • My hubby!
  • This drink was not for him. 
  • His rating: 3.2 
  • Recommend? "Yes, to mothers."
  • Quote: "It's got too much alcohol for something so fruity."









  • First off, don't judge how I look. We just got back from the gym and my hair be lookin' all sorts o'crazy! And that's my funny face, not my normal one... I think. 
  • I thought this drink was "MEH..."
  • My Rating: 3.7
  • Recommend? "I really don't think I would on this one."
  • Quote: "I thought it was okay. I didn't really enjoy it all that much. So... Meh... I guess I didn't like it." 







I hope you all are like Ashley, and like this drink. Just because it wasn't for me, doesn't make it a bad drink. I don't really have that great of taste when it comes to mixed drinks. Give me cowboy koolaid anyday! ;-) 



Sincerely, 
Kylee

Monday, August 8, 2011

Soapapilla Cheesecake Recipe


Everyone loves these things! I only make them for get togethers and work food days. There is usually a handful of people that ask for the recipe. I'm showing the blogging world this recipe for two reasons. First, THEY'RE SO GOOD! AND EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEM! And second, I can refer people to my blog for the recipe when asked. Win-win, eh?

Here's the recipe:

Sopapilla Cheesecake
2 cans crescent rolls
2 pkg. cream cheese
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll 1 can of crescent rolls into a 9x13" greased baking dish. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over top of crescent rolls. Unroll second can of crescent rolls over top of cream cheese mixture. Pour melted butter over the top, and then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top as well. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

*Tip/Note: I bake these the night before, and put them in the freezer for the next day. Yummy!

Here's some pics of the process:




Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sunday Funday- Sweet Little Photo Swap!

 This is my very first photo swap, as well as a link up. I hope I'm doing this right!




Sorry the quality of this pic is horrible. I like it because of Jacob's face.  He's so silly and I love that about him. 

Oh Opti. He got his bath. He always goes crazy right after, but he sure looked like a doggy model when I took this.
He makes my heart melt! 
I went into a lifestyle change recently. I want to be able to look at this picture and my mouth not water. I will let you know when that actually happens. :)

This is my favorite picture of the week. Nik is our best friend. Janie LOVES him.  I love this picture because Nik's face. He's hilarious! 

My sweet niece. I love this picture because it's as natural as it gets. I wish everyone knew her personality, she's sincerely the most unique child I have ever known.




Sincerely, 
Kylee



Thursday, August 4, 2011

Thirsty Thursday!-Week 3- Blue Hawaiian


---- Blue Hawaiian ----

Blue Hawaiian 
Online Recipe: 
  • 1 oz. light rum
  • 1 oz. blue curacao
  • 2 oz. Pineapple Juice
  • 1 oz. cream of coconut 
What I put in mine:
  • 1 oz. coconut rum
  • 1 oz. blue curacao
  • 2 oz. pineapple juice 
  • Just a dash of cream of coconut
Ingredients (including brands):
Dole pineapple/orange/banana juice
Blue Curacao 
Cruzan Rum
Coco Real Cream of Coconut
Captain Morgan Coconut Rum


I put a new ranking system in place to better judge these drinks.  I hope this system helps you determine if you want to try it or not. We also have 3 additional judges, they call themselves THE MEN.
1= Terrible 
2= Bad
3= Okay
4= Good
5= Great!

There are 5 judging categories: 
1) Appearance:  How does the drink look? Does it look appetizing? Just by looking at it, would you order it at a bar? 

2) Taste: How well do the flavors blend? Is your first reaction "yum"? Does it taste good? 

3) Consistency: Is there anything that doesn't sit right with your mind while drinking? Is there anything funky about the consistency? 

4) Amount of Alcohol: Does it need more/less? Is there an appropriate amount of alcohol? 

5) Frequency: Would you drink more than one in one sitting?

And finally I asked myself and "THE MEN" if they would recommend the drink. 

Meet the judges and their scores: 




Jacob: He's my wonderful husband. :) 
His overall score: 4.2
Quote: "It needs more alcohol."
Recommend?: Yes, to a woman. 






Ben: He's our great friend. Smart man, that one. ;)
His overall score: 4
Quote: "It's fruity." 
Recommend?: No






Josh: My brother-in-law
His overall score: 4.2
Quote: "Tastes like Cabo."
Recommend?: Yes, to a woman or a man on vacation. 






My overall score: 4.4
Quote: "I would recommend this to someone that doesn't drink often. It's fruity and you can barely taste the alcohol."
Recommend?: Yes 


I hope you enjoy!

Sincerely, 
Kylee

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Want to know what makes me laugh?

This commercial is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while!



visit totallylookslike.com


Lol! Poor kid. At least he's unique. 
Just a little preview at what has made me laugh today.

Enjoy!

Sincerely, 
Kylee