A Book

                Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I have over 100 books on my Kindle and spend most of my summer days reading and relaxing. My favorite genre of books is romance and mystery but as I get older, I would like to make the transition to books that pertain to personal and professional goals.

                I am a Psychology major and Business Administration minor at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. My professional goal is to become a college admissions counselor and eventually work my way up to becoming the president of the college. I believe that a degree in psychology and business will help me to achieve my professional goals.

                I have found a book on Amazon that combines both concepts from psychology and marketing. It is entitled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini. This book is about the science of persuasion “explains the psychology of why people say ‘yes’” (Cialdini). It teaches the six principles of how to become a skilled persuader.

                I want to read this book because it combines two subjects that I enjoy learning about. Persuasion is an important skill to have in the professional world and I would like to learn about different ways that psychology ties into the ability to persuade. I would like to develop better persuasion skills and I am interested and learning what the six principles of how to become a skilled persuader are. This book would help me to expand my persuasion skills while learning about psychology and marketing.

http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403231250&sr=8-1&keywords=psychology+of+persuasion 

Library & UPS/logistics

                The Saint Michael’s College library offers many databases for students to use. There are specific databases categorized by one’s major as well as databases for general research. Reference librarians are always ready and available to help and always go out of their way to help students find the best and most reliable information from all available resources.

                I have worked with reference librarians many times during my academic career at Saint Michael’s College. I recently worked with Steve, a reference librarian, on the case for Alan Ashe Insurance Agency. He was able to guide me through the process of using library databases, like Value Line, to find information about insurance companies and demographics. He went above and beyond what I needed him to do and even sent me links to research after I had left. Having reference librarians that are willing to devote their time to students’ needs is one of many things that makes Saint Michael’s College unique.

                Today, I worked with Marilyn to find out information about United Postal Service (UPS). She showed me a database called Business Insights: Essentials which then led me to information about UPS. UPS is a “package and document delivery company went public on November 10, 1999. The company's U.S. domestic package segment include the time-definite delivery of letters, documents and packages, to include the air and ground delivery of small packages and letters. The international package segment includes delivery to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.” (bi.galegroup.com).

                UPS also delivers packages internationally and is one of the highest-grossing delivery services. UPS is a merger with T.G. International Inc., TanData Corp, and Intertrans Corp. UPS partners with Worldwide Express. The Worldwide Express website states “Our partnership with UPS allows you and your customers to have peace of mind when shipping your products. UPS delivers more than 4 billion packages and documents a year and 16 million each day, more than any other carrier.” UPS uses this partnership with Worldwide Express to reach more people and expand their services. Having a partnership between UPS and Worldwide Express creates “Dedicated Local Customer Service, Global Access, Reliability, Flexibility, and One-Driver Advantage” (wwex.com). The partnership allows both businesses to be more efficient thus providing excellent customer service.

                Other interesting information that I was able to discover on the Business Insights database about UPS was that they earned $55,438,000,000 in revenues, have 395,000 employees, and employee’s sales are $140,349. I was also able to browse through a SWOT analysis, which was particularly relevant because we are using SWOT analysis’ in class, and company history.

                Going to the library and seeing the reference librarian was particularly helpful in this case. I would not have known to look on the Business Insights database without her help and commit. I would have just been browsing Google trying to find information relevant to the topic when I have access to the content through the Saint Michael’s College library database. I plan to continue seeking assistance from the reference librarians during my time at Saint Michael’s.

References:

• §  "United Postal Service Inc." Bi.galegroup.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014.

• §  "UPS Partnership - Worldwide Express Shipping Solutions." Worldwide Express Shipping Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014.

Promotional Strategies

I feel like I am constantly swimming in a sea of advertisements. Everywhere I go I see ads either on billboards or posters. Every time I go on social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram I am constantly being bombarded with advertisements. It has gotten to the point where I just try to tune out most advertisements. However, I consider myself an easy target because I love to shop and buy new things. I especially love sales, promotions, and coupons. I frequently find myself joining loyalty clubs or redeeming coupons I receive in the mail.

                My Facebook has gotten so specific with advertising towards me personally that it has gotten borderline creepy. There is one particular ad that I see every other week for a t-shirt company. The T-shirts say “It’s a GOODE thing” and are available in many different kinds of clothing and colors on some t-shirt website. This is creepy to me because they use my personal information, particularly my last name, to advertise to me. I have also seen ones that have “Lily” printed on them. This ad with my name is targeted specifically to me. However, I have seen on my other friends’ Facebook pages the exact same ad only with their name inserted. I have seen advertisements on Facebook targeted towards me based off of my recent Google searches like Alex and Ani or Disney, but the ads that use my name and information just feel creepy and invasive to me and do not encourage me to purchase their t-shirts. This is an example of the promotional strategy advertising on social media because the t-shirt company is trying to reach their target market (me) through Facebook in order to increase business.

                My favorite magazine is Seventeen magazine. I have had a subscription for three years now and always look forward to receiving it in the mail each month. Last week, I was skimming through the latest issue and came upon a print advertisement for a new Biore face wash that I had not tried before. The ad showed a before and after picture of a model with acne and then a model with flawless skin. The ad also contained a 2$ off coupon for the face wash. I ended up going to Walgreens this past weekend and using the coupon I got in Seventeen to buy the new Biore face wash. The promotional strategies that Biore used were print advertising and sales promotion. I only came across this ad because it was posted in a magazine that I enjoy reading and I probably wouldn’t have bought the face wash if it did not have a coupon.

                In my opinion, the most successful promotional strategy is sales promotion because it encourages customers to buy a product because they receive a discount. If a customer then enjoys the product they may become a loyal customer. This strategy works the best with me because I love getting and using coupons. Most times I will only buy a new product if I have a coupon and then if I like it I will continue to use and buy it.