January 21, 2015

Why customer service matters as a blogger

January 21, 2015

Don’t underestimate good customer service. I am always on the phone with Tubu.net, my hosting tech support, a lot. As someone who “does” customer service for a day job, I get it from both sides of the coin.

A little bit ago, I had a stupid problem, but it seemed like a not-stupid problem. I was trying to upload pictures to WordPress and it wouldn’t let me. It kept saying that the file wasn’t permitted for security reasons and I’m all like, “What’s such a security threat? It’s just a picture of my outfit.”

I thought it was because I updated my theme. The last time I added a new theme, WordPress freaked out. I was panicked, so I called Tubu support and had such a great experience last time that I figured I would call again sooner this time.

Let’s be honest, I’d just try to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work. I guess I’m growing up when I recognize that I can’t fix this one myself.

Here’s the crazy thing: I talked to the same guy I talked to last time. It’s been a few months, sure, so it wasn’t an immediate recognition on his end, but it was the same guy as before.

It was so reassuring that I 1) was talking to someone in America who I could understand and 2) had a positive experience with this person in the past.

It ended up being a really stupid-easy fix. We tried using Chrome, removing spaces from my file name, he did some tech voodoo over in Back-end Webroot PHP-land…nada. Turns out my genius self didn’t end the file in .jpg.

That makes a difference, folks.

But kudos to Rick who was probably sitting there going, “Wow, lady, that’s the first thing I would have checked.” I know he was thinking that because most of the time I’m sitting at work thinking, “Did you really just call me when you couldn’t post to Facebook but you didn’t check to see if you were still connected to Facebook first?”

Side note: can we strike “please advise” from all emails?

It’s so rewarding when people are genuinely excited and thankful for your help that it eases the sting that you just took 30 minutes to explain how to highlight text and change the font size. Or, in Rick’s case, to figure out that I needed the file extension.

He was laughing along at with me, making conversation while we waited, and just made the overall experience really pleasant.

Sometimes you just need that little reminder that there’s always someone on the flip side. I try really hard to be nice to customer service reps because I’ve been in those shoes; I don’t want someone yelling at me, so I don’t yell at them.

Also, when you lose your cool, it’s a one-way ticket to I’m Going To Do As Little As Possible To Help You-sville.

Moral of today’s story: good customer service is imperative.

As a blogger, it’s important to think about what customer service means to you. It can be responding to comments, reading other blogs, retweeting content to support the blogger, making sure what you’re repinning isn’t just a weird spam link, etc.

You are a brand, whether you think so or not. How you conduct yourself matters and reflects back on you. Good customer/reader service deepens your brand image in a meaningful way.

Write down a code of conduct for how you’ll approach situations. What would you say if someone wanted you to write a review for free? (Here’s a great response!)

How will you approach others about writing a guest blog for them? (Here are three ways to be a good guest poster and here are some tips for inviting guest posters.)

Or do you have a time frame of when you can realistically respond to comments? Write it all down and stick to it.

This will contribute to a strong, positive image for your blog. Your readers will know what to expect and you’ll be happy knowing that you have a plan for responding graciously to all kinds of situations.

What was your last good customer service experience like? How do you offer good customer service to your readers?

January 19, 2015

Review: Boots No7 Protect and Perfect

January 19, 2015

I am in my mid-twenties, but I’m conscious about what I put on my face to help slow down the aging process. I made a decision to invest on the things that go on my skin and get a little cheap on things like mascara and lipstick.

I usually use Philosophy skincare products and I haven’t purchased anything from the drugstore (aka the drugstore section of Ulta) in ages since I no longer work close to an Ulta.

So I am out of the loop when it comes to what brands are available. Thanks to Influenster, I know that a quality Boots No7 skincare line is available at Target. I just know them as color cosmetics, but I guess they’ve grown up.

I received the Boots No7 Protect and Perfect Serum to try out.

I was excited to get it because it is for the early signs of aging. I know my skin isn’t looking old, but now is a great time to start to ward off problems down the road.

Trying out the Boots No7 Protect and Perfect Serum

I liked the way it made my skin look and feel. It was light weight and left my skin feeling fresh and supple. It was almost like splashing water on my skin. This serum made it feel comfortable and I did see a bit of a glow on my skin when I used it.

I did see that after using it for a while, I had some pitting in areas I never did before. I don’t know if I had some problem areas from acne scarring that weren’t noticeable or this created some issues I’ve never had. Either way, it was unusual to look at my forehead and see dimples.

I haven’t seen them since the sample ran out, so who knows.

Serious drugstore skincare from Boots No7

My big problem is the sample. Boots No7 says that you’ll see first results in two weeks and full results after a month. Fantastic. Buuut…..

….C’mon now. This packet doesn’t have two weeks’ worth of product in it. I think I got a scant week out of it. Sadly, I don’t know if I’ll be purchasing more.

I know, the whole point of a sample is to give you a little taste, hook you, and make you buy the full size. It’ll start to work its magic and you’ll want to keep it going. I get that. I just wish I was able to get a little more of a well-rounded review out of this.

Overall: I like this serum, but with the imperfections that I noticed the longer I tried it and the short trial time, I don’t know if I’ll be picking it up.

Have you tried Boots No7 Protect and Perfect Serum? What do you think?

Disclaimer: I did receive this product from Influenster to review. As always, you’re getting my honest opinion. This post does contain a referral link to Influenster should you like to sign up!

January 18, 2015

Sunday Lately, 3

January 18, 2015

It has been a snotty week. Not that I was being a brat, but I couldn’t stop blowing my nose. I’m lucky that I get to work from home if I need to, and in the interest of not infecting others, I worked at home for most of the week. Side note: I think someone who came to work with a cold got me sick. Oh, sweet irony.

Dwelling

I compare myself to others very easily. At the end of the week, I was really focused on what I’m doing “wrong” because I’m not being accepted in to certain groups and I realized I need to stop that. It’s like high school; why am I worrying myself about being part of a group that clearly doesn’t care to include me? And that’s all I’m going to say about that right now.

Helping

My father’s fridge broke. The water intake hose thingy has been leaking for a while and it got under the floor and finally loosened the adhesive holding it down. Yesterday, Jonathan came over and helped us rip up the old floor. Then we realized when we tried to lay down other tiles that wouldn’t work that we’ll have to do this all over again in two weeks when the special order comes in. It’s like Money Pit. Two weeks.

Forgetting

To do something, I’m sure. If I knew what it was, I wouldn’t forget it.

Switching

Still working on getting things transferred over to Gardening in High Heels. I like where it’s going but I still want to change the appearance a little bit. I think because I’m using the old design I had on when it was SyntaxxErrorrr, it doesn’t feel “new,” yknow?

Relying

On no one! Kidding. I’m pretty self-sufficient, but I will be relying on Jonathan to help transport furniture from my aunts and move things around. So that’s what I’ll be relying on.

What are you up to this week?

[question]Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup with Katy, Nicole and Meghan. Use their themes or use your own. Just remember to link up with them so we can see what is happening with you lately![/question]

January 16, 2015

Five things that make winter suck less

January 16, 2015

Winter sucks. I’m sorry to those who are on speaking terms with winter, but in my mind, it’s like winter is wearing pink and it isn’t even Wednesday. Colds, shoveling, ice, freezing temps. There’s nothing good about it.

Except these five things.

Here are five things that make winter suck less for me and hopefully for you, too.

A good, warm beverage

I am all about a good cup of coffee. In the wintertime, it’s even more important. There is nothing more satisfying than wrapping chilly fingers around a steaming mug of deliciousness.

Tea is my thing right now. I have a wicked cold that’s kicking my ass and tea is the only thing that warms, soothes, and doesn’t put my nerves on over-drive.

Candy Cane Lane tea from Celestial Seasonings tastes fantastic (the peppermint covers the blah green tea taste) and is decaf. I love the Gingerbread Spice, too. The flavors are outstanding.

Snacks

Dude, you best believe I hibernate in the winter. I just ate ice cream and now I’m debating something crunchy. Usually I go for chocolatey/sweet snacks, but you can’t beat guac and chips or good homemade hummus (why yes, yes I did make that delicious hummus pictured below).

I’m also digging these Fruit Vines from my Influenster #FrostyVoxBox.

I’m not a huge fan of made-mostly-of-gummy-sugar-stuff treats, but I love the sweet strawberry flavor and the chewiness. Very satisfying.

A full Netflix queue or a stack of books

There are days when I just don’t want to do a damn thing. Living with a parent requires me to look like I’m a contributing member of society, but when I lived alone, there were weekends when I didn’t eat anything with nutritional value and ripped through seasons of SATC in a day.

I can quote each episode and I still cry when Aidan leaves for the last time. Since I discovering the miracle of Netflix, though, we’re no longer exclusive.

Books are also a necessity. Anything that you get emotionally invested in or are hilariously entertaining. Yes Please was done in a weekend. Bonus points if you’ve already spilled food on the pages.

A low-commitment and high-guilt-removing workout

I have to start training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon soon, but when I don’t want to drive out to the gym just to use the treadmill, I gotta have backup. I feel better telling myself, “Well I didn’t run today, but I did do __ instead.”

Plus, you may want to add a little physical activity to get endorphins flowing and combat the winter blues. Or something.

I’ve been getting into kettlebells lately. It’s a low-impact strength workout that gets the heart rate up. I also love 10 minute workouts from FitSugar because we can all suck it up for at least 10 minutes. And Yoga With Adriene is a new obsession. Since my doctor said yoga is an acceptable workout, I feel totally justified by subbing this in.*

*I’m not a doctor, so don’t take this as end-all-be-all health advice. I just told you to pig out, remember?

A project

When you finally have drank, eaten, read, watched, and worked everything out and can’t stand it anymore, something to focus your energy is necessary. I’ll clean, knit, write, organize, anything to get my mind off winter.

Bonus: you can binge-watch and scrapbook at the same time.

I love doing #30Lists. It gives you something to do every day that’s easy to manage. Plus, I got to make my own mini-notebook for it out of Project Life cards.

Or you can try a new hobby. Book binding or photography, anyone?

When all else fails, have a stock of beer on hand!

What do you do to make winter suck less?

Disclaimer: I received the tea and Fruit Vines from Influenster for testing and review. These are my authentic opinions and everything listed is what I actually recommend to make winter less awful.

January 14, 2015

How to make a planner with a Moleskine Square Journal

January 14, 2015

I am a proud organization freak. I love planners, Post Its (true story: I got a box of Post It Notes for Christmas one year) and just about all things organization. Pins with pictures of other people’s planners is like..organization excitement. Imagine my joy when Meghan @ Hayes Days reviewed the Emily Ley Simplified Planner, a piece I’ve had my eye on for about a year!

I haven’t settled on a blog planner that I like (please let me know what your favorite is!) but I do have yearly planners picked out in October (only slight hyperbole).

It’s no surprise that I made my own this year.

I love Moleskine and have used their Weekly Diary/Planner Horizontal for 3 years in a row. That’s some serious commitment, people. As with all relationships, I didn’t love everything about it. I wanted a calendar view and more room to take notes so I didn’t have to carry around a separate notebook.

So when I was in Virginia visiting my mom, I picked up this Moleskine Square Journal. Even the book itself has a memory attached to it!

I started out by listing month-at-a-glance. This is where I put all-day events or after work plans – big things I don’t want to forget. I also have a space to write monthly goals. After I finish my Stratejoy Holiday Council worksheets (I know, I know, it’s a little late for that), I will have an easy place to write my goals for the month.

I’ll be able to see them in front of me and more likely meet them or make plans to work towards them. I can also say, “Hey will this commitment get me towards my BIG IGEA this year?” if I’m on the fence with something.

Then I have a calendar. Here will go fun plans, dates, appointments, weekend coverage for work, etc so I can see everything easily in a calendar format.

I know, it seems a little redundant, but I really missed not having a calendar view in the past years. It’s easier for me to visualize what’s happening in the month in this kind of layout.

Next is the week starting on Monday. I have plenty of room to write to-do lists and actionable goal steps along with weekly plans. I do the Rapid Logging / Bullet Journal method in a smaller scale. It really helps to say, “Okay here’s the Big Thing, now what steps need to happen to complete the Big Thing.” I learned that from Molly (of Stratejoy)!

I just used an office stamp to get the dates in there. I embraced “imperfectly perfect” and didn’t freak out when some ink bled through or it didn’t get stamped down all the way. Not being perfect is a first for me. It’s a daily struggle that affects millions (god, I hope you people get my humor).

I’ve been doing “The Three” aka the three things I must complete today and I write them out here, too. I heard somewhere that three is the number to list when you’re writing a daily to-do list, so…that’s why I picked three.

And finally, I about a third of the book is blank. I was hoping to have a page-per-day layout and be able to journal a bit more / write out more lists on a day-to-day format, but I didn’t have enough pages…oops.

So I have a notes section instead. Rapid Logging / Bullet Journaling definitely happens here. For example, I wrote the big things to focus on for the change to Gardening in High Heels and the small steps under neath that will reach that goal. It was so overwhelming to think about the tasks I needed to complete for GIHH, but writing it down in bite-size steps made it much easier.

I was also thinking about blog planning in the blank part so everything is all in one place, but everyone talking about blog planners made me want one. It’s only child syndrome.

I will jazz it up with some washi tape, color-coordinated pens, Project Life cards, etc, but that will come later. Organically. I want it to be used and have a record of the great things that happened this year.