Cheryl's Blog

Today also went by fast- I am really enjoying a job where I can listen to Podcasts all day long, it makes the time go by so fast and I feel like when I am doing humdrum stuff I at least have something interesting to listen to.  Even when I am doing something that involves critical thinking it helps to have something else going on- I am a big multi-tasker and I work better when I am doing more than one thing simultaneously.  I remember in college I couldn't study without a t.v. on low volume in the background.  I can't even fall asleep without a tv on! 

Speaking of falling asleep, I've been sleeping on a couch I bought at IKEA a few months ago.  I redecorated my room 6 months ago- I changed the paint color so that the room is brown, gold, and cream, and I also bought a new sheet set and comforter from IKEA.  It looks really great.  I have a bed in my room, but for some reason I like sleeping on the sofa a lot better!  I can see the tv best from the sofa rather than my bed, and its just a weird phase I am going through I guess.  I decided to buy some cool new pillows at Linens and Things the other day so I can sleep in style.  The only problem left with this whole arangement is that my sofa is right under the window- every morning when the sun comes up it glares right on me while I am sleeping!  I took my old, ugly blinds off the window when I redecorated six months ago and then really never got around to getting new ones.  I am getting a tan by sleeping under that window!  Seriously, though, its awful- the room gets so hot during the day even though the air conditioner is on and then I wake up sweating in the early morning (way earlier than I intend to!) because of the sun coming through the windows. 

The reason I never got new blinds was mostly because I can never get around to going to the stores to shop for the right ones.  I prefer to relax and doing fun things in my free time, and that doesn't include driving through traffic to get to a store, trying to find a parking spot (and I am one of those people who will drive around forever for the perfect spot), and then getting dissapointed when they don't have what I am looking for.  Not to mention, last time I forgot to write down the window measurements before I went and the whole trip was a waste.  The other reason I have been reluctant to go shopping for the new blinds is because I am looking for something specific to go with the new decorating theme.  I don't want the standard white ones that are in every house.  I put a lot of effort into picking the right paint colors, bedsheets and pillows, etc. and I want something that looks unique and goes well. 

I don't exactly have a clear idea of what I want, but I am pretty positive I want dark faux-wood blinds to match the chocolate color of my walls.  I found pretty affordable blinds on the internet, but they are still a little out of my budget being that I haven't had a steady income in a while.  So...I am thinking now of using sheer window shades instead.  I like them because some ambient light comes through still, and I am definetly the kind of person who craves light coming into the room during the day.  They even have special light-blocking shades that are supposed to be amazing at keeping the light out and harmful effects when you want a darkened room.  They have a really pretty 'wheat' color at Guaranteed Blinds, where I have been browsing now that I finally got around to making buying blinds a priority.  The whole process is so much easier now when I can look through the different options while doing other stuff online at the same time.  Next I just have to get around to measuring the windows to get the right size.  Thats another thing that kept me from getting this task done- I didn't even know how to do measure the windows!  I didn't know whether to measure just the glass portion of the window or from trim to trim.  After doing a little research, I discovered I actually have a choice on how to measure for window blinds.  After reading about it, I think I will mount the blinds on the window frame itself, rather than over the trim, so people can still see the faux-gold window trim which took me forever to paint! 

I think I am gonna order the blinds next week after I get my paycheck.  It will be so nice to get a good nights sleep finally, and save money on my energy bills while keeping the room dark and cool!  

cheryl @ 14:10 | comments(0) | Permanent link

I am able to get a lot more done at Discount Click marketing company when I am listening to music on my I-Pod. I especially like listening to all the podcasts out there like Dr. Joy Brown.  Today I kept going with the filing...there are papers and junk mail dating back to 1996 and 1997!  Instead of sorting things by subject I decided to re-organize all the papers alphabetically.  I saw a system like this in my last temp job and it seemed to make refiling and finding papers a lot easier.  Then I went ahead and divided the paperwork into two different filing cabinets, a smaller one for personal files and the larger one for company paperwork.  I am still debating whether this is the best system since in the older filing cabinets personal and company paperwork files are mixed in side-by-side.  It would take a whole 'nother project to go back and reorganize the other drawers at this marketing firm. 

I really don't mind organizing things into systems and creating efficient administrative systems, as long as I have the right supplies on hand to get the job done right.  You need to have enough space in filing cabinets for all the paperwork.  Then you have to make sure you have plenty of hanging file folders- I hate when the folders get too stuffed and just messes up the neat appearance.  I am not sure how I feel about the regular colored file folders.  I think I may prefer to just keep the papers in the hanging folders and have one hanging folder for each company- keeps the files a lot smaller.  And PLENTY of tabs and the paper insert thingys.  I usually dread the piles of paperwork beforehand but get a real sense of satisfaction out of creating neat and organized workplace so that things run a lot more quickly and smoothly in the future with more mail.  Now if only I could get my 'boss' at Discount Click Internet Marketing  to keep all the incoming mail in one place or even learn how to file it himself when I am not in the office for months!

cheryl @ 14:59 | comments(0) | Permanent link

Well I finally got my blog set up for me to write in every day...its been a while since I worked for this company cause I pursued some other endeavors for a while.  I had tried being a real estate agent- boy, it is as hard as they say it is!  It really seems like nothing to it before you start- you think if you do your job and are friendly and organized people will want to do business with you automatically, but it just isn't true.  Real estate involves a ton of cold calling, soliciting people- it seemed odd to me cause how often are you gonna stumble upon a household that is actually in the real estate market at the present moment.  Its like when I worked for a home security company that did most of their business by telemarketing - it seems like the odds are extremely against you with the idea of calling people in the hopes you will reach someone who just happens to be thinking of an alarm system.  Then you do the Open Houses, which can be such a waste of time.  The worst part of it for me was driving all around beforehand and putting up the directional signs.  Especially when it was sweltering hot, raining, or freezing cold - basically always!  I usually wound up getting sleepy and hungry during the Open House, its only once in a while that more than 5 people would come, maybe I made mistakes picking the right houses or something.  And I found my age - 23 - really created a barrier for me when trying to connect with home buyers who would have confidence in my abilities.  I had a hard time with real estate - it is hard to sell something when I didn't have any sales experience that is so expensive as a house! 

I am still thinking of pursuing jobs in the sales sector though, starting with the one I am at now called Discount Click.  This blog is actually my first big project that I am responsible for maintaining and updating on a regular basis!  Working at this company is giving me a ton of experience on how to market websites for the search engines.  I never knew there was an entire industry set up for this behind-the-scenes advertising.  Before I started working here I thought it would be enough to sell a good product that people would want, but I realized quickly how naive of me that was, at least for the internet world.  There are billions of websites out there, and it is not enough to have a good product anymore unfortunately.  There is so much marketing that goes into any web site.  Think about it this way- there are so many sites to choose from when you search for even the littlest thing, so the key is to be at the top of the search results. Otherwise, how many are you really gonna search thru before finding what you are looking for or giving up?  Gosh, when you see the results you can get with using website marketing strategies it is enough to make me want to go out and make my own site- I have so many ideas that come and go but working has has made me realize that if I did some careful search engine optimization I really would be guaranteed a shot at making some money off of my idea. 

Now that I am doing other stuff in the sales industry besides real estate, it is more satisfying for me to provide a service for people instead of convincing them to buy something that isn't mine and I may not even believe in, for example not really liking a house I am doing an Open House for and not believing the asking price is fair.  Anyway, I find it much easier to sell when I can provide a service that people value and can see the benefits of without having to do a lot of convincing, sales pitches and tactics.  People appreciate the marketing we do for them, and they can see the results just by doing searches on Google or any search engine.

cheryl @ 12:33 | comments(0) | Permanent link