WEEK 1

Hi! My name is Kourtney and I am currently a Senior at Western Washington University studying Communication Studies, Event Planning and Business. I have created this blog as and assignment for my Communication 350 course, Emerging Communication Technologies. As and aspiring event planner and a communication Studies Major I wanted to take this course to help me expand my skills on communication technologies. Throughout the quarter I will blog about what I have learned about these emerging technologies and for my own personal benefit I will make connections to how I will be able to use these technologies in my future professional career.


This week I will be discussing, Blogging, Personal Branding and Photoshop.

Blogging

This is not the first time that I have blogged. A few quarters ago I took a course called, Advocacy Through Media. In this course we learned the importance of blogging and how to blog successfully using the bestselling book, Content Rules, by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman. In Handley and Chapman's book they teach the 11 rules for content in order to create a "Killer Blog". The rules are as followed;

1. Embrace being a publisher
2. Insight inspires originality 
3. Build momentum
4. Speak human
5. Re-imagine; don't recycle
6. Share or solve; don't shill
7. Show; don't just tell
8. Do something unexpected
9. Stoke the campfire
10. Create wings & roots
11. Play to your strengths

My biggest take aways in creating content were surrounded around the rules, speak human and show; don't just tell. These two stuck with me because a blog is suppose to be more personal in that it connects you to your readers. You want your blog to read like you speak; this creates relatability with your readers. Showing and not just telling is also important because 65% of people are visual learners. People reading blogs want to quickly see the information rather than just read it. That in mind I here is and infographic about the importance of visual content,

http://marketingstrategyhq.com/visual-content-marketing/

If you want more information on how to create content and create a killer blog check out Handley and Chapman's website (which is in blog format), http://www.contentrulesbook.com/ for great information on blogging, podcasts, videos and more. 

Personal Branding

Now that you have learned about blogging and content it is important to create your brand. What does this mean? Personal branding is a way of stylizing yourself. You may ask why personal branding is important, so watch this video! 

Personal branding makes it easy for readers and consumers to identify you and your brand. When branding there are a few things you should keep in mind;

• Be authentic
• Define your audience
• Have a slogan 
• Use relevant keywords
• Be consistent 
• Know what you want to be known for
• Embrace what makes you unique

For more on things to keep in mind when coming up with your brand take a look at the ABC's of branding, the a to z guide to a powerful personal brand.

Photoshop

Photoshop is an image editing program (what the pros use!) This is a great tool for creating content and for creating a brand. Photoshop gives you all the tools to create any visual that comes to mind and while it may be tricky to learn at first in the end you gain valuable digital editing/creating skills. Our campus computer labs all have Photoshop loaded on them for student access. If you do not have this option you can always purchase the Adobe Creative Suite which gives you access to adobe products through the cloud (there are deals for college students!). If you have never used Photoshop have no fear because here is a beginners tutorial! 

Once you have learned the basics of Photoshop you can start creating! There are tutorials for anything you can think of. I was creating a logo in class and decided that I really wanted some watercolor flowers to stick to my personal brand. After spending some time trying to figure out how to do that myself I turned to YouTube and Google to help me find a tutorial. I should have done that much earlier on. If your interesting in trying this technique here is a video!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks topics! If you have any questions feel free to comment. Happy blogging, personal branding and photoshopping! 

Kourtney