Pinterest, also known as the site for chicks to pin things about their dream home and wedding that they will more than likely never have. But here is the real question, can it be useful in the business world? My answer would be most definitely. Although, a lot of pins and pictures on Pinterest come from made up photoshop dreams and some have no actual link at all, there is a whole world of this social pinning network that makes people money. One area of that part of Pinterest is the contests available to pinners. I took the liberty of entering one such contest. However, before I did that I did some searching through the contests of Pinterest. I discovered most of these contests all had two things in common First of all, they were all very easy to complete and obviously involved pinning things to a newly made board. The other thing that these contests had in common was that they made you explore the pins and pages of their company. I think this is a great marketing technique, because unlike what Pinterest is acclaimed for ( giving us pictures of things we could never have) the pins we look at here are obtainable.

The specific contest that I entered was for JcPenney. It was their “Say Hello to my Dream Room” Pinterest Contest. Here is the link to the contest entry form: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/jsp/browse/marketing/promotion.jsp?pageId=pg40028700008

All you had to do for this was simply make a new board and pin some pins from JcPenney’s contest board. Here is the Pinterest board that I made: http://pinterest.com/msuquidplayer8/say-hello-to-my-dream-room/

I really urge you to go and look into Pinterest and see what is out there for your personal use or for the use of your business.

             To me, being able to balance work and school is about the most useful skill you can have in life. So I am going to provide you with some super helpful hints on how to be successful in both work life (including school work) and your social life

4 TIPS TO BALANCING WORK AND SOCIAL LIFE

1. Keep a schedule! Whether you post a schedule in your room or use the calendar on your phone,either way you will keep what you need to do straight. It doesn’t matter if it is a school assignment, a shift at work or just a date with your boyfriend with a schedule posted or on your mobile device, you will never slip up.
2. Get your priorities straight. No matter what you want as your first priority in life, school, work or your friends/family/significant other, make sure you plan accordingly. For example, if you want to prioritize school over work and social life than don’t make a lot of plans with your friends or schedule a lot of shifts at work when you are in school or taking classes. 
3. A little can go a long way. This tip is mainly for your social life. No matter if it is a skype call, a lunch date or even a phone call. Make the most of the time that you have with who is important to you in your life. When doing so many things in your life at once it is hard to see friends or boyfriends/girlfriends a lot, so making the most of your time while you have it is super important.
4. Don’t be afraid to take a break.  School, work and everything else in your life can be very stressful and everyone needs a break once in a while. Don’t be afraid to take a day or two off work and just set aside sometime for yourself. School and work are stressful so taking a day where you don’t study and you don’t go in to work to either hang with friends, go out , spend a movie night with your boy/girl, or even just some time to yourself, it doesn’t matter! Taking a breather will help you not only improve your social life but it will also allow you to take a step back from work and really be able to focus when you go back to the grind.

Since the last Hello World post was not ACTUALLY written by me, I am going to do a post that really is going to tell people about me and my blog!

         Obviously, my name is Danielle White, I am 20 years old and am a senior at Michigan State University. However, all of this generic information you can read on my “About Me” page. This post is to get a look inside my life and who I am as a person.

 Who am I?

    If I had to use one word to describe me I would say crazy. Some people have negative connotations attached to this word and maybe it is a bad thing, but I don’t think so. I am crazy in so many different ways. I am crazy passionate, I am crazy driven and I am just overall a crazy girl who likes to have fun. Some things that make me crazy are my complete love for a sport that was made up from the Harry Potter books, quidditch and also my complete lack of stopping. To elaborate on the last point, by lack of stopping I mean I will never turn down a challenge, I will pile as much on my plate and never stop. For example, this summer I am taking 7 credits worth of classes, doing a PR internship for an international non-profit organization and also holding down one full time job and one part-time job. I push myself to my absolute limits and am not happy till I am doing everything to the best of my ability. The motto of my life is:  I may not be the most qualified, I may not be the smartest person but I guarantee I will work the hardest!

What is this blog about?

    Some blogs are about one specific topic, some blogs are just a run down of people’s live…this blog is neither. This blog is going to be lessons that I learn in my weekly life, whether it be life experience that I get from my internship or some life lesson at learn at my jobs. This blog is going to be, like the title says, life according to me. Life how I see it based on my experiences, knowledge, biases, etc. This blog will be purely me and what I think is important enough to share with the world.

Welcome to The NMDL Blog Network. I am a student of the New Media Drivers License at Michigan State University. I will be blogging here soon, please check back.