Sometimes, being tech savvy is a wonderful, wonderful thing. You find your way onto all sorts of interesting websites where you can give your opinion on the world, trending issues in business, fashion, tech gadgets, and so much more. Some of these websites reward your candor with coupons, or incentives like Amazon gift cards, or cold hard cash. The really GREAT sites, do all of the above as well as provide social change by sparing some of the change you earn (or matching it) to give to a charity of your choosing. In addition, the more you interact with their customers (ie: retail conglomerates, telecommunications magnates, even credit card companies) and give your HONEST feedback, the more "points" you earn and the more activities you are presented with on said website.Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't read one of my many many many posts about Crowdtap- Where Consumers & Brands Collaborate on Facebook, or Twitter, or just my mad ramblings in person then I highly recommend you click that little link, or google them and take a tour.
I've done SurveyMonkey, and SurveySavvy, and Valued Opinions and I get called for research studies where I taste test food, or try out one of the market's leading computer giants newest products to tell them where they are failing to connect to the consumer. This is not my first dance with consumer marketing, but yet it is my most favorite. Sure I'm also a member of HouseParty where you can host parties in your home (get it... house party) and you get to sample products for free, and you get goodies to share with the guests you invite to your home. To date I've had 2 of these house parties; one for EA Sports where I was a very lucky recipient of an EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, and the other was a VERY fun evening for myself and about 10 girlfriends thanks to Durex, and a very special lady: Chrystal Bougon of BlissConnection.
Needless to say I have experience giving my opinions on products, food, technology and everything in between. I enjoy it thoroughly and not just for the monetary rewards, as those are usually minimal, in comparison to the fun I have doing it. It's nice to know you have a direct impact on brands, you impact the way they think, how they market and who they market to, as well as the impact they have on the environment in doing so.
My latest score (because I think of these free products as a definite score to be had) was with Old Navy, and being a part of their Denim Devotee Sampling through CrowdTap. At first I was worried that I wouldn't get to participate as it seemed they had picked many many many many women to take part, and things like this are usually quite limited. Old Navy isn't going to make money by giving away a few thousand pairs of jeans, or even tens of thousands...... but what they DO make money off of is the referrals of all these women who get the jeans for free, and share the extra coupons with their friends.You see, Old Navy is betting on the old adage that women tend to buy more than one of something they fall in love with when it comes to clothing. They would be correct. I've been known to buy every color of a top I absolutely adored, or multiple pairs of jeans that not only made me look thinner but made my ass look good. Both events have happened at Old Navy more than once. So to say I was ecstatic to receive my coupons in the mail today, would be a vast understatement. I was elated!
Then came the daunting realization, one that is enforced into our (women's) brains every day through magazines, tv shows, models, fashion week etc, you need to be at least 5'6" to pull of ankle length jeans, or conversely if you're under that height your weight to height ratio better fall perfectly on the BMI scale, less you risk looking like a bloated puffin waiting for a flood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these jeans, or Old Navy for cow-towing to the masses, and the fashion world for following a trend that everyone else is marketing to. It's just not ever woman can pull off every trend. Personally, even though I did find a pair of ON Ankle Jeans that fit me (though I think I look very silly in them, unless I roll the cuffs even higher and swear I'm only going to wear them with flip flops) and I took them home; I found it would be a vast disservice to Old Navy if all I did was praise them. They need to hear the truth, even if it means that *I* may not like the particular style of pants much, I'm still going to share my coupons with friends who will look good in them, and I'm still going to rave about Old Navy for even giving us this opportunity! How many other brands out there are plying their willing clientele with free clothing just for good reviews, word of mouth referral and praying for it to rack up on the back end with a healthy "in the black" quarter or year end? None.
I am a 30 year old woman, who is 5'1" when I'm being completely honest, and who fluctuates from a size 16-18. Most definitely a plus sized petite gal who has ALWAYS had a difficulty finding her style in a world of size 2-10. Though today's equivalent is 00-8. I truly appreciate Old Navy for carrying in all their stores, clothing up to a size 20, and then more plus size options online. This is a brand who has taken a risk to try and please as many customers as they can, while still providing quality goods. Most stores are very selective in their target market and they make no excuses or apologies for it. Lane Bryant: size 14-32, and while I can find pants/jeans here that fit and are usually in style, my top half is much smaller and I can never wear their dresses/or tops without feeling like I'm drowning. I used to be able to shop at New York & Company, as they carried up to a size 18 regularly in their stores. At some point they changed their formula for sizing and their version of an 18, is much more akin to a size 14 elsewhere. No big deal, they still have my allegiance when it comes to tops/sweaters and accessories, and when I lose enough weight to fit into their pants again, I'll be happy. The great thing about Old Navy, that I will never complain about: is that I don't have to segment my shopping with them. I can buy all sorts of separates there and find a size that will fit. I may not always like the size listed on the tag (as they too over the years have either changed where clothing is made, distributors, or sizing charts) but I will always find something that fits.
So to you Old Navy, I say keep up the great work. I am an individual who will not always like every piece of clothing that sits on your shelves, but I will support you to my fullest for being able to provide women like me (short and curvy) with a place for one stop shopping. Regardless of whether or not I look good in your latest trend sensation, I will always, and gladly suggest you to my friends. The 3 women I'm sharing my other Free Pair of Ankle Jean coupons with are ecstatic, and cannot wait to get their hands on them. Hopefully I'll get some statements out of them in the near future, and see what they think about the item of clothing. We're all quite different in our styles, ages, and height/weight, so you should have a very close version of a random sampling as you can get.
If you want to know how you can get free samples, do house party demos, be a product evaluator, taste tester or research study participant than please check out the following websites. There are many many more than what I have listed here, but these are the ones I've proudly, and productively been a part of.
www.houseparty.com
www.crowdtap.com
www.surveysavvy.com
www.nicholsresearch.com/
www.valuedopinions.com/
www.beezag.com
Cheers and Happy Participating!
Quinn
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
When quitting is really about freedom from an obsession instead of failure.
I learned an important lesson this evening. That lesson is this: sometimes, it really is ok to quit.
Granted, it's socially acceptable if the thing in question that you are quitting is smoking, or alcoholism or some other life threatening addiction: these are encouraged and applauded. However, when it's quitting a project that is a hobby, it can been seen as lazy, and you have a lack of patience.
In my case the latter may be true.......... ok ok, it is true in 99% of all instances. I have little patience for stupidity, little patience when it comes to something I want and have to wait. I'm definitely a child of the instant gratification age. I had patience once as a kid, when I was sick a dozen times a year and all I could do was be in bed and suffer. Patience then is not a virtue but a gift given to you that you either accept or wallow in. Then, as if by magic, I grew out of my sickliness stage and my patience flew out the window on to another child who may have needed it more than I did.
Then I learned (for the umpteenth time in my life mind you) how to knit, and my creative passion was inspired and a glimmer of the patience I used to have came back to me. That was, until I met this pattern: The Barbara Scarf. It was one of over a hundred patterns I've downloaded over the last few months. Storing away for the right time to knit something fabulous. Granted, it's a testament to my lack of patience that after 2 days, and 3 attempts at knitting this horrid pattern (really, it's just the frustration talking... as I'm sure it's a lovely pattern, give me a few days) I quit. Yet, after guidance and assistance from my beloved grandmother, and all 3 attempts (which took 5+ hours each time) yielding a different looking scarf, I knew it was time to throw in the proverbial towel.
The very definition of insanity is: Doing something the same way time and time again, and expecting a different outcome. Well this time I was doing something different time and time again, and expecting the proper outcome, and for some reason I couldn't figure out which part of the pattern I was entirely screwing up. Was it the seed stitch? Was it the cables: which normally I am AWESOME at if I do say so myself, or was it a combination of all of it?
I knew that if I was going to get this right it would mean getting more experience under my belt, and walking away now before I was so frustrated I would just give it all up entirely. Alright, not entirely, I haven't freecycled my way into nearly 50 skeins of yarn sitting on our couch just to give up knitting entirely. After all the knitting accoutrement's G'ma has gifted me in the last month I would expect her to disown me for quitting the craft entirely.
It boils down to this, quit the damn pattern before I go insane- and try it again later. It will still be there, and later, after I get more projects under my belt, after I regain a little more patience, after I have a pow-wow with my grandmother in person I'll try again. And this is OK. I'm not a loser, I'm not lazy and overall I'm not a quitter in life. I just have enough to stress about that I don't need to turn what I love, and what frees me from the stresses of every day life into something else that irritates me during the day.
So to all of you out there who are creators of things, I say this: allow yourself to quit once in awhile because it truly is the most freeing and forgivable act you can do for yourself. We all put pressure on ourselves to be perfect, but when we realize that we were born perfect in as such that our imperfections make us who we are, we don't need to be so hard on ourselves to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.
On that note, I'm going to make my grandmother something else, something beautiful, and something I'm 99% sure I won't quit on in the next few days. When that project is complete, I'll know this was just a phase and a challenge I was not yet ready to master. Obsessing over the mistakes you make only discourages you from seeing the things you are (or can) do right and do well.
Move on, be free, and smile! <3
Q.
Granted, it's socially acceptable if the thing in question that you are quitting is smoking, or alcoholism or some other life threatening addiction: these are encouraged and applauded. However, when it's quitting a project that is a hobby, it can been seen as lazy, and you have a lack of patience.
In my case the latter may be true.......... ok ok, it is true in 99% of all instances. I have little patience for stupidity, little patience when it comes to something I want and have to wait. I'm definitely a child of the instant gratification age. I had patience once as a kid, when I was sick a dozen times a year and all I could do was be in bed and suffer. Patience then is not a virtue but a gift given to you that you either accept or wallow in. Then, as if by magic, I grew out of my sickliness stage and my patience flew out the window on to another child who may have needed it more than I did.
Then I learned (for the umpteenth time in my life mind you) how to knit, and my creative passion was inspired and a glimmer of the patience I used to have came back to me. That was, until I met this pattern: The Barbara Scarf. It was one of over a hundred patterns I've downloaded over the last few months. Storing away for the right time to knit something fabulous. Granted, it's a testament to my lack of patience that after 2 days, and 3 attempts at knitting this horrid pattern (really, it's just the frustration talking... as I'm sure it's a lovely pattern, give me a few days) I quit. Yet, after guidance and assistance from my beloved grandmother, and all 3 attempts (which took 5+ hours each time) yielding a different looking scarf, I knew it was time to throw in the proverbial towel.
The very definition of insanity is: Doing something the same way time and time again, and expecting a different outcome. Well this time I was doing something different time and time again, and expecting the proper outcome, and for some reason I couldn't figure out which part of the pattern I was entirely screwing up. Was it the seed stitch? Was it the cables: which normally I am AWESOME at if I do say so myself, or was it a combination of all of it?
I knew that if I was going to get this right it would mean getting more experience under my belt, and walking away now before I was so frustrated I would just give it all up entirely. Alright, not entirely, I haven't freecycled my way into nearly 50 skeins of yarn sitting on our couch just to give up knitting entirely. After all the knitting accoutrement's G'ma has gifted me in the last month I would expect her to disown me for quitting the craft entirely.
It boils down to this, quit the damn pattern before I go insane- and try it again later. It will still be there, and later, after I get more projects under my belt, after I regain a little more patience, after I have a pow-wow with my grandmother in person I'll try again. And this is OK. I'm not a loser, I'm not lazy and overall I'm not a quitter in life. I just have enough to stress about that I don't need to turn what I love, and what frees me from the stresses of every day life into something else that irritates me during the day.
So to all of you out there who are creators of things, I say this: allow yourself to quit once in awhile because it truly is the most freeing and forgivable act you can do for yourself. We all put pressure on ourselves to be perfect, but when we realize that we were born perfect in as such that our imperfections make us who we are, we don't need to be so hard on ourselves to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.
On that note, I'm going to make my grandmother something else, something beautiful, and something I'm 99% sure I won't quit on in the next few days. When that project is complete, I'll know this was just a phase and a challenge I was not yet ready to master. Obsessing over the mistakes you make only discourages you from seeing the things you are (or can) do right and do well.
Move on, be free, and smile! <3
Q.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
My Initiation Into Blogging
Welcome everyone! Welcome grandiose cosmos of the web and all the purveyors of random blogs. I welcome you to the mad ramblings of a woman who wants to put her mark on the world. Granted, we all want to put our mark on the world, right? Why else do we go out and get a job, look for a relationship, maybe have kids, maybe not, get a pet- just to make an indelible mark on the world around us. To know we matter, and have made a difference somewhere, a ripple in the pond of life. If we're lucky maybe that ripple extends out towards the nearest waterway and somehow makes it to the ocean. Wouldn't that be great if my little blog here somehow made an impact, got enough followers and made a mark on the ocean of people out there who want to read something funny, inspiring, thought-provoking and maybe something that makes a difference in the health and well being of their lives?
How do I plan on doing that? Well, for one I am a woman on a mission. Not just any mission, and no not those spiritual missions most people make blogs about. Though hey, if I can get a little spiritual enlightenment from you, my readers, I'm all for it. My mission is to get everything in my head out of it, and out into the world so that I can make more room for learning. Learning what you ask? Anything! As a very dear mentor in my life says:"I'm a permanent student, always learning, because when you stop learning you die."
Things you might read about here are truly all over the map. I know that "The Dichotomy of Me" really lends to a thought of only 2 sides of me and my personality, but if there was such a word as Trichotomy or Multi-chotomy I would have used that instead. Who knows, people coin new phrases and words all the time, maybe I'll make Multi-chotomy mine. As my little "about me" states, I'm a married woman, a Certified Neuromuscular Therapist, a reader, a knitter, a lover of all things nature and animals. I'm a woman who was a part of the import tuner scene for many years, and while I may not be heavily into that now, I will always have a modified car. ;) I'm a risk-taker. I like to defy the odds and I like to feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I'm also what some people would call a granola eating, tree hugging, save the whales naturist. I want people to recycle, reduce and reuse. I would love it if people made more things than bought them from a big box store, and more than anything I just want to connect with people. If you can relate to anything I write here, then I've done my job.
I hope you laugh, smile, and come away knowing something you didn't know after visiting this page. I plan to post things about my knitted masterpieces (hey a girl can dream), the work I do as a neuromuscular therapist and how that can help and benefit your life, the little things that irritate me, the ponderous things that make me wonder on the vastness and yet relatively small universe we live in.
Cheers, and welcome to my life, my thoughts and hopefully my new friends: YOU!
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