Why don't you just think about yourself for once?

I took a personal finance class before graduating so I'd know how to function like a real adult. Sadly being an adult is hard, even with a class about how to function as an independent person. Yes I know how I'm supposed to budget, how I'm supposed to save, and how I'm supposed to invest, but knowing how to do things doesn't make the actions any easier. It's a tough world out here for twenty something's. I know that. I'm making a pitiful salary, eating canned soup like fruits and veggies cease to exist, and constantly wonder if ill be able to afford the bills. But beyond all that, the toughest part for me has been learning how to ration off my giving. Now is the part where I'd seem like a good person if I said I was giving to a charity, but no, I mean giving my money away to friends.

Again, I know what it feels like for bills to be tight, so when people come to me asking for a bit of help, I always say yes. $20 to a friend who is missing a bit of cash flow. Dinner for a friend because he can't afford it. Drinks for my other friend who seemed like they weren't enjoying themselves. Hell, I am about to invest in buying theme park tickets because I felt bad that the person said they needed the money desperately. Helping people is wonderful, but it all adds up.

So here's what I've learned as a young adult. Be generous, but watch for a return. I don't just mean returning money. I mean returning the favor down the line. If you're constantly picking up the tab, that's not right. If you're constantly paying and not hearing a genuinely grateful thank you, just stop. That's called being used. And that's a black hole that you will just keep throwing money into until the end of time.

Give money to people that will pay you back. Give money to people that return the favor occasionally. Cook dinner for your roommates that are super sharers with you. Or at least give your money and foodstuffs to people that care about you and would be there for you on a darker day. Just make sure your investing your money in people worth eating canned soup for.

How to do Better than me in the Makeup Industry

I've been in the makeup business for 2 months now and have sold a whopping 100$ in the industry. Here's what I've learned so far: 1. Just because people are your friends doesn't mean they'll buy from you. - They tell you to use your network, but sometimes your network just isn't into it. None of my friends want to buy from me and its weird harassing them to. Keep it rolling and find new markets.

2. Face to face is still essential. - I thought I'd take the easy way out and sell online. No one wants to buy makeup online when they can try it on and look at it elsewhere in person.

3. If you don't take you seriously, no one will. - I secretly still don't wear enough makeup to be a viable makeup seller. It's tough to persuade people to do something if you don't do it yourself.

4. Do something. - I made a fancy website, Facebook page, and twitter feed for my new job, yet have not backed it up with any amount of skills, promotion, or tactics. Just because it has a pretty facade doesn't mean it'll succeed.

5. Do you. - When I first joined, she basically told me the boys line was irrelevant. I knew more dudes supporting me then women, yet I didn't even bother selling to them because she sort of told me not to. I should have known to do me and sell to them, since in the end they're 80% of the meager sales I've had.

Debatably Narcissistic

Today I decided I was going to anti-up on my About page, as currently I have nothing more than an artsy picture of myself with a bio reading, “Im just a girl trying to make it in summer heat of Virginia.” Yes, my bio is only one sentence and features a lack of appropriate punctuation. So I decided to invest myself in writing this witty little ditty about myself so that people will be enthralled with the person behind the blog. Then I started to feel plagued with narcissism. I wanted to throw in my college GPA so everyone takes me seriously. I wanted to throw in all the honors I won and namedrop all the places that published me.

I seriously began to go on and on about how great I am, how funny I am, etc. Then I woke up and realized I sounded like a narcissistic prick.  So I deleted the whole bit and decided that until I get down off my throne of narcissism, my bio shall remain only one sentence.

My short stint with rewriting my bio got me thinking though: Is social media just making people more narcissistic?

I grew up with a pathetically low amount of self-esteem, yet now I find myself thinking that people will want to know my day-to-day lessons as a young adult just breaking into the workforce. Even more, I actually think that people should WANT to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, my blog, and hell, people probably even want to email me. I chuckle at myself when I tweet something funny, and get an exorbitant boost of self-esteem whenever someone clicks that little star of favoritism on one of my tweets.

To answer my own question, maybe social media has made me feel more important, like my thoughts are more relevant, and that people might actually want to hear from me.  But, on the same token, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Here’s me when I used to be a boy.

Just kidding, I didn’t used to be a boy, but I sure did look like one!

So yes, social media makes me feel a little more relevant and connected, but don’t you think after having this bowl cut, I deserve a bit of extra attention?

Domain Names are Changing!

Yesterday I got my first opportunity to blog for the firm I work for about domain names! Domain name options are expanding, so be ready for lots of internet changes coming up. Read my article to learn more about all the changes, as well as the implications the changes will have on domain name strategies: http://goo.gl/y4PZiL

Let me know what you think about ICANN's changes and how you think it will change the internet atmosphere.

I'll Go, But Not Quietly

A few days ago, I hit my last straw with my bank. I've been banking with them since high school, and have had it with their lackluster customer service and mismanagement of my account. I have gone in person to speak with someone, only to be turned away. I've called the hotline, only to be hurried off the phone without my problems resolved. So I took my message to the streets.

I tweeted: "Bank of America blows. I'm going on record to say they consistently, bar none, have the worst customer service available. #salty"

 I did this for lots of reasons. I did this because I thought of the Dell Hell blog that caused Dell to reinvent its customer service. I did it to inspire change within the organization. I did it to make them take customers complaints seriously. I did it so they stopped thinking they could walk over me. I did it to warn my followers that if they want a pleasant banking experience, they should go somewhere else. And lastly, I did it because I was alone in my office and needed to complain to someone.

My dad then called me up to inform me that I am petty, immature and that "as someone that's in the business of social media, you should know the limits of what should be tweeted."

I took it all in and contemplated it. Among the tweets up for debate:

• that I watch Kelly and Michael at work
• That I am glad the workweek is ending #TGIF
• And mainly about how I am a disgruntled bank consumer

If my boss knows I watch Kelly and Michael at work, what's the problem with saying that it makes me happy to do so?

My boss also says she's glad for the weekend. She's used the #TGIF hashtag before. And not to compare, but she referred to Beyonce as porn, so how is that any less petty to put on social media?

And lastly, if I tell people in person to bank elsewhere, what's the difference between telling my online network? I literally work my bank into conversations in order to warn people, so why should I not tell people online about my feelings? Is it rude? Potentially. I tried other means to talk to the bank, but bar none the most immediate response I got was via my tweet. They even followed up with me days later via twitter. When I call them or go see them in person, I don't even get that kind of compassion. Clearly, tweeting to them helped on some level.

46% of people look online before making purchasing decisions, so isn't it in the best nature of helping others to warn people of a company I strongly suggest avoiding? If this bank won't change, shouldn't I tell people to be wary? I gave them ample chances to make me a happy customer, but they didn't, so now they should live with the repercussions. 

My sister tells me just to leave if its so bad. I'm going to leave the bank eventually, but why do I have to go quietly and let people blindly decide to go there without at least some chance of knowing how they will be treated?

Is tweeting badly about a company a bad thing? Or am I right in wanting to bring to light customer service that is not up to my standards? Is it justified because it's they only avenue that they took me seriously on?

Let's get some dialogue going about this below.

Sometimes, there CAN be such a thing as too much enthusiasm

So now that I'm running my own independent beauty consulting business, I decided that I needed to back it up with social media. This was a natural inclination, as social media is my daytime profession. Plus, I had it worked out in my head that the more I sold online, the less legwork I would need to do in real life. So along came my alter ego, Sara at Mary Kay. She has this fancy little fan Facebook page and a Twitter handle to match. I went through and invited my friends to like the page and gave about a 10 second thought as to what to schedule onto it. Then I turned my sights onto my new Twitter persona.

I really saw Twitter as my outlet to new fans for many reasons, such as Twitter's longer history of hash tags, trending topics, and a general attitude that its not creepy to follow strangers. So I went Twitter-crazy. @SaraAtMaryKay went through and followed almost anyone talking about makeup, Mary Kay, skincare, or even just in the geographic vicinity of Richmond. Then she started retweeting like it was going out of style. Just to top it all off, she started mentioning lots of people that she whimsically decided would be interested.

Then Twitter blocked @SaraAtMaryKay.

Down went my non de plum. Thankfully, it only lasted for about an hour, and @SaraAtMaryKay was back in the game.

One may assume that after being blocked for being considered spammy, you would breathe and reign in the crazy Twitter horses. Nay. @SaraAtMaryKay continued to trek on. I had that account go through my real account and follow everyone that I thought would want to follow my makeup persona. I did a bit more retweeting, and just like that I was suspended (which means that you have to sit through several days of Twitter jail while they decide if you are allowed back on the site).

I was livid. How was I going to launch this great new endeavor if Twitter keeps taking me offline? So what if I condensed an entire day of reasonable Twitter engagement into an hour? So what if I spent my lunch hour blowing up the feeds of my followers?

Then it hit me.

Twitter is about people. No one wants to see me throwing myself at them. It was basically Twitter trying to tell me I was being desperate and needed to get my shit together. Basically I was being that drunk girl at a bar that just won't shut up so that everyone else can enjoy a bit of discourse. She just keeps blurting things out and hoping someone latches on to at least something she said, when in reality they're just rolling their eyes.

Sometimes, there can be too much enthusiasm. It's great that I wanted everyone to know I was selling markup, but I needed to direct all that emotion into digestible packages. I wouldn't want people doing that to me, so why was I doing it? Better yet, I work in social media, so how was I so deluded into thinking that this was okay?

My best answer is simply  one word: enthusiasm. It's hard to gauge how much is too when you're excessively excited about something. Not everyone will want to hear about your passions 24/7. That doesn't mean they don't want to hear it, just that they want it in moderation. Keep your readers in mind and just consider: how pissed would you be if someone blew up your feed with all the content you are producing?

From Tom Boy to Tweezers

On the day that I was left alone in office and was tasked with compiling the components of a proposal into a succinct and elegant binder, I quite literally ran to Panera to grab a sandwich for lunch before the big push was going to happen. As I was waiting in line, cursing the skies that I happened to come during the lunch rush, this petite blond girl told me the color of my dress (coral) was very in season (the middle of a Southern Virginia summer), and complimented my skin tone (flushed and sweaty from the jog over to get a sandwich). Then she asked me to enter in for a free makeover, so naturally after the plethora of compliments I had just received, I half-assed an entry and put just my name and number in. A few weeks passed and I got a phone call from the petite blond girl telling me I won. My life at this point was nothing short of a clusterfuck. Most days I couldn't tell you which way way up, so when she asked me to give her a date and time that worked, it was a miracle that I even picked a day of the week that I was free.  So then my friend and I embarked on an adventure that led me to make some very spontaneous decisions.

We rolled up a few minutes late to our free makeover, and were soon welcomed by the petite blond girl, who showered us with compliments, free drinks, and promise of cookies. Then we went into a mecca of makeup, in which she had an entire room full of product and pink, and spent about 2 hours smothering our faces in a myriad of products. By the end of the seminar and $100 later, I had somehow decided that selling makeup was going to be my new part-time job.

When I called my mother to tell her about it, she laughed.

When I called my sister to tell her about it, she laughed.

When I told a few of my close friends about it, they laughed.

Why was this new part-time job so funny? Probably because I had grown up playing sports, started wearing makeup my senior year of high school (let me clarify when I say "wearing makeup" I just mean mascara and eyeliner), and was basically a bro. So what I had never applied an entire face of makeup? And who cares that I can't put eyeshadow on myself without looking like a drag queen.

It was this reason exactly that I wanted to sell makeup (other than needing a bigger budget to maintain a somewhat reasonable lifestyle as a twenty-something respectable, yet fun, young professional). I thought that this opportunity presented itself so that I could learn how to be a lady.  In order to sell makeup, I'll need to learn how to to apply makeup, as well as consult people about what to get for themselves. Surely all this pretty girl stuff will rub off on me.

Even if this is the best it's going to get, at least now I know what the difference between foundation and bronzer is.