“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
You often hear people in this season talking about finding their balance. When they realize the year is nearly over, they cash-in on their New Year’s resolutions, realizing that the year has mostly slipped away again. I have been guilty of the same annual self reflection. Did I juggle my home and work responsibilities to the delight of my family, my colleagues, and myself? Ironically, this self-reflection usually prompts saturations into my family as I realize my addiction to my keyboard. It’s true; the inner ear controlling my work-life equilibrium defects toward workaholism.
But that’s when I realize it really isn’t about finding balance at all. Balance just keeps you focused on achievement, which isn’t necessarily related to enjoyment. After all, that’s what I’ve always thought the “work-life balance” phrase was about: finding equality between enjoyment and achievement. Instead, I’ve come to understand it to be more about harmony. Webster defines harmony as the “pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts.” I’d apply that definition here to be: “the pleasing and congruent arrangement of work, family, personal (hobbies and friends), and spiritual lives.”
I really think that the idea of finding balance between work and home naturally creates competition between the two. It isn’t that they are opposing forces, each competing with the other for your time – although sometimes it may feel that way. Instead, we should each be working toward creating harmony among the four parts for a more pleasing personal concerto. Remember that work is only one of four parts to enjoyment in your life. Also remember that having harmony does not mean each part has equal measure. Some days may be more focused on investing in one part over another.
Movember is closing in on its final stretch throughout the U.S. and right here at envisionit media. Our “mo bros” Tyler and Ari have proudly worn mustaches for four full weeks now. What do they cite as the toughest parts of Movember? Looking like a creep, being surprised to see their mustachioed reflections in the mirror every morning, and the itchiness–at first. But for such a good cause–promoting men’s health awareness–it’s all been worth it. Thumbs up to these two for their efforts, and for letting us post silly pictures of them each week!
Google has introduced Real-Time traffic data to all Google Analytics users, allowing you to view all traffic on your site as it’s happening in…real time!
Real-Time Analytics allows you to view who is entering and leaving your site, if they are a new or returning visitor, and most importantly what traffic source they are coming from.
Since Real-Time will define the source of a visitor, this is very valuable for marketers and business owners who want to know how well an ad campaign or social media post is performing. They can now gauge the immediate impact of those marketing efforts. For example, if you tweet about a new product on your site, you can immediately see how many site visitors were driven by that particular content. This will allow you to help pinpoint your marketing strategy, by allowing you to find what type of messages are the most effective and what time to post to drive the most traffic to your site.
Make sure you capitalize on this new feature, and use it to maximize your advertising campaigns to their full potential!
Check out some screen shots of the new Real-Time Google Analytics in action below:
Birds will fly. Fish will swim. Writers will write. That’s how it goes.
There are lots of different kinds of writing. This includes copywriting. Copywriters craft and draft content for websites, products, billboards. Copywriters should like writing. So they write.
You should write, too.
Any form. Any medium. It doesn’t matter what. It doesn’t matter where. Writing something gives you a moment to yourself and saves your thoughts for later.
Here are three ways to get started:
Post on Twitter. Make your words short and sweet. Bonus points if they’re interesting and funny.
Put pen on paper. Paper is still a happening thing. Get a notebook. Grab your favorite writing implement. Go for it.
We’re three full weeks in to the mustache-growing extravaganza that is Movember! Tyler and Ari are still at it, cultivating fine looking facial hair growth in the name of raising awareness and funds for overlooked men’s health issues, particularly prostate cancer. They were a little timid at our week 1 update, eased into the facial hair at the 2 week mark, and now, as you can see, they’re straight up owning their ‘staches.
The Movember Men with their Mustaches & Swagger
Interested in making a contribution to this great cause?
We are proud to announce the launch of the Springfield Dolls microsite SF Style Club! Fibre-Craft Materials Corporation approached us to create an interactive program that will grow awareness and drive traffic to their Springfield Dolls line. Fibre-Craft is the parent company to crafts, games, and toys lines including Creative Hands, The Springfield Collection, Jr. Designer Series, and Rondo Room.
The Dressing Room in SF Style Club
SF Style Club is a space that encourages individualism, imagination, and creativity in young girls. Each site visit encourages deeper engagement by earning points to unlock content, merchandise, activities, and special features.
A key component on the site includes an interactive Dressing Room that enables users to dress their doll in over 160 clothing items from the Springfield Dolls Collection. The photographed items in the Dressing Room allow the girls to see their actual doll in clothing options before purchasing the items at a local retailer. Within the Dressing Room users are also able to share an image of their doll and the outfit they created with a loved one—which includes product SKU numbers so the recipient can locate items in-store, and soon, online!
Want to see what the site is all about before signing up? No problem! Just view the video we developed below for a quick overview of all the fun features and activities SF Style Club has to offer!
Last week I ran a little social media experiment… non-scientific of course. I tweeted and posted on Facebook that for every twitter Retweet (RT) or Facebook Like/Share I got on a specific post I would donate $1.00 to my Movember campaign.
I didn’t really have any goals besides donating some money “humblebrag” and seeing if I could get 100 RTs & 100 Facebook “Likes” in a day, and seeing if it in fact worked.
Surprisingly, it was much harder to get Facebook “Likes” than to get RTs on twitter
Going into this, I thought I would easily get to 100 Facebook “Likes” but that was not the case at all. With the new Facebook feed, there is so much more news being spread and posts get lost in the clutter much quicker if people are not actually sharing the post. It is important for something to be shared and not just “liked” if you don’t want the post to be lost in the clutter
For any brand to show up consistently on Facebook they will need to either be constantly posting status updates, (spammy and annoying) or pay for advertisements on Facebook
There is also the option of asking your friends to repost/share your status updates, not just like them, but again, that can come off as spammy
twitter RTs were much easier to come by. I only have 370 followers (don’t judge) but most people were more than willing to give a RT for a good cause
It’s great to have Dan and Kerry aboard to help us stay organized, keep our projects on task, and add another layer of awesome to the office. We salute them and enthusiastically welcome them to the envisionit media team.
Dan Levengood
Where are you from?
I was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and raised in East Moline, Illinois.
What do you do at envisionit?
My official title is Program Director. I lead the project management and account management teams.
Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
I love the entrepreneurial spirit at EIM. The “can do” attitude starts at the top and drives creativity, strategy and production.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Portillo’s. Are there other places to eat?
Tell us a story in six words.
My dog’s name is Mr. Deuce.
Kerry St. Joseph
Where are you from?
Crystal Lake, Illinois.
What do you do at envisionit?
I’m a Senior Project Manager.
Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
All the smiling faces! And the abundance of candy.
Fill in the blank: I’m really good at…
Running.
Fill in the blank: Three things I can’t live without are…
My running shoes, my family, my chapstick.
Carnivale is an exciting, colorful, and unique Chicago restaurant and bar located in the city’s west loop neighborhood. With energetic colors, photography, and wild design, it’s a luxurious restaurant that engages all of the senses with global flavors, Latin music, and savory aromas—not to mention their award-winning Mojitos, fresh ceviche, and wood-grilled steaks.
Carnivale approached us with the task of bringing that exciting, colorful, and unique experience of the restaurant into the online space, along with improved usability, strong SEO benefits, and an emphasis on their private event booking opportunities. We were more than happy to accept the task!
When you first enter the site, you’re exposed to an array of dazzling colors and a vivid movie behind red curtains that showcases all that Carnivale has been known to host–from weddings and private events to cabaret shows and live music.
To go along with the elaborate design and taste appeal (we all found ourselves constantly salivating while we developed this site), you can easily make reservations and request a booking or more information for a private event, while easily viewing the layout of every room and what each one has to offer. Users can browse Carnivale’s extensive photo galleries, view the menus and daily specials, and watch Carnivale videos on the site. You can experience Carnivale while on the go via the new mobile site we developed for them!
So, make sure you go check out Carnivale Chicago for some fine Latin cuisine, your next private party booking, or if you are just looking to enjoy a great Mojito (or three!) in a stunning vibrant atmosphere.
We informed you last week that two of our very own, Ari and Tyler, are participating in the mustache-centric campaign, Movember, an international effort to raise funds and awareness for men’s health. These envisionit media men have completed 2 weeks of the facial hair growing fest, the results of which you can enjoy below. Check back again next Monday for more progress!
If you’d like to donate to either of their Movember teams, you can do so here for Ari and here for Tyler .
The mustachioed Ari and Tyler after 2 full weeks of Movember
