image from pinterest! analyze THIS.

The laws of persuasion are clear, know your audience and their motivation, tailor your message to meet them where they’re at, and your chances of winning their support, convincing them of your message, or moving them to action go through the roof.  This is basic stuff.  Don’t alienate people.  Don’t talk over them.  Don’t talk under them. Don’t be too buddy buddy when you’re not really buddies.  Don’t be too superior when they already think you’re pompous.  Tailoring your message for your audience should be straightforward, as long as you take the time to think about it.

• Who are you talking to today?
• How does your message need to change to be the most effective?

Here’s a twist – how do you tailor your message to the one audience member who’s always there: yourself.  One of the most important and influential audiences you will ever face is the one inside of you.  Take a second to get past the cheesy-ness factor here and think about it, how am I tailoring my messages to myself?

In an output-focused world, it is increasingly important to make a conscious decision to turn the spotlight on yourself.  Take some time for conducting audience analysis on yours truly.  What’s going on in there?  What are YOUR motivations?  What do some of those random thoughts that are rolling around actually mean?  Why do you do certain things and respond certain ways?  Are you being honest with yourself?  Before you try to convince a crowd, are YOU actively persuading YOURSELF to take positive action?

It seems safe to say that the better you know the primary audience, yourself, the better equipped you are to understand your other audiences and communicate with them effectively.  If that’s NOT the case, well, at least you’ll know how to persuade yourself.  I’d like to persuade myself that I don’t need sleep.

Getting right on that one…

Always,  Alissa Jean

As my friend Matt so aptly commented:  click, click, boom.

Always, Alissa Jean

Practice gun safety, even in your apologies. Avoid shooting yourself in the foot.

I think my title for this post is clever.  Objectively, it is not really all that great, but writing about something that has a pun for a name has a goofy effect on my brain that makes me think I can come up with witty puns as well.  For those not online in the last month, I’m talking about Pinterest, a site that has actually been around since Spring of 2010 but that has especially exploded this past summer/fall.  {still no idea what I’m talking about?  go HERE for the quick run down.}  I am a little late to the party, as I have  only used Pinterest for less than two weeks.  In those two weeks, however, t is already 200x’s cooler, more entertaining, and (sort of) more useful than Google+.  Who came up with this idea anyway?  Props to them.

[More stats on Pinterest's growth HERE... They have now surpassed the 4 mil. mark, and you can see the impressive site analytics HERE ]

WHY PINTEREST WORKS:

1.  You Want To Look At This – Many internet users are very visually oriented people. Pinterest is a visually driven site.  In other words, Pinterest is working because it’s pretty.  It has an attractive, clean, and consistent layout, and in that layout are thousands and thousands of pretty pictures of [mostly] cool things/places/people/etc.  People are drawn to this.
2.  Clean Layout Continued – As of right now, there aren’t any ads.  Obviously, I can’t see this lasting, but it makes the site that much more attractive in its infancy.
3.  Simple Functionality – There’s five basic button you’ll see when scrolling through pins.  Repin, Like, Comment, Scroll to Top, and “X” New Pins (new pins that have loaded since you started scrolling).  It’s SO easy to use.  Intuitive design. Love it.
4.  Instant Interaction – Thanks to the top three reasons, Pinterest makes it easy for a user to interact.  It takes a second the repin, comment, make your own board, etc.  And, as of now, it’s completely open so you don’t wait for permission from other pinners to repin, comment, or follow [once you're a member].  You just do it. Bam. Instant interaction.

POSSIBLE DOWNSIDES:

1.  Pin Overload – Because the whole site is so fast and easy, it could be possible to create boards, repin, pin, comment, and like with reckless abandon.  The more pins you have, the less the individual pins probably mean to you.  I’m sure there’s a point of diminishing returns here.
2.  Insestous Pinning – The easiest function on the whole site is “repin” (IMHO).  While this is great, it almost discourages the creation of original content in favor of simply circulating stuff that’s already there.  Potential laziness builder/creativity killer.  {This is the Study-er of Communication Theory side of Alissa Jean coming out…}
3.  Limited Subjects/Demographics –  Based on my initial research, you are most likely to LOVE Pinterest if you have an interest in Fashion, Food, Quotes, Design (mostly of the interior variety), and crafts/DIY projects.  Just so happens that the majority of people who love these things are women. Go figure.  I am curious how these trends will continue to play out – there’s no reason that Pinterest users couldn’t have boards for any number of topics that interest them, this is simply the direction that Pinterest and the initial surge of users have moved in.

{Isn’t that part of the beauty of the internet?  How new pieces of it almost take on their own life and grow and change depending on how people use them?  It’s a whole new type of “social change”…}

Here’s the deal, you currently need an invite to participate, similar to how Google+ started.  You can view pins without being a member, but just looking removes the whole interactive element of the site, which is one of it’s greatest strengths.  So you have two options, request an invite on the site itself and wait a couple weeks, or request an invite from me and I should be able to send you one straight away.  {I originally requested one from the site before I even fully understood what the site was, and that worked out fine for me.  After reading this post, however, I’m guessing you’ll want to start pinning ASAP  - thus the offer to send invites  Plus it makes me feel like a super special party host. ha.}

If nothing else, I think this site will do wonders for the phrase “put a pin in it”.  As in, that is now a positive thing.

Always, Alissa Jean  

Here’s the scenario.  I dislike shopping, usually.  I dislike shopping in busy stores even more usually.  When Christmas shopping time rolls around, I tend to get a sick feeling in my stomach thinking about roaming around malls, standing in lines, and schlepping shopping bags around in nasty weather.  Seriously, who even came up with the whole going shopping in bad weather thing anyway.

As much as I dislike Christmas time shopping, I love my laptop.  In other words, online shopping is THE. WAY. TO. GO. Except for this dirty little trick that I started to notice Pandora (along with many other sites) was playing.  The dirty trick goes like this: you search for a specific item, and end up going to an online store, lets say Pottery Barn, Zappos, or Amazon, just hypothetically.  Pandora somehow freakin “remembers” where you went and what you looked at and so the next time you open up Pandora, guess what’s in the ad window next to the player?  An ad for the totally random electronic, necklace, album, or shirt you just looked at.

Tiffany... This would be one of those "false hope" examples.

Usually I am the only user of my laptop so this wouldn’t be an issue, but it just so happens that during the holidays I tend to spend more time hanging out with friends, family, whatnot.  Guess what friends, family, and whatnot like to do when they are together.  Listen to music on Pandora, and see pictures of the items Alissa Jean has been shopping for.  Who knew.

Now, I’m pretty sure that there’s a way to disable this, but I decided to spend my lunch break writing about it rather than figuring that little detail out.  I’ll keep you posted.  But in the mean time, be aware, the internet is watching you!!!!!!  This could “ruin” more than a Christmas surprise, depending on what sort of things your putting in your shopping cart….

Exhibit A:  A recent discussion thread on Facebook.  Names and photos have been obscured to protect the innocent guilty

{in case you can’t read the full original status, it is:  ”Hitting on a girl at the gym.  Creepy or normal?  Following a girl out of the gym and trying to talk to her. Creepier? Lol”
One could assume that this reflection took place after a missed opportunity at said gym.  However, I prefer to think that this gentlemen was posting to Facebook seeking serious advice WHILE AT THE GYM, in the potential “hitting on” situation itself.  Furthermore, I like to think that I gave him some *fabulous* advice and it worked out very well for him.  More research must be conducted before these results are declared conclusive.}

Always,  Alissa Jean

My friend Grace stealing the spotlight at a previous dance evening. ©Guy Orr

Turns out there is an abundance of social dance groups in Grand Rapids!  I know a couple people in one group in particular, so I decided to check out Grand Rapids Original Swing Society as my first step in the Alissa-Re-Entry-To-The-Dance-World project.  These swingers(wait a sec…..??)  meet every Tuesday and the group has developed quite the casual following over the years.  (I say casual, because there was quite the range of attendees, from serious dancers to highschool kids looking for a place to hang out.)  In the Summer, they meet outside, smack dab in the middle of downtown GR at Rosa Parks circle.  This is how I originally found out about the group, actually.

It’s un-surprisingly hard to ignore a sudden flood of legging & weird shoe wearing young people all congregating at a concrete circle and swinging around to music.  (Full disclosure, most of the guys don’t wear leggings; talking about the girls here.  Leggings or bike shorts are basically the standard under-skirt gear. Now you know.)  I had stopped by the swing dances a couple times in the past but never long enough to learn much of anything and never with anyone who knew what they were doing, really.  Swing is much better when you have a good partner. Obviously.

So I was ready to dance but a tiny bit apprehensive.  The group was at a random indoor roller skating rink, there was a swing-dance-appropriate dress up theme, I needed to wear shoes I could dance in, and I really had no idea what I was doing.  Turns out that the rink was easy to find, a dress I bought in Hungary on my semester abroad did the trick nicely, the shoes I selected were fine for a couple hours, and my friends were fabulous about teaching me the basics and encouraging me to dance with a few random strangers as well.  :)

Pretty sure I’ll be back.  There were lots of random people I didn’t get to dance with yet, and I have a lot more to learn…. Lindy anyone?

Talk That Talk came out from Rihanna this past Monday.  If it were a lesser album, the amount of play time I have given it in the past week would have killed it already, but…. it’s NOT a lesser album.  It’s 15 tracks of awesome Rihanna-ness.  Here’s the scoop:

1. You Da One – A happy, bouncy song.  Grows on you.
2. Where Have You Been – One of my favorites.  Strong vocals with some DUB in the mix. Addictive beats.
3. We Found Love – The radio single lives on.  Still great.
4. Talk That Talk – Title track with Jay-Z, another one that gets the repeat button.  I’m betting this will be another radio hit.  Jay-Z’s opening verse is a little weird but the Rihanna nails the rest of it, especially the bridge around 2:15.
5. Cockiness – Where the “explicit” tag comes in full force maybe?   The whole song is some delicious dirtyness… clever Unique beats too.
6. Birthday Cake – Ultimate tease here, Rihanna.  Awesome intro… to a fade out.  Hoping she puts out the whole song soon.
7. We All Want Love – Kinda boring.  Too Kelly Clarkson, but nice and sweet if you’re into that.
8. Drunk On Love – Another slower one, but with much more soul than the previous track and killer vocals.  Two thumbs up.
9. Roc Me Out – Classic catchy chorus, solid verses.  I like the music production on this one.  Way catchy.  Did I already say that?
10. Watch N Learn – Weak intro but if you resist the urge the urge to skip ahead in the first five seconds you get some good Rihanna dirtyness
11. Farewell – Another Kelly-ish song, but pretty solid.  Radio friendly.
12. Red Lipstick – Some diiirty beats here!  If you like dubstep this will be your FAVORITE track.
13. Do Ya Thing - Obnoxiously catchy and fun.  You can’t help but like it.  Again, intro is the weakest part, just get past it.
14. Fool in Love – A good slow one… not my favorite but if you like the whole singing-to-your-parents thing, this’ll get you.
15. We Found Love – remix – She ends with the radio single… predictable!!!  I would have preferred if she ended with the full version of Birthday Cake, personally.  Or at least made the remix a little more re-MIXED than the original, but she forgot to ask me.

\\

Talk That Talk All In All – lots of different sounds, most of them good ones.  Get it.  If only so that you can sing along with me

-Alissa Jean

Mike Posner - The Layover

Today is a great day to read this blog.  Because I’m giving you free music.  Consider it an early Thanksgiving present, which is pretty awesome considering I don’t think I’ve ever given anybody a Thanksgiving present…

So here it is, Mike Posner mixtape, The Layover.  Free!  Not sure how long this download will be posted, and/or free, so I suggest getting it while you can, like, today.

Not sure if you want it?  You do.  I got mine around 6am, just so I could check it out before work for you, and here’s the deal: It’s a jam.  There are some hits, some misses, but it’s a fun mix overall.  Almost as good as the music itself – the secondary titles…  After every song name is a set of instructions.  Goes something like this:  drive to this, smoke and drive to this, pull a bad bitch to this, fly to this, pre-game to this, fuck to this, vibe to this, ride to this, reminisce to this, fall asleep to this…etc.  [Thank you, Posner, for realizing the "driving" and "riding" are entirely different and thus need separate tracks.]  By the looks of this mixtape, Posner is recommending a lot of driving, with a little smoking, a little partying and a little fucking, with plenty of time left for chilling, reminiscing, and sleeping.  Time management 101.

First Listen Impressions:
*  Wonderwall -  I like the original too much to love the remix
*  Looks Like Sex – Now we know…
*  Henny & Purple – First favorite on the whole mix
*  Rocket Man – Two thumbs up
*  Blackout Remix – Love it
*  21 Days - coulda done without this one
*  On Fire – On-Point!  Love it
*  Mittens Up – Anyone from the mitten state is required to like this song
*  Rolling in the Deep - Did NOT think I would like this, thanks to Adele radio overload, but wow, Posner kills it!
*  The Scientist – Ditto on this one!  This is a song I would sit in a dark room by myself and cry to, on repeat, not that I ever do that…
*  Echo – Nice, but I wish Posner would have ended up another “Blackout” type song rather than the emotional-ness here.  To each his own….

So there you have it.  21 tracks, if I didn’t mention it above it’s because it didn’t stick out to me on the first run through.  I might feel different after my Thanksgiving music-filled drive time.

Rihanna - We Found Love

ALSO – Rihanna’s new album comes out today!!!!  “Talk That Talk”   – I don’t have it yet; the free download got my first grab this morning, but I am totally looking forward to giving it a LOT of attention.  “We Found Love” is a radio favorites all ready, so much so that I fear it’ll be played to death pretty soon.  Hopefully, the release of the full album will give our DJ’s the variety they need to keep it fresh.

In the mean time, “We Found Love” music video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg
It’s an e-trippin, dysfunctional, hot-mess, awesome jam.

Happy Thanksgiving Week,
Always,  Alissa Jean

So let’s start with number one – my Myers Briggs personality profile.  I almost feel a little nervous about revealing this information to the great worldwideweb, almost as though I am entrusting my readers with a part of the “real me”.  Yet here I go, all in the name of establishing greater understanding and communication of humanity… and the egotistical joy of writing about myself and how awesome I am.  Understand, dear readers, that with this information comes great responsibility.  What I am about to tell you will reveal what sort of jobs I am suited for, what sort of lover I am, what sort of leader I am, how to work with me, what sort of people I like to work with, how to pursuade me, my strengths, and my weaknesses.  You will have all the keys you need to figure me out, at least, according to Myers Briggs.     

*Warning*  This post is rather lengthy and a bit more academic than normal, partially because I am also turning it in as part as a class requirement.  As such, I am breaking it up into parts and full reading will take a bit of concentration.  However, it is interesting and worth your time if personality profiles, specifically mine, interest you in the least

SO WHAT AM I?????

Alissa Jean – ENTJ
E – Extrovert
N – Intuition
T – Thinking
J – Judging

Other labels for this personality profile:
Extraverted Thinking with Introverted Intuition
Field Marshal
The Executive
Goal-Oriented
Forceful
High Expectations
Innovative
Big Picture
Visionary

What does that mean?
___________________________________________________________________

STEREOTYPICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF AN ENTJ, FOCUSING ON THE “NT” or “Visionary” PART
FOLLOWED BY MY RESPONSE IN ITALICS (since being classified by a stereotype would be terrible and because I feel obliged to add my self evaluating opinion)

MORE STEREOTYPICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF AN ENTJ, FOCUSING ON THE “NT” or “Visionary” PART

Now that I have the weaknesses out of the way, let’s focus on something a bit more fun, such as convincing me and what I am drawn to.  This post seems to give an unfair advantage to all of my readers, but, let’s face it, I love you guys and am thus already slightly biased.  A little more can’t hurt.

How to Persuade Me of a Plan:
Discuss it’s research base - Show me the reason.
Highlight theoretical background - Show me WHY
Demonstrate how it fits a strategy - I want to know how it all fits together and what I will be getting out of it.
Show how it will increase competency - Or efficiency or anything else that gets us closer to goals.
Indicate its broad and far-reaching possibilities - I like a few stars in my eyes, I suppose.  World domination…
Be a credible source of information - What I consider a credible source of information will be relative to the situation at hand…

I am drawn to:
Positioning for the future - Always looking to get ahead and set myself up to get ahead.  
Linking systems - Again with the big picture idea
Strategies - This fits with my ultra competitiveness
Finding new opportunities, growth, development, and challenges - Yes, yes, yes, and yes
Impact studies of complex problems - I am drawn to issues that I am able to dedicate a good deal of time to figuring out/studying.  Otherwise I find them frustrating because I don’t see an immediate solution and don’t have time to find one.
Debating challenging questions - See above, although sometimes I just like causing trouble… it can lead to new ideas and some fun discussion in certain situations.
Anything a little bit risky - I added that one myself, REBEL!!!
——————————————————————————————————————-

Pride and Prejudice – OR… ENTJ Avoidance and Love

I avoid:
Doing someone else’s work - Unless I can do it better, they need help, and/or there is a good reason to do it, I am an advocate of efficiency and expect people to keep up with their jobs so I can focus on doing my part and reach GOALS!!!  IE – Please don’t slow me down, k thanks.
Engaging in popularity contests - I already know I’m fabulous, on the other hand, I’m also competitive and love attention.
Working with administrative details  - I only update mailing lists because I know I need to.  Is laundry considered an administrative detail?
Performing repetitious tasks - I get bored.  Maybe laundry fits in this category better.
Participating in self-awareness activities - Wait, isn’t that what this is???

The ENTJ Lover:
“Love is enhanced by power, influence, and achievement.”
Guess I should forget all that rubbish about giving of myself and whatnot.  Also found this gem on a few different sources online:  ”People involved in close relationships with the ENTJ need to have a good amount of personal strength. For those who do, the ENTJ has a tremendous amount to offer.”

I found some entertaining advice for people who want to date ENTJ’s on lovetype.com:
*Dress your best; ENTJs are fastidious about your appearance.
*Be ready to engage in a fiery debate about almost anything.
*Sharpen your wit and be prepared to lampoon any silly, pompous, or hypocritical person or situation you observe.
*Keep your cool when ENTJs use their famous acidic wit to roast you; tease them back and win their affection.

Bottom line:  I sound like a ball breaker.  I not really, I swear.  See the part about the tremendous amount I have to offer…?

*Thank you to the MBTI Team Building Program: Leaders Resource Guide by Sandra Krebs, and Lovetypes for much of the information in the last several posts.  

Always,
Alissa Jean