Last Day
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to go on this trip. It is awesome being able to learn what the real-world work place looks like, and how I fit into it. My favorite part of this trip was getting to go to the Angel Capital Summit where I saw a lot of entrepreneurs pitch their company ideas to a large group of investors. This was a huge highlight in my trip because I have always considered starting my own business and this gave me a lot of insight into the lifestyle. I feel like my thoughts on making a living this way are a lot more accurate now. Also, I really enjoyed going with Scott to the office. The office was a lot like Animas. Even though a lot of people weren’t talking, it still reminded me of school because every employee had their own project and agenda. Everyone had their own agenda but it still fell into the overall goal which is making the company money. For us, it is often creating a beautiful exhibition. I really enjoyed seeing what everyone’s job was because a lot of it was doing the type of things that you never think there is a job for. For example, the first couple days I was there they were talking about how to set-up the pricing page so that they showed all of their pricing options, but wasn't overwhelming. I will often get on a website and not love the layout, but instead of thinking to blame the people who made the site, I kind of just take it as it is. This showed me that everything has someone in charge of it, even these little jobs that are very simple. If I could do this internship again, I would still pick to intern with Scott and go to Denver. After this experience, my ambition to create my own business has solidified.
Week Two
This week was very exciting. To start out the week, I got the opportunity of going to the Angel Capital Summit. This was a 2-day event that was held at DU. Basically it was a gathering of investors, entrepreneurs, and businessmen where the entrepreneurs would have a chance to deliver the pitch for their company. This was very interesting to me because I often consider having a career in entrepreneurship. I enjoyed watching people with new ideas or products try to convince investors that their vision was revolutionary. At the end, everyone who attended the event got to spend a symbolic $1,000 to spend wherever they would spend their real money if they were investing. This process showed me that often times to get the investment you need, you have to beat all of the competition. I helped count the money because I was volunteering at the event, and it was fair to say that 3 main companies got most of the money while the other 20, did not get very much.
Then, later in the week I was put in charge of finding out how many companies that buy our website’s blogs, actually use them. This information could potentially help in many ways. It could help my company decide whether it needs to raise its standards for its writers, or the writing itself. Even though these companies still did business with blogmutt, the fear is that they will lose value for it and stop buying blogs. I went through about 200 customers and found that about 50% of them use the blogs the buy from us. I had a lot of trouble going through this at a fast pace because I was a little confused on the process but as I got into it, I was an expert. I have already finished my official link project, but I plan to help out my company in many other ways.
Then, later in the week I was put in charge of finding out how many companies that buy our website’s blogs, actually use them. This information could potentially help in many ways. It could help my company decide whether it needs to raise its standards for its writers, or the writing itself. Even though these companies still did business with blogmutt, the fear is that they will lose value for it and stop buying blogs. I went through about 200 customers and found that about 50% of them use the blogs the buy from us. I had a lot of trouble going through this at a fast pace because I was a little confused on the process but as I got into it, I was an expert. I have already finished my official link project, but I plan to help out my company in many other ways.
First Day
3/7/16
My first day at BlogMutt! It has been so stressful driving up to Denver and saying goodbye to my family for 3 weeks, but this first day has helped me relax a little bit. One thing that I noticed as soon as I came in is that the entrepreneurial business place is a lot like school. Scott has 9 employees who all have different jobs, so it feels a lot like a normal day at AHS, except it is constantly project work time. BlogMutt reminds me of an exhibition. Everyone is scrambling to get work done, some we are proud of, some we are not, but that does not stop us from pushing on. We all have one collective goal which is to impress people who come to our exhibition similarly to BlogMutt’s goal of having a successful website. Just because exhibition week feels like everyone is on their own, they are all working towards the same thing.
So to start this internship off, I went back and read a lot of posts both on BlogMutt, and sco.tt/time. This did not take very long, but I think that it was very important because it helped me find out exactly what these websites are about. BlogMutt is a website for advertising other companies and the other website is dedicated to convincing the general public and state legislature to make the permanent switch to daylight saving time. Had I not read far back on the second website, I would have no background on the issue and no clue how to attack it.
Then, I was told to start writing a PR plan. This stands for public relations and it is a plan that social movements make that helps keep them on track and their goals in-line. Scott and I figured out what I wanted to do for my project right away. My goal is to write a PR plan for his daylight saving time website that will ultimately draw more attention to BlogMutt. The way we will go about doing this is by contacting legislature and influential members of the media in order to spread the word. So today, I started researching the issue online. I found that a lot of people see that daylight saving time is a lost cause and that our country only suffers from it, although they were hesitant to say it with the harshness Scott does. So I begin a list of people that I would like to contact. This was mostly journalists, reporters, and authors because Scott told me to hold off on state representatives. Then, I went trying to find all of their contact information. I am still in the process of finishing this, but I have already been able to contact some relatively famous people, so it is going well!
So to start this internship off, I went back and read a lot of posts both on BlogMutt, and sco.tt/time. This did not take very long, but I think that it was very important because it helped me find out exactly what these websites are about. BlogMutt is a website for advertising other companies and the other website is dedicated to convincing the general public and state legislature to make the permanent switch to daylight saving time. Had I not read far back on the second website, I would have no background on the issue and no clue how to attack it.
Then, I was told to start writing a PR plan. This stands for public relations and it is a plan that social movements make that helps keep them on track and their goals in-line. Scott and I figured out what I wanted to do for my project right away. My goal is to write a PR plan for his daylight saving time website that will ultimately draw more attention to BlogMutt. The way we will go about doing this is by contacting legislature and influential members of the media in order to spread the word. So today, I started researching the issue online. I found that a lot of people see that daylight saving time is a lost cause and that our country only suffers from it, although they were hesitant to say it with the harshness Scott does. So I begin a list of people that I would like to contact. This was mostly journalists, reporters, and authors because Scott told me to hold off on state representatives. Then, I went trying to find all of their contact information. I am still in the process of finishing this, but I have already been able to contact some relatively famous people, so it is going well!
Anticipation
2/28/16
I will be doing my link internship in Denver. I will be working for a blogging company that promotes growing companies. I will also be learning the ropes of entrepreneurial work and how working for yourself can be done. The mission of this company is to help small companies become more successful. My mentor is Scott Yates. Hopefully he will be able to teach me a lot about making a blog and advertising through social media. He is very experienced online and runs several websites so I think he will also be able to give me tips on creating a website that is appealing and professional.
I did not have very much trouble finding this internship, in fact, it found me in a way. My mom is very connected and as soon as she heard that we could start looking for internships, she did just that. She knew that I wanted to stay in the state so that I could drive wherever I wanted instead of flying. First, she got tried contacting people in Durango but I was not very interested in any of them. I didn’t think that they were going to be boring, I just thought that it would be very beneficial and proactive of me to find something that could potentially help my career path.
I am not exactly sure what I would like to do when I get out of college but right now I am planning on going to a business school and studying entrepreneurship. Since Scott both started his own company, and helps start-up companies get off of the ground, I think he will serve as a perfect mentor. I hope that I enjoy the stress-free environment that comes when you work for yourself and that it intrigues me to pursue this career path.
I did not have very much trouble finding this internship, in fact, it found me in a way. My mom is very connected and as soon as she heard that we could start looking for internships, she did just that. She knew that I wanted to stay in the state so that I could drive wherever I wanted instead of flying. First, she got tried contacting people in Durango but I was not very interested in any of them. I didn’t think that they were going to be boring, I just thought that it would be very beneficial and proactive of me to find something that could potentially help my career path.
I am not exactly sure what I would like to do when I get out of college but right now I am planning on going to a business school and studying entrepreneurship. Since Scott both started his own company, and helps start-up companies get off of the ground, I think he will serve as a perfect mentor. I hope that I enjoy the stress-free environment that comes when you work for yourself and that it intrigues me to pursue this career path.