Blog

  • GOALS

    At the beginning of my Full Sail journey, I set three goals. My short-term goal was to be the first person in my family to graduate from college with a degree. A medium goal to take what I learned to advance in my current job as a school librarian. The 3rd goal, long term to retire and share my experiences with others.

    That first goal to graduate is coming in a few weeks. I am so excited to be so close to obtaining this goal. At 57 years old this is quite an accomplishment, and I am very proud of it.

    I am a list maker, so I found setting goals is like list making. Both keep you focused and on track. Having that goal helped me to keep working toward my dreams. I also believe having a short-term goal which is easier to achieve keeps the longer goals from seeming overwhelming or unattainable.

    To achieve the medium goal which is to advance at my work place I will submit my credits and associates degree to my work place and then start marketing the programs and events that we have coming up at our library. I will also create a website where our students and patrons can go to see what is happening at the library.

    The long term goal is a little more difficult to plan but I find meeting one goal at a time is helpful.

    Overall setting goals has been helpful for me. I have set goals in other areas of my life as well. I feel these are all goals I can accomplish and I look forward to seeing where these goals take me.

  • My Last Marketing Strategies Post.

    My AI post.

    There have been many great marketers throughout history who have made a significant impact on the field of marketing. Marketers have demonstrated exceptional creativity, strategic thinking, and the ability to connect with their target audiences in meaningful ways. Keep in mind that marketing success can vary greatly depending on the industry, target audience, and cultural context, so the effectiveness of marketing strategies may differ accordingly.

    Great content creation skills are essential for effectively communicating your ideas, messages, and information to your target audience. Whether you’re a writer, a designer, a videographer, or any other type of content creator, here are some key skills to develop:

    1. Creativity: The ability to think outside the box and come up with fresh, original ideas is crucial for creating engaging and unique content.
    2. Storytelling: A compelling narrative can captivate your audience and make your content memorable. Develop the skill of structuring and presenting your content in a way that resonates emotionally and keeps your audience engaged.

    Digital marketing requires a specific set of content creation skills due to the unique nature of online platforms and the fast-paced digital landscape. Here are some important content skills for effective digital marketing:

    1. SEO Knowledge: Understanding how search engines work and how to optimize your content for search engine visibility is essential. This includes using relevant keywords, creating high-quality backlinks, and optimizing meta tags.
    2. Keyword Research: Being able to identify relevant and high-traffic keywords is crucial for creating content that aligns with what your target audience is searching for.

    My Post

    Two of the strengths I brought to this class are my love of storytelling and my love of writing. These are the reasons I chose to take Digital Marketing as my major. I’ve been writing since I was a kid and even wrote a children’s book. It also ties into the storytelling. It’s my favorite thing about Digital Marketing.

    Two things I’m taking away from this class is the ability to think outside the box and interpreting analytics. Thinking outside the box is so important because ideas are saturated in the marketing world especially on social media. Interpreting analytics is important because you need to know how your campaign is going and to also keep an eye on your competitors.

    Overall in this class I’ve learned there is so much more than posting a picture and a catchy phrase. There really is a method in coming up with a great story, figuring out the target audience, researching your competitors and learning the analytics and then selling it all to the company.

    I truly believe that AI can be a blessing and a curse. I think AI is great to help you come up with new ideas or to get you started on an assignment but there is nothing like your own voice and your own thoughts.

    AI gives lot’s of examples so I really believe it can be a great tool to get your mind moving. It can help you out of a mental block.

    As far as a weakness if someone else is searching the same thing you could easily both have the same ideas. Also if AI can do the digital marketing for a company they wouldn’t need us.

    I have really enjoyed this class. It’s also made me rethink about my blog and I’ve missed posting here. Maybe that will change now. Stay tuned!!

  • Pinning Kodiak

    This is Tammy writing for week 3 of Marketing Strategies on Kodiak Cakes.

    Kodiak cakes promotes their brand and their foundation on all websites but by using Pinterest to promote their brand Kodiak is using a platform that never expires. Pinterest constantly reaches new people. This means there will always be new people looking at the pins. Consumers spend 2X more per month. There are 450 million people using the Pinterest platform with 76% of those being women. It’s Mom’s and women that do most of the shopping and the cooking. Pinterest also has a way to track their analytics and has a save button you can use on other platforms that links you back to their Pinterest account. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7552-pinterest-business-guide.html

    On Pinterest you can in bed a link to the webpage as you can see I would add to images in the calendar photo above and the example I’ve listed.

    Pinterest has a lot of reasons to use them and is a great platform for Kodiak to promote their brand and it’s also a fun platform. You can post anything from kids eating their Kodiak pancakes to also promoting conservative foundations for donations as you can see in the calendar provided. There are so many fun ways to promote!

  • Support Blog

    Assignment for Marketing strategies.

    This is Tammy Fath and for my marketing strategies class I am again focusing on Kodiak Cakes.

    Kodiak Cakes really does a good job with marketing. This week I chose to focus on Instagram and a family dynamic. Kodiak is known for it’s LIVE WILD theme. It’s all about healthy eating and the outdoors. What some don’t realize is that Kodiak was started and grown into a multi million dollar company by a family.

    Kodiak does some family advertising but I feel they could expand their audience by focusing on families using their products. They do have a few examples of this and when they do it they do it well.

    I love the LIVE WILD idea but not everyone can relate to that. It would be great to do more family oriented content and see Kodiak share their family story.

  • BRAND SELECTION

    My name is Tammy Fath. I am a mom a Grandma, and an author and I’ve decided to go back to school at 56 years old. This blog is part of an assignment for my Content Strategy Development and Marketing Class.

    For this class I have chosen Kodiak for the brand I’d like to focus on this month. I chose Kodiak first because they are a family oriented business with a great story. Secondly I like that they have all healthy products and encourage their audience to spend time outdoors. All of their media shows this.

    https://kodiakcakes.com/pages/our-mission

    The 3rd reason is because they give back. I love when businesses give back to their communities. Kodiak gives to Conservative foundations that preserve wild places. Kodiak gets most of its ingredients from the land and therefore chooses to give back to the land.

    In this class I’m hoping to learn how to market a brand to the best of my ability. I am open and excited for new ideas and new ways to expand the ideas I already have. I am hoping to find many ways to find and use my target audience and new strategies in the marketing world.

    As an older student some things are challenging but I am excited to learn more about Kodiak and new ways to market this wonderful business.

  • Visit Ashley District Library

    Hello Everyone, Tammy Fath here! I am the librarian at Ashley District Library. I am about to start my 3rd school year at Ashley Library. I am so incredibly proud of the things we have done there and the things we have planned for the new school year. In this last year alone we reinvented the Lego club. We had 80 students signed up to spend one hour a month with us completing Lego challenges.

    We were able to purchase cameras and equipment due to a grant through the Gratiot Community Foundation. That allowed us to create a photography club. We had 11 students sign up for photography club.

    Along with the clubs we got up and running we also hosted our first career fair. We purchased a book vending machine for our students to earn new books. We incorporated puppets into our library time. We bought some new shelves and for the first time we encouraged our students to let us know what books they would like to see on our shelves.

    So what’s next?

    On October 25th from 1-2pm we will be hosting famous American chillers author Jonathon Rand. Jonathon has visited over 2000 schools and will be speaking to our students about the importance of reading and writing. Jonathonrand.com

    Our first book fair of the school year is October 30th – November 3rd.

    Our lego and photography clubs will be back. We will do our annual career fair in February 2024 and our spring book fair will be in May of 2024. I am also excited to share that we are creating a library webpage that hopefully will be up and running before the school year starts. We are also replacing all of our desktops with laptops to make computer use easier to access.

    Ashley District Library 104 N. New Ashley, Mi or call 989-847-4000

    Summer hours are Tues 8-7pm, Wed- 8-3pm and Thurs- 8-3pm

    Ashleylibrary13@gmail.com or librarian, Tammy Fath @ tfath@ashleyschools.net

  • Do’s and Don’ts of Divorce

    My Story

    My husband walked out when I was 8 mos pregnant with my youngest. I also had an 11 yr old and a 6 year old. He took our only car and cleaned out the bank account. I was so lost and so scared. I didn’t know what to do. My family was supportive for the most part. Some asked how I could let this happen. Some wondered why I hadn’t left him. (He was abusive) these are my lessons I learned along the way.

    What to expect

    1. The journey is hard!

    2. You will be lonely

    If you share custody you will find yourself alone some holidays and weekends.

    3. You will lose friends/family

    You will learn who your real friends are and find out which family members you can count on.

    One of my exes relatives thought I shouldn’t be invited to anything. In her mind I was no longer family. My mother in law assured me that as long as I was the mother of her grand children I would always be welcome.

    4. It’s scary

    You will need to learn a new way of life and you alone will be responsible for those little bodies you call your children. It’s very scary!

    5. Your time with your kids is precious

    More than likely you will be working, sometimes 2 or 3 jobs. Also your kids will be spending time with your ex making the time you have with them all the more precious.

    6. It’s exhausting

    7. It will feel like you and your kids against the world.

    How to find help!

    Call your local churches.

    Sign up for food stamps and medicaid

    HUD/Section 8

    Salvation Army

    carsformoms.org

    Food banks

    financial aid

    Don’t

    1. Don’t talk badly about your ex in front of your kids

    This may be the hardest thing ever. I even went as far to remind him of the kids birthdays and encouraged the kids to have a relationship with him. I didn’t want them to some day say to me “Mom why did you keep us from Dad” I hated every minute but my kids now know what I did for them. They no longer have a relationship with their dad but its because of him not because I interfered. I WILL NEVER REGRET DOING THAT FOR MY CHILDREN. I SPENT MANY NIGHTS CRYING OVER IT THOUGH.

    2. Don’t put adult issues on your children

    Let them be kids. Their world is already turning upside down. They don’t need any extra stress. My daughter watched her little brothers while I worked. She tells me sometimes how hard that was. She felt like their mom. This is my biggest regret.

    3. Don’t use your kids to get back at your ex

    It may be tempting at times but never hold visitation or child support. It will hurt your children more than it hurts your ex!

    4. Don’t expect your kids to comfort you.

    It is not their job to make sure you are okay. You need to let them know you are even when your not!

    5. Don’t withold information about your divorce but don’t overshare.

    Obviously the ages of your children matter here. My kids knew some of what was happening with the divorce. My oldest needed to know but I never gave her more than she could handle.

    EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!

    TAKE CARE OF YOU!

    FORGIVE YOURSELF!

    IT GETS BETTER/EASIER

  • Divorce is a form of grief

    GRIEF

    Over the years I have lost so many people. The hardest losses were my dad, my brother, my sister and my best friend.

    In 2020 alone I lost 6 people. I tell you all of this to share that going through a divorce is alot like losing someone in death.

    There are 7 stages in grieving:

    1. Shock and Denial
    2. Pain and guilt
    3. Anger
    4. Depression
    5. Upward turn
    6. Reconstruction
    7. Acceptance and Hope

    You may experience one or two of these stages or all 7. They also may not be in this order. There is no time limit on how long you grieve.

    Some ideas for dealing with grief:

    1. Talk about it.
    2. Look after yourself
    3. Acknowledge your feelings
    4. Join a support group
    5. preserve memories (scrapbooking or tattoos)
    6. Return to life as normal when you can.

    THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT ON GRIEF

    THERE IS NO SHAME IN GETTING COUNSELING!

  • A different kind of advent calendar

    A different kind of advent calendar

    With the Christmas season approaching, we are all looking for unique great gifts for family. As an Oma (grandma) to four amazing grandkids, I love to start early and come up with something great. This year I decided to make an advent calendar. Not just any advent calendar but a big one with gifts attatched.

    What you will need

    • 2.25 x 3.5 in envelopes
    • index cards
    • heavy duty yarn or string
    • 25 ideas for each day in December
    • gifts to match
    • a blanket ladder
    • wrapping paper, gift bags, name tags
    • Your favorite Christmas music playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUiHsJrRNGE

    Ideas for 25 days

    • Go for a drive to see Christmas lights
    • Christmas caroling
    • Give to the needy
    • Christmas crafts ( gift of craft supplies)
    • Christmas baking (gift of baking supplies)
    • Favorite Christmas story ( Christmas books)
    • Christms movie and popcorn
    • Flashlight reading ( reading a book by flashlight, books and flashlights for gifts)
    • Decorate for Christmas ( decorations)
    • Start a new family Christmas tradition ( I bought tickets to see Elf the musical)

    Putting it all together

    Number your envelopes 1-25 punch a hole in the top of each envelope and add string. Tie the envelopes to the blanket ladder. Cut your index cards to fit in the envelopes. Write a task or event on each card put them into the envelopes. Wrap your gifts and add matching numbers from the envelope to the gift.

    25 days of ideas
    Index cards cut and ready for envelopes
    Envelopes filled and added to ladder
    Gifts with matching envelopes

    The best gift of all is getting a phone call everyday from my grandkids to let me know what they did each day with their calendar. That kind of gift is priceless!

    As single Mom’s it is often important to think outside the box. We can’t always afford big gifts for our kids as much as we want to. Finding unique budget friendly ideas is important.

    I remember a time when my daughter wanted adidas tennis shoes. I could barely pay the bills there was no way I could afford adaidas shoes. She was heartbroken. I was at goodwill one day and found a pair of plain white tennis shoes in her size. I decided to surprise her and took a permanent black marker and drew the stripes on the sides of the white shoes. They looked just like adidas shoes. She was probably in 7th grade at the time. One day, as an adult, she asked me how I ever afforded those shoes and I told her the truth. She never knew they weren’t adidas shoes.

    As single Moms we are always looking for budget friendly, unique gifts. I challenge you to try something new. See what goodwill has and make it new. Try a new project. Come up with something on your own. I would love to hear your ideas. Send me a message or an email.