EOC week 10: Promotion without discounting

I’m going to network by creating a Facebook page where the customers can connect and be involved with Smokin’ Karaoke. Since my bar is a karaoke bar, I’m going to have people participate on Facebook by creating a video of them singing karaoke. Each week there will be a contest for best singer and whoever gets the most votes will be featured on the Facebook and YouTube page as best singer of the week. It will help promote my business because the people who participate will ask their friends on Facebook to vote for them and more and more people would have to view the Facebook page for Smokin’ Karaoke. A lot of singers would be able to get their name out and my business would be able to get its name out as well. In order to view the videos and vote you have to “Like” the Smokin’ Karaoke page which will get more people to know about the business and see what type of specials or events are going on. I will also be posted flyers on Facebook that will promote all the events and specials. Once a week I will be having themed nights and hookah specials which will all be promoted on Facebook.  

Implementation Evaluation Control

“Outlines the control that will be used to monitor progress and allow higher management to review implementation results and spot products that are not meeting their goals. It includes measures of return on marketing investment.” 

“Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives.”

“Through implementation, the company turns the plans into actions.”

“Many managers think that “doing things right” (implementation) is as important as, or even more important than, “doing the right things” (strategy). The fact is that both are critical to success, and companies can gain competitive advantages through effective implementation.”

“For effective implementation and control, the marketing plan should define how progress toward objectives will be measured. Managers typically use budgets, schedules, and performance standards for monitoring and evaluating results.”

“To guide implementation effectively, every part of the plan must be described in considerable detail. Sometimes a company will post its marketing plan on an internal Web site, which allows managers and employees in different locations to consult specific sections and collaborate on additions or changes.” 

(Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)        

Overall it is still my goal to remain a fun, relaxing and reasonably priced environment. My Business has been right on track and it’s heading in the direction that I've expected as far as planning goes. I've established the location, the target market, prices, product, menu, networking, attractions, goals, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I want my business to continuously grow and improve and keep up with the customer’s needs wants and demands.


Creative Content:

                                                                Before Photoshop

                                                              After Photoshop

EOC week 9: Top Three Mission Statements

The top three best Mission statements are:



Kylie’s Vegan Bar

Marissa’s cultural restaurant/bar

Jose’s World Football House


I thought Kylie’s mission statement was very well written because she backed up her reason as to why people should eat there with facts about eating healthy, “Veganism keeps the body up to optimal health and to live longer. Following a vegan diet improves health such as clear skin, easier digestion, lower risks of diseases, and better weight management.” Not only was her statement educational but it was encouraging and motivating and made me want to eat at her restaurant. I also thought that her idea was great because we don’t have too many healthy restaurants in town and now that a lot of more people are getting into healthy lifestyles, it would be great to see more restaurants like that.

Marissa’s mission statement was one of my top picks because she was very descriptive with her statement and she made it very clear as to what kind of restaurant/bar she is running. She also listed reasons why her restaurant would be a better place to go compared to others. She was able to sell her restaurant without coming on too strong and pushy, for example when she stated, “Aren't you tired of the same boring restaurants? Dim lighting, popular songs playing in the background, no real entertainment? My restaurant/bar is a place where you can bring family and friends for a different type of dining experience.”

The third statement that I chose is Jose’s, because he was very organized and on point with what he had to say. He has all the right information, not too little, not too much and the fact that he has his statement organized/categorized makes it easy to read. I also like that he has a motto because all the good businesses out there have a motto and it helps distinguish his bar from others. Motto/Slogan:
"Breath life into streamed football."

Price

“The marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its product. The many possibilities can be collected into four groups of variables known as “the four Ps”: product, price, place, and promotion.”

“Price is the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service. Historically, price has been the major factor affecting buyer choice.”

“The company can offer greater customer value either by charging lower prices than competitors, or by offering more benefits to justify higher prices. But if the company promises greater value, it must then deliver that greater value.”

“Pricing: No matter what the state of the economy, companies should sell value, not price.”

“Smart managers treat pricing as a key strategic tool for creating and capturing customer value. Prices have a direct impact on a firm’s bottom line.”

“More importantly, as a part of a company’s overall value proposition, price plays a key role in creating customer value and building customer relationships.”  

(Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)     

Hookah Tobacco: $8 regular; $10 special mixes

Smoke-in hookah price: $15; $4.50 refill; $20 per person all you can smoke

Specialty drinks: minimum $8

Beers: $4-$5

Appetizers: $4-$6

Sandwiches: $7

Plates: $12

Promotion

I’m going to promote and network by creating a Facebook page where the customers can connect and be involved with Smokin’ Karaoke. Since my bar is a karaoke bar, I’m going to have people participate on Facebook by creating a video of them singing karaoke. Each week there will be a contest for best singer and whoever gets the most votes will be featured on the Facebook and YouTube page as best singer of the week. It will help promote my business because the people who participate will ask their friends on Facebook to vote for them and more and more people would have to view the Facebook page for Smokin’ Karaoke. A lot of singers would be able to get their name out and my business would be able to get its name out as well. In order to view the videos and vote you have to “Like” the Smokin’ Karaoke page which will get more people to know about the business and see what type of specials or events are going on. I will also be posted flyers on Facebook that will promote all the events and specials. Once a week I will be having themed nights and hookah specials which will all be promoted on Facebook.  

Distribution

“The major marketing mix tools are classified into four broad groups, called the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion.”

“To deliver on its value proposition, the firm must first create a need-satisfying market offering (product). It must decide how much it will charge for the offering (price) and how it will make the offering available to target consumers (place). Finally, it must communicate with target customers about the offering and persuade them of its merits (promotion).”

(Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)        

My tobacco brand will be found and sold at my own business/bar, the Smokin’ karaoke and they will be sold individually for $8 dollars a pop and $10 dollars for special mixes. You can also view and purchase them online on Smokin’ karaoke’s personal face book or business website. Because I will use my own brand of tobacco for the hookahs at my bar, people will try it when they order a hookah and if they like it, they can purchase the tobacco at my bar which will keep them coming back. Instead of ordering the tobacco from another company, I will make my own in affordable and efficient ways and sell it directly at my bar.

Product

“Marketing consists of actions taken to build and maintain desirable exchange relationships with target audiences involving a product, service, idea, or other object”

“The product concept holds that consumers will favor products that offer the most in quality, performance, and innovative features. Under this concept, marketing strategy focuses on making continuous product improvements.”

“Product means the goods-and-services combination the company offers to the target market.”

“Marketers want to develop unique market positions for their products. If a product is perceived to be exactly like others on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it.” 

(Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)             



One of my products is my tobacco brand that I will sell at Smokin’ Karaoke. The tobacco will be used and sold at my bar. The hookah that will be served at my bar will use my tobacco product. My tobacco brand is called Wacky Baccy. I have a large variety of flavors that will continuously grow and expand. Some of the flavors that I offer are hubbly bubbly (bubble gum), white grape, and margarita. My other products will be my delicious combination of Middle Eastern food/all American food and my alcoholic beverages. My menu consists of food such as falafel sandwiches, gyros, chicken fingers and fries, lehmajoon (middle eastern style pizza), tabbouleh (salad), Chicken and beef and shrimp kabobs, grilled cheese (original or middle eastern style with spices), and rice. My bar will have a variety of specialty drinks named after famous singers.

EOC week 8: Creative content

For my creative content, I'm going to take a picture of the building that I chose and I'm going to create a logo for my business name and Photoshop the logo onto the building. Then I'm going to try to take pictures of the interior of the building and Photoshop how I would like it to be. The interior will have a stage area for the karaoke, tables and chairs for the diners and hookah smokers, a bar area, and private rooms for private karaoke parties which will have couches and pillows for people to sit on. The rest of my creative content will include pictures of the types of food that will be served at my bar. I will also create a logo for my tobacco line that I'm creating for my bar, and take pictures of the final product. The different creative contents that I have are going to be compiled in a folder like a portfolio.

BOC week 8: Business description

I came up with a name for my Hookah Karaoke bar which is, Smokin’ Karaoke. My theme for my bar is a cross between authentic Middle Eastern and all American, so that you can get the best of both worlds. I thought of a few other ideas to keep the customers entertained, for instance: Having a theme night once a week where customers can participate in a certain theme and genre of songs and they can dress up and go all out. My other idea is to have a competition once a week for the best performer, and whoever wins gets their picture put up on the wall of fame and they get to pick the hookah “special” of the week, which will be named after them. The food menu consists of a combination of authentic Middle Eastern and American food like Gyros, Falafel sandwiches, French fries, kebob plates, chicken fingers and much more. I decided that I want to create a new line of hookah tobacco called Wacky Baccy and sell it at my bar. My hours will be from 11am-2am and karaoke starts at 5pm. The bar is open for lunch as well, therefore it’s open earlier. The bar will be open from Monday-Sunday.

                                                           Pictures taken by me.

Target Market Strategy

“Deciding on a target market and positioning for a retail store are very important marketing decisions. In a small group, develop the concept for a new retail store. Who is the target market for your store? What retail atmospherics will enhance this positioning effectively to attract and satisfy your target market?”

“Changes in demographics mean changes in markets. So they are very important to marketers. We’ll first look at the biggest demographic trend—the changing age structure of the population.”

“Do marketers need to create separate products and marketing programs for each generation? Some experts warn that marketers need to be careful about turning off one generation each time they craft a product or message that appeals effectively to another." (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing) 

I want my bar to be a fun place for all ages to come together and have fun but my target market will be aimed towards males and females between the ages of 18-30. It’ll be mostly young people who work or go to school and want to relax and get their mind of off school or work. A lot of young students get stressed out from school or work and they decide to go out with a group of friends so that they can drink and relax, there for they would be a target. Most of them would most likely be single (not married) and either living with parents, roommates, or alone. Majority would be locals who live in Las Vegas /Henderson area. I think this age group is perfect for my bar because those who are 18 can smoke hookah and those who are 21 and older can stop by and have a drink. This age group likes to go out, have fun and drink, which is why they are my target group.

SWOT Analysis

"An effective marketing program blends all of the marketing mix elements into an integrated marketing program designed to achieve the company’s marketing objectives by delivering value to consumers. The marketing mix constitutes the company’s tactical tool kit for establishing strong positioning in target markets."

"The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T)" (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)

S-  My strengths and advantages are that I have multiple forms of entertainment for the customers and It'll be the first time that karaoke and hookah is combined as a business here in Las Vegas. Another strength is that the bar offers culture and diversity and people love to try new things and experience different cultures, which is why my business will have a combination of the middle eastern culture and american culture. 

W- One of my weaknesses is that I have a lot different options at my bar starting from food,drinks,hookah,tobacco, and karaoke, and I will need to invest a lot of money at first to provide all those options, therefore I need to find a way to cover all those costs by making up for it in profit. 

O-  Because I'm running my own hookah lounge I will have to opportunity to sell my own tobacco products for hookah instead of buying them from other distributors. 

T- Since hookah has become very popular, a lot of people are opening up new hookah lounges, so that could potentially be a threat to my business because I have to compete with their prices and menus and keep it interesting enough for people to keep coming to my hookah/karaoke bar. 

Objectives

“The company needs to turn its mission into detailed supporting objectives for each level of management. Each manager should have objectives and be responsible for reaching them.”

“Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that will help the company attain its overall strategic objectives." (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)                   

      

My objectives are to:

• Create an environment that people would want to come and hang out in
• Make enough profit to cover the costs of all my items and entertainment
• To hire all the best employees that are knowledgeable about the culture and or quick learners that can pick up on everything they need to know.
• To have low enough prices to be affordable but also achieve enough income to cover all my costs and make a profit.
• To hire a skilled DJ that will keep the crowd pumped and to offer a vast variety of songs for my karaoke portion
• To maintain the taste of authentic Middle Eastern food the way that it is served the home cooked and traditional way

Business Mission Statement

A mission statement is “a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the marketplace.” 
(Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing)        What I want to accomplish with my business is providing a place where young people can kick back, relax and wind down after a hard day at work or school. I want people to come and have fun and be carefree for a couple hours while singing karaoke and enjoying a nice hookah. The environment at Smokin’ Karaoke is very cozy, intimate, and relaxing and will help you wind down and enjoy good company after a long day. My hookah/karaoke bar serves food, alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages, and hookah with a large variety of flavors and specials to choose from. The Menu consists of traditional middle eastern food and all American food, giving you the opportunity to choose from a variety of foods depending on your taste. Karaoke will be provided daily without extra charge and anyone who is willing will be able to participate. With my new business arising, you’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds that you wouldn't be able to get at a regular hookah lounge or a regular karaoke bar. Now you can enjoy a nice meal, a cold beverage, a delectable hookah and some entertaining music, all in one carefree and relaxing environment. Not a big fan of being the center of attention? Well now you can participate in karaoke without any extra eyes on you. We provide private rooms that are available to rent out for a night of fun with a close and personal group of friends/family.

Week 7 EOC: Business Pitch

I came up with the idea of a Hookah karaoke bar. I know that a lot of young people my age like hookah lounges and karaoke bars but I haven’t been to one yet that combines the two. I decided to use a venue that was previously just a hookah lounge/restaurant but closed down. The location is, 9460 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas. My hookah karaoke bar will be called, Smokin’ Karaoke. I want my bar to have a kitchen and a full bar for food and drinks. The bar will be open from Mon-Sun. It will be open during the day and at night because there will be a lunch/dinner menu and karaoke starts after everyday 5pm. My theme is going to be a cross between authentic Middle Eastern and all American so that people can enjoy the best of both worlds. I will provide a large variety of songs for the customers to choose from and I will have a theme night once a week where the customers can participate and dress up as a part of the theme, for instance: Country music night, 90s music night, etc. I also would like to have a contest once a week for best performance. Whoever wins best performance of the week gets to have their picture hung up on the wall of fame and they get to choose the hookah special of the week, which will be named after them. I think that my business plan will be successful because it provides different options for people when they come together and hang out. If there is a group of people that go to smokin’ karaoke, those who like to smoke can smoke hookah and those who like to sing can participate in the karaoke or they can do both. I want this bar to be a place where adults of all ages can all get together, smoke, eat, sing, drink and have a good time.

                                                                     
                                                                 pictures taken by me.

week 6 EOC: Me x3

The three things that I own, that define me are my Canon Rebel xs camera, my cat Jude and my 1950’s collectors Barbie doll. Starting with my camera, I think it defines me because I’m always walking around taking pictures with my camera. It shows that I’m interested into art/photography and that it’s my hobby. It defines me because photography is one of my passions and being able to have my camera and capture special moment’s means a lot to me. Art and creativity is what defines me and photography is a part of art. The second thing that defines me is my cat Jude. I believe he defines me because having a cat shows that I am an animal lover. Even though it might sound silly, my cat is one of my best friends and he has become a huge part of my life. He always follows me everywhere I go and he’s like a part of the family. Another reason why my cat defines me is because he is named after The Beatles song, “Hey Jude”. The Beatles are one of my favorite bands and having my cat named after their song defines what type of music I’m into. Lastly, I believe that my 1950’s Barbie doll remake that I have in my room defines who I am. A few years ago, Barbie reproduced the original 1959 Barbie doll for their 50th anniversary and my sister bought me one for my birthday because she knows that I love the 50’s. Right away I decided to display it in my room where everyone can see it because my room is decorated with a combination of all my favorite things. I thought that the doll would be a perfect addition. That doll defines me because the style from 1950's is my signature style, all my family and friends know that I love that era, and having that doll represents who I am and what I like.

                                       The photos in this post were all taken by me!

Week 5 EOC: Superbowl commercials.

There was one super bowl commercial that caught my attention the most and that was the taco bell commercial of the group of elderly people who were out partying. “You're only as old as you feel. That's what Bernie Goldblatt and friends learned after a wild night out from the nursing home. A Spanish version of "We Are Young" plays in the background. They go swimming, light firecrackers, dance at a nightclub, get tattoos and eat at Taco Bell” (source). I thought their concept was really clever because they were targeting the younger crowd and I think it worked. It definitely got some attention and reviews on twitter. Many people tweeted that it was the best commercial of the super bowl this year. I think it was clever because a lot of young people now days like to go out, drink, party and then end the night by stopping at taco bell, since it’s one of the fast food places that are open later. “One of the reasons why this commercial is so creative is because of the genius subtlety by Taco Bell of owning up to being the go-to late-night stop after a night of hooligans and partying”(source). The younger crowds that like to party are in that state of mind where they don’t want to grow up, they just want to keep enjoying the moment, having fun and enjoying their youth. By showing a group of elderly people living that lifestyle, they are saying that it’s okay to continue partying and living that careless lifestyle. They were almost selling that lifestyle in the commercial, therefore people are going to keep partying and making their pit stop at taco bell. The motto of the commercial was “live mas” which means “live more,” and the theme song was “We Are Young”. Their motto is similar to the motto that a lot of young people have been using lately, which is “YOLO” (You only live once). “According to TiVo, Taco Bell's ad was the most watched spot of the entire game. The Taco Bell commercial was also the second-highest search term on Yahoo!”(source)

week 4 EOC: There's an app for that!

The app that I came up with is for singers who write their own music, or for anyone who doesn't know how to read notes but wants to convert a melody into notes. Basically, you just record any type of melody from vocals, guitar, or piano, into your phone and the app will pick up the melody and convert it into notes/sheet music for you. I came up with this idea because I myself am a singer but I don’t know how to read notes. I learn everything by ear, which makes it hard for me to write my own music or communicate/play music with other musicians.  This app is a quick and easy way to write music or share your own music with other musicians, so that they can jam with you. After doing some research on my idea, I found that similar apps exist. There are four main apps that I found upon research which are Audio Midi Connect ($2.99), Audio to Midi recorder ($2.99), Magic stave Midi Recorder ($2.99), and SongCatcher (full version: $14.99). As I looked more into the programs and read some reviews, I learned that Magic Stave is the best out of all four apps and it does what it’s meant to do for a reasonable price. Audio to Midi recorded picks up too much excess sound and interferes with the audio. Audio Midi Connect got mixed reviews but most reviews said that it’s too slow and it crashes. Lastly, SongCatcher got the worst reviews because it barely picks up any sound, but surprisingly it was the most expensive out of all the apps of its type. If I were to create this app, I would want it to be free of glitches/crashes so that the customer can actually put the app to use and enjoy writing music. 

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

“Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. The demographic environment is of major interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. The world population is growing at an explosive rate. It now exceeds 6.8 billion people and will grow to more than 8 billion by the year 2030.⁵ The world’s large and highly diverse population poses both opportunities and challenges.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 71) The demographic group that I belong in, is called the Millennials. The Millennials are the 83 million children of the baby boomers that are born between the years of 1977-2000. “One thing that all of the Millennials have in common is their utter fluency and comfort with digital technology. They don’t just embrace technology, it’s a way of life.”(Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 74) This is true because we were born in the era when technology was becoming more prominent.  We pretty much grew up with technology. With our generation, if you give us some kind of new technology, we automatically figure out how to use it, where as the generations before us like the Baby boomers (1946-1964) and Generation X (1965-1976) take longer adjusting to the new technology. Many people say that the Millennials don’t communicate well, face to face or on the phone because they are used to text messaging or online messaging. I agree that this is true for most of the people in my generation and myself. Because most of the people that belong in the Millenials are always online or always texting, marketers take advantage of this and try to reach out to them through networking online or sending them messages. "Marketers of all kinds now target the Millennials segment, from automakers to political campaigns. However, the Millennials are bombarded with marketing messages coming at them from all directions. And rather than having mass marketing messages pushed at them, they prefer to seek out information and engage in two-way brand conversations. Thus, reaching these message-saturated consumers effectively requires creative marketing approaches."  (Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 74)

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

There are companies and businesses out there that mostly focus on the best way to make money or how to make a better profit, but then are some businesses that want to make a change. The companies that actually want to make a change focus on how they can help people in need and how they can donate their time and money to those who don’t have certain necessities. Amongst those companies, there is one In particular company called Blanket America. So what exactly does this company do to help people? “Blanket America is about more than blankets. It is about changing the way charity and business works. Most of all, it is about encouraging consumers to demand more.” “For every Blanket America product sold, we make a donation. We call this BUY 1, GIVE 1.” (source)Their goal is to address and end domestic poverty and to build a brighter economic future. They do whatever they can to raise awareness and they network through websites like Facebook and twitter, where they have ongoing discussions with over 150,000 subscribers. “We believe that, when consumers are given the option to do good, they will. Given this option enough times, they will come to expect it. If this expectation is not met, consumers will demand it from other brands.”(source) Blanket America also created a movement called, “Choose Haiti”. It is an ethical consumer movement that is helping support the rebuilding of Haiti’s economy after the devastating earthquake in 2010. “CHOOSE HAITI strives both to connect buyers and suppliers of all and any type of goods, and to generate demand for Haitian-made products in consumer markets. We believe that branding is important to achieving sustainable demand. Consumers that "CHOOSE HAITI" spur specific interest in unique, high quality Haitian goods.”(source) I really admire what this company is doing and I hope more companies will follow in similar footsteps to help people in need. 

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

“Five million. That's the number of traditional consoles and handhelds that were sold in the U.S. during December 2012, based on the latest retail estimates released by the NPD Group, a sales tracking firm.” (source). Video games have been around for quite a while, but they only started becoming popular in the 70's-80's. Then once the 90's hit, the technology started advancing and the video game market went up even higher. Nowadays, video games have become a part of our culture and it is the number one source of entertainment in most young children, teens, and even some adults. Personally, I have worked with young children and I have observed that majority of the kids constantly carry hand held video game systems with them, wherever they go. So the question is what type of video game or game console is in demand right now? “There are three major players in the market for video game consoles: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Nintendo’s Wii is the best seller among current generation consoles.” (source). If I were to categorize the consoles on the BCG growth-share matrix, I would put Nintendo in the star category, Sony in the in the cash cow category, and Microsoft in the question mark category. As far as software, currently the top 5 most selling games are, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. In my opinion, the reason why Nintendo is doing so well is because they came up with the idea of taking traditional video games and turning it into a physical experience with the Wii. By doing that, they appealed to parents who thought that their children were spending too much time playing video games and not enough time being physically active. In the end, the gamers still get to play their video games but also become more active at the same time. “The Wii was the first console to feature motion-controlled games and became an instant hit, especially among casual gamers.”(source)

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

I recently discovered that I need to wear glasses, after many years of having great eye sight. You can imagine that finding the perfect glasses can be a difficult task for someone who’s never experienced wearing/using them. Initially, I went to multiple eye glass stores but I didn't find the glasses that were fit for me. After nearly giving up, I decided to give Costco a try, mainly because a few of my family members had purchased their glasses from Costco and were pleased with the product. At first, I wasn't convinced that I would find a “stylish” pair of glasses at Costco, but I was surprised to find exactly what I was looking for as soon as I laid my eyes on their vast collection of glasses. Right away I was greeted by a very nice lady who took my measurements and rung me up. She was very helpful with the information that I needed and she patiently waited for me to finish when I asked her if I could take a picture of my glasses to show all my family and friends.  After I purchased my glasses, I anxiously wanted to wear them right away but the lady mentioned that they would have to be at the lab for about a week in order to customize my lenses. Sure enough, I got a phone call from Costco, no longer than a week later, saying that my glasses were ready. After I tried them on, I was very pleased with how well I could see in them but the longer I wore them, I started having a few complications. The Lady had mentioned that I could always take my glasses back, and they would fix it free of charge, so that’s exactly what I did. When I took them back, I approached another lady that worked there, and I explained to her exactly what was bothering me, as she carefully listened. She apologized that I was having issues with my glasses and she took them to send it back to the lab. Unfortunately, I kept having difficulties with adjusting to my new glasses, and I had to send my them back multiple times, but each time they changed my lens without charging me and they were very understanding about my complaints. Later I found out that due to my astigmatism, I wasn't able to adjust to the glare free coating that Costco uses on their glasses. Although my experience with wearing glasses for the first time wasn't exactly delightful, I was very pleased with Costco’s customer service. 

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

Hello fellow bloggers. Welcome to my Photography blog. This is where I will be sharing all my experience, knowledge and passion about photography, but before I begin I would like to tell you a little about myself. My name is Arda, but my family and friends like to call me Arda Moon, hence the name Arda Moon Photography. I have a passion for Art in every form but the one that called my name was Photography. I first picked up photography when I went on a trip to the Middle East about 4 years ago. I didn't have the best or fanciest camera, but I didn't let that stop me. I knew that I had to capture and document the beauty of everything that I saw. I started to see everything around me as if I was looking through the lens of a camera. At that point, I knew that I never wanted to put my camera down because I had the power of taking something and turning into a beautiful art form. From then on, I continued to take pictures but I wanted to become more serious about photography, so I decided to save up some money and buy my first Digital SLR camera. Nowadays, I’m an aspiring Fashion/conceptual Photographer and I hope to move onto bigger and better things and I’m hoping to share my journey with you.