Bad start, good end.

And this day could have started better if I say so. I woke up very early and had to take a bus at 7 to the central station. Of course Carl had our bus our bus pass and of course I did not have enough Danish cash and of course the shops where you can buy tickets were closed that early in the morning. Thought I could pay with my VISA, but no. The bus driver actually wanted to throw me off the bus. Felt like the poorest girl in the world when I asked the other passengers if I could borrow 20DK from someone. I don't know if I am too kind myself or too naive or too stupid or something but I thought someone would help me. Many passengers asked me what was wrong, why I could not pay etc. I explained to them that I did not have Danish cash etc, and they said OK and put their hands on their bags to demonstrate that I would not get anything from them. If I was on a bus and someone did not have enough cash I would definitely help them if I could. Guess that's not how it works anymore, at least not here in Denmark. But after a while the man who sat at the very back in the bus gave me 20DK and said I did not have to give him something in return (SEK, coupons, a ticket to another destination or other things I had). Today's hero!! I am just surprised everybody else were so cold.

Made it to Malmö and I also got to meet my dear friend Marie after my events <3 We met each other in Canada when we both were exchange students there and have not met since then. Finally reunion! It was very nice :)  She has just moved to Malmö so now we live very close to each other now!! 

It felt so good to come home to Carl <3 What a day! But I think it is good for me to expose myself to things outside my comfort zone. Today, I really did that. 

And also, my friend Rebecca from Umeå h
as booked tickets to Copenhagen to visit me (and Carl of course) in the end of october!! Can't wait :) We will go to the zooooooooooooooo. And do a lot of other great things!! 

My sweet Marie :)

Busy day.

So today, I have done a lot of things! First, it was a breakfast event in Malmö at Mindfloor; Måndagsboost. Met many nice people, and we listened to a lecture about how sex, money and leadership are related/affected by each other. Interesting subject, and it opened up for many discussions and debates. Some people were critical to her focus and limitations in her focus and organisation. Interesting discussions! 

After the breakfast event, I had a short meeting with Nina before I went to next event. 

It was a lunch event with the business network BNI. I did not know what I could expect and it was an experience for sure! I am not so comfortble with talking of myself and what I am good at etc, but here everybody had to. So I presented myself, my job, my vision, my dreams, who I want to talk to for opportunities etc. Kind of different, but I think it is very good to practice at it :) Got some new contacts and have some meetings booked to discuss career and learning opportunities. 

THEN, I got another offer from an event agency to work as a hostess on wednesday. The company Absolut has an event in Sweden and many of the attendants are landing at Kastrup so I will be there, welcome them, show them to their trains, call cabs to them etc:) 

Busy day. Super tired now. 

www.mindfloor.se

For now

Very intense day. Got many new contacts, new events to attend at work at, learned a lot. Tell you more later. I really have to eat now!!

:)

Business.

Good morning! I'm up very early today. Going to Malmö for two events. Excited and very nervous. Wish me good luck :)

Jacket from Ralph Lauren, boots from ECCO.

Birthday party.

So yesterday, we went to Malmö for Ylan's birthday party. Our friend Frida (his girlfriend) had organized a surprise party for him :) Cute! Jonas, Osman, Adam and Mackan "kidnapped" him while the rest of us made pizza and prepared for the surprise. When they arrived we played loud music and the party started. I don't think I have been to a surprise party before. It was fun :)

It was a great party!:) We had planned to leave at 10.30 (because both me and Carl are still a bit sick) but we left at least an hour later than that. Got back to our apartment very late.

Today we have both been very tired. Talked to my mom on the phone. She just got home from Bokmässan (book fair)  in Gothenburg. She fixed a signed version of 438 days (by Martin schybbe and Johan Persson) for me! I look forward to read the book. I like real stories, documentaries, biographies and such. It will be interesting to read their story about their time in Ethiopia.

Pictures from yesterday's party. I hate my camera, but I don't own any better. Will upload the pictures on Facebook also. Someday.

Me, with Jonas and Mackan :)

Adam and Osman  :)

Birthday boy Ylan

Frida, Jenny and I

Nice guys :) Drazen, Adam, Osman, Mackan and Jonas :)

10 000.

10 000 page views on my blog :) Thank you!! 

My favorite!

Carl and I went to a birthday/welcome-to-Sweden party yesterday. Our friend Frida has a french boyfriend and now he has moved to her in Sweden :) More about the party later - with lots of pictures :)

I didn't feel so well yesterday (headache again) but decided to put on a dress to feel better. It worked! ;) The dress is from H&M. The bag from MEXX. It is my favorite! Everything fits in it. I bought it in Canada, when I was there as an exchange student. 

Bargain

Good morning :) It's a very boring weather today, but we will start it with a pancake breakfast so it feels OK! Nice to have the mornings together at weekends (when Carl doesn't have to get up at 6am).

I don't know if it is the weather or just my style, but I only wear black clothes today. The blouse is a second hand bargain I made a couple of years ago.

Second hand.

I love second hand shops! When Carl came from work we went to Nörrebrogade to second hand shops and bicycle shops (Carl is a real bicycle geek now ;). Did not buy anything cause we did not have much time before they closed, but it was fun anyway.

As we both are a bit sick, we decided to eat take away Indian food for dinner. Delicious!

Brand LOVE

At the master's programme in marketing, I read a very interesting article by Raajev Batra (et al.). The article discusses brand love as something deeper than brand loyalty. Brand loyalty means that a person choose to buy products/services from the same producer repeatedly over time, rather than buying them from other suppliers. It can depend on several factors, for example convenient location, inhertia and trust in a specific brand.

Brand love means that you have a more passionate relationship to a specific brand. It speaks more to your self identity (current and desired) and you feel emotionally attached to the specific brand.

I remember when we had a seminar about this article and brand love, For me, it was so obvious that brand love exists and I could come up with many examples of brands I feel very strong for, love for. I was surprised when no one else in the class agreed with me. They did not undertand how a person could feel LOVE for a brand. I feel that I have a special relationship to Chanel and when I enter the store, or see pictures on Chanel bags and clothes I start feeling things. I feel happy , enthusiastic and that I have a special bond to the brand. Not the same love as I feel for my family and friends, but some kind of love. I am loyal to brands like TRESemmé (hair) and Dior (make up) as I always buy specific products from them, but I don't feel love.

This is brand LOVE:

That body.

Good morning! Feeling well now, and woke up at 7! Carl is at work, but it seems like it is his turn to get sick now :/

Yesterday, I fell in love with Kim Kardashian. Wow. What a beauty! And I thought I was curvy. Not compared to her. I want her shapes!! And I love her style too. Classy :)

Have a good day :)

 




Yesterday evening's outfit :) 

Dinner.

Jenny invited us to dinner this evening. Very nice :) I really like our new tradition to hang out once a week and have dinner together. Jenny made salmon with a salad with quinoa, beetroot and feta cheese. Yummie :)

Delicious :)

Hannah :)

Carl and Jenny :)

To do list.

I am starting to feel done with the article about Kakfateriet. I don't know why, but that articles has taken longer time than any other to finish. I thought it would be easy, but now. It is so much I want to write, but I have to limit it to only 3000 characters (approx. 1 page). Also, I didn't know it would take so long time to understand how Google Adwords and Search engine optimization work. It is kind of impossible to understand everything since it is a very complicated algorithm that control search results, so I focused on more overall understanding.

Nina also told me that the article I wrote about Helene Colak and Mindfloor was OK so it will be published soon :)

For next week, I have several plans with my PR and social media job. On monday morning, I will attend Måndagsboost (monday boosting) on Mindfloor, where we will listen to an inspirational lecture about how sex and money affect how we are as leaders. I met Maria, who will hold the lecture, at Paddy's and I think it will be very interesting :) Also the attendants will boost and be boosted by each other there. The event is primarily for Small/medium company owners. I think it would be fun to start a company, but I don't feel I can or want to do it all by myself. Marketing and communication is my thing, and I would need someone who are more of a risk-taker than I am, and good at management and financial stuff etc. Maybe one day, we will see.

On monday at lunch I will also attend the BNI event, that I wrote about here yesterday. On wednesday, I have the interview with Cathrin and on friday an interview with Anna who owns the company "Gourmetbudet". And I will also, of course, try to write som articles and job applications!

Looking forward to all the activities :)

WIFL

Today, Cathrin Frisemo resleased a sample of her new book "WIFL - din guide till det digitala arbetslivet", about  WIFL - Work in fake life. I will interview her on wednesday to learn more about it. You can find the sample of the book here (Swedish book).

When I start reading the book, or the sample of the book, I immediately feel how interesting it is. She discuss how we use terms as IRL (in real life) when we talk about what is going on in the real world, and not online. Therefore, Cathrin has now implemented the term WIFL - Work in Fake Life. Because, what we are not doing in the REAL life, must be considered to be done in a FAKE life, if they are opposites.

I think WIFL will be a more commonly used term. Cathrin told me at the mingle that the book already attracts teachers/lecturers who want to use it for their courses. We will see :) I really like the term! Up to date and also very useful! Cathrin also writes about how the meaning of work has changed. Earlier, we used to GO TO work, and now work is somethign we DO. True. Interesting! I look forward to read the whole book :)

Houndstooth.

I sleep until 9.30 every morning now. I really have to get up earlier. I am still not completely well after the flu (or whatever it was), so maybe it is OK for now.

So today, I will continue writing my article. Tonight we have dinner plans so I really hope I feel well. Wearing one of my favorite blazers today. I am a sucker for houndstooth. Love the pattern. This blazer is from H&M, bag from Guess. 

   

Veggie.

Carl and I have started to eat more vegetarian food. Since my dad is a hunter, I have always had access to meat that is fixed in a more ethical way. It has felt more OK to eat meat when you know that the animals have had a good life, living in the nature and died because they "have to". If hunters don't shoot some of them, they will die in other ways (car accidents for example). Now when I don't have access to this, I feel I want to eat less meat. When I buy meat in the grocery stores, I don't actually know how the animals have been treated. I don't want to support that animals aren't treated well before they are sold in packages at grocery stores. Therefore, we'll eat more veggie now. Meat will be a luxory, and we will pay extra for buying meat of animals we know have had a good life.

Both Carl and I have been working until now. Very late. Time to clean up after the dinner, and watch a TV show or something before we fall asleep.

We made a delicious pot with red lentils, cauliflower and curry for dinner.

Business and networking.

At Paddy's in Malmö I met a man who works as a regional manager for BNI. They organise business networking events, and recommended me to come to those to meet people that could help me in my career within marketing and communication. So today I contacted him and he sent me an official invitation to a lunch event on monday. That feels good! I am a bit nervous since he told me that many big business and marketing associations will be there. But I have nothing to lose :) I will have the opportunity to mingle and talk to more than 20 orgs in 1½ hour. 

I did not finish the article so I am still writing. Search engine optimization service is a really long word in Swedish (sökmotoroptimeringstjänst). Any suggestions on what I can use instead? :P I am still too picky when I write my articles, so it takes a lot of time for me to finish them. 

Search Engine Optimization.

Right now, I am writing an article about Kladia and her company Kakfateriet. To market her company, Klaudia primarily uses search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is a method for getting your website as high up as possible when people search for specific things (key words) on search engines.

Klaudia started with Google Adwords and sponsered links. It was successful. Customers found her website and could contact her and buy her product. Now she focus on search engine optimization, which she also has succeeded with, as her website has the highest rank and is placed first on Google's result list when people search for "kakfat" and some other related key words.

Click to read more about Search Engine Optimization, and Google Adwords.

My blog comes first on Google when people search for "Mary in Copenhagen", but when they search for "Mary Copenhagen" some websites/articles about princess Mary come first. Working on that ;)

feeling better!

Good morning! I feel much better today. Must be the chocolate and the gossip magazine Carl gave me yesterday ;) Good medicine! The interview with Cathrin is rescheduled so today, I will write the article about Claudia and her business instead. More about that later :)

So today I changed from my morning gown to real clothes. Hehe. The shorts are from H&M. I bought them last summer, but I think the beige color works for fall/winter as well. The blazer/jacket I found on our loft at home (my parents' house). It is a very old house (More than 100 years old) with a loft where we keep a lot of old clothes. Some of them are from the 40s or even earlier actually!

Have a good day :)

Sick...

I have spent almost the entire day in bed. I hate being sick :( Carl got home early, but he has a business meeting/dinner this evening that he has to go to soon. But now he is at Fötex (grocery store) and buying food, gossip magazines and chocolate to me. Best boyfriend in the world!!!

I tried to work a bit, but my body said no. Cannot really sit up or walk. So I think I will stay here in bed for the rest of this day. Hopefully, I feel better tomorrow. 

I feel like a child, a little girl. I need someone to be here and take care of me all the time. When I lived all by myself in Umeå and got sick, I had no one who could do that. The worst thing of living alone! Of course I ha friends who could buy things to me, and that asked me how I was doing. That was nic. But I did not have a mom or boyfriend who could really be there. 

Have to rest now. Hope you feel better than I do :)

Social media presence.

During this internship I have learned a lot about social media and online communication, and  have gained more understanding of how important it is to be present there. Also, I have learned that everybody actually is on social media. Even if you have not created an account or profile yourself, others will get you there anyway. For private persons, friends will post pictures and write blog posts about you for example. For businesses, this is probably an even more important issue. If you company is not present, you risk to miss a lot of things that are discussed about you on social media sites. Because others will discuss you. They can for example spread negative or false info about you, or provide positive info or contructive feedback. If you aren't present, you miss a chance to provide answers, defend yourself and learn from the feedback.

Cathrin Frisemo has written a blog post about companies and their presence on social media sites. She writes that many companies think like "We don't know if we should enter the social media world", but hey you are already there! These thoughts don't work anymore. Be present yourself, or let others control your presence there! Many companies also create an account, but then aren't active there. That is also a big mistake. You need a strategy. Consumers will expect that they can communicate with you there, and if you aren't aware of that, it can affect your brand and market relationships in a very negative way (As I discussed yesterday with Fair Trade orgs). I also learned from Nina Jansdotter how important it is to create  value to your followers on social media. If a person "like" you page, or follow you, they want to get something from it. Fashion companies can for example share pictures from collections, stores or clubs can send invitations to events, and restaurants or cafes can share recipes or provide coupons. Be there, communicate and create value :)

Olivia Palermo.

I think I have the flu. Woke up at 10, but feel worse than I did yesterday :( So today, I think I have to listen to my body. No powerwalks, parties or much work. I have an interview with Cathrin Frisemo who has her book released today. Just have to prepare some things today, but no hard work.

Because I will just walk around here at home in my dressing gown, I will show you some nice pictures of Olivia Palermo and her beautiful style instead!

The weekend.

I am tired, have a sore throat and a headache. I don't feel well. I hoped that some fresh air would help, so I took a walk but it just got worse :(

The weekend was very nice!:) This friday I went to Paddy's for the mingle event and on saturday we met up Klara and Jonas in town. We had brunch at RizRaz and walked through Nyhavn. The time went very fast so we had to hurry back home to Nörrebro to have time for some wine and tapas before we went to Hannah's housewarming/birthday party. There were many people in her apartment - a great party :) Good mix of old and new friends! Hannah had baked cakes to all of us! :) Yummie!

We went out at midnight to a club in Kødbyen. At the bar they had a text on the wall:
 "This is not a fucking cocktail bar". And no, it wasn't. We danced a lot.

At 3, me, Carl, Jonas and Klara went home in a taxi. We were kind of tired yesterday, but met up the others in the afternoon at a brunch place.

Pics from the weekend:

Nyhavn. 



Amarone and tapas. 
Klara and I. 


Me and Martina. 


Jonas and Carl. 


Girls :)

Social media communication.

In June, I graduated from Umeå School of Business and Economics with marketing as my specialisation. My degree project was about Fair Trade organisations and their communication with consumers on social media sites. I discovered some interesting issues. The following is one of them:

Fair Trade orgs and consumers are at totally different levels when it comes to social media communication. There is a big gap between supply and demand of information. Consumers ask much questions about ethics and want proof that the Fair Trade System really works. Fair Trade orgs almost never provide answers, and especially not good answers, to these questions. Most questions answered are about technical issues on Fair Trade orgs' websites. Questions about ethical problems and such things are almost never answered. This creates a problem. Other consumers see that these questions aren't answered and it leads to negative word-of-mouth. Why can't they provide answers to these important questions? Don't they know the answers? Do they know anything about the supply chain and ethical standards at all? Does it work at all? 

Fair Trade orgs (All ethically oriented orgs - or all orgs) should really start taking social media and consumers' questions more seriously. If consumers don't receive answers, they will think Fair Trade don't know the answers. And then the whole idea with Fair Trade falls. 

A fair chance to know it's fair? 

Bargains!

Good morning :) This saturday, it was a huuuge flea market outside our door! It was mostly clothes, but also some other stuff. We walked around there and if we had had more time I think I could have stayed there the whole day! Well, now we did not have much time since we had to go to the city to meet our friends Klara and Jonas. Anyway, I bought one jacket, and a dress. Only 20 DK each!!!! The dress is from VILA and the jacket from Gina Tricot. There were also clothes from brands like ACNE and MEXX for example. 

Today I'm wearing my bargains! :)

Yesterday's mingle.

Yesterday's mingle at Paddy's in Malmö was really nice! Met many new people, and spent time with those I already know by now :) I had a headache, but did not think about it during the time I was there. Met a woman I will interview on wednesday about her new book. It will be released on tuesday and is already a success!

Left the mingle around 8 and went back to Copenhagen and met up Carl. We were both tired and went to bed around 10.30 pm. I woke up this morning with a sore throat (again) and the worst headache. I hopeI get better :/

Jonas and Klara come to us from Lund today, and we will have brunch somewhere here in Cph. Tonight, Hannah has her party and I really wish I can go. Right now my head does not agree, but we will see.

A photo from yesterday. Ingvar Nilsson and Olivia Isaksson took many photos :)


Rebecca (another intern) and I. 

Mingle.

The interview was cancelled so now I'm preparing for the mingle :) I have some other things to fix in Malmö before the event starts so I think I will leave quite soon. Carl will attend a party tonight that his job is hosting so it is good that I have also have plans :) 

Mingle outfit :) 

Skirt from Rules by Mary

Jacket from Momoya

Online business

At 1pm I will conduct the interview with Klaudia Rudin, who runs the webshop Kakfateriet.se . I have some time to prepare now before. I really like to interview people who use online tools I can benefit from learning about. Klaudia knows a lot about SEO and SEM. Looking forward to hear about how she use these tools for her business :) I am sure I will learn a lot!

Tonight, it is this mingle event at Paddy's in Malmö. I woke up with a sore throat and a headache, but I hope I get better :) Really looking forward for tonight.

Tomorrow night, Hannah has her housewarming/birthday party. Jonas and Klara will sleep over here at our place :) Again, I really hope I get well sooon. So much to look forward to this weekend.


(kakfateriet.se)

Dinner :)

Super nice evening with Carl, Jenny, Hannah, Sofie and Sebastian:) hopefully a tradition to have dinner once a week or so :) tomorrow, I first have the interview and at 5pm I go to Malmö for a mingle event at Paddys. Looking forward. I love to meet so many people with different backgrounds and personalities :)