KEEPING IT REAL...New look Bubble & Bear!

That saying 'It's not about appearance, it's what's inside'. Unless there is something about something (or someone) that 'grabs' you to make you take a second look, some people will never know what's inside. They will never see it. Now I know this post is just about the outer shell or the introductory 'look' of Bubble & Bear changing, but we can relate this same principle to people.

Facebook is ALL about visual. What our eyes first sees and what piques our interest, guides our keying fingers to click on a certain name, page, photo or link. Now what decides what piques our interest? Obviously this is variable depending on the individual. However, market trends and marketing leaders kind of dictate to us through subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways, what is 'appealing' to the average person. Our teenagers are the guinea pigs in this age of ipads, iphone, I Facebook etc. Their eyes are constantly being bombarded and their minds and motivations shaped by what they see on their screens and monitors. We all need to keep a firm hold on the old adage "what maketh the person", because we are all being slowly influenced and perhaps gently manipulated and lulled into a more 'virtual' and commercial lifestyle. Even us mums who are 'grounded' by the in-the-moment realities of raising children, get caught up in the yummy mummy, stay-at-home-business-woman-persona that is portrayed via facebook, pinterest and blogosphere. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for the way these avenues have enabled us WAHM's to gain confidence and etch out a working niche for ourselves whilst balancing motherhood and housenessdom. There are some amazing women out there who are 'keeping it real' for us and blogging about integrity, being true to ourselves (and others) and being mindfully aware of the pitfalls of the social media marketing slants on reality. Keeping it real. That's whats needed as we traverse the great divide between relating in person with customers whilst switching on our intuitive senses to guide our interactions with others, as opposed to the 'virtual-unverifiable-relating-behind-the-screen-and-across-the-distance-from-my-monitor-to-your-monitor', where for all we know, someone may just be 'keeping up appearances'. We have to be attracted to take a second look. Once we have had more of a look, although we can't see the non-verbal cues in conversing with the face behind the business page, we can glean a sense of the 'quality' of this person and their business by the way in which they interact on their page and the feedback and comments from others. This then gives us the confidence to go further and commit to an interaction with that person or page. Our experience then shapes our decision as to whether or not we can trust in them. Why have I gone in this circular, round about way to announce that Bubble & Bear now have a new look? lol! Basically, because I am genuinely fascinated by the whole social media, networking and interaction that is taking place on the internet via facebook and blogging and my journey in experiencing it, learning from it and growing. I have great plans for Bubble & Bear, so in changing the look of B&B I hope to portray that we (my business and me) are a growing entity that is motivated to serve it's customers with integrity, interest, enjoyment and appreciation. Thanks for being part of it with me. x Tanya