Tag Archives: Business Extension Bureau

BEB Awarded BBB Winner of Distinction

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BEB BBB Award of Distinction 2015Houston – We are so proud to announce that Business Extension Bureau is this year’s recipient of the Houston Better Business Bureau’s Awards for Excellence.

Today we were presented with a Winner of Distinction statue as recognition of our company’s commitment to quality in the workplace and superior service to the community and businesses served. Less than .2% of companies in the Houston area are honored with this prestigious award!

Judges base their decision on 10 factors surrounding each business which include changes within an industry and how the company has adapted to those changes, how the organization stays on top of the latest processes, technology and trends, and how the business has contributed to the betterment of their industry.

Competition was fierce and over 1,000 people were in attendance of the sold out, main event held on May 13, 215 at the Bayou City Event Center.  We are honored to have received such a prestigious award!

CEO, Ron Royall (L) and Executive VP, Ro Royall (R) were in attendance to receive this amazing award.

CEO, Ron Royall (L) and Executive VP, Ro Royall (R) were in attendance to receive this amazing award.

Over 1,000 people were in attendance at this year's 2015 BBB Awards of Excellence Event

Over 1,000 people were in attendance at this year’s 2015 BBB Awards of Excellence Event

USPS Rate Hike Approved

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Postal Rate Hike Approved by BEB Business Extension BureauAfter three tries, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) finally approved the proposed prices and classifications for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services yesterday.

The new pricing and classification changes for all market-dominant mail classes and competitive products take effect on May 31, 2015.   Below are the new rates:

2015-05-31 POSTAL RATES Standard & First Class 2015-05-31 POSTAL RATES NON PROFITWould you like a 2015 BEB POSTAL RATE CARD?  These cards are double sided with nonprofit rates on one side, and for profit Standard & First-Class rates on the other.  They also include handy dimension minimums/maximums and other mailing requirements.  Printed on sturdy card stock and measuring at 9″ high X 8″ wide, these cards are excellent reference material and they are FREE!  If you would like one mailed to you, click here.

Summer Classes Scheduled

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MAILING #1 - Introducting the SeriesWe are excited to announce that the 2015 Marketing for Small Business Summer Seminars have been scheduled!

Our Basics class is an update of the wildly successful series we presented last year.  The seminars cover Blogging (7/16/2015), Social Media (7/23/15), Two Mails: Direct Mail & Email (7/30/15), and Search Engine Optimization (8/6/15).

Kathy Norris HallGuest lecturer Kathy Norris-Hall of the USPS, will conduct the Direct Mail portion of the Two Mails class.  Kathy will review some new tools the postal service is using to help businesses determine the return using cross-channel marketing in conjunction with your direct mail campaigns.  She’ll also review list options, a wide scope of vehicles to mail, tracking response rates, and how to use your direct mail to drive customers to your website.

Jeremiah Mohr and John Horrell of SiteboxproBack by popular demand, our guest lecturers, Jeremiah Mohr and John Horrell of Siteboxpro will conduct the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) class.  Siteboxpro is a leader in SEO and web marketing and will teach about the process of organically improving the visibility of your website in search engine results.  They will review a breakdown of a search and show you ways to take advantage of local searches using free services such as Yelp or Google maps.

Angel Wiener of Business Extension BureauOur Angel Wiener is teaching the new and updated social media class.  Angel will review the demographics of the most popular social media platforms to help you determine which is best suited for prospecting new business.  She’ll review the basics of how to converse within each platform and how to identify results.

Also returning for another season is our Joy Zehrbach.  Joy Z is Joy Zehrbach of Business Extension Bureauconducting the Blogging and e-mail classes.  She’ll review reasons why a company should blog and how blogging keeps your website content fresh.  We discuss topics for content, where to find content and how to use back links to help your SEO.

The email classes review the minefields surrounding blasts and privacy regulations and how to study and maximize your email list.

Fall and Spring classes sold out, so if you’re interested in attending, register soon!  See what previous attendees said about our classes.

 

Zehrbach Wins Helsley Family Award

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Joy Zehrbach and Ron Royall of BEB - Business Extension BureauEpicomm-Southwest presented it’s lifetime achievement honor, The Helsley Family Award, to Joy Zehrbach, Vice President of BEB-Business Extension Bureau.

The presentation was made at the association’s 2015 annual convention in April. Since its inception in 1971, this award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated a long history of significant and outstanding achievement in the marketing service provider industry.  It can only be won once, and past recipients select each new winner.  Zehrbach is the third member of BEB to be honored with the award.  Ron Royall, President and CEO was given the distinguished honor last year, and his father, Robert “Bob” Royall, founder of BEB-Texas, was presented with the award in 2001.

2015-05 HELSLEY AWARDBEB is a family owned, marketing production company, founded in 1949 and located in the 2015-04-25 AWARDS GRAPHICmuseum district of Houston, Texas.  Zehrbach was brought on board in June of 2012 to expand Business Extension Bureau’s presence in digital marketing which includes social media, websites, wide format printing, and interactive direct mail marketing.

Now a leader in the digital medium, BEB has won numerous awards for their social media, video, education programs, data, e-mail and direct mail marketing campaigns over the past 3-years.

EPICOMM BOD AWARDJoy was also presented with an award of recognition by Epicomm for her contributions during her term on the national board.  This prestigious award was presented by Ken Garner, President and CEO of the national Epicomm industry association.

Congratualtions, Joy Z!

 

BEB & RARE PEARLS

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IMG_4197We were excited to take part in the first annual RARE Pearls Women of Excellence Awards and Scholarship Fund Raising Event, this Saturday at The Houston Junior League.

joy and kathy

Joy Zehrbach and Kathy Norris-Hall

This event honored three outstanding women from the Houston area and raised money for scholarships for the girls participating in the RARE Pearls, 2-year program.

We managed the social media surrounding the event and our Vice President, Joy Z, volunteered to work the event too.  Our great partner, Kathy Norris-Hall managed the Audio/Visual portion of the show.

This sell out event was an incredible day for a wonderful cause.  Learn more about this organization and the annual event at RAREPEARLS.ORG.

 

Spring Seminar Classes Rated Excellent

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2015-BEB SPRING SEMINAR SERIES SURVEY RESULTSOur Spring Seminar Series have come to a conclusion and once again, we are (so) pleased to share results of participant surveys.  100% of our attendees submitted surveys this round, and 100% rated the overall series as EXCELLENT!  Summer classes are in the planning stages now.

Thank you to our wonderful participants for making this series so popular.

USPS Rate Hike Remanded Again

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POSTAL POOCH RATE HIKE REMANDED AGAIN 1Two weeks ago the Postal Regulatory Commission sent the Postal Service’s rate and classification proposals for Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Package Services back for corrections and amendment. Last week the revised proposed rates were resubmitted, and for a second time, the PRC remanded the rate case stating the Postal Service has not complied fully with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.  Once the rate proposal is updated, the PRC will allow 7-days for public comment.  In a statement released last week, the PRC also noted; “The Postal Service states that the revised prices are scheduled to go into effect on April 26, 2015. … Pursuant to [statute], no rate shall take effect until 45 days after the Postal Service files a notice specifying that rate.”

Our good friend and postal expert, Leo Raymond of Epicomm wrote; “Though I’m not a lawyer, that last sentence seems to sink the Postal Service’s plans for an April 26 implementation date — at least for Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Package Services. (The proposed rates and classification changes for First-Class Mail, and competitive products were approved earlier, and there’s no legal reason why implementation of those rates would have to be delayed, though implementing them separately would be a major headache for mailing companies and their software providers.)”
If the USPS HQ can update and resubmit by Monday, and allowing for the seven days for comment, add another few days for the PRC to deliberate, and assuming it doesn’t remand the filing a third time, it’s reasonable to not expect an order on final rates in April. This means that it is possible that the 45-day clock won’t start until the date of the PRC order putting rate implementation (for the three classes involved at least) into mid-May.

We’ll keep you posted as things unfold.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

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May the luck of the Irish be with you always!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at BEB-Business Extension Bureau! 

The Bureau – A Letter from our CEO

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BANNER

President & CEO, Ron Royall

President & CEO, Ron Royall

Houston, TX- We are already over half-way through the first quarter of 2015 and the year seems to be moving at lightning speed.

As our executive team planned for the coming year, we determined that our business must become even more nimble and adapt to the changing economic climate, quickly. In fact, I believe that the only consistency in our economy today, is change.

Texas has a new governor for the first time in 14 years, and the price of oil is dropping at accelerated rates. Houston led the country with 125,300 new jobs created in December, while the Federal Reserve announced in January that the state will lose approximately 125,000 jobs due to lower oil prices by mid-2015.

Social media marketing was a primary marketing strategy for several clients last year, and netted amazing results.

As the economy is ever changing, we see that our client’s needs are consistently changing too. As a result, our service offerings and skill sets are evolving to ensure we continue to serve our customers well.

Last year we expanded deeper into social media marketing, websites, wide format printing, and created several marketing strategies for a wide variety of companies.

Our primary focus for this year is to continue to develop new ways to help our clients market smarter. We’ll execute with greater agility and speed, and keep you informed of the latest industry happenings.

And so, in this edition of The Bureau, we review details of the recent USPS postal increase request, offer information on upcoming Marketing for Small Business classes, and share results of some of our marketing campaigns from 2014.

As always, we sincerely thank you for your business and partnership and look forward to serving your needs in the coming year.

Sincerely,

Signature - Ron

Standard Rates Sent Back

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STANDARD RATES BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARDWashington, DC – Today the Postal Regulatory Commission returned proposed rate adjustments for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services classes to the Postal Service to allow for modifications that comply with applicable legal requirements. The rate increases are proposed to be implemented April 26, 2015.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 provides for ratemaking flexibility and allows the Postal Service to adjust rates for Market Dominant products as long as the increase for each class of mail meets certain statutory and regulatory requirements, the most prominent of which is that such increases are kept under the rate of inflation, as determined by the Consumer Price Index.

A Commission review of the Postal Service’s proposal to adjust rates for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services found that:
• In Standard Mail, certain unequal commercial and nonprofit discounts, certain workshare discounts, and the Postal Service’s methodology for calculating certain billing determinants do not comply with applicable legal requirements.
• The Commission was unable to make statutorily required findings to determine price cap compliance due to incorrect adjusted billing determinants relating to the Postal Service’s new FSS prices for Periodicals bundles, sacks, and pallets.
• The Commission was unable to make statutorily required findings to determine price cap compliance for Package Services products due to incorrect adjusted billing determinants and incorrect price cap calculations.