Tag Archives: social media

Summer Classes Scheduled

We 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).

Guest 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.

Back 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.

Our 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 conducting 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.

Marketing for Small Business Fall Seminar Series Review

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The final 2014, Marketing for Small Business Seminar Series kicks off next week with with our Blogging class on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 between 11:30 – 1:00pm.

We have compiled results from the over 48 surveys submitted by participants since the inception of this program in July; and are proud to share the results! 90% of the respondents rated the classes as Excellent, 70% attended multiple classes within the series, and 97.3% said they would recommend classes to their friends and colleagues.

Each class covers a specific topic and is focused on teaching ways that small businesses can market using leading-edge technology without “breaking the bank” or having to hire a large staff to execute the plan. The classes (Blogging, Social Media, Two Mails: Direct Mail | e-mail, and Search Engine Optimization) are limited to a maximum of 8 people to keep interaction at a high level and allow for personalized teaching. For details and registration on the remaining classes, click here.

Our students gave specific examples of what they thought was good about the seminars. See below for a glance at a few highlights:

Our valued graduates let us know that they are looking for additional class offerings as well. We are currently creating content for the most requested subjects and will offer continuing education in the first quarter of 2015. The new curriculum will include more guest lecturers and expanded content from the our original series. In case you missed one of the original sets or would like to recommend someone, we will continue to offer the introduction of Marketing For Small Business Series once each quarter in 2015.

We look forward to working with more new companies and expanding our relationship with our existing clients through further education of Marketing for Small Business.

Thank you!

CLASSES

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Looking to find new and AFFORDABLE ways to market your business? Attend one or all four of our Fall Seminar Series, Marketing For Small Business.

This four-part series is set up “menu style” so you can attend one or all four sessions. We’ll review Blogging, Social Media, Direct Mail |e-mail Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) .

Classes are conducted at our facility and are kept to a maximum of 8 people to allow participants the best learning experience and maximum interaction.

Cost is only $20/per person and lunch is included or $75/person for all four classes. Register Today!

Blogging |

Wed, October 29, 2014 11:30-1:00pm COMPLETE
Learn reasons why a small business should blog. We’ll discuss topics for content, when and where to find suitable content and how often to post. We’ll also cover Search Engine Optimization (SEO), connecting to other sites, etiquette and measuring results. Don’t miss this very popular class. Click here to read what participants from our previous Blogging Class said.

Social Media|

Wed, November 5, 2014 11:30-1:00pm SOLD OUT!
What is the value of a “follow”, a “Like”, or a LinkedIn “endorsement”? Does social media bring new clients within a B2B platform? Does Twitter or Facebook generate revenue? Learn the value that social media can bring to your business and how to use it. We’ll discuss the soft costs of using social media; time, education, and content. This is a very popular class and quickly fills up. Click here to read what participants from a previous Social Media Class said.

The Two Mails – Direct Mail & e-mail |

Wed, November 12, 2014 11:30-1:00pm SOLD OUT!

Still one of the most powerful & cost efficient ways to market, Direct Mail is interactive, personal and highly targeted. It is also a digital driving machine. This class covers the basics of how to use direct mail today and how to combine mail with e-mail blasts for maximum return. We’ll cover content and measurement too. We’ll discuss the minefields surrounding e-mail blasts and privacy regulations. We’ll review how to study, catalog and build your list while discussing content, links, and the many template programs that are available today. Learn how to create an e-mail strategy that includes frequency & design and how to measure your results. Register today to ensure your spot. Click here to read what participants from a previous Two-Mails class said.

Search Engine Optimization |

Wed, November 19, 2014 11:30-1:00pm REGISTER HERE
Our partners at Siteboxpro, a local leader in SEO and web marketing, will conduct this class. Learn about the process of organically improving the visibility of your website in search engine results. We’ll discuss target-paid listing, budgets, and learn about the different kinds of searches available including image, local and video searches. Don’t miss this informative and very popular class, register today! Click here to read what participants from a previous SEO class said.

Holiday Marketing Tips

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DATA
The holiday season is the most lucrative time for so many businesses, including nonprofit organizations. Be courteous and conscientious to your existing and potential clients, be sure to run your database against the deceased file before you mail.

MAILING
Traditional thinking equates the kick-off of holiday shopping with the day after Thanksgiving. The online shopping revolution has changed the rules of the game. Research shows that holiday spending starts to increase as early as the beginning of October and many large companies start their direct marketing campaigns before Thanksgiving. One thing is clear: consumers are ready to spend before November. Don’t miss out on early sales, mail today.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Create or join in a special hashtag specifically created to engage your followers. This holiday season, BEB will promote the hashtag #HolidayFav (Holiday Favorites). We’ll ask our audience to share their favorites through the entire holiday season, won’t you join us?

Social Media Growing at Every Age

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Social media use is rapidly growing across all demographics. Current studies show that 73% of online adults now use a social network of some kind, and 42% are using multiple social networks. 92% of internet users ages 18 to 29 log into a social network daily. Even among seniors 65 and older, social networking use is at 38%. Great social media enhances the response rate of direct mail, and with the huge numbers of consumers interacting on social media platforms, it’s imperative that companies begin to use these as part of their multi-channel marketing campaigns if they haven’t already.

Due to growing demand and a natural extension of service strategy for our clients, BEB has taken on social media in all its many forms! Both established and new companies are benefiting from the use of social media, and growing their customer base through engagement! Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn allow us to reach out to existing customers and prospects in a friendly and informative way, as well as keeping up to date with the latest technologies available!

The Bureau – Page 2

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: Diane Bandemer

Join us in welcoming Diane Bandemer to our BEB Team. Diane is a business development manager specializing in multi-channel marketing for Houston and national markets. With 20-years of industry experience under her belt, Diane has managed data processing and client service departments as well as lead successful inside sales teams. She earned her Associate degree in Accounting from Alvin Community College and previously worked for Omnicom Group/Tabs Direct, Fiserv, and Seebridge Media. She is well versed in social media marketing and data analytics. Check out her profile on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook and connect!

Ron Royall Wins Prestigious Helsley Family Award

Our President & CEO, Ron Royall was awarded the Helsley Family Award by the Association of Marketing Service Providers-Southwest Chapter in April. This prestigious award originated over 40 years ago and recognizes individuals for demonstrating a long history of significant and outstanding achievement in the mailing service industry. The award can only be won once and the recipient is selected by the previous members. The award has extra special meaning to us as our Founder, and Ron’s father, Bob Royall earned this distinguished honor in 2001. We are proud of our heritage within the marketing production industry and so very proud of Ron for earning this exclusive award.

BEB Takes Highest Honor

We are very excited to announce that Business Extension Bureau has earned the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) highest industry honor, The Platinum Hermes Award for our quarterly newsletter, The Bureau.

This year’s competition was fierce, with over 5,500 entrants from all over the world vying for top honors. We are thrilled to receive the recognition, especially from the traditional media category and for a direct mail marketing piece.

BEB Named All Star by Constant Contact

The All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc honors e-mail marketing results. In 2013, BEB-Business Extension Bureau ranked among the top 10% of the Constant Contact® global customer base and achieved consistently high open rates (greater than 25%), click through rates and low bounce rates. Consideration also included companies with a high level of engagement with e-mail campaigns and/or events and significant social sharing features connected to those campaigns.

BEB Social Media Class Gets A Big Thumbs UP

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We are (so) excited about the comments received from our (awesome) participants attending our Small Business, Summer Seminar Series.

Today’s session, the 2nd of 4, was an overview of social media. We researched profiles of the users of several platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We reviewed unique applications such as hashtags, likes, and shares. And of course we covered ways to measure via Followers, impressions and reaches.

Our students were lively, engaged and represented so many different industries and services! Thanks to everyone for making today such a fantastic exchange!

We’ve created the graphic above to share some the comments received from surveys submitted from today’s class! We look forward to seeing you (including the 90% that are continuing on) at next week’s class on “Two Mails”. Direct Mail and e-mail. Thank you again for your participation and contribution. The balance of our Summer Seminar Series has SOLD OUT!

The Current State of the Economy

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From the August edition of our bi-monthly newsletter, The Bureau

Ron Royall, President

At the start of the third quarter, I’m still uncertain about our current economic climate. Recently I saw a monthly economic index from the NFIB that showed a drop in June indicating confidence among job creators isn’t there. On the other hand, I just read an article about an analysis conducted by Bloomberg BNA that said the US economic recovery is expected to accelerate beginning in the 2nd half of 2013.

The one thing I am certain about is our commitment to you, our clients, vendors and partners. As we continue to weather this economic storm, we have seen a tremendous amount of activity and change and are honored to work for, and with, so many great companies and people.

Our extended issue of our newsletter covers a very exciting 2nd quarter for us. As one of the articles says; BEB has been “On A Roll” winning six awards from local, regional and national organizations, and for a wide variety of items such as our interactive holiday cards, twitter campaigns and our newsletter, The Bureau!

We’ve also launched our new website, bebtexas.com, and cordially invite you to take a tour. It’s a living site that is in a constant state of renewal. In addition to the traditional details of our service offerings, we share our rich and unique 64-year history while offering the latest postal and marketing news through our blog. There are links to our Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages, and we’ve added a career page too! Most important, we are connected to our clients through this interactive site and appreciate all of the feedback, suggestions and kudos received so far!

Other articles enclosed a summation of stats from a multi-channel marketing campaign, highlights from a meeting with the US Postmaster General Pat Donahoe, and outline of postal promotions for the remaining year and more photos showing our personal side on “The Back Wall”.

The balance of the year holds more excitement and education too. We’ll be at several industry trade shows, we have several client trips slated on the calendar and lots of industry events (including the big PICG Oktoberfest) and soon we’ll be working on our 2014 Calendar.

No matter how bumpy the economic climate is for our businesses, BEB will continue to search for new ways to better serve your needs. Thank you for your continued support and thank you for your business.

Sincerely,

Ron Royall