A Business Thanksgiving

Posted by Karen Renzi

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love its uncomplicated premise: bringing family together and reflecting on what we are thankful for in our lives. It occurred to me that this simple exercise in gratitude would be worth considering as related to business as well.

And so here are a few things I am thankful for this year in business. And I ask you to take a moment and add what YOU are thankful for in business in the comments – we’ll select a comment at random to win a copy of Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow…

• I am thankful for change. Perhaps it’s better to say “evolution.” The world of online marketing is changing at such a rapid pace we can never tire of learning and seeking more knowledge. This keeps us fresh, nimble and always ready for what’s next. This change has led us down different paths this year – embracing new platforms for building sites, jumping into social media, and more.
• I am thankful for the challenging economy. Seems odd, I know, but it’s given us a reason to look deeper, to find alternatives, to choose new and different ways to accomplish things.
• I am thankful for teaching others. I have taught more this year than ever in the past and am thankful for the opportunity to see others learn and grow. These experiences have also influenced our service offerings, as we are adding more training-based services in 2010 – starting with my full-day boot camp in December with more to come in 2010.
• I am thankful for our clients and colleagues. We have learned something from each and every one of you – thank you.

I could probably go on… but I’m looking forward to hearing what you might have to add that you are thankful for this year in your business. Remember one of the comments will win a copy of Purple Cow.

Would you pay $100 for 1 click to your site?

A new report* revealed that the highest-priced keyword in the US last month sold for $99.44 on Google. Now remember, Google AdWords is a pay per click (PPC) model, which means that somebody out there paid $99.44 for the privilege of getting a single user click to their website or landing page.

The “winning” keyword?… “Mesothelioma.” (Read more in this MediaPost article.)

Presumably the bidding war was waged between injury lawyers seeking a piece of the pie from lawsuits related to the asbestos-caused lung cancer. But at a such a high price it would be interesting to hear what that firm’s final cost of acquisition is for a single client – not all clicks will be qualified leads, not all clicks will contact the firm once they are on the site, not all qualified leads will covert to clients, and I’m guessing not all clients will win their lawsuits resulting in payout for the lawyer.

Some unsolicited advice for that firm and you:

• Measure, measure, measure. There is more to online lead generation than getting bodies to your page. Make sure the ones that do get there count and that it’s worth the price you are paying. Track not just clicks & traffic but time on site, site goal conversion, and close rate by lead source.
• Test your website content. If you are pouring money

Intern Blog 6: Link-Building and Online Directories

Posted by Christie Englert

Hi everyone…it’s about time for another intern blog. I hope you’ve been enjoying them so far! Today I wanted to discuss link-building. There are a number of ways to get links to your company’s site out in the Internet. Buying pay per click ads, setting-up networking site accounts with links to the site, and creating listings in online directories are all ways to build links; however I do not think pay per click ads are as affective as the two others. I already discussed Facebook and LinkedIn in the previous blogs, so let’s focus on online directory listings.

The Internet is filled with online directories that offer free listings for your company.

Intern Blog 5: Linking-In

Posted by Christie Englert

So after mastering the art of creating a Beyondus Facebook page, I have decided then next step is to create a presence on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is like Facebook for businesspeople. They use their LinkedIn accounts to network and make business connections, and, like Facebook, LinkedIn can be utilized to promote companies.

Businesses can create their own profile pages to display their information. Their profile can show their logo, a link to their website, basic company information like location and industry, financials, and information about what services they specialize in. The profile even allows links to their affiliate companies’ websites to be added. My favorite part of the company profile page is that it enables you to create a link to your company’s blog! This is great for increasing traffic to our blog and, essentially, the Beyondus website – not that it would make a difference because I am sure you read my blog every week…right?!

Intern Blog 4: Defining Beyondus

Posted by Christie Englert

Hi there, it’s me again. I know it’s been a while; this summer has been very crazy. We have been working on so many projects over here at Beyondus, and I have a lot to talk to you about.  As you have read, the role of my internship is to do Beyondus’ personal marketing; essentially I am defining Beyondus.

 

Be⋅yond⋅us   [bee-ond-uhs]
-noun

1. a way to define your presence.
2. a marketing firm that specializes in online marketing strategies
3. your solution to graphic design, web design, and marketing consulting among a long list of other services.
4. the company founded by Alessandro and Karen Renzi in 2002 in Salem, MA.

This may seem like a joke, but I think it will make more sense if you continue reading!

On your mark, get set, go! Facebook Vanity URLs

Posted by Karen Renzi

Thank you Facebook. At last, users will be able to select their own usernames to use as vanity URLs for their profiles and eligible Facebook pages. So I can potentially choose for instance “www.facebook.com/karenrenzi” for my profile and “/beyondus” for our business page. Of course I have to consider whether I want to take part in the crazy landgrab that is bound to happen when the countdown is complete at 12:01am on Saturday, or take my chances later on.

(The sad news for us is that since our business Facebook page is in its infancy and has thus far not been promoted to our clients and greater network, we will not meet the required 1,000 fans prior to May 31.)

Here’s a good recap of what this whole thing entails: on Inside Facebook and on Facebook’s own FAQs for profiles and for pages.

So why should you care?

Intern Blog 3: Facebook Business Pages…and Those Difficult-to-Install Applications

Posted by Christie Englert

I’m finishing up the third week of my internship at Beyondus, and I’m still working on the Facebook aspect of the company marketing strategy. I’ve created a Facebook page but am struggling with the applications. There are so many to choose from; it’s overwhelming! On top of that, some applications don’t finish installing, a number of owners don’t allow applications to be used on pages or groups, only personal profiles, and numerous error messages appear when I click to add the application…I mean you can only hit refresh so many times!

On a lighter note, the page is definitely coming together. It has an amazing picture designed by yours truly, an extended information tab, and links to the Beyondus website and blog among many other features. Not to mention, we already have 32 fans!

Now the question is “What next?” What other applications would benefit this page? Have you ever used Tag Biz Business Network? Oh, and how about the My LinkedIn Profile application? It can connect Facebook pages to LinkedIn accounts-how convenient! I read that the Static FBMC application was a must-have for business pages. Has anyone tried it? Let me know if you have any suggestions for creating Facebook business pages. Happy blogging!

Intern Blog 2: Advertising through Facebook?! Who Knew?

Posted by Christie Englert

It’s my second week as a Beyondus intern, and I have already gained so much more marketing experience than I ever would have just by sitting in a class room. I have been working on the company’s marketing strategy for the past week and a half, learning many different advertising techniques.  I was familiar with some tools, but there were several that I had never heard of. Who knew that networking sites like Facebook could be used as a marketing tool?

I have been using Facebook for years, uploading my pictures from the Niagara University Military Ball, leaving comments on my friends’ walls, and, of course, organizing my weekends with the Events application. These days college and high school students use this networking site to keep in contact with friends, but there is so much more that Facebook has to offer. Facebook has recently opened up to the general public; it’s no longer just for students.  According to Facebook it has over 30 million active users, many of which are part of Beyondus’ target market.  There is such an abundance of pages to be created and applications to install that Facebook has become a popular advertising tool for many companies.

The 2 ways you can work with creative talent – from Seth Godin

Posted by Karen Renzi

Seth Godin really hit the nail on the head with his concise description of the 2 ways you can choose to work with creative talent. Excerpted from his blog:

There are two ways to work with talent.

The first is to give someone as clean a sheet of paper as possible. “We have these assets, we have this opportunity, here is our budget, go!” That’s a great way to build a house if you have a ton of money and brilliant architects.

The second is to give someone as strategic and defined a mission as possible. “Here are three logos from companies in other industries, together with the statement we want to make, the size it needs to be, the formats we need to use it and our budget, go!” If you do this, you’re almost certain to get something you can use, and almost certain not to be blown away with surprise. Which is the entire point.

Confusing these two approaches is the #1 cause of client dissatisfaction when working with talent.

Intern Blog 1: My First Day as a Beyondus Intern

I was nervous as I pulled into the driveway of Alessandro and Karen Renzi’s home in Youngstown, New York a few weeks ago, not knowing what to expect. At first I was shy, but they made me feel right at home from the moment I walked through the door. After taking a glance at my resume, Alessandro looked up. “So you play soccer!” he said enthusiastically. I could see we were going to get along very well.

We sat and chatted for a while as I learned about more about Beyondus and how I would fit in with the company as an intern. “We’re like the shoemaker’s children” Karen said. According to an old proverb “the shoemaker’s children go shoeless.” She explained that Beyondus puts all of its focus on marketing its clients, but it has little time or energy to promote what their own company has to offer. That’s where I come in. My name is Christie, a senior marketing major at Niagara University and, as you now know, a big soccer fan. My courses at Niagara, like Integrated Marketing Communications, have provided me with the foundation to learn and grow as a marketer, but now it is up to me to take the next step to gain the experience through which I will continue my learning.

This summer I will be working with Alessandro and Karen to help bring their vision of Beyondus’s own marketing plan to life. My goal is to develop an innovative marketing strategy that Beyondus can apply to all forms of advertising, print, electronic, etc. I will then help market this concept to current and prospective Beyondus clients. The Renzi’s want to create a fresh look for Beyondus; I hope that I can provide them with the unique and creative approach that they are looking for.

Keep reading my weekly blog to follow along on my adventure as a new Beyondus intern!

To learn more about Beyondus, visit its website at http://www.beyondus.com/.