I have generally enjoyed this class. It has gotten me off to a good start in expanding my graphics business into more well-rounded business model that includes marketing consulting. Beamer Consulting & Design will help small businesses drive sales and profit by helping them refine their message, creating strong graphics and website functionality and then making it pay with effective social media marketing activity. This class has introduced me to some of the tools to accomplish this goal.
What would make this class better:
Feedback. I feel like I am working in a vacuum. Although I get occasional feedback from fellow student, more would definitely be better. But the main thing lacking is constructive feedback from the teachers. I could really have benefited from a comment on my blogs, maybe once each week. Even some general comments on the student's blogs would have been helpful.
Optional Reading: It would be good if teachers could include links to relevant reading for the weeks assignments. Sometimes I didn't feel I got enough information on the subject we were talking about.
Student Comments: Make fellow students comments more important. I felt like the teachers were trying to make this happen but a lot of the time the comments were just general "good job" statements of very little value.
This has been a good class and I can tell our teachers are committed to making it a great class. Good luck to all in your future endeavors. I have enjoyed interacting with you all!
Becky
Monday, December 9, 2013
Schedule for Beamer Consulting & Design:
Between now and the new year I will continue to post relevant content on our Facebook page (which will be tweeted) and respond to all comment on the posts.
At the beginning of the year I will to build a LinkedIn profile for Beamer Consulting & Design. Then I will then update my graphic design website beckybeamerdesign.com by adding social media buttons for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. I will also add a "like us" button to the Thank You page (redirect after form send) of my site. After I do this I will post a link to my graphic design site on BCD's Facebook page. When I post a link I need to think of some way to promote my site. Any ideas?
In the new year we will continue the daily Facebook posting, add weekly posts on Pinterest and start a weekly blog post. The blog will be done by Dan, the consulting part of BCD. The blog will have personality but not be too personal. It will be an expression of who Dan and I are and how we think creatively and professionally. By blogging we hope to give our brand a personality that is creative, inspired, resourceful, conscientious, and relaxed. We will do this by linking business philosophies to life philosophies and showing our prospective customers how we can help them connect and engage with their end users. In short, we want the blog to emphasize how running a successful business is like creating a gratifying life and that both are all about creating great relationships.
My next step will be to work on placing an ad on LinkedIn that targets small businesses.
This schedule will keep me busy with my graphics work so I don't plan to add anything else for a while.
At the beginning of the year I will to build a LinkedIn profile for Beamer Consulting & Design. Then I will then update my graphic design website beckybeamerdesign.com by adding social media buttons for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. I will also add a "like us" button to the Thank You page (redirect after form send) of my site. After I do this I will post a link to my graphic design site on BCD's Facebook page. When I post a link I need to think of some way to promote my site. Any ideas?
In the new year we will continue the daily Facebook posting, add weekly posts on Pinterest and start a weekly blog post. The blog will be done by Dan, the consulting part of BCD. The blog will have personality but not be too personal. It will be an expression of who Dan and I are and how we think creatively and professionally. By blogging we hope to give our brand a personality that is creative, inspired, resourceful, conscientious, and relaxed. We will do this by linking business philosophies to life philosophies and showing our prospective customers how we can help them connect and engage with their end users. In short, we want the blog to emphasize how running a successful business is like creating a gratifying life and that both are all about creating great relationships.
My next step will be to work on placing an ad on LinkedIn that targets small businesses.
This schedule will keep me busy with my graphics work so I don't plan to add anything else for a while.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Comments on Fellow Student Blogs
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| http://thedavidcblog.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://jessicaipina.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://kyledonnellyy.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://gnometraveler42.blogspot.com/ |
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The social media we have learned about and used in this class:
Facebook: This is the social media we have spent the majority our time on. It is the most important for our business because it gets relevant content branded with our name out into the world. To make our business successful we need to keep our Facebook content relevant and compelling, and refresh it almost daily. We also need to respond to other post quickly to encourage dialog with our customer base. We can also encourage more engagement by combining creative advertising to drive awareness and then showing a more personal, human side when people land on our page.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn would be a great place to expand our business. Since it is a site for business people, we can more efficiently and effectively get our message out to entrepreneurs and small business owners. There are numerous business related Groups on Linkedin, such as "Small Business Network", which would be a great place to target with our first ad.
Twitter: We see Twitter as a great vehicle to expand our reach and amplify our signal. We will keep our twitter account connected to our Facebook page to help drive daily action.
Pinterest: Pinterest is visual, so it will be a key focus for the design division of Beamer Consulting & Design. I will continue to post my design work on Pinterest as well as images from other sources that I find compelling or inspiring. In a way Pinterest is a catalyst for the creative process at Beamer Consulting & Design
Newsletter: We intend to send out a newsletter for BCD on a quarterly basis. This seems like the right cadence for the more direct selling aspect of this communication tool. We will temper the selling aspect of our newsletter by adding a personal touch that allows our potential clients to get to know us. We may also include some promotional offerings to boost new leads. Our first newsletter will be an introduction to BCD.
Yelp: When our business gets off it's feet we will asks customers to write Yelp reviews about their experience with Beamer Consulting & Design. As we grow even larger, we may consider contracting with a company like Bazaar Voice, who specialize in syndicating reviews to all relevant channels for our business.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn would be a great place to expand our business. Since it is a site for business people, we can more efficiently and effectively get our message out to entrepreneurs and small business owners. There are numerous business related Groups on Linkedin, such as "Small Business Network", which would be a great place to target with our first ad.
Twitter: We see Twitter as a great vehicle to expand our reach and amplify our signal. We will keep our twitter account connected to our Facebook page to help drive daily action.
Pinterest: Pinterest is visual, so it will be a key focus for the design division of Beamer Consulting & Design. I will continue to post my design work on Pinterest as well as images from other sources that I find compelling or inspiring. In a way Pinterest is a catalyst for the creative process at Beamer Consulting & Design
Newsletter: We intend to send out a newsletter for BCD on a quarterly basis. This seems like the right cadence for the more direct selling aspect of this communication tool. We will temper the selling aspect of our newsletter by adding a personal touch that allows our potential clients to get to know us. We may also include some promotional offerings to boost new leads. Our first newsletter will be an introduction to BCD.
Yelp: When our business gets off it's feet we will asks customers to write Yelp reviews about their experience with Beamer Consulting & Design. As we grow even larger, we may consider contracting with a company like Bazaar Voice, who specialize in syndicating reviews to all relevant channels for our business.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Liking Pages and Insights
I was able to get to everyone in the class' Facebook pages, Like them and interact with a few of their post. I was interacting with my personal Facebook (Becky Beamer) on the first few but then noticed and change to Beamer Consulting and Design.
Defiantly a little more action on my Facebook page this week but only two more likes. It seems that people in the class are confused about how to like a Facebook page or maybe just busy with the holiday. Engagements on my page went up to 22 but only 5 comments and 2 likes. It looks to like people got distracted before finishing their homework. I can see from the Insights how much a little interaction on a post can increase the reach exponentially.
Defiantly a little more action on my Facebook page this week but only two more likes. It seems that people in the class are confused about how to like a Facebook page or maybe just busy with the holiday. Engagements on my page went up to 22 but only 5 comments and 2 likes. It looks to like people got distracted before finishing their homework. I can see from the Insights how much a little interaction on a post can increase the reach exponentially.
Google analytics
Since Beamer Consulting and Design is in its infancy I think the most important data to look at is the demographics of the people interacting with our Facebook page. When I start to advertise it will be important to see who the ads are reaching and which ads are getting the most action.
When I create a website and a blog for the company I will use Google Analytics to see the demographics of the people visiting them. It will help to find out the profile of the people that are interested in the content of our blog and in turn interested in Beamer CD.
When I create a website and a blog for the company I will use Google Analytics to see the demographics of the people visiting them. It will help to find out the profile of the people that are interested in the content of our blog and in turn interested in Beamer CD.
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