Gene Bonanno Makes WSI President's Circle

This month, Gene Bonanno, owner of WSI - The Bonanno Group, Inc., was inducted into the WSI President's Circle for 2009. This honor is given to an elite group of top earning WSI Consultants within a specific tenure. Gene was admitted into the tenure of 5 years.

Congratulations Gene!

Another Franchise Expo Down

Thanks to Gene Bonanno and Bonnie Reisland for making the trip out to the east coast this past weekend to represent WSI at the New York/New Jersey Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo.


The show was held on April 18th and 19th and several thousand people came out for the event. Gene and Bonnie were on hand to explain the benefits of the WSI franchise system to folks interested in attaining financial independce and the freedom to be their own boss.

Email Spam Bad for the Environment

In the spirit of Earth Day and my ongoing commitment to be "greener," I thought these were some interesting facts to share...

1.) The annual energy related to email spam totals 33 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh)
2.) That equates to the electricity consumed in 2.4 million U.S. homes
3.) It also creates the same greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 million cars using 2 billion gallons of gasoline
4.) Surprise! The US is the leading spam-relaying country in the world; we account for 17.5% (2008 stats)
5.) Surprise again! The US also leads in total emissions from spam - 3.8 billion kilograms of CO2 (2008 stats)

UNREAL!

So what can we do about it? Your first step should be to install an effective spam filter. Spam filtering saves electricity and will help reduce the energy waste assosciated with spamming. 80% of the energy waste generated from spam is created by end-users deleting it from their inboxes. So, if it never gets to you, you don't have to waste the time and energy to get rid of it! Genius.

Reference articles:
The Carbon Footprint of Email Spam Report - McAfee
Spam Harms Environment - eMarketer

What the Tweet?

I'm sharing this article because like many of you, I liked the idea of Twitter but was a bit confused about the practical purposes of it for small and medium-sized businesses. This post from Chris Brogan's blog titled "50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business" will hopefully inspire you and your business to start utilizing Twitter more.

Here is a summary of my favorite ideas Brogan shared:

Listen for your name, competitor's names and words that relate to your business.
Post about relevant news in your industry.
Add a human element to your company by talking about non-business-related topics.
Tweet about what interests you, not necessarily what you're doing.
Use it as an opinion poll and ask questions - you will get results.
Enhance your customer service by responding and reaching out directly to your customers.

Social Media and Job Recruiting

As a young professional who dabbles with a lot of social media tools, I found this article particularly interesting: Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? By: Boris Epstein

Basically, the article discusses how job recruiters have a harder time than ever filling positions as social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn provide an overload of qualified candidates at their fingertips. To separate yourself from the masses, the article then provides some GREAT tips on how to responsibly participate in the social media conversation to enhace your job opportunities.

I would suggest taking a few minutes to read the article to view Epstein's tips on using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter as well as managing your blog and personal brand in Google results.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) On the Rise

In a previous post called “Getting New Customers In a Recession,” I discussed the various types of search engine marketing and why they are so important to businesses looking to do more with less these days.

According to a recent study by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), search engine marketing (SEM) is one area of advertising that is thriving in this harsh economic climate. (No surprise there.) In fact, numbers rose from 2008 to 2009 and are expected to sustain their growth over the long term. It is estimated that the total SEM spend in 2013 will reach $26.1 billion.

It has become clear to businesses that search engine marketing is a critical part of their success. What was once seen as an afterthought in terms of advertising is now front and center. So, why are advertisers relying so heavily upon SEM?

1.) Search engine marketing is quantifiable. It allows advertisers to clearly see where their dollars are being spent and what type of ROI they are receiving from their campaigns.

2.) SEM drives pre-qualified leads to your site. A good search engine marketing program is designed to generate targeted traffic for your site. The keywords/phrases and ad copy included in your campaign are developed to filter out the types of visitors you don’t want, and focus in on those you do.

3.) Search engine marketing can address several advertising goals. It can help build brand awareness, promote an event, drive more sales, etc. It is a medium that has wide applicability.

You can read more on the 2008 State of the Market survey by SEMPO here. If you are interested in putting together an Internet Marketing strategy for your business, please contact us.