BMA Project GIVE co-sponsors its first community day with VLC.

BMA Project GIVE joined with Victorious Living Church (VLC) for “The Community Rebuilding Initiative Outdoor Event” that was held on September 29th at Mt. Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach. This unifying community event brought out friends, families, local kids, and neighbors who attended to build relationships, empower the community, and learn more about the new development programs launched by VLC to benefit the community, its residents, and its families. Some of the programs included VLC’s “Parents Get-A-Way Program” that provides supervised evening child care services once a month to families with children to allow the parent’s to have time to reconnect. VLC’s “Development Forums” which provides various educational seminars at their Virginia Beach facility that benefit families, organizations, and local businesses. This area event was free and open to the public and was sponsored by VLC and BMA Project GIVE with special thanks to Sam Clements of The Executive Source Business Group. 

Review pictures from the event: http://tinyurl.com/96xxbo3

BMA produces a video interview with Former VA Governor Tim Kaine in his race for U.S. Senate

BINCHMARK Marketing and Agency Services (BMA) produced a video interview with the former Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine. The former Governor is running to become a U.S. Senator in the upcoming election on November 6, 2012. During the interview Mr. Kaine discusses his views on important topics and issues that are of concern to voters in the upcoming election.  The video also includes an interview with one of Tim Kaine's biggest supporters, Dr. Keith Newby, Founder and President of Fort Norfolk Medical.

Watch the video: Click Here!
To learn more about Tim Kaine please visit www.kaineforva.com.

Meet, Greet, and Imagine Granby Street. Norfolk's first street festival. Epress news coverage brought to you by BINCHMARK Marketing & Agency Services (BMA).

Epress brought to you by BINCHMARK Marketing & Agency Services (BMA) was on the scene for a one of a kind street festival that was put on by the City of Norfolk called Meet, Greet, and Imagine Granby Street. The festival reached from Main St. to Charlotte St and was attended by Mayor Paul Fraim, members of Norfolk City Council, local citizens, news teams, and visitors from across Hampton Roads. This unique event was long overdue for the City of Norfolk that just gave local citizens and visitors a taste of what this city has to offer. There where performances from local musicians, exhibits by area artists, booths were represented by local vendors and non-profit organizations to citizens just celebrating Norfolk.

Even though the event was supposed to last a few hours, the fun and excitement of a Friday night on Granby combined with a heart pumping street festival carried conversations and dining through the night. As this occasion raised another eye on Norfolk's capabilities there was one question citizens asked over and over again which was - When will we do this again! So from all of us at Epress and BINCHMARK, job done refreshingly well Norfolk!

With events like these have you considered moving you or your business to Norfolk?

BINCHMARK creates a new promotional campaign for Frankie’s Place For Ribs called “Grab the Code”

BINCHMARK Marketing & Agency has created and developed a new promotional campaign for their client Frankie’s Place For Ribs.  This new promotion called ‘Grab The Code’, is an exciting new campaign Frankie’s Ribs customers are able to take advantage of great monthly promotional and special offers from Frankie’s. 

Frankie’s Ribs has won Best of the Beach since 2005 and been a favorite in Hampton Roads since the 1980's. Frankie's offers some of the best ribs and home cooked dishes in the Hampton Roads area.

BINCHMARK produces a new TV show for NTN called Inside The Interview

Below you can watch as host Chance Wilson interviews the multi-platinum selling rock legend and founder of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), Paul O'Neill live via satellite from New York. TSO has sold more than 7 million albums and has inspired millions of fans for years. TSO has become one of the world's top acts including a recent mention in Billboard magazine as one of the top touring artists of the past decade. TSO made the Billboard charts in 2005 and in 2010. The band has played to over 7 million people in 80+ cities, selling more than $280 million worth of tickets. 

BINCHMARK produces a new TV show for NTN called Love 2 Coot It!

BINCHMARK Marketing & Agency produces a new TV show for the Notice Today Network (NTN) called 'Love 2 Coot It'.  NTN's TV Show 'Love 2 Cook It' with host Chef M.J. Wilfong takes some of the most tasty dishes and shows you how the recipe comes to together with groceries you can actually find for the food you love. From what to cook for your house guest to preparing meals on the go, you will find it on Love 2 Cook It!


Below you can watch as Chef M.J. teaches you how to bring tapas home in a simple but tasty way.

Great Tips For Employers On Setting Your Salary Budget

As a company starting out it can be difficult to determine what salary and pay you should have in place for your employees. There are several factors to keep in mind when determining your range.  Remember you want to attract the best possible candidate for the job without running your budget into the ground. You also have to decipher a person’s salary by their job position. Take for example a sales position, if it’s this person’s job to bring in revenue to the company, if the sales they're generating covers their salary you can offer them a lower base pay plus commission. In this situation you have to monitor their sales to be sure this person is generating the revenue necessary for the company to maintain their position and pay. Also check with other company’s in the areas in the same industry to get an average salary range company’s are spending. Think about how valuable that person’s position is to the company, does a large portion of the company’s success depend on this persons position? For positions such as administrative staff you can possibly use a temp agency to start off for help or hire part-time employees if you fill you need assistance but not necessarily enough work for a full-time employee. For more information read full article. 

Get Your Answers And The Keys To Conducting A Good Job Interview

In order to find a good employee you need to conduct effective job interviews to find the right candidate. You have to be prepared when interviewing potential employees. Make sure you really familiarize yourself with the candidate’s resume and job skills so you can ask the right questions about their previous employment. Have several questions prepared that you want to ask them about their resume and scenarios about the job they are applying for to see if they are a qualified fit for the job. Ask open end questions as they will leave the candidate open to give a full detailed response so you can learn more about them. Also before you start the interview process know what you are looking for, make a list of qualities your seeking an in employee.

During the interview write down comments about the candidate such as how they answer the questions, how long it took them to answer, did they give short quick answers to everything or did they fully answer your question, how are they dresses, what where there mannerism while answering the questions. Writing down these comments will help you later when your reviewing which candidate was best suited for the job. Once your finish interviewing candidates don’t be afraid to conduct a second interview to get more in depth information on the candidate to see if your instincts about them were correct.

Business Card Basics

As a business professional it is important to make a good impression, so why do so many professionals overlook the obvious first impression they often give to their colleagues, their business card. Your business card is your opportunity to impress potential clients and customers with a positive brand image about doing business with you.

You have the do-it-yourself online tools to produce business cards but sometimes these cards are easily identifiable because they are not custom and used by many other people. Also when use the free do-it-yourself tools you need to remember to pay the extra charge to remove the signage on the back of the card that may say “This card was printed Free from ….”. You have to think about what type of message that sends to those people you’re trying to do business with? It may draw questions like, is this person going to cut corners when they are doing work for me?

Some helpful tips to a well designed business card include:

1) Get help from a professional designer – When looking for a designer review samples of their work to get an idea of their capabilities and style before you make a decision. This same designer should also be able to assist you with items such as your company letterhead, brochures, envelopes, posters, etc. so your branding is uniform.

2) Keep the standard business card size unless your confident the design of the business card is impressive. You can make changes to the standard business card to make it different such as having rounded edges or choosing complimenting color chooses or even printing it vertically rather then horizontally.

3) Make sure you include your contact information on the card but don’t go overboard with information. Keep it simple, include your name, company name & title, office number, mobile number, fax, email address, physical or mailing address, and website address. When possible include your company logo on your card for brand identification.

4) The back of the card can be left blank or your can add your company tag line/mission statement or brief bullets points of your services but don’t try to cram a lot of information on the back of your card.

The Power of 'Thank You'

In this modern age of technology, it’s the little things that still mean a lot even to your customers. A good old fashion handwritten thank you card in your own words goes a long way. It tells your customer that you took the time to personally write them a note of thanks. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated, you can say something like, “Just wanted to let you know we appreciate your business and look forward to our continued business relationship”. Another way to say thank you to your customers is to personalize the thank you. For example, you know your customer just had a baby or got married make a gesture to send them flowers, a gift certificate or an inexpensive gift just to let them know you had them in mind during this exciting time in their life. These small gestures help to build an ongoing relationship, trust and loyalty with your client base.

Hampton Roads Partnership recommends the services of BINCHMARK.

“BINCHMARK is a true believer in the importance of regional cooperation. Their production team helped the Hampton Roads Partnership-sponsored Regional Day 2011 live well past the event. They assisted us in planning and promotions. They were on-site to tape interviews with participants including former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, White House Chief of Technology Aneesh Chopra, and some of our region’s most promising entrepreneurs.

If you are looking for creativity, passion, and a professional touch to help you grow an idea, call on the BINCHMARK team to help."


Donna Morris
Executive Vice President
Hampton Roads Partnership

S.A.L.T. recommends the services of BINCHMARK.

“BINCHMARK helped me build a comprehensive marketing development plan for my business S.A.L.T which is a promotions and event development company.BINCHMARK has supported me through the entire process. I am very pleased with the way BINCHMARK developed and created the many services that I have used including the development of our website. Not to mention the way they created the media blitz for my company that was very impressive. The company's knowledge of the importance of utilizing social networking sites was very insightful to me and truly an eye opener.

Their ability to handle multiple complex projects and their ability to operate both strategically and tactically are the business skills and qualities which first come to mind when I think of BINCHMARK's team. My company has experienced tremendous growth in the last several months which I attribute all to their guidance. I highly recommend you use BINCHMARK for any of your marketing, media, management, and agency services. I plan to continue using BINCHMARK for all my future projects because they have made a difference in the way I now do business.”

Sharone Owens
Founder
S.A.L.T
Events & Promotions

Victorious Living Church recommend the services of BINCHMARK.

“In these days where church marketing and branding services can easily determine the success or failure of any business or ministry, the BINCHMARK team has met and exceeded all of our demands and expectations. From vision collaboration to marketing consultation, to business profiles, photography and website development services, the professionals at the BINCHMARK have consistently displayed the highest level of professional acumen. On more than one occasion, the advise of BINCHMARK was instrumental in adopting strategies and making decisions that led to significant cost savings during this time of economic austerity.

Though we are a relatively small church, Victorious Living was always treated as if we were the largest and most important client. We are extremely pleased with our overall marketing services and continue to receive numerous compliments from visitors on a weekly basis. It is with honors and my highest recommendation that I endorse the BINCHMARK as a team of high character and integrity. The BINCHMARK team is eminently qualified to handle any marketing project, small or great. Their contribution to your company or church will go far beyond merely increasing your bottom line or membership. I do not believe that you will ever regret your decision to hire them."


Pastor Rupert George
Founder
Victorious Living Church

Patriot Security Services recommend the services of BINCHMARK.

“I have not paid for any services from BINCHMARK, however, the free consultation I received was very informative and got me to realize things I had not paid any attention to in the advertising department. I would recommend BINCHMARK for anyone or any company who is looking for any advertising services, if you want to increase your bottom line. I plan on using them as soon as I am able."

Patrick Winslow
Owner
Patriot Security Services

Attracting Attention For Your Business

If you’re a new business, or maybe an established business looking for more exposure there are several things you can do to assist your business in getting media attention. Using Facebook and Twitter are great tools to communicate and connect to get your message out about your business but there are several other social media tools you can use as well. Posting a press release about your services, new products or promotional offers and submitting them for distribution on sites such as free-press-release.com or prlog.com can help get your message distributed on the internet. You should also not be afraid to connect with people one-on-one, in this age of technology don’t forget a personal connection can go a long way. Making a phone call and talking to people is still an excellent way to quickly build a business relationship. Build partnerships with other established businesses and share in cross advertising with their clientele to help spread your business. Don’t be afraid to set up speaking engagements which allow you to reach a large target audience at one time. During a speaking engagement you have your audience’s full attention to explain and answer questions about your business services or products. You may also want to get involved in sponsoring or donating your services to a benefit or charity function for increased promotion. Potential consumers enjoy hearing about organizations that give back to the community and the companies that are involved in giving back which can be your business. Not only are you giving back but you are also able to networking with a group of people you may not have otherwise been exposed to. Read full article

Choosing A Company Name

Choosing your company name is a very important part of allowing consumers to be able to identify and recognize your company brand. Your name should be unique and memorable by others. You should brainstorm different names over about a weeks time to see what you come up with, don’t just go with the first good name you think of, give yourself a chance to reflect on the name for a few days to see if you still like the name after your initial thoughts. Maybe run the name past some of your colleagues and friends to get their opinion. Another factor you should take into consideration is the length of your company name. Short names are easier for people to remember such as Forbes, Yahoo, Google, Paramount Pictures. There all short names, some unique but memorable. The creators of unique names such as Google and Yahoo took an even greater chance and made up their own words to stand apart from others but in doing so you should also be mindful of the industry and services your providing to the public. Such colorful names may not be 'acceptable' in every industry. Take for example a law firm, not to many people will be to confident about your services if your name was ‘Will Try’ Law Firm but if you had a name such as ‘The Howard Group’ it can be better perceived by the public be it the seriousness of the matter such as law. Read Full Article

You're our next assignment!

There are multiple reasons why customers choose BINCHMARK to assist them in developing their various projects, businesses, and organizations. Knowing if BINCHMARK is right for you depends on your work type. For example, there are customers who take pride in doing most things themselves. This person will probably not seek third party assistance. Then there are others that search for various companies for various needs. This customer may spend even more money in five difference places. The customers that BINCHMARK attracts are customers that look for one company to consult, develop, and in some cases manage their every changing demand of their business projects if possible. At BINCHMARK we are more than ready to assist where we can but what really sets us apart is our diverse experience with a myriad of past and present development projects.

It is because of this experience that prepares us to assist you with your road blocks as we search for realistic solutions. That’s why at BINCHMARK we simply do not take pride in how many services we offer but what we have accomplished for our clients in implementing and integrating these quality services. We spend valuable time assessing you’re goals so we are on the same page and then we build a plan of action to move us closer toward success. Building a relationship with us is building a relationship with people who understand that without proper assistance, any small task can become a career of setbacks that can make work truly uncomfortable. So relax, and let’s get the wheels turning on taking your project to the next level of development. So what are you waiting for? Let's go!

Behind Word of Mouth with Bobby & Chris

Behind Word of Mouth: Bobby said, “Wow, you guys are so unique and I like that!” Chris replied, “How so?” Bobby energetically said, “I've never seen a marketing company and agency publish a professional magazine, build an advertising platform, create custom web sites, manage a regional event from inception to receiving local coverage and obtaining multiple sponsors, producing multiple local TV show segments, and assisting small businesses and organizations with their marketing and development needs?”

Chris answered, “Well, that’s why we're called BINCHMARK. We have raised the standard of expectations and abilities of today’s marketing companies and agencies.”Bobby concluded, “BINCHMARK is one of the only places I've seen where being a one stop shop for developing your business or project is done with no reason to say it.” Hey everybody, read the various recommendations from our valued clientele as they represent the diversity of our capabilities, creativity, and our work. Let's start creating or increasing your word of mouth within your business.

How do you build business credit?

We all know personal credit is important but as a business owner have you thought about building business credit? A common mistake many new businesses make is conducting business under themselves as individuals instead of as a business entity. As a new business or even an existing business owner needs to understand that they need to establish their business as a stand-alone entity through incorporation (even if you’re the only one in the business). You need to let your business develop its own credit away from your own personal credit so if something happens to the business your personal credit is not in the line of fire.

There are some things you can do to help establish your business credit. After you register your business with the state (incorporation) you can call and obtain a Federal Tax Id number or EIN with the IRS. Once you have established your EIN you can apply for business lines of credit (do some research, you may find that there are some company’s that have special lines of credit offers and programs for new businesses). Once you establish the line of credit you can use it to make purchases but be sure to pay the bill in full every month. This will help your business develop a record of financial responsibility. Also with your EIN you can use it to establish your utilities such as your electric, phone services, a business banking account, etc. as opposed to using your personal information which also is important to building your business credit.

Another way to assist in developing your business credit is to register your business with Dun & Bradstreet which is one of the widely used business credit reporting agencies. For more information click here.

What are the benefits of having a social media platform such as Facebook?

As a business owner or professional it is beneficial to take advantage of trending changes in the market and as many businesses have discovered social media has become a popular and very useful way to connect with consumers and other professionals. Businesses have discovered using Facebook can assist them in finding customers they may not have connected with otherwise. A social media platform such as Facebook provides businesses the opportunity to build relationships and brand awareness with other professionals. It also helps drive traffic to your website, as well as creating an excellent way to communicate special promotions, contest, events, products, services and more with a large base of people at one time. For more information about the benefits of Facebook click here.