Welcome to Brenda Segna SEO Services and SEO Copywriting Blog

Friday, May 10, 2013

Michael Mace Billings MT

From Resume.com An executive with long experience in the private sector, Michael R. Mace was chosen in 2005 as president of Rocky Mountain College specifically because of his business acumen. The private, liberal arts school in Billings, Montana had suffered five consecutive years of budget deficits but during his tenure Mr. Mace has engineered a remarkable financial and academic turnaround at the school. Within a year and a half, Michael Mace had eliminated Rocky Mountain College’s operational deficit and reduced the college’s overall debt by 20%. Before he came to Rocky Mountain College, Michael Mace had spent more than 15 years as the founding partner of Sterling Acceptance Corporation/D&M Industries, one of the nation’s leading value-added manufacturers and distributors of doors, windows, and other building supplies to residential and commercial clients. His accomplishments at D&M Industries include presiding over a 12% annual revenue growth rate and growing earnings per share by more than 21%. He also helped pioneer the key-card lock movement in the American hotel and lodging industry. In 2005, he sold D&M Industries and was named president of Rocky Mountain College, whose Board considered the business sector its best resource for leadership in helping the college overcome its persistent budgetary and accreditation issues. Through a combination of administrative savvy and financial expertise, he has helped RMC balance its budget, reaffirm its accreditation, and increase enrollment by 59%. He will be retiring from the RMC presidency in 2013 in order to re-enter the private sector. Alongside his work with RMC, Mr. Mace stays involved in his local community. A former board member of St. Vincent Hospital, he works closely with charities such as the American Cancer Society, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Peace Institute. Mr. Mace holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus in accounting and finance from Montana State University. A graduate of the Minnesota Executive Program at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson Graduate School, he has also completed an Institutional Education Management program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Objectives As the President of Rocky Mountain College, Michael R. Mace oversees an institution that is ranked by US News and World Report as one of the Top 10 liberal arts schools in the western United States. Education Harvard Graduate School Of Education Harvard Graduate School of Education, Boston, MA Graduated: July 2011 Grade: Institutional Educat University Of Minnesota - Carlson Graduate School University of Minnesota - Carlson Graduate School of Management, Minneapolis, MN Graduated: January 1996 Grade: MBA Montana State University Montana State University, Bozeman, MT Graduated: January 1974 Grade: Bachelor of Science Employment History January 2005 – Present: President Company: Rocky Mountain College Billings, MT Appointed president after 5 year college financial crisis because of business background. January 1989 – January 2005: Founding Partner Company: Sterling Acceptance Corporation/D&M Indu Fargo, ND Privately held asset holding company with investments in emerging middle market assembly manufacturing construction supply firms - Senior Level, Self-directed Entrepreneurial Executive. o Directed company revenue growth at an annual compound rate of 12%; Earnings per share growth at 21½%; Return on Stockholder equity at 26% January 1975 – Present: Owner Company: Mace Holdings LLP Billings, MT •Past General Contractor - Land and Housing Development; Annual Development and Construction Revenues, $13,500,000; Self employed in college as a general contractor under the Farmers Home Administration Housing Programs including land acquisition and development. •Originated Mutual Mortgage Group as an extension of corporate construction activities at Mace Holdings Inc. Grew into an FHA Direct Endorsement Underwriter, packaging and selling into securitized mortgage pools for small rural Montana banks. [Sold to Montana banking institution in 1988] •Former Montana Real Estate Broker – Certified Commercial Investment Member, National Association of Realtors; 1983 CCIM Certificate #1913 oConsultant Specialization – Alternative Conflict Resolution and Principled Negotiation in reference to troubled bank real estate credits. •For Profit Board Member – Coal Black Liquids LLC – Coal Black Liquids LLC – Development and commercialization of CO2-neutral biological conversion of North Dakota/Montana coal for agricultural fertilization and environmental remediation. Professional Skills Finance – Expert Hobbies & Interests Past Board member of St. Vincent Hospital, past board member of Head Start, past board member of Rocky Mountain Bank, past board member of guardian technologies. Rotary member. Support American Cancer Society, the Boys and Girls Club, the Peace Institute, the Yellowstone Art Museum. Supports the Billings Symphony. Past President of the Frontier Athletic Conference Counsel of Presidents NAIA, Fly Fishing, hiking, hunting, theatre both musical, symphony and opera.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Reputation Management 2013 by Brenda Segna

One of the biggest things that we can do for any brand in 2013 is to stay on top of the reputation management. In our world of Social Media and so many sites where you can add content about anyone there has never been a greater need for reputation management. A case in point is Manti Te'O's Twitter hoax! He convinced the world that he had a girlfriend, unfortunately this bad press about Manti Te'O is true and he will have a lot to overcome and it won't be easy. Once it's on the net, it's on there for good. But unlike Manti Te'O there is bad press on Facebook for brands that is not true and uncalled for, some from misguided souls, enemies and bullies. Some bullies never grow up. Bullies are mean and don't think twice of ruining the reputation of a brand online. They don't think and don't care about consequences, they let their anger and hatred fuel them and drive them. But what does this mean for the Brand? It means you need to stay on top of all information put on the web about you. You need to share so much positive information, truth about your brand on the web. When you respond to the negativity, never attack, always respond positively. Don't get in a pissing match on the web with your bully or hater. It will only hurt you in the end. To find out what is being said about your brand on the web, signup for Google Alerts! This will enable you to stay on top of things. If someone comments or posts negativity about your brand, remember to only come back with positive comments. "Brenda has helped me understand Brand Reputation Management and has done a great job for my company," said John Baugues of John Baugues Coal.
john baugues
john baugues

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Brenda Segna Gets Down To The Basics

I love my job and every day brings new fun and new challenges. I have never been one to shy away from challenges, but I don't like being mean to people. And being mean is how some people choose to be online. Being mean, bullying, it doesn't end in high school. Some people just don't know when to stop! They don't get the facts straight and even when they are supplied they facts, they are so engrained in their negativity, their anger, their hurtfulness that they just don't know when to stop and they won't. They don't care if they hurt people, they don't care about anyone or anything but themselves. And because they don't care, I have clients who come to me for reputation management! Unfortunately reputation management or cleaning up all of the garbage online takes a long time. Especially if the bully keeps on attacking and won't back down. I have my bully that I deal with and just the time I think it's under control, she comes back at me attacking again. So for me it's an ongoing thing! Reputation Management isn't always easy. I have a client who has a bully in his life too. His bully pays thousands of dollars each month to keep attacking my client online. The lie that he is spreading is intended to destroy my client. Business can be so competitive that people will do anything to destroy a competitor. You don't have to be in politics to have a smear campaign done against you. My biggest piece of advice, if there is negative info about you or your company online, don't wait, get on top of it as soon as possible and keep on top of it! It's time we all take a stand against bullying online!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

John Baugues, Jr. and Coalmine Development Fundamentals: The Right Location

John Baugues, Jr. and Coalmine Development Fundamentals: The Right Location With global energy demand on the rise, John Baugues Jr's coalmine investments illustrate the benefits of seeing - and filling - a critical need for natural resources. Coal fuels over 40 percent of worldwide energy generation, though it also finds significant use in steel production, cement manufacturing, and as a liquid fuel. With large proven coal reserves, the United States is in a favorable position to supply much of the demand - and smart coalmine developers like John Baugues and others are investing now to be a part of that supply chain. John Baugues Jr's initial investments in the Bull Mountain mine in Montana effectively kickstarted a trend to pursue untapped coal reserves in the "Treasure State" after little new mining activity in the state for several decades. Similarly, John Baugues Jr's development of a new coal mine in West Kentucky underscored the region's significant resources and their ability to meet rising demand for fuel used in pollution-cutting utilities. Domestic energy needs rely heavily on domestic coal production, and John Baugues Jr's shows that investing in local coal reserves to meet those needs is a winning strategy. Not only will John Baugues Jr's projects supply a needed resource, but they'll also generate new jobs and increased tax revenues for local communities. The lesson: with domestic and international coal demand on the rise, the time to invest in coal development is now.
john baugues
john baugues

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Social Media Marketing and Ethics

What has happened to us since we've gone online or the internet has taken over our lives? I have never witnessed so much dishonesty or so many people try to swindle others!

For us here at Blast creative, we spend a good amount of time each week, correcting or cleaning up after businesses who have taken advantage of the innocent! It gets old after awhile and I have to admit, I wonder when people will still pooling their resources and go after these companies that are swindling them out of their hard earned cash!

Social Media Marketing, search engine optimization, online marketing, none of it comes cheap, it costs money, but you should get what you pay for and you shouldn't have to worry about getting ripped off. We need to start at least reporting these businesses to the Better Business Bureau so that they can compile a list and other business owners don't fall into the same trap!

If you need affordable, reliable social media marketing, online marketing, search engine optimization or web design, contact us at Blast creative, we are happy to help! We are honest, hard working and always deliver what we promise!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Social Media Marketing Tips by Blast Creative and Brenda Segna

Here is another great social media networking tip brought to you by Blast creative and Brenda Segna.

The most frequent question that I get asked is what time of the day should I make my posts on Facebook and Twitter and how often should I post?

The answer is going to vary depending on your target audience. Who is your target audience? What age range? What demographic?

If you are targeting high school teenagers, you don’t want to post before school gets out—for most that’s between 3 to 4. If you’re targeting college students—you have more flexibility if jobs don’t interfere.

For stay at home mom’s, early morning, mid-morning, early afternoon and evening. They have more flexibility with their time and typically spend a little more time on Facebook and Twitter.

Business Owner and Marketing Professionals-they are doing social media networking all day long and into the evening. Your posts for this genre have the best chance of reaching their targeted market anytime.

The general population-people working 9 to 5-you need to post early morning, before 7 a.m. or late evening after 8 p.m. They may check their pages on Facebook and Twitter periodically throughout the day on their cell phones, but the apps on cell phones are limited. So if you want to be sure that you reach your targeted audience, post before 7 in the morning or after 8 in the evening.

How often should you post? The first thing to remember that is people can get sick of all your posts rather quickly and can “unfriend” or “unlike” you with one little click of the mouse! I recommend a minimum of 5 posts per week. 1 per day, Monday thru Friday! Don’t make all of your posts about business either. Nobody wants to get hit up with a sales pitch every time they log-in into Facebook or Twitter.

Use positive quotes, funny videos from YouTube, share something about your business that is personal. A charity event, a night out with staff and post pictures! You can tag your friends in the pictures and all of their friends will see it!

Have different staff members make post—they should always identify themselves so that everyone knows who they are talking to!

You have the potential to reach the largest audience in history if you utilize your Facebook and Twitter pages correctly! Be smart, have fun and watch your ROI go through the roof!

For more information on Social Media Marketing, Web Design, Facebook and Twitter Page Designs or any of your marketing needs, please contact Brenda Segna at Blast creative today!

Every Company/Business No Matter What Size Needs To Be Social

By Blast creative and Brenda Segna

When I first joined Facebook it was to reconnect with high school classmates, to share pictures and updates with relatives who lived in Canada, Italy and across the country. But today, Social Media has revolutionized the way that we do business! Social Media Sites assist companies to give up to the date information to their clients and to receive comments and/or feedback from their clients/customers instantly!

Social Media has become the key to many companies, celebrities, and non-profits success. Has your company tapped into this powerful market yet?

According to The Wall Street Journal, the city of New York is seeking to hire an in-house social media specialist to handle their Facebook and Twitter accounts, confirming the fact that Social Media is the new frontier! It used to be that you had to run ads in the newspaper or magazines to reach your targeted audience, not anymore, thanks to Social Media Sites!

Should you tweet or use Facebook? Absolutely and use both! These social media platforms provide a powerful stage for success! For most of us, these sites have proven invaluable, driving sales and awareness like no other tool in history has done before!

If you are a new startup company, then part of your strategic planning should include social media sites! Part of your marketing budget needs to be earmarked for Social Media Marketing if you want to succeed in today’s world and stay steps ahead of your competition.

The world of Social Media is massive, the do’s and the don’ts, how to reach your targeted audience and the list goes on. It overwhelms many business owners and that is where Blast creative comes into play. They have a finely tuned process that enables them to gain the right exposure that will drive sales and company awareness for your business.

Business owners need to realize the importance of Social Media Marketing and the ability of these social media sites to gain the attention of your targeted market.

Blast creative assists business owners like financial, photographers, dentists, hotels, restaurants, construction, HVAC, hardware stores, real estate and others by managing every aspect of your social networking experience. We know all the social media lingo, we are continuously attending seminars and classes to learn the latest applications and tools, Blast creative can make a buzz about your business that will make an impact.

Over the past 5 years there has been a dramatic increase for Social Media Coaches/Specialists to assist business owners to correctly run their social media campaigns so that businesses are effective in obtaining customer attention and interaction!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an established business or just starting out, the use of Social Media in the year 2010 is key to the success of your business. This path of awareness supersedes traditional marketing paths and puts a real value on the customer base you are targeting. Word of mouth can now be found on Social Media Sites!

For more information, contact Brenda Segna at Blast creative today!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Basic Facebook

If you would like to learn more about Facebook, then sign up for my Basic Facebook Seminar on my Facebook page. Basic Facebook Webinar for beginners. If you own in a business in financial, photographers, dentists, hotels, restaurants, construction, HVAC, hardware stores, real estate and others, this is for you. Everything you need to know about setting up your account, finding friends, uploading and tagging photos, creating profiles, groups and like pages. Learn to grow your business on Facebook.

Basic Facebook Webinar Topics
1. How to Set-Up Account
2. Facebook Layout
3. How Facebook Works
4. How to Deal with Long Lost Family Members
5. Your Profile Picture
6. How to Upload & Tag Photos
7. How to Write a Note
8. How to Post a Link
9. How to Upload a Video
10. How to Upload & Tag Photos
11. How to Create a User Name
12. How to Find Friends
13. How to Create a Group and a Fan Page
14. How to Invite People to an Event on Facebook

Friday, January 8, 2010

5 Big Things That Will Impact You with Google Caffeine

1. Social Media Sites is where it’s at! Twitter and Facebook have moved up in the ranks. With Google indexing Twitters and Facebook syncing it’s post with Twitter. This is good news for the little guy who is working his social media sites; this can really help with your search updates.

2. On and Off the Site Optimization Still Counts! When it’s all said and done, best practices still apply. Staying focused on this area keeps your program focused on gaining sustainable long-term natural search benefits, and not taking a backward-looking approach that just may jeopardize future returns for the sake of trying to spare last week's positive algorithmic bias. This means paying attention to core elements like content, link structure, site architecture and structure, promotion in the right offsite networks, and all other general best practices.

3. The index size, or “competition,” of single keyword search relevance will increase. Your web site will compete against a larger pool of web catalog pages indexed for single word brand or head terms. It appears that Google will index more pages on the Web, so the prospective “results pool” will be greater and thus more competitive for those trying to get to the top of the page. This adds value for searchers because it will possibly increase the preciseness of results.

4. You’ll see a boost in relevance for long-tail searches.In contrast to the increased number of pages being indexed for single word brand and head terms, the index size for multi-keyword phrase searches in Caffeine appears to yield less competition via Google’s Web catalog / Index. Therefore, if Google were to get a “Caffeine” jolt, your pages would likely compete against a smaller pool of pages for more exacting searches. This might be the key to Google’s logic when it comes to improving accuracy. This could also give larger brands an advantage for their product and deep level pages, which could potentially see a boost in relevance for long-tail searches.

5. You’ll get results (SERPs) in half the time, on average.While it would be hard to notice with the naked eye, the new engine appears to generate SERPs in half the time. This would improve usability and user experience on Google. After all, searchers want accuracy– but they also don’t like waiting around.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

SEO Services In A Tough Economy

I don't know of anyone who isn't feeling the pinch in these tough economic times. Now more then ever businesses need good SEO services and Internet marketing to drive traffic to their sites. There are several things that can be done that to increase your sites page rank and drive traffic to your site.

A good SEO Service Provider and Internet Marketing Company will review your site and customize a plan that meets your needs and your budget. SEO is not rocket science, but it is time consuming and needs to be done consistently in order to see results.

At BLaST creative we have learned from years of experience that when doing white hat seo and organic seo that it typically takes 3 months before you start to see results. And depending on the competition and what they are doing as far as SEO, it could take longer.

Some things that you can do to help increase traffic to your site as well as increase your page rank and search engine listing.

1. Meta tags-if your site doesn't have them, they need to be added, especially a good description and keywords.

2. Heading tags, alt tags-if you currently aren't utilizing these on your site then you need to update them.

3. Content-is it fresh and does it contain the keywords that you are trying to target? If not you need to update this as well.

4. Backlinks-Google just changed their algorithm again, you need to get relevant organic backlinks for your site.

If you own a business in these genres, financial, photographers, dentists, hotels, restaurants, construction, HVAC, hardware stores, real estate or any business, and are interested in more information on SEO Services and Internet Marketing, please contact BLaST creative today!