Frause makes top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies

This past week, Frause received word that it had made the top 100 Fastest- Growing Private Companies list in the Puget Sound Business Journal. This is the first time Frause has made the list. The Puget Sound Business Journal is a weekly publication that provides articles and information for the business world in the greater Seattle area.

In order to qualify for the award, each company must achieve year-over-year growth for three years running and have recorded revenue of at least $500,000 in 2005. If a company meets the criteria and is interested in participating, a representative from the company is required to submit revenues for the past three years. Then an independent accounting firm reviews and verifies the figures.

As an intern, I am excited and proud to be working at a firm that is still managing to be successful and grow in a struggling economy. After being at Frause for about a month and a half, I am able to see how an immense amount of hard work can pay off. Several of my coworkers spend long hours in the office and devote a great deal of energy to every detail for their clients. It is encouraging to see their hard work and dedication pay off and that they are recognized for it.

As my college graduation approaches, and with the tumultuous economy in the forefront of my mind, I find it is easy to become discouraged about future employment. Many of the conversations with my peers and professors center around the difficulties college grads have trying to obtain entry-level positions at jobs across the board. With these hard times, some companies lack the funds for entry-level positions.

While these are challenging times, economically, I am hopeful and excited about my future employment. After working at Frause, I have strong faith that hard work and dedication will pay off – even during this historic moment in our economy.

-Heidi Gill

Social Media: Part Deux

To continue our conversation on social media, it is important to understand the options. Most social media tools can be helpful to organizations if used correctly.

“Marketing via Facebook or any another social network needs to be done strategically, using a proper marketing plan. So many people have destroyed their businesses because they abused these networks,” explains Hillel Porath, founder and developer of Iyazam.com.

The most popular social media tools for organizations include:

Blogs
Blogs enable an organization to easily communicate and engage in conversation with their publics at any time. Currently, blogs are one of the most popular social media tools. Sites like Wordpress and Blogger offer organizations the tools to create their own blog quickly and easily.

Twitter
This is one of my favorite social media tools! Twitter is a great way to create a community and to quickly spread information by word of mouth. The site is designed for users to follow companies and individuals as they post short announcements throughout the day about news and discussion topics.

Once a Twitter profile is established and connections are built, the next step is to send out “tweets.” Tweets are 140-character postings that are read by whoever is following your Twitter profile. It is best to mix tweets with organic conversation and organization information. Make sure not to spam or over-tweet because this will turn people away.

Check out my Twitter page: www.twitter.com/ConsumingPR

Facebook and MySpace
Both Facebook and MySpace are social networking sites that allow people and groups to create personalized profiles, which allow for an online community. Organizations can use these tools to post announcements and communicate to their key audiences by responding to comments and questions.

Podcasts
A podcast is audio content, similar to a short radio segment, used to raise awareness about an organization or issue. This social media tool can be posted on a Web site and accessed with an mp3 player for people to easily access the information wherever they may be.

Once you establish a place for conversation between the organization and the audience, it is necessary to frequently update the site. Users will have an expectation for new content once a rhythm is established.

- Sarah Essary

Is it time to jump on the bandwagon?

This image is credited to trevormauch.com

Personally, I feel that many people in my generation fully get the importance of social media. Not only do the majority of us partake in it, we also understand it. In my journalism classes this past year, we were required to start a blog, set up a Twitter account and join LinkedIn. For an entire term, we followed our classmates and various practitioners in the blogosphere. By the end of the term, we were regular social media junkies.

Entering into the working world, interns are all faced with a seasoned generation of practitioners, some of who understand and partake in social media, while others do not. Over the next two weeks, Sarah and I will be writing a two-part series on social media. I will be explaining the importance of it, while Sarah will be explaining the implementation of social media tools.

Part I: The importance of social media
Why should companies blog? Well, there are several reasons. For starters, blogging is a great way to establish positive connections and communicate with your clients and community. Blogging is also a great way to speak out about a company’s, products or actions if they are brought into question by the media or other individuals.

Blogs come in all shapes and forms and can be written by anyone. Individuals often create a blog in order to share their views and opinions with others. Corporate CEOs often author blogs in order to connect and communicate with clients and the community. Newspapers, such as The New York Times, have multiple blogs on their homepage on a wide range of topics and interests. Blogs provide a great outlet for information on a variety of topics from new menu announcements at local restaurants to the unveiling of the latest new technology. Through blogs we are able to hear and share opinions and news with multiple audiences on a global scale.

Another useful social media tool that has become increasingly popular is Twitter. Twitter is a free microblogging tool that allows people to post short updates of up to 140 characters online. Once a profile is created, individuals and/or companies are able to go online and “tweet” about “what they are doing.” These tweets are a way to update friends, clients and coworkers with real-time information. Twitter can be used as part of a communications plan to help reinforce branding, update clients or even attract new traffic to your company’s homepage or blog. Some of the largest companies like Travel Channel, and The New York Times, or well known people like Jeff Jarvis or Barack Obama have Twitter accounts and blogs for people to follow.

Many large companies choose to participate in social media, but just like traditional communication tools, not all social media tools are for every organization. Regardless, it is important for every company to begin to educate themselves on the variety of social media and know the options.

Make sure you check back next week for Sarah’s post on the implementation of social media tools.

-Heidi Gill

Frause Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Saddle up with Frause as we ride in with 10 years of service! On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, Frause celebrated its 10th anniversary with a party at Herban Feast at Sodo Park in Seattle.

The night was full of mouth-watering appetizers and delicious drinks to accompany the Town & Country theme. Cowboy hats and penny loafers were the go-to fashion statement for the evening. Everyone had a wonderful time chatting with clients and good friends who helped us reach this important milestone.

Toward the middle of the evening, Bob Frause took the stage to thank clients and employees for an amazing 10 years of business. He also announced his plan to continue lead Frause for an additional 10 years.

Bob presented two awards: one to Duraflame for being the longest Frause private client, and another to King County as the longest Frause public client. Wrapping up the speeches was a video presentation or, more appropriately, a “roast” of BOB, which caused laughter to fill the building.

-Sarah Essary