Yes - We're Alive! It's True!

Big News at Tractor Beam Marketing!

Business is like a box of chocolates. You buy it, put it on the counter, and someone comes along and picks out all the good ones before you get a chance. (We love the square caramel ones...and the nuts...Mmm!)

Well okay, maybe it's not quite like that (unless that somehow made sense?). But one thing is for sure; things have a way of unpredictably changing. As most business people would know, the trick is adapting, adjusting and learning to bend the change so it works to your advantage.

You may have noticed we've been a little silent lately. It's actually been WAYYYYY too long, and for that we apologize. And yes - as you may have suspected, change is in the air (someone's been picking out the chocolates). After spending more than a year doing public speaking, online training and marketing consultation, we made some major adjustments in the past several months which introduced a part of our business which we had previously suspended. 

We re-introduced our web development & full branding design services, which has kept us very busy. And early in 2011, our biggest change occurred when Jake Bergen, our Marketing Director (he was a chocolate covered nut, we're quite certain), took on a reduced role in stepping away from Tractor Beam. Currently, Jake periodically resumes his role to act on a consulting basis for various clients.

Microtek Corporation Meets the Tractor Beam


James Rozak, the Creative Director at Tractor Beam has carried on with the program, and recently, a new alliance has been established. Tractor Beam has joined it's creative services with another local web development business, Microtek Corporation! The new alliance lends the marketing & branding talents of Tractor Beam Marketing with the incredibly gifted programmers of Microtek Corporation. Microtek Corporation is a well established business with a long successful track record of web services, with the capability to develop virtually anything imaginable for the internet.

James has long been associated with Microtek Corporation throughout the past 10 years, and the decision to act as the Creative Manager for Microtek was an easy fit. So standby for further updates as we bring further announcements regarding Microtek and Tractor Beam. James is currently working with the Microtek team to revamp their website and branding presence. We're looking forward to showing off the new website soon!

We have some more exciting news coming soon!

PRESS RELEASE: Social Skills: Facebook Basics for Business

PRESS RELEASE  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Social Skills: Facebook Basics for the Socially Awkward Business

Edmonton, AB - June 8, 2010 -  Entrepreneur and small business owner Jake Bergen has been using social media successfully in business for a few years; which in internet time is a long time. Seeing that these new tools were working for him, other small business owners began bombarding him with questions like:

“How are you doing this Social Media stuff?” 

“Can you help me get my business on Facebook?” 

“I can see that Social Media is working for you, but I have a Facebook page and a Twitter account for my company, and they are doing nothing to help my business grow. What am I doing wrong?”

From that demand his most recent venture, Tractor Beam Marketing (Inc.), was born. A self-described ‘Small Business Scientist’, he has spent years experimenting with many forms of marketing and social media, and the information he publishes are the results of his findings. 

For the past year he has been blogging, writing newspaper columns, training and speaking on Social Media and other subjects relevant to marketing. The latest addition to his arsenal of tools for small business owners is the eBook ‘Social Skills: Facebook Basics for Business’; which has just been released on his company’s website www.thetractorbeam.com. An Amazon Kindle Edition is forthcoming.

The book was written based on feedback from many small business people who are just getting started online, are not technical and have no idea where to go first. It is written simply, and from a user perspective rather than from a technical one. It is Jake Bergen’s opinion that a lot of the information currently available on Social Media is written for a tech-savvy audience, with the majority of business people who really need this information being totally forgotten about.

The reader is walked step-by-step through not only how to properly create a personal and business presence on Facebook; but the book also addresses strategies needed to be successful in engaging clients and prospects. Directed primarily to small business, the subject matter of this book also has ramifications to larger companies and non-profit organizations; as well as franchise and network marketing businesses.

“I want to let people know what is working and what isn’t. That way I can spare them the pain of wasted efforts, and help them get straight to the good stuff.” Mr. Bergen says. “Don’t be a social media misfit. A Facebook Business Page is the best thing you can be doing for your business online right now.”

# # #

Contact:

Jake Bergen, Marketing Director

Tractor Beam Marketing Inc.

www.thetractorbeam.com

jake@thetractorbeam.com

780-289-2262

PO Box 46138, 2350 - 24 Street

Edmonton AB T6T 0K8

A No-Cost Lesson in Better Marketing

Tractor Beam Launches First Free Lesson in Small Business Marketing Course

Edmonton, AB - May 12, 2010 - Instead of just telling people why they are different, Tractor Beam Marketing Inc. has decided to show them.

Small businesses around the world are in dire need of direction in their marketing; and require tools to expand their knowledge and understand the real-life applications of good marketing. The mantra of Tractor Beam has been “Low-Cost, High-Impact”; and now they are making two of their self-paced online courses, referred to as PODs, available for no cost on the Tractor Beam Marketing website.

With a different take on business education, Tractor Beam is becoming noted for using entertainment to make business learning fun; and enjoyable learning leads to higher retention of information. Business people who are looking for better knowledge can be tired at the end of the day. To engage in learning on their own time, these individuals need something to stimulate their minds and not put them to sleep.

The first of the two free PODs introduces the setting of the story that is used as a backdrop for teaching marketing principles. It is purely entertainment; an interactive, slightly off-the-wall and graphically-enhanced story with elements of drama, action, romance and comedy. Marketing is more than just advertising, and the second POD introduces the Marketing Cycle; a marketing system that is explained in a very easy-to-understand fashion. Printable course notes and exercises at the end of the POD are designed to be the start of a marketing manual, a valuable piece of documentation for any business.

Tractor Beam was founded early in 2009 by experienced entrepreneur and marketing expert Jake Bergen, and business partner James Rozak, a visionary and accomplished creative force in branding and media design. Aside from creating online tools for business, the Tractor Beam guys conduct live shows. Jake is also the author of ‘Venture Hype’, a business and marketing advice column, and is working on a how-to e-book on Social Media for Small Business.

Tractor Beam Marketing strives to raise the bar continually. They are always seeking opportunities to network, ally and join forces with other companies, particularly in the entertainment industry, and would like to take their ideas and innovation to other forms of media, such as print and film.

www.thetractorbeam.com

Media Contact:

Jake Bergen, Marketing Director

Tractor Beam Marketing Inc.

phone: 780.289.2262

email: jake@thetractorbeam.com