Today we’d like to introduce you to Renee Bastermajian.
Renee, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
One thing that I have always known about myself though, is that I love to help others and watch them succeed. Growing up, my father owned a photo processing business called “New Color West” in downtown Chicago. Watching him run this business since I was a kid, made me appreciate the hard work and dedication it took to own a business while supporting a family of seven. Fast forward to May of 2007, when I graduated from my undergrad at Roosevelt University in Business Administration. Like many other recent grads, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, career wise. Deep down, I always felt and knew that working for Corporate America wasn’t for me but I still wanted to give it a chance and gain the experience at the very least. After going through a couple of marketing jobs, I landed a position that I REALLY enjoyed. This position was with the Bradford Group out of Des Plaines, Illinois, where I was an eCommerce Marketing Specialist. I was introduced to the whole world of digital marketing and it felt amazing! I had the opportunity and responsibility to handle the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns for all three of The Bradford Group’s websites (AshtonDrake.com, HamiltonCollection.com and BradfordExchange.com) taking care of the marketing for over ten thousand products.
After joining their eCommerce team, we were able to turn around the division from a $23,000 in loss from previous management to $418,000 in profit within one year! To cut costs down though, upper management decided to outsource a few of the eCommerce positions in June of 2011 to an outside marketing agency with mine being one of them. It hurt losing my job, but I also looked at it as an opportunity to start a new journey with my love of digital marketing. My ultimate goal was to start my own marketing business, getting the opportunity to help other businesses grow and succeed.
After a few years of saving up, working full-time along with continuing to do marketing work on the side, I officially launched my company, Digital Evolution Marketing LLC in September of 2016!
Has it been a smooth road?
In an ideal world, I wish I could say starting and running my business has been smooth! lol Truthfully, it has been a struggle and I am going through the growing pains of being a newer business like thousands of others. For every 1 yes that I receive, I have to go through a few hundred no-s. I hope, with time, the rapport I establish with my previous and existing clientele will help continue to grow by business. One thing I did not realize when starting my business is that on top of providing the marketing services itself, I am also taking on the role of being the “salesman,” which is A LOT harder and nerve wracking than I ever expected! Putting myself out there by networking, sending emails, making calls, etc. has tested me in ways that I never experienced prior to being a business owner.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Digital Evolution Marketing is a full-service marketing agency, specializing in digital marketing services. Our full list of services includes:
– Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
– Website Traffic Analysis
– Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing
– Website Design & Development
– Creative Writing
– Email Marketing
– Social Media Marketing
– Creative Branding/Graphic Design (Digital and Print Advertisements)
Our specialty is in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) along with website analysis. Many businesses don’t realize that being online is so much more than just having a pretty website designed and built-out. If your website is not fully optimized and utilized for the search engines than you will have a large portion of missing opportunities for new leads and revenue. Some interesting statistics that most people don’t know is that; 96% of Consumers search for businesses online and 77% of the searchers never go past page 1!
In addition, organic searches (Search Engine Optimization) gets over 90% of all the clicks that occur within the United States search results!
Once specific thing that sets us apart from others, is that we are 100% honest and dedicated to our clients. We do not take a company if we already have another client within the same industry and they are within less than 50 miles of each other. So, for example, if we already have a client that specialized in residential roofing and another company with the same services comes to us (and they are 15 miles away from our existing client), we will kindly turn them down. Most companies that work with marketing agencies don’t check if they are working with a near-by competitor, and usually they are! With every client we work with, we promise and sign a “Non-Compete” clause with them.
Our Vision touches upon 4 areas.
RESEARCHING: We understand there is no one size fits all marketing plan for businesses. To form a concise marketing plan, we first work on getting a full 360-view of our client. Understanding the client’s company, the industry, and their current marketing strategies.
STRATEGIZING: After a full and thorough review of the client’s vision and objective, we provide the proper marketing strategies to the most effective marketing channels. This will ensure your niche market will be receiving maximum exposure.
ANALYZING: With our in-depth analysis, we custom tailor each client’s objective. We see what previous and existing marketing strategies are working and which ones can be improved.
INNOVATING: We use the latest platforms across all marketing channels, that are proven to be effective for each unique client. By innovating, each of our clients are remaining market leaders within their industry.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
With my business being currently based out of the Northwest Suburbs out of Chicago, I am already seeing a lot of missed opportunities by not being directly in Chicago. The different businesses and individuals I connect with at networking events out of Chicago as opposed to the suburbs is significantly different, I am hoping to relocate my office to Downtown Chicago once my business grows and evolves, For anyone starting a business, if you can’t afford to be based out of Chicago, I would definitely recommend to still put yourself out there and network, network, network!
Pricing:
- A Follow-Up In Person Consultation is $150 (Refunded if Client Moves Forward with Project)
- A Follow-Up In Person Consultation AND In-Depth Project Proposal is $450 (Refunded if Client Moves Forward with Project)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DigitalEvolutionMarketing.com
- Phone: 630-635-5107
- Email: renee@digitalevolutionmarketing.com
- Instagram: renee_dem
- Facebook: facebook.com/DigitalEvolutionMarketing
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/digital-evolution-marketing-carol-stream
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
