When a reporter from the Greenville News came by our offices last week to interview our managing partner, Chris Manley, we expected a great story. But nothing this good! Chris was the feature store in the business section of the Sunday paper. Read the story here.

Chris was featured after winning the SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The story explored a lot about what makes Chris, well, Chris. It was a great honor for us and him.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Engenius managing partner Chris Manley will be one of the key speakers at the CREW Upstate Regional Conference Friday.

Manley will speak about tech tools that business owners can use to further their online presence. His program is based on a seminar that is part of the EngeniusU series.

CREW Upstate is a Chapter of CREW Network, a national organization with more than 8,000 members in 66 major markets across the US and Canada. The CREW Network represents a well-educated and experienced group of professionals and is focused on promoting business, providing educational opportunities, and sharing information among members at local, regional, and national levels.

The conference in Greenville focuses on professionals in the commercial real estate industry interested in making meaningful business connections during a conference addressing professional development, industry-knowledge and network-based programming. Other speakers include Knox White, mayor of Greenville, Michael Riordan, president and CEO of Greenville Health System, and Deb Sofield, an accomplished corporate speaker and coach.

About Engenius: 

Engenius is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and specializes in serving businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs through web design, mobile apps, and online marketing.  Learn more at www.engeniusweb.com.

GREENVILLE, SC – Everyone talks about social media, but what does it mean for a business owner?

That is the question that Engenius and the Clemson Regional Small Business Development Center will answer at the next EngeniusU seminar on Tuesday, May 7 at 9 a.m. at Clemson at the Falls, 55 East Camperdown Way in Greenville. 

“Social Media Without The Hype” focuses on how business really can use and benefit from making social media part of their marketing plan – and when it might not be worth the time to spend on it.  Come like the session, or plus-one it, or re-tweet it, or whatever it is that people do, and get a game plan for your business’ social media. Register at http://EngeniusSocialMedia.eventbrite.com.

The Clemson Regional Small Business Development Center and Engenius are hosting this series of seminars to help entrepreneurs and business owners.

"We see so many small businesses throwing resources at social media without seeing any results," said Chris Manley, managing partner with Engenius. "This seminar will help small business and nonprofit marketers better understand the right strategies to ensure results."

About Engenius: 

Engenius is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and specializes in serving businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs through web design, mobile apps, and online marketing.  Learn more at www.engeniusweb.com.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Chris Manley, cofounder of Greenville web design and development company Engenius, the 2013 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

The SBA’s Young Entrepreneur award honors a small-business entrepreneur under the age of 30 whose company has experienced outstanding growth and demonstrated considerable innovation and community involvement. 

Engenius was born from Manley’s own need for a solid, affordable website service. In 2007, Manley was unable to find an affordable yet competent provider to create a website for his non-profit organization, ReWiGo Ministries. Realizing this was a problem facing other small businesses and non-profits, Manley and partner Chase Finch decided that the best way to find a solution was to become the solution.

In January 2008, Finch and Manley, then 23, started Engenius to provide comprehensive web solutions to small businesses and organizations. Launched at the peak of the recession, Engenius’s initial growth was slow yet steady. In 2010, that changed when Engenius introduced the Top Hat services concept to provide small businesses with an even more affordable full web service package. Now known as the Small Business Website Package, it helped Engenius to more than double its number of clients that year.

By September 2010, Engenius had hired its first employee. Four months later, in January 2011, the company became a bona fide actual brick-and-mortar business with the opening of an office on Camperdown Way in downtown Greenville. One year later, Engenius moved across the street into its own building. Currently, Engenius has six employees and serves more than 130 clients.

With its roots in the non-profit world, the heart of Engenius is in service to others. In 2010, Manley launched the Engenius Grants program to provide non-profits with funding and in-kind support. Through its Grants program, Engenius has provided more than $40,000 in funding and pro-bono services. Manley also continues to run ReWiGo, which creates safe home environments for the elderly, disabled and impoverished.

Manley was nominated by Scott Whelchel, area manager of the Greenville Small Business Development Center. The SBA will recognize Manley and all other South Carolina award winners during the annual Salute to Small Business event on Thursday, May 23, in Columbia.

About Engenius: 

Engenius is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and specializes in serving businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs through web design, mobile apps, and online marketing.  Learn more at www.engeniusweb.com.

GREENVILLE, SC – The Clemson Regional Small Business Development Center and Engenius are teaming up again to host a series of seminars to help entrepreneurs and business owners.

EngeniusU classes are a series of seminars open to the public that focus on topics such as SEO optimization, social media networking and e-mail marketing. All seminars are held at Clemson at the Falls, 55 East Camperdown Way in Greenville. 

Seminars for this spring are:

Focused Web Marketing

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

Do you ever wonder if your message is reaching the right audience?  Are you stretched for time to keep-up with your e-mail newsletter, Facebook page, Twitter feed, LinkedIn requests, and actually write a blog all in the same week?  In one morning session, Engenius will help users uncover their target audiences, figure out their message, and develop an action plan for what web marketing mediums can best be used to grow a business without it becoming a full time job. Register at http://FocusedWebMarketing.eventbrite.com.

Social Media Without the Hype

Tuesday, May 7 | 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

It’s hard to walk down the street, read a magazine, or go to a business event these days without someone recommending social media for a business.  What exactly does that mean?  Can you really grow a business through it?  Should a business be on all of them?  These questions aren’t always easy to answer.  This seminar will focus on how business really can use and benefit from making social media part of their marketing plan – and when it might not be worth the time to spend on it.  Come like the session, or plus-one it, or re-tweet it, or whatever it is that people do, and get a game plan for your business’ social media. Register at http://EngeniusSocialMedia.eventbrite.com.

E-mail Marketing 101

Tuesday, September 17 | 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

Creating an e-mail campaign to stay in touch with fans isn’t a simple as picking a template, writing a few things, and pressing send.  This session will walk business owners through the options for e-mail marketing systems, how to keep an audience engaged, and what frequency to hit “send.”  Come join this event and make sure no one ever dreads seeing an e-mail from you again. Register at http://engeniusemailmarketing.eventbrite.com.

Optimize Your SEO

Tuesday, November 19 | 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

There’s not a business owner or marketer out there who doesn’t want their company showing up first in search rankings.  How does it happen?  ?  Does it really cost thousands of dollars every month to get there?  This seminar will dive into the basics of what search engine optimization (SEO) really means, what a business can do, and the questions to ask any professional offering their help.  There’s no question that SEO can be confusing.  This seminar will show concise a picture of SEOs that a business owner doesn’t have to be a tech geek to understand. Register at http://EngeniusOptimizeSeo.eventbrite.com.

About Engenius: 

Engenius is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and specializes in serving businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs through web design, mobile apps, and online marketing.  Learn more at www.engeniusweb.com.