New Adventures in Social Media

I'll admit it: I'm a Facebook addict.

As a former member of the news media and an avid news seeker/reader/watcher, I'll also admit this: I log on to Facebook every morning BEFORE I even think about the news. (Sorry Posties!) I like reading about my friend's lives and opinions. And, because my friends are so informed, I even get my daily dose of news!

For example, yesterday the NFL playoffs were on TV, and I know that the Saints and the Colts won. Why? Not because I'm a fan, or was watching the games, or reading the newspaper this morning. Because I had a running commentary on my Status Updates page from all the Nola fans (WHO DAT??) and Indy natives who I work with or went to school with.

From a cultural standpoint, Facebook is also fast becoming the one place where I am notified of special events, or targeted for advertising EVERY DAY. And when I say targeted, I'm talking bulls eye. When I got engaged recently, the little square ads on the sidebar just changed from singles ads with pretty people to wedding ads with pretty people. I'm also targeted as a 32-year-old female. Is anyone else getting the Free Pair of Uggs from Wal-Mart because it's "32-year-old Female Gets a Coupon" Day? And I keep up with my social calendar by getting event invitations from friends and Fan Pages like my favorite restaurants and charitable groups.


This is a lesson — pay attention my 300 Facebook friends (and my exponentially growing list of friends of friends). Social Media is one of the fastest growing marketing and advertising tools out there. Big companies know it, and are using it.

Check out the Top 50 Companies Using Facebook Best, compiled by ABC News: http://bit.ly/6cqIMx.

After reading that, and visiting their Fan Pages, call me and see how I can help you do what the Top 50 are doing – converting friends to fans, and fans to customers.

Shiny Light Studios is now offering Social Media consulting and management. Please contact us at 561.703.3264 or email us to discuss how social media can help your business grow.

Drum roll please ...

Shiny Light Designs is now Shiny Light Studios!

What comes with our new name? A new slogan, for one: "Bright Ideas for your Business." This may not sound new to our current clients, who have experienced our creativity first hand. But we still get the question "What exactly do you do?" and we thought we'd clarify it: Shiny Light Studios is a creative services company that comes up with bright ideas to help you brand, market and advertise your business.

So why the change? The word 'Designs' just isn't descriptive enough to describe all of the things we do for our clients on a day-to-day basis. While graphic design is a big part of the picture, ultimately we are consulting, brainstorming, writing, advertising, and marketing our clients.

So update your Address Books! And we'll keep you current using this blog, Facebook, Twitter, and email as we relaunch our web site and continue to grow.

Oh, and we'd love to hear your feedback on our changes. You can either post a comment on this blog, or send us an email. Thanks! And Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays

I've been a neglectful blogger this past year. And now once again it is the holidays, and I am reflecting on the year gone by. It has been a good one - hectic, a little crazy - but a good one. And once again, more changes!

Keep an eye on Shiny Light Designs as we turn the corner into 2010. The biggest change is yet to come!

What I'm Thankful For

This year has gone by so fast — and so much has happened! I moved (twice!), my little brother got married, and I retired my first car and replaced it with a MINI. (Meet Lizzie Cooper, everyone!)



In fact, there were a lot of firsts this year — I survived my first year in business, I sold my first house, and I'm about to celebrate my 31st birthday.

Looking back, I am so fortunate to have been helped along the way by my amazing friends, family and colleagues. I am so thankful for you all, and never could have made it without your support, encouragement, patient listening skills, and love. This might sound a bit like an Oscar speech, but the Shiny Light award goes out to you all:

Mom and Dad, and my beloved Grandma Dear, for everything
Stephanie & Leslie, my Florida family
Kim Miller
Kimberly Armstrong
Chuck Moran, the best mentor in the world
The Perry's and The Softy's
Carol Geaney
Matt Sage
The Chesterfield Networking Group, for your support, business and advice
My Lake Worth friends
The Sunday Frisbee Crew
The Latin Beat Crew (who didn't know they were keeping me sane during the 60 hour weeks)
And all of my amazing clients!

Thanks from Shiny Light Designs!

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

If you have a web site, chances are you've heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. And if you haven't, then I can pretty much guess that your web site isn't attracting many viewers. Am I right?

(FYI, this is not a good thing if you are relying on the World Wide Web as a part of your company's marketing campaign.)

If you haven't employed an SEO strategy, then you are basically making it harder for search engines and web crawlers like Yahoo and Google to find you. Meaning when potential customers do an Internet search, the likelihood of them clicking to your site is low. Very low.

Don't worry. We are here to help. Basically, search engines rely on keywords, links and click rate formulas to find companies like yours online. These parameters help the search engines rank sites in their listings. The higher the rank, the higher up on the list a web site will land, and the more likely a customer will click through to your site.

You can get around this by purchasing a spot, say, in Google's AdWords. But every time a user clicks your link, you pay for it. And ultimately search engines rank "organic" sites higher than "paid-for" sites. And so do Internet users.

So, if you have a web site or are thinking of having one built, be sure to learn about optimization and implement those ideas from the very start. Check out this link: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291

Today's bright idea: Shiny Light Designs has a professionally trained staff with writing, editing and marketing experience, not to mention web design skills! Let us help you identify your marketing goals and optimize your current or new web site for maximum exposure online!

A resolution to own High Resolution images

One of the most common problems I come across when working with clients is that they don't keep high resolution versions of their logos or company images on file. And then they come to me to produce high-quality printed materials and they ask me "Lauren, why does our logo look so fuzzy?"

I'll tell you why — it's a low resolution image!

I'll save you from the long boring explanation about what that means exactly. But here's the simple rule: High resolution (300 dpi and up) will reproduce as sharp, clear images, from small to large (even billboard) sizes. Use high resolution images for print or overscale projects. Low resolution images (72 dpi, for example) are only going to be sharp when used on computer monitors. They are also very small in file size (we're talking Ks, not Megabytes), so most images found online are 72 dpi so that web pages load faster.

So if you are pulling images off the web, or even from your digital camera, double check their resolution. Chances are your snapshot isn't going to print very well! And your logo is going to be fuzzy.

Today's bright idea: If your company doesn't have a high resolution logo, call up your corporate office, or your graphic designer who created it, and get one for your files. Or call up Shiny Light Designs, and we'll create a fantastic-looking logo that is usable for all media — from print to web. The last thing you want to do is leave your potential clients feeling a little 'fuzzy' about your company!

Welcome to Shiny Light Designs's Blog!

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