Lexington

“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” — Raymond Lindquist

photo by Shaun Ring

Our shared studio space with Shaun Ring Photography on Walton is no more. Moving our office wasn’t something we had planned, nor was it really on the radar. But sometimes it’s the unexpected that turns out to have been the best plan after all. Sure, the studio in Warehouse Block on Walton was amazing and incredibly cool, but this new space is coming together. It feels just right, feels like home.

Because it is. Our office is now located in the Hartland neighborhood off Tates Creek Road, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. There was a bit of an uneasy feeling to leave behind the space that we had been so comfortable in for the past five years. It was more than concrete flooring, exposed beams, and swiveling barn doors. The space was dreamy and airy. Make no mistake clients, strangers, and friends felt the energy when they walked in.

The new office was put together by our friend, Wendy, and is 100% Serif Group. A business that started out of a home 17 years ago has circled back to a new home. You’ll find us older, wiser, yet just as comfortable and even more courageous than ever. If we haven’t seen you in awhile, you’re welcome to come by for a chat and a snack. Or we can meet you at our other favorite work space — any local venue that has wifi.

Oh, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how the tables turned in our relationship with Shaun Ring. We got to be his real estate client as he helped us buy our new home and sell our old home in record time. The process couldn’t have gone more smoothly. 

One of our favorite platforms is website design. The internet is an interactive, 24/7, living and changing extension of your brand. Personally, almost every buying decision I make involves a web search for reviews, pricing, coupons or location. A business without a web presence is rarely considered an option.

Our small group can build your brand and a cohesive image from the ground up—carrying it through from print to website design—start to finish.

The sites designed by Serif Group consider the user experience and are easy to update. We put the tools in your hands to do that. No more nickel and dime billing to update a phone number, photo or calendar. Unless you’d prefer to avoid the hassle, of course. We maintain several client sites and social media campaigns.

There are tricks of the trade to get a website to appear high in rankings when people search the web. This is called SEO (search engine optimization). The Serif Group has these skills, and the efforts to optimize your website can be as simple or vast as your budget allows.

Sample website design

Check out some of the sites we’ve done both branding and website design for, and let us know in the comments what you think.

• Shaun Ring Photography
• Atchison Heller Construction Company
• Metaformers Enterprise Software Solutions
• East of Elm Real Estate

Ready to move forward? Give us a shout!

Social Media Jumpstart

With a background and a passion for graphic design, I often share in the joke with other designers that knowing how to use the software doesn’t make you a designer. Sometimes you can pass as a designer because you pleased the person who hired you, but your design may not have worked effectively.

What’s a designer to do? Nothing, really. All we can do is educate our clients and the public on the value of good, professional graphic design. Although your customers may not ask for it, they react to it. And if done with good commercial sense, your business will benefit from it.

When it comes to social media, many of the arguments are similar. Using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for business does make you a social media marketer—but it doesn’t necessarily make you an effective one. Knowing the tools will help you be an effective social media marketer.

And while knowing the tools is an important aspect of social media marketing, using good engagement practices and solid marketing principles will go much further than knowing how to upload a link to your Facebook page. Fortune 500 companies and small mom-and-pop corner stores alike are using these social platforms to reach new and existing prospects. But are they doing it effectively?

Sales Pitch

So I had to be going somewhere with this, right? Yes, I admit this is a sales pitch, but my pitch won’t be for everyone. After all, my personalized session for social media consulting is an on-site session—here in Lexington. For those reading this who aren’t willing to travel in for the on-site session, I encourage you to look for a marketing agency in your area that can help you navigate the tools of social media, and educate you on the best practices. Or, contact me and we can organize a Skype session.

And for those of you who live here or are coming to Lexington, Kentucky in the near future I hope you would consider scheduling a time I can advise you on using the social media tools effectively and introduce you to best practices. Find out more information about my social media jumpstart session.

We were so excited about having a story about us in last week’s issue of Business Lexington. We couldn’t believe it when we got our copy in the mail and saw that our photo was featured on the cover and the table of contents! Talking about exposure that money can’t buy. Bill and I are grateful for the opportunity to work and live in such a wonderful community. Thank you Smiley Pete Publishing, Kathie Stamps and Shaun Ring Photography. (BTW, the week before the story came out Shaun ran a very creative promotion using Twitter and Facebook which resulted in our professional photos. I highly recommend you check him out as his photography is just as outside-the-box as his marketing.)

Welcome to my blog. I will learn more about what I am going to write when I actually see it. I want to write what’s on my mind about marketing, advertising, brands and local (Lexington, KY) area business interests.