By Z

With our new BFF, Emerge Sales, moving into a corner office here at New Media, this seems a good time to review the importance of strategic alliances — not only during times of economic crisis, like the Great Recession that rocked our national economy for the better part of two years, but also in times like these, when recovery is a reality and the business savvy are gearing up for better days.

See those logos up there? Each of those companies — Emerge Sales, Trade Show Solution Center, Software Reproduction Technologies and Naz Creative — is a New Media professional ally. And each brings something unique and critically important to the party. While New Media provides these partners with services such as website development, corporate rebranding and Relationship Marketing, the partners provide New Media with access to their valuable skills. The result is a solid team — a corporate bloc, if you will — capable of addressing an expanded range of professional needs.

If our good friend Laura McLeod at Trade Show Solutions Center has customers interested in developing a Social Media network, she refers them to us; if we have clients who need a killer presentation for the big convention, we know whom to call. And so on.

“This is where the future is,” says Michael Kitakis, New Media’s CEO and architect of many of his agency’s strategic alliances. “In today’s economic reality, companies like ours should embrace our ‘vendors’ and turn them into ‘partners.’ It’s just good sense.”

The benefits go far beyond the services allies provide each other; it’s not only about New Media’s advanced talent for web design or Emerge’s unparalleled telemarketing knowledge or Naz Creative’s SEO expertise. As with any sound business practice, these alliances don’t just benefit current clients — they help the member companies drum up new business.

“All of these companies share their databases,” Michael notes. “The idea is to provide existing clients, as well as potential ones, the kind of nourishment that shows them — rather than tells them — the benefits each company can provide.

“If I’m a business owner and I see someone is producing a webinar with an hour’s worth of vital content about trade shows, or search-engine optimization, or the kind of transferable-media services SRT provides, why wouldn’t I listen to that?” Michael adds. “This is all beneficial stuff, and if one webinar doesn’t exactly apply to your particular business, the next one will.”

The corporate quintet is already spinning some intricate webinars. This week, Emerge cofounder and CEO Michael Sperduti web-casted two live webinars for salespersons working the health-care trades from a New Media conference room. And production has already begun on a series of webinars, slated to web-cast live before the end of this year, featuring all five allies discussing the best bets for 21st century marketing and communications.

New Media and its professional pals, meanwhile, are always looking for new allies, with digital signage pros and networking aces being strongly considered. The more, the merrier, according to Michael K.

“As long as a business can provide a new or better service that applies to our world, we’ll consider bringing them in,” New Media’s head honcho says. “This is all about providing the best services for our customers, and for our partners’ customers, and for all the customers out there waiting to be discovered.”

This week, we raise the curtain on the new online home of Estelle's Dressy Dresses.

By Z

It’s a busy time for our friends at Estelle’s Dressy Dresses.

Estelle’s intrepid buyers have been scouring the country for the latest looks, the hottest accessories and the best prices, with an eye toward everything from the 2010 prom to next spring’s mother of the bride. Missions to Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas have borne fashionable fruit, and racks of new dresses, rows of new shoes and a Zsa Zsa-worthy trove of glittery accoutrements is set to complement the already astounding selection at Estelle’s Farmingdale superstore.

Estelle’s fund-raising fashion shows, meanwhile, continue to prove popular. Churches, schools and charitable organizations of every stripe are benefiting from the Estelle’s road show, which brings models and hot looks to the masses. The word is out and the calls just keep on coming.

Estelle’s is also gearing up for a major debut — although truthfully, New Media handled most of the busywork on this one. This week, we raise the curtain on the new Estelle’s Dressy Dresses website, after months of designing and programming and writing and whittling.

It’s a primo site, positively overflowing with merchandise and information that will keep the fashion-hungry clicking. Every department in Estelle’s ginormous store is represented in force — kids, misses, plus sizes, prom and all the rest, especially Estelle’s world-class bridal section. Handbags and other trimmings get royal treatments as well. From insider stories on the hunt for affordable style to point-and-click browsing of Estelle’s entire mammoth selection, this is one-stop nirvana for the savvy and the well-dressed … and for those trying to get there.

We’re proud of the site, and so is Estelle and her staff. We think you’ll like it, too. Watch for it this week … and while you’re waiting, be sure to check out Estelle’s Dressy Dresses very own Social Media network, with pages on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. It’s a great way to keep up with the latest merchandise and news from Long Island’s No. 1 fashion retailer!

By Z

Now here’s an account we can really sink our teeth into (ahem).

Unless you’re a dentist (according to the Bureau of Health Professionals, only one out of every 675,000 Americans is, so let’s assume you’re not), you’ve probably never heard of Hauppauge-based Mydent International. That’s perfectly fine with Mydent, so long as dental pros around the globe – and the key distributors servicing them – have.

So Mydent has turned to New Media to make sure the company and its exclusive Defend® product line are on the lips (and teeth and gums) of healthcare providers here, there and everywhere.

Now, we’re just cutting our teeth (sorry) on the dental industry, but we know how to develop a ground-up brand image. It starts with listing the unique benefits – and there are several – that make Mydent the best at what it does.

What Mydent does is provide superior infection-control products, disposables and impression-material systems for dental practices. It’s not glamorous stuff or, to the layman, especially appealing — but dentists can’t find better or more affordable wares for protecting their staffs, their patients or themselves.

Spreading this particular message is a challenge with real bite (ouch). Mydent provides a critical service; boasts an uber-impressive international production, storage and shipping network; offers an innovative product line as deep as they come; and satisfies customers in every global corner … but this is not your typical “look, hook and feel” job.

Of course, New Media never bites off more than it can chew (zing!). So far, we’ve helped Mydent develop those all-important Unique Service Propositions, and now we’re knee-deep in work on their hefty catalog – not only streamlining and modernizing its appearance, content and functionality, but developing new ways to share it with target audiences.

Next we hope to delve into Mydent’s tradeshow marketing efforts, as well as website expansion, Social Media networking and a complete communications plan befitting a firm already recognized as the standard-bearer across myriad vertical markets.

Can we get to the root of this challenge? Will we drill it home? Rinse-and-spit those doubts, dear reader – the doctor is in.

By Z

Nicolock Paving Stones and Retaining Walls came to us at the beginning of 2009 with a relatively simple request: Help us increase sales.

We jumped right in. Nicolock’s a strong Island-based company with a long tradition of excellent craftsmanship and fair dealings – exactly the client you want in your rolodex.

In the spring we produced Nicolock’s 2009 Product Catalog (below), and since a traditional book would never do for such a multidimensional company, Graz went all nutty with his Mac Pro and concocted a 3D catalog – complete with glasses – that brought the stones and walls to life.

We also helped Nicolock plan, promote and polish its 2009 Contractor Convention, a networking and training extravaganza at the Long Island Sheraton in Hauppauge. The event was packed with “Best Practice” instruction, business-building seminars, giveaways and more, and our aggressive advertising campaign helped Nicolock pack the house.

We followed up with Nicolock’s first-ever direct-response television ad, a 60-second spot that ran this summer and generated a “significant response,” according to Mark Fuss, Nicolock’s sales VP. Highlighting the firm’s patented Paver-Shield technology, the ad offered free home-ideas catalogs and design software, Nicolock’s guide to easy financing and a list of qualified Nicolock installers. It also invited viewers to learn more about Nicolock’s lifetime warranty and special installation rebates.

But our Nicolock efforts have hinged mostly on Hardscape Pro, an expansive contractor support program. In lieu of conventional advertising, this program speaks directly to the source – contractors and installers, front-lines types who can really push Nicolock’s wonderful products.

They can be Nicolock’s mini-sales force, the theory goes, the perfect middleman (and woman) between the company and all those customers itching to beautify their homes. Arming them with tons of Nico-knowledge, while supporting their entire business effort, is a win-win: The benefits to Nicolock are obvious, while small, independent contractors thrill at the prospect of larger marketing and support mechanisms.

The contractors don’t only learn how to sell Nicolock products, they learn how to sell themselves – no small thing in a troubled economy. Professional, informative, easy-to-use catalogs. Job-site signs that catch the eye and spread the word. Attractive direct-mail postcards, personalized for local campaigns. Referral programs, credit card processing services and, of course, extensive education on the latest technological advancements and techniques – the list goes on.

Members become part of something bigger, enjoying increased sales potential, enhanced marketability, extended advertising reach and an expanded scope of professional capabilities. And Nicolock is etched as a paving industry cornerstone.

One-hundred-fifty Hardscape Pros (and growing) will tell you it’s working beautifully, a testament to Relationship Marketing done right. And with the support program steaming along, New Media can refocus on more traditional services, developing new web and television campaigns for our Nicolock friends.

To learn more about Nicolock’s products or for information on becoming a Hardscape Pro, check out their site. To learn more about Relationship Marketing … look no further, baby.

The West Hills Day Camp website, before New Media polished it up (left) and after.

By Z

One of the things we appreciate most at New Media is the opportunity to work with nonprofits and other goodhearted businesses and organizations. We’re proud to produce Renewable Energy Long Island’s annual Green Guide, for instance, and to heap much-deserved praise on Wales-Darby’s considerable environmental efforts.

One of our newest clients, the famous Gersh Academy, also puts a fulsome spring in our step. Since 1999, the Melville-based academy has provided superior educational services to students with autism spectrum disorders and related neurological concerns ¾ ever since founder Kevin Gersh identified a need in the special education community and acted.

Mr. Gersh, who himself overcame dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, determined to identify students who learned differently and to approach each with a customized education plan. Ten years later, Gersh Academy Inc. ¾ with day-school programs in New York and Miami and a new post-secondary program near Buffalo ¾ remains dedicated to creating dynamic partnerships between home, school and community; developing a whole child; and teaching everyday life skills in a nurturing environment.

When an organization like that seeks your services, you’re only happy to oblige, so New Media threw itself into Gersh’s new website. When the client is pleased with the work ¾ “Thrilled,” according to Gersh marketing representative Suzanne Driscoll ¾ you’re doubly cheered. And when the client is so thrilled it recommends you to its partners and associates, you consider yourself blessed.

Gersh did just that, recommending New Media to Long Island mainstay West Hills Day Camp, another organization that does a heart good. For more than 50 years, the Huntington Institution has hosted summer programs on its rustic and charming 18-acre site off Sweet Hollow Road, providing countless happy memories for innumerable campers.

West Hills and Gersh had teamed up to provide a winning summer-camp experience for autistic children with a range of neurological disorders, including Asperger’s syndrome, depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Tourette syndrome, Anxiety Disorder and ADHD. When West Hills decided to upgrade its own website, Gersh led them to us ¾ and while the new site isn’t live yet, we’re very pleased with the progress so far. (Click that pic up there for a better view!)

Now we’re hoping to expand our relationship with Gersh, running through a spectrum of Relationship Marketing services ¾ including blogging, Social Media networking and other efforts that build an interactive world of information and communication around a product or brand ¾ to see how they might benefit the noble institution.

“We’re so pleased with the excellent work New Media has done so far,” Ms. Driscoll noted. “And we’re very excited to learn about the benefits of Relationship Marketing, and everything New Media has to offer in that regard.”

New Media dynamic duo (from left) Kelly Sullivan and Liz Maher check out the wares at Estelle's Dressy Dresses.

By Z

You’ve heard of “the beauty shot.” It’s the photo that makes you crave that Big Mac, makes that Boar’s Head sandwich look so tasty, makes that new Lincoln crossover look so freakin’ sexy.

Here’s a little inside baseball for you: Most “beauty shots” are fake, or at least touched up. No turkey sandwich looks that good, not without a dollop of Photoshop. Know those pictures on the cereal box, where the splashing milk looks so bright and white? That’s probably Elmer’s glue. Even the loveliest model has the occasional imperfection that must be airbrushed away.

However, this is not a universal truth. Sometimes, the “beauty shot” stands alone and speaks for itself, no assembly required. Witness New Media COO Chris Graziose’s trip last week to the big, breathtaking headquarters of Estelle’s Dressy Dresses.

Back in July, you read right here about Graz, on one of his patented caffeine binges, gurgling with excitement over our new deal with Estelle’s Dressy Dresses: website design, Social Media implementation and production, the whole 21st century marketing enchilada. Well, it’s six weeks later, and things – as they tend to do here at New Media – are zooming ahead.

Last week, Graz grabbed his state-of-the-art digital camera and took a crew over to Estelle’s for a massive photo shoot. His mission: stock up on art to bring Estelle’s new website to life, and to energize the Facebook and MySpace pages we’re crafting for the retail giant.

The shoot went better than we’d hoped, thanks in no small part to the incredible selection on display inside Estelle’s 37,000-square-foot facility. The brilliant colors, the hot styles, the glittering accessories … even the lighting was perfect, and of course the Estelle’s staff was gracious and helpful (this will surprise no one who’s visited the Farmingdale megastore).

So Estelle’s provided the beauty and we provided the shots. We look forward to sharing more of Graz’s great photos when the new Estelle’s site goes live … for now, enjoy these sample shots!

By Z

Think you’ve run out of marketing options? Think again.

It’s the 21st century and the marketing landscape has changed. You, intrepid business owner, already know this. That’s why you’ve taken steps to modernize your communications efforts – no longer satisfied with faxes and phone calls, now you have the shiny new website and even that weekly e-mail blast thing.

Congratulations! You’ve reached the pinnacle of electronic marketing – in 2005.

Marketing today changes at the speed of technology, and that’s very, very fast. Just as the proliferation of camera phones and “iReports” has altered the way we receive and consume our news, emerging Social Media options are changing the way we share our messages – whether we’re tweeting about our favorite breakfast cereal, advertising a big sale on YouTube or announcing a major corporate alliance on MySpace.

All kinds of professional organizations – tiny nonprofits, major national lenders, famous restaurants, veteran auto dealers, retail apparel chains, even government agencies – are catching the Social Media bug, and loving it. Call it Facebook Fever, or a serious case of the Twitters. Whatever you call it, sales managers are learning that marketing options don’t end at the homepage: You can stock your site with enough high-tech flash to land an airbus, but if you’re not branching into the vast (and expanding) Social Media universe, you’re missing the virtual boat.

And so, from MySpace and LinkedIn and even the personalized blog comes the latest marketing innovation. On MySpace, it’s a graphics-heavy, well-worded “group page” designed to introduce visitors to your catalogue of services and unique selling points. On FaceBook, it’s called a “fan page.” On Twitter, it’s updates – as regular as you like – about your business, people and products. On LinkedIn, it’s all of the above, tweaked to focus on business associates (manufacturers and contractors, for instance).

And always, from these sites and your company’s professional blog and even your new YouTube spot, it’s endless links back to your homepage - the heart of your online enterprise.

The technophile will tell you that’s the ticket, right there: reciprocal links, search-engine optimization, metadata management and lead generation, anything to drive traffic to your website. The bean-counter will note the cost-effectiveness. But the marketing manager, charged with attracting customers and increasing sales, will endorse Social Media’s real value – the melding of concept and media, the transformation of monologue into dialogue, the never-ending advertisement that reaches a global audience and fosters memory retention by inviting active participation.

It’s the interaction, baby, and that’s a lesson New Media has learned well.

We used to promise topflight marketing services “from concept to completion,” but to keep up with the times, we’ve had to rethink that. With Social Media presenting endless marketing options, there’s no completion anymore.

There’s just the next great thing.

So, how does it work? Glad you asked.

(From right) Social Media experts Liz Maher and Kelly Sullivan of New Media Marketing compare thinks with the staff at Estelle's Dressy Dresses.

By Z

So … if a blog bubbles over with excitement and innovation but nobody’s around to hear it, does it really make a sound?

The old tree-in-the-woods question is best left to philosophers and students of the auditory brainstem response, but on behalf of the marketing universe, we’ll handle this one: The answer is a resounding NO. If your blog crackles with creativity but nobody reads it, it makes no sound at all.

Welcome to marketing’s brave, new world, and the Social Media revolution – featuring digital relationship-marketing campaigns that drive traffic to your blog, your website and your front door, all via the Internet’s uber-popular social networking sites. It’s a radical but relatively new marketing concept, and New Media Marketing is way ahead of its progressive curve, with our popular Power of New Media blog and our own Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

Following our lead, several New Media clients are already on board. Hassett Automotive of Wantagh – already the No. 1 volume dealer of Lincoln, Ford and Mercury models on Long Island – has hired us to moderate its blog, so in addition to a sparkling website touting monthly specials and a detailed make/model search function, existing and potential customers can now enjoy videos and read all about upcoming sales and events on Hassett Highlights.

“We believe having an engaging, entertaining blog will attract potential customers to our website and ultimately drive up sales,” says Hassett Automotive General Manager Lou Evans. “Anything that increases the number of keywords we can put out there increases our search-engine optimization and will be helpful in the long run.

“Plus, it adds a more personal aspect to the company,” Evans adds. “If you blog about topics that are relevant to what people are looking for today, this week or this month, that’s going to help.”

New Media is making similar efforts for Wales-Darby, the Islandia-based plumbing and HVAC leader, including a soon-to-debut blog and a targeted e-mail newsletter. Also tapping New Media’s burgeoning expertise is the Green Peak Group, the Hauppauge-based consultancy dedicated to environmentally friendly construction – we’re building their new website and crafting their new blog, creating new entry points to attract “green” Googlers.

But New Media’s biggest Social Media challenge (so far) comes from our old friends at Estelle’s Dressy Dresses in Farmingdale, who’ve signed on for the whole digital marketing enchilada: revamped website, social networking accounts and regular electronic newsletters, all linked to – and driving customers toward – the Estelle’s mothership.

New Media Chief Executive Michael Kitakis notes that New Media/LKGS has enjoyed a professional relationship with Estelle’s for more than 10 years, and “our first job with them was a postcard.”

“It’s exciting to watch their evolution from conventional print into the digital age of blogs, e-mails and other Social Media,” Kitakis says. “This is really going to score points with their target market, which is a very youthful market, and will definitely drive more traffic to their store.”

To learn how New Media’s deep menu of customizable interactive-communications solutions can boost your bottom line, visit our own mothership right here.

Graz and Bill Klein finalize the strategic alliance between New Media and Emerge Sales.

By Z

You’ve probably heard of Bill Klein. He and his wife, Jen Arnold, are reality TV personalities on The Learning Channel (and they’ve done “Oprah”). Don’t fret – they’re not those obnoxious, embittered headline hounds with the eight kids and the messy divorce. Quite the opposite: Bill and Jen are “The Little Couple,” a weekly chronicle of happy newlyweds who each happen to be four feet or shorter.

Bill is co-managing partner and chief operating officer of Emerge Sales, a Long Island-based marketing, training and telecommunications company with offices in Albany and Houston, Texas. He’s also a longtime friend of New Media creative guru Chris Graziose, and along with Emerge co-managing partner Michael Sperduti has announced a strategic alliance with New Media – exchanging their cutting-edge consulting, lead-generation and telemarketing skills for a bottom-up rebranding of Emerge and its expert services.

“New Media is critical to our rebranding initiative,” said Mr. Sperduti, Emerge’s chief executive. “I think over the years we’ve developed a platform that’s much greater than our perception in the marketplace … New Media can really hone that message and get it out there.”

Graz, who met Bill several years ago at Pace’s Steakhouse in Hauppauge (the two can often be found “networking” there), called it “extremely exciting” to finally forge a professional alliance with Emerge. New Media is planning a full-court press for its new partner, including website and logo development, new slogans and other creative-branding efforts.

“We’re really looking forward to strengthening each other’s services,” Graz said. “Mike’s great at what he does and this opens up a lot of sales opportunities for us.”

Bill and Jen are “awesome people,” he added, noting that soon after he met Bill and learned about his company, he knew they were destined to synchronize on the business front. Through Bill he met Mr. Sperduti, and “we got to talking and got to know each other,” Graz said. “We realized how much we could help each other and how much sense this kind of alliance would make.”

And now it’s here, this melding of Emerge’s vast capacity for customer service and business intelligence with New Media’s boundless creativity. “While both firms offer distinct services at a very high level, we also have so much in common,” Graz said. “We can have so many opportunities together.”

To learn mere about Emerge and its first-rate services, visit New Media’s new partner at www.emergesales.com.

By Z

This just in: Graz is “psyched.”

After a three-hour meeting “not to convince, but to educate” the fine folks at Estelle’s Dressy Dresses about Social Media 101 – or, as he puts it, “manipulative marketing” – New Media C.O.O. Chris Graziose texts New Media Central with this breathless report:

(Editor’s note: It appears Graz hit the Starbucks drive-thru first and guzzled his normal iced grande skinny Hazelnut latte with a quad-shot of espresso … a.k.a. “the friggin’ ridiculous $5.16 cup of coffee,” in GrazSpeak. Not that the steep price stops him from downing two or three a day.)

“I’m psyched! Estelle’s Dressy Dresses in Farmingdale has done it all. From full-page ads to direct mail. When a client comes to you and says ‘I want to be on Facebook and Twitter,’ what do you say? I said, ‘Let’s go’ … and we are. Retained for the implementation, production, launch and maintenance. I’m so excited because the client’s audience is the social-media crowd. I can’t wait to post the results next month. Oh yeah, we’re doing their website as well.”

Graz hits the nail on the head here. Estelle’s audience is the perfect target for New Media’s social-media expertise – using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts to drive traffic to Estelle’s home page. Sure, any modern business audience would benefit from this next-level networking, but thousands upon thousands of teens and young adults hunting hot fashion trends and tips? Yeah, we’re thinking this might work out.

It’s an ambitious project, but there’s no job too big for Graz and his team. We here at New Media Central just need to get him a caffeine I.V., and maybe one of those wheeled poles to drag around.