By Z

The Internet looks a touch shinier this week, and we had something to do with that.

Last week, New Media flipped the switch on the new online home of Estelle’s Dressy Dresses, the ultimate online guide to the Famingdale-based retail superstore. Hundreds and hundreds of crystal-clear images grace the new site, showcasing Estelle’s dynamic selection – dresses, gowns, separates, coats, bags, shoes and accessories for juniors, petites, plus sizes, the bride, her mom and just about everyone else. The site also tells the story of namesake Estelle, who turned a single rack of dresses into an all-time success story in the pantheon of women-owned businesses. There are plenty of bells and whistles, too, to complete the online experience.

Busy as the Estelle’s work kept us, New Media still found time to craft a truly impressive site for our good friends at Emerge Sales. Launched just last night, the all-new emergesales.com is a website worthy of the meticulous work done by Michael Sperduti and Bill Klein, cofounders and top dogs over at Emerge. Visually appealing and navigation-friendly, the site crackles with information about Emerge’s valuable and effective services – if you need lead generation, business intelligence, sales training, business consulting or motivational speakers, or you want to order up a customized webinar to ignite your sales operations, look no further.

“We’ve said for some time that this is where marketing is going – really, where marketing is,” notes New Media Chief Executive Michael Kitakis. “When we transitioned away from our former company, LKGS Marketing, and launched New Media, it was more than just a name change – it was a signal that, as marketing and PR professionals, we understand where business communications are going.

“We got out in front of this fundamental shift,” Michael adds. “Now, when customers from the sales world, or the retail world, or any other world come to us and say, ‘This is how people are marketing themselves, these are the new media they’re using, we want that, too,’ we are ready and able to deliver quality solutions.”

There’s no slowing down for the New Media mothership, which is already warping ahead on several other Internet-related projects. Next on the launch pad: new websites for the fabulous Gersh Academy and the famous West Hills Day Camp (while you’re waiting, check out the school and the camp on the new Facebook pages we built for them!).

“We continue to provide traditional marketing services that are second to none – print ads, brochures, posters, whatever you need,” says Chris Graziose, New Media’s chief operating officer and artist in residence. “Now that we’ve really honed our skills building websites, designing broadcast emails, writing and hosting blogs and things like that, we can really deliver complete marketing packages for old and new clients.

“Thanks to strategic alliances with companies like Emerge,” Chris adds, “there’s really no corporate communications challenge we can’t answer.”

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.”

(From left) Emerge Sales partners Bill Klein and Michael Sperduti catch up on their rebranding effort with New Media COO Chris Graziose.

By Z

We’ve mentioned once or twice our new and very exclusive arrangement with Emerge Sales, the Long Island-based marketing, training and telecommunications company founded and operated by Michael Sperduti and Bill Klein.

The skinny: Emerge, which operates offices in Albany and Houston and continuously rewrites the book on successful sales, lends its cutting-edge consulting, sales-force training, lead-generation, motivational-speaking and telemarketing talents to New Media and its clients; New Media rebrands this successful sales stalwart from the top down - new logo, website, print materials, the works. It’s a great deal for us, for them and for clients tapping our powerhouse combination.

Well, great just got easier. This week, we merge - literally - with Emerge, as our new friends take up some office space here at the New Media mothership. Bill, costar of the TLC program “The Little Couple,” lives full-time in Houston with his wife, Dr. Jen Arnold, but we expect plenty of visits; Michael, meanwhile, is based here on the Island, and we foresee constant interaction with our very successful ally.    

“We are really in sync with Emerge and their services, which so perfectly compliment our own unique business centers,” says that other Michael, Mr. Kitakis, New Media’s president. “We already have several clients benefitting from this teamwork and we’re envisioning all kinds of packages and services we can provide together.

“There is tremendous upside here for everyone,” Mike adds. “With Emerge’s new website ready to launch and their whole new corporate brand taking shape, it just makes terrific sense to do this now, and for them to be physically closer to us.”

“This is a unique opportunity to really come together and build something special,” says Michael S., who along with Bill is molding Emerge into a sales leader - on Long Island and beyond - via targeted webinars, popular motivational lectures and a plethora of time-tested and modernized telemarketing techniques.

“New Media did a terrific job honing our new message, because we were on the same page every step of the way,” he adds. “We’re just starting to appreciate what we can accomplish together.”   

Watch for the debut of the new Emerge website this month. And keep up with the Power of New Media blog for updates on new and innovative ways New Media and Emerge are keeping the Island’s business elite one step ahead.

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

So this week New Media welcomed its nifty neighbors from the north, Alliance Designer Products, the Montreal-based maker of the planet’s finest hardscaping materials. President Jack Tutino was in town to catch up and look ahead, as New Media continues a wall-to-wall relationship-marketing effort.

Jack launched Alliance in 2003 with a single goal: conquer the hardscaping world with an unprecedented selection of paving sands and dusts and concrete adhesives, as well as top-shelf paving edges, nails and other support products. So far so good: In short order, Alliance has developed a dedicated multinational following, including busy distribution points in Virginia, Arizona, California and Oregon.

Already a success story etched in stone (or between stones), Alliance (like Jack himself) is quite aggressive. Not resting on its laurels, the company hired New Media to produce a state-of-the-art website, launch a blog and craft numerous print materials, from product sheets to ads – including that one up top, a preview of Alliance’s new contractor-support program.

Contractor support is a big part of Alliance’s success. It’s a business model that’s really caught on in this tight economy – manufacturers befriend distributors who refer venders to manufacturers, who boast advanced products that meet modern demands. Everyone finds more business, and the industry as a whole is strengthened. You see it everywhere, from green construction to auto repair, and in the hardscaping world, Alliance is its master.

“Jack really gets the concept,” says Mike Kitakis, chief dude here at New Media. “Everyone wins with contractor support: Jack educates contractors on his great products, contractors meet demand for new and better services, distributors increase sales and customers get exactly what they want.”

For a relatively young and highly innovative company, it’s a key strategy. And Alliance is always developing the next great thing, whether it’s a breakthrough formula for polymeric sand or a cutting-edge packaging system that increases product efficacy and storage life.

So the manufacturer needs a vehicle to keep the hardscaping world informed, and to disseminate and share these fast-paced advances, Alliance has found a strong ally in New Media.

Alliance President Jack Tutino (second from left) visits with New Media partners (from left) Graz, Mikey K. and Joe Lap.

“New Media understands my type of business very well,” Jack says. “You take the time to understand what my company does and work hard to position my company where we want it to be. New Media has done a fantastic job taking my ideas and visions to the masses.”

That will continue in the coming weeks with the launch of the new Alliance website. Meanwhile, learn about their trend-setting products here. And keep an eye out in January for Alliance’s comprehensive, all-new contractor-support effort. We’re sworn to secrecy now, but rest assured, the “Gator family of products” will take new meaning for anyone working the hardscaping trades – or anyone with a patio, driveway or sidewalk to improve anytime in the next decade.

Rich Ciota spent his weekend pitching Division 7's state-of-the-art solar-energy services.

By Z

Homeowners in all stages of remodeling, and those just dreaming the dream, came in droves this weekend to Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood campus for the Long Island Fall Home Show.

Presented by American Consumer Shows (America’s No. 1 home-show producer) and Findapro.com (ACS’s online division), the three-day extravaganza featured hundreds of Long Island’s top remodeling, landscaping and decorating firms in a massive home-improvement smorgasbord. This was the scene for anyone considering any level of home renovation; everyone from Alure Home Improvements to the Long Island Builders Institute was there, and right in the middle was Uncle Richie.

Well, he’s Uncle Richie to our man Graz. To everyone else, he’s Managing Partner Rich Ciota of Division 7, a Stony Brook-based provider of roofing and solar energy solutions. A registered Woman-Owned Business (Aunt Kerry, Kerry Ciota to you, is the boss), Division 7 is re-tasking over 40 years of roofing expertise and emerging as the Island’s new solar authority – and the Ciotas were thrilled to spend their weekend in Brentwood showcasing their cutting-edge wares and services.

Uncle Richie (left) shares his solar knowledge with customers at the Long Island Fall Home Show.

“We have so much wonderful solar-energy and efficiency knowledge to share with customers,” Rich said during the show. “We’re still the Island’s best source for residential and commercial roofing, single-ply roofing, built-up and modified bitumen roofing, all of that. But now our expertise includes solar thermal and solar PV solutions, and the Home Show was the perfect place to share that with thousands of homeowners.”

Now, lest you think the Power of New Media blog has eschewed all professional standards and devolved into a nepotistic love-in, please note Division 7 is also one of New Media’s hottest new clients (our blatant favoritism remains reserved for customers, thank you). This summer we designed their new logo and smart new business cards; we’ve helped hone their new message, assisting Rich and Kerry in their transition to major solar players; we even produced their display booth for the Home Show. Next, we’re developing Division 7’s website, which is good now and begging to be great.

The fact that Graz spends half his weekends wolfing down Uncle Richie’s world-class barbecue will have absolutely no bearing on the negotiations.

Gene Stern (left) of the Green Peak Group and friends at Wednesday's Going Green Symposium & Business Expo.

By Z

For ’tis green, green, green, where the ruined towers are gray,
and it’s green, green, green, all the happy night and day…

This probably wasn’t what the late poet Mary Elizabeth Blake, a nice Italian girl from Dungarvan in County Waterford, meant. But some serious greenin’ went on Wednesday, when builders, plumbers, electricians, architects and the cream of Long Island’s business crop united for the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce’s Going Green Business Symposium & Expo.

The third-annual event – a smorgasbord of construction-related discussions and networking with an environmental edge – was split into successive sessions at Huntington’s Long Island Hilton and Melville’s Leviton Manufacturing Company. And it was bigger and better than its predecessors, according to Ronald DiGiacomo of the Huntington Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Ron, who chairs the chamber’s Environmental Committee, played an active role in organizing the symposium, which attracted “greater participation and more sponsors this year.” Among the luminaries was former National Grid CEO Bob Catell, chairman of Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center, who delivered the keynote address.

Big-name sponsors included LIPA, National Grid, Verizon, The Home Depot, Newsday and Long Island Business News, a well as several of Long Island’s most influential construction and financial institutions. Also cracking the sponsor list was Green Peak Group, a Hauppauge-based enterprise that “integrates all facets of green construction and renovation, from conception to completion,” according to Ron, who’s also Green Peak’s chief operating officer.

New Media has enjoyed a close relationship with Green Peak since the environmental concern launched in December. We’ve honed their brand and their image, developing everything from their logo to their unique message; we’ve provided digital content and print ads; we even produced their booth for Wednesday’s expo, where Green Peak was more than a simple cosponsor.

Green Peak people, in fact, were all over the place. Charlie Hall, who manages Green Peak’s energy services, was part of the “Finding the Green to Go Green” panel discussion during the morning session. Joining Charlie was Jacob Goldman, a professional member of both Green Peak Group and Energy Tax Savers, an amalgam of CPAs, engineers and legal eagles consulting clients on federal greening incentives.

Dr. Ron Vitori, another professional Green Peak member and vice president of the construction-management firm Axis Group, moderated the “Training the Trades” discussion during the afternoon session at Levinton.

Carrying a heavy load at the symposium was ideal for Green Peak, and not only because its COO organized the chamber event. “As a consultant, a big part of what we do is finding the green to go green,” Ron told me. “Since we’re into construction as well, we’re also very interested in seeing the trades stay up-to-date on green building techniques.

“It’s all about making these buildings efficient and more sustainable,” he added. “Making them better places to live and work.”

For more on Green Peak Group’s comprehensive approach to environmentally friendly construction, check out their website (yeah, that’s one of ours!) at www.greenpeakgroup.com.

The amazing sales floor at Estelle's Dressy Dresses will soon be stocked with the hottest spring fashions and top trends for the 2010 prom.

By Z

Estelle’s Dressy Dresses will go to the ends of the Earth to find the latest and greatest fashions. To the ends of the continent, anyway.

Yolanda Rosales, Estelle’s top buyer, recently completed a coast-to-coast (almost) trek that bounced her from Atlanta to Vegas in search of hot spring trends, top prom styles and the hippest accessories this side of the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. The voyage into fashion’s future was thrilling, she says, and will ultimately lead to boatloads of new merchandise inside Estelle’s Farmingdale megastore.

In Atlanta, it was “one of the biggest prom/spring” shows in the country, Ms. Rosales notes, “packed with exhibitors and buyers from all over the world.” The hottest trends in Hotlanta included beautiful prints, cutout backs and a splash of exciting colors – green, yellow and purple right at the top. “Even some sherbet colors were being shown,” according to Ms. Rosales.

Many of the dresses showcased down south were embellished with beads, stones and sequins, and a few animal prints were spotted as well. The mother of the bride, meanwhile, will be happy to hear that she’s looking “younger than ever before,” or at least her dress is, Ms. Rosales notes. “More updated looks, but still keeping the elegance.”

From the Peach State it was off to Vegas, baby, where things were “very lively and exciting,” according to the intrepid fashion hunter. “There is so much to see, and you love it all.”

Especially the styles, which were “very trendy, updated and hip, and will be retailed at a very enjoyable price,” according to Ms. Rosales. “We focused on our Children’s Department by finding new vendors for communion dresses and (boys’) tuxedos. We’re also very excited about the new plus-size merchandise that we’ll be bringing into the store.”

But fashions – including sportswear for juniors and adults – were only part of the draw in Sin City, where accessories soaked up their share of neon. Several new vendors were on hand to show off jewelry and other accouterments that will also find their way onto Estelle’s ample shelves this winter.

“It was a great show,” Ms. Rosales says. “We hope our customers are as excited as we are to see the new merchandise in the store.”

New Media is certainly excited. These chic lines and products will be featured prominently on the new Estelle’s Dressy Dresses website we’re building for the legendary Island retailer. And Estelle’s is not done updating its breathtaking selection just yet: Ms. Rosales has already booked a flight to Illinois for October’s enormous Chicago Bridal Show.

“We’re all so positive about the upcoming season,” she says. “Stay tuned for more fashion info!”

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!