Faith Meets Web Design: UU@Home

Amy Derrick is, among many things, a mother and wife, a writer, a religious educator, a Unitarian Universalist (UU) and a genuinely likable person. Combine all of these elements and you come up with an ideal blogger… which is precisely what Amy has become.

Tapping on day-to-day life experience, Amy captures her journey of faith and family in a warm, witty and interactive series of blog entries. Reading her reflections is like being invited in for a cup of coffee and lively conversation. You enjoy every minute!

Better still, Amy has designed a month-by-month faith development program – UU@Home – that she unveils on a (what else?) month-by-month basis.

All of this warmth and fun and faith was previously parked on a rather sterile, utilitarian blog site. Amy wanted something more welcoming, so she called in DMT Artistry.

The Challenge: UU@Home needed an online home that would capture the personality of its author, the tone of its content and the attention of Unitarian Universalist families everywhere. Additionally, it needed to act as a portfolio of Amy’s writing skills, and a resource for budding UUs.

The Solution: At DMT, we shifted her content from Blogspot to WordPress, to tap into WordPress’ powerful customization capabilities. We gave the template a complete makeover that reflects the crafty, creative, friendly, organic nature of Amy’s blog content. Amy’s logo was turned into a watermark as a “signature” for the end of every blog. Imagery, textures and layers were added. Pages were built. Coffee, a critical UU staple, was integrated into the design…

Success was achieved.

Please swing by UU@Home‘s new online home, and let us know what you think!

When Good Bicycles Go Bad

Bicycle breakdowns happen. Even the souped-up $15,000 carbon fiber models need a flat tire fix every now and then. But, “who ya gonna call” when your good bike goes bad?

Hometown Bicycles, that’s who.

Across from Island Lake and Kensington parks is a Brighton bicycle repair, sales and parts shop that handles everything from down-to-the-last-nut-and-bolt overhauls to quick safety tune-ups, with incredible speed, knowledge and efficiency.

But perhaps the most noteworthy part of the shop is the owner himself, Shaun Bhajan, and his philosophy of bike business:

“…I’m not in business to buy a yacht or out-renovate my neighbors. Heck, I’d rather just ride my bike. I’m in it because it’s not work… it’s fun, and it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

The Challenge: This element of fun is what’s attracting cyclists from every corner of the county and beyond to support this hometown venture. So how do we translate this into Hometown Bicycle’s online marketing?

The DMT Solution: Simple. Have fun with the design. Have fun with the content. And, above all, involve our customers every step of the way!

Everything from the imagery to the text reflects the spirit, humor, energy and personality that radiates from this cyclists’ paradise.

Below is a screenshot of the Hometown Home Page. Shaun loves the blog format for easy updating and customer interaction via the “comment” links.

The following is a screenshot of our monthly Hometown Newsletter. It’s “A Fun Newsletter”… what more can I say?!

Want to have fun with your marketing? Contact me any time. I love putting “personality” back into tired, unoriginal marketing.  Dawn M. Tomczyk  |  DMT Artistry, LLC  |  (810) 923-4852  |  dawn@dmtartistry.com

Remodeling Real Estate Marketing

Over 19 years in the Livingston County real estate business has made Linda Kilarski of Keller Williams Realty a field expert, a respected Realtor and a trusted resource for home buyers and sellers alike.

The Challenge: Linda was eager to reach homeowners through the increasingly popular venues of social networking and online media. But, like many successful business people, she was finding it difficult to eek out enough time to get her social media accounts in working order.

The DMT Solution: No problem, Linda! She provided me with the information and resources I needed to create/update her accounts on multiple social media and real estate blog sites, as well as complete her professional profiles, launch a Linda Kilarski of Keller Williams Fan Page on Facebook, and begin posting her commentary and blog topics.

Now that she’s on a roll, I am continuing to help Linda manage and monitor her many accounts, with the goal of marketing her talents, her dedication, her knowledge and her wonderful personality on the World Wide Web.

We’re keeping it informative but entertaining, with helpful hints and fun facts and links.

Want to get a jump-start on your own social networking plan? Contact me any time!: Dawn M. Tomczyk  |  DMT Artistry, LLC  |  (810) 923-4582  |  dawn@dmtartistry.com

Client Spotlight: Change Your World Fitness

When Lori Wengle lost 107 lbs, it understandably changed her world. How do you go from obese and apathetic to slim and feisty without rocking your very core?

But while most weight loss success stories are content to quietly enjoy their hard-earned gravity lift, Lori set off on a mission to astonish others with their own ability to transform.

If you glean one business tip from this petite powerhouse’s story, let it be to diversify. Lori owns Livingston Antique Outlet and Change Your World Fitness, published “The Fat Princess No More”, invented Personal Trainer in a Box, blogs, trains, speaks… her business acumen is surpassed only by her boundless energy (oh, to be fit!) and her compassion.

And the benefit of putting your eggs in a whole slew of baskets? If one part of your business is dragging, another is taking off, while yet another just might be your ticket to super-success!

I’ve done quite a bit of design work for Lori (view samples here), but most recently used WordPress’ Thesis Theme to customize her “Fat Princess No More” blog site:

Who the heck am I talking to? Social Networking Etiquette

With several of my clients making their first business-geared forays into social media, here’s DMT Online Networking Etiquette 101, with a respectful nod to InSights Group who first introduced me to this point:

Okay, it happens to the best of us – being tedious and flippant on Facebook, or coy and pointless on Twitter. But who is actually seeing these random acts of silliness?

For safety (and reality’s) sake, assume that everyone has access to everything you post. Is the fact that you just toasted raisin muffins for breakfast, changed a particularly gruesome diaper or chugged 3 beers upside down to see what would happen really something you want current and potential client’s to associate you with?

Here’s the tricky part… not everyone “gets” the fact that their private posts aren’t necessarily all that private. Your friends may innocently draw you into embarrassing cyber-conversations or tag, shall we say, “unflattering” pictures of you. It’s up to you, the savvy business professional, to moderate, hide or steer way clear of this kind of detrimental marketing… because that’s what it is: marketing. Intentional or not, you are marketing YOU and, by extension, your business.

Strut that personality, while also keeping in mind: “Where is my income coming from? Who are my clients?” Then social network accordingly!