Meet Our Work: 10 Websites Worth A Visit

Sometimes, our team takes a moment to appreciate the custom, branded websites we’ve had the pleasure of creating for businesses across industries and sizes, from small startups to entire towns. It’s truly inspiring to see what these businesses contribute to their communities in Pennsylvania and beyond. Being part of that growth is always a win for the Pearl Jade team.

We want to highlight some of these exciting website design projects to give you a closer look at what our marketing team can do for businesses in your community. Who knows… one day it could be your business in the spotlight. When that time comes, you’ll know exactly who to call: us!

Feature #1: The Fire Inside

Meet our first website design feature, Sade! She’s the CEO and Founder of The Fire Inside! She works with people everyday focusing on time management coaching and content creation services. She’s a perfect go-to when you need a little motivation to reach your goals! This website was a blast to design and build. If you need a little pep in your step, take advantage of the amazing coaching services that Sade offers.

Website Design Feature #2: Jabco's Custom Lawn Care & Christmas Decor

With fine looking yards and the most festive of holiday services as their bread and butter, Jabco's Custom Lawn Care & Christmas Decor brings the best of landscaping and lighting all into one amazing company. This site may cause you to crave mowing perfect lines into your yard, but instead, you should call this team!

Feature #3: Leslie D. Glenn, Author

The goal of this website was to connect readers with published author, Leslie D. Glenn who wrote the book, ‘One Life,’ which details the personal testimony of Leslie. Her website is now the perfect place to get access to the book, strengthen your faith, and soak up some life lessons. You should also explore some of her audio blogs—a unique addition that our team was able to support Leslie with designing, editing, and implementing onto her website.

Feature #4: Labels by Pulizzi

It’s not everyday you get to work on a website design project that affects so many other businesses and companies, but Labels By Pulizzi was one of those projects! At Labels by Pulizzi, they focus on top-notch printing services and labels for tons of well-known brands and companies. They do much more than labels though, which was the goal of the website creation—you should see what we designed and developed.

Feature #5: O'Brien Barrel Works

Businesses come in all shapes and sizes—and in this case it comes in barrel form! We’re talking about unique and custom creations using none other than whiskey barrels that you can get from O’Brien Barrel Works! We worked with this unique company to develop an engaging and easy to navigate website that shows off all that they do. Additionally with the website design, we worked to develop this site to be optimized for e-commerce, to ensure every customer can order what they want right off the website. If you’re looking to add a unique little something-something to your home, this is the place for you.

Feature #6: Thrive HR Management

A good HR department is something every modern business needs to operate efficiently. Thrive HR Management, based out of State College, Pennsylvania brings that to businesses and offers expert HR services and guidance! Thrive HR needed a consistent way to communicate services to new customers and a way for those customers to get in touch—so, the Pearl Jade Marketing team worked to create this modern and professional website to get Becky’s amazing services into even more businesses.

Website Design Feature #7: The McKenzie Holderman Group

Selling or buying your home involves trust, expert guidance, and a team who can be there for you. The McKenzie Holderman group is just that, and so much more. Click around this interactive and resourceful website and if you're in Centre County, PA, you know who to call now when it's time to move!

Feature #8: Rollins Real Estate Management

The world of real estate is always changing—and we learned so much more about the field when we got to work with Rollins Real Estate Management on their new website. The PJM team designed a sleek and modern site to draw in new customers for all things real estate. If you need some support managing your properties, this is the team for you.

Website Design Feature #9: Matt Jacobs Productions

If only everyone could see and capture the world like Matt Jacobs. We love the way this website turned out, blending content verticals and modern design with a new way to explore his photo and video portfolio. When you need to capture a moment in life or business, this team won't let you down.

Website Design Feature #10: Reese & Co. Interiors

Design top of the line spaces for upscale executives and even retirees, Reese & Co. Interiors brings your Total Life Aesthetic® to life. Offering interior design services for large projects and multi-room designs, you'll be amazed at every vision and every result.

That’s a Wrap!

Make sure you take a good look at our list of favorite website design projects so far and maybe even connect with these wonderful businesses. Who knows…maybe our next favorites list will feature your business! To get on our list, connect with our team of creatives to get your new website off the ground.

Marketing Strategy: Lead Generation (Lead Gen)

A Go-To Guide for Businesses of All Sizes

Lead Gen This, Lead Gen That

If business growth were a party, lead generation would be the VIP guest. Whether you're running a lean startup out of your garage or managing a well-oiled corporate machine, attracting the right leads is what keeps the whole show going.

Let’s break down how businesses of all sizes can tap into smarter lead generation strategies without getting lost in the marketing mumbo-jumbo.

What Is Lead Generation, Really?

Lead generation is just a fancy way of saying, “Hey, we’d love to meet people who actually want what we offer.” It’s the process of attracting potential customers and capturing their interest, whether that’s through a slick landing page, a helpful webinar, or a cheeky little call-to-action button that actually works.

Think of it like fishing, but instead of casting a net and hoping for the best, you're using the right bait to reel in your ideal catch.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Here’s the thing: what works for a local bakery isn’t going to work for a B2B software company, and that’s okay. The key is tailoring your lead gen strategy to your business' size, audience, and growth goals. Here’s how:

For Small Businesses & Startups

You don’t need a massive budget, you need smart moves. Focus on:

• Social Media Engagement: Be active, be personal, and don’t be afraid to show some personality.
• Lead Magnets: A free guide, checklist, or mini course can turn casual browsers into curious prospects.
• Email Signups: Get creative with how you ask for emails. “Don’t miss a single cupcake” works better than “Subscribe to our newsletter.” 

For Mid-Sized Companies

You’ve got a bit more runway. Build on what works and scale with:

• Webinars and Virtual Events: These are goldmines for qualified leads and brand authority.
• CRM Integration: Start segmenting your leads based on behavior and interests. It’s like giving each lead their own personalized red carpet.
• Targeted Ads: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, you name it. Start narrowing your targeting to boost ROI. 

For Larger Enterprises

Time to get sophisticated, but keep it human.

• Upgrade the Socials: Tailor campaigns to your highest-value prospects.
• Content Strategy: One pagers, case studies, and video series that show off your industry chops and expertise.
• Multi-Channel Funnels: You’re playing the long game, make sure your nurture sequences are as thoughtful as they are persistent.

Tips to Supercharge Your Lead Gen (Without Losing Your Mind)

• Value First, Sell Later: Make sure your first interaction is helpful, not pushy. People remember generosity.
• Test Everything: Headlines, buttons, colors…don’t assume. Try it, test it, tweak it.
• Follow Up Like a Human: Automated emails are great, but nothing beats a genuine follow-up that says, “Hey, saw you downloaded our guide! Got any questions?” 

Lead Generation Isn’t Magic…It’s Momentum

Whether you’re a one-person show or a 500-employee powerhouse, lead generation is how you keep the wheels turning. Done right, it builds trust, nurtures relationships, and sets your business up for long-term wins.

So go ahead, revamp that opt-in form, launch that irresistible freebie, or finally send that email campaign you’ve been putting off. Your next great lead is just waiting for a reason to say hello.

Creating A Unique Marketing Approach

Easy Tips to Keep in Mind While Crafting Your Business Marketing Strategy

Marketing. It Ain’t Easy.

We would love it if there was a magic marketing button to press that would make leads and new customers appear out of thin air, but that is just not how it works. Sure, there are companies out there that promise the world and results, but we also see that they often fail to put forth a unique and customized approach to marketing. So, we’re filling the gap and providing you with some proven ways to increase your awareness and hopefully, your customers too!

Before we jump in, it’s always important to remember that marketing is an experiment and an ongoing process that should be informed by data and proven strategies. Always be wary of someone ‘promising’ results or guaranteed outcomes…you cannot guarantee that.

#1: Define Your Goals

Your business is unique, and the goals you have will be unique to your business as well. Therefore, it’s important to determine which measures of success you want to pursue. These can range from product sales to raw leads through phone calls and website forms, among many other trackable goals. Once your goals are defined (they should be specific to your business), you can begin crafting a strategy aimed at achieving those results.

Our team is always happy to support you in exploring all the ways through which you can connect with customers or increase the visibility of your product.

#2: Choose Your Platforms

This is a big decision and will ultimately depend on where your business or products are most relevant. Let’s break this down a little…for example, a dentist's office might not have the same power on Instagram as a trending fashion brand. Therefore, heavily focusing on Instagram may not be sensible in this scenario. Essentially, with this tip, you need to determine what is right for your business, and you may want to review platform data so see where you currently receive the most organic engagement or interactions.

Extra-Extra, read all about it!

#3: The Man. The Myth. The Customized Strategy.

You’ve defined your goals. You’ve chosen your platforms. Now, it’s time to create a strategy that connects all the dots. The options are vast here, ranging from retargeted digital/web ads, social media marketing, geofencing ads, product sales ads, billboards, and even EDDM (Every Door Direct Mailers). It’s crucial to have touchpoints with customers and to track data across your ads, website, and physical locations (if applicable). Here’s an example we’ve put together for you:

Marketing Plan:

1. Social media ad utilizing video or a reel that includes a strong CTA and links to the landing page.
2. The website uses pixels and tags to build an audience for digital retargeting ads (aiming for visibility at least 7 times for stronger recall) – these also link to the landing page.
3. The form or landing page captures leads for the email marketing funnel, offering special offers to convert customers through targeted marketing.

This is a brief example, but it shows the power of having data and trackers for remarketing purposes along with a robust strategy that offers a little extra for engaging with the content.

Go Forth & MARKET

We hope this little read has opened your eyes to the power of having a professional marketing team on your side. With Pearl Jade, you get to skip steps 1, 2, and 3—at least in the sense that you simply tell us about your business, and we’ll do the rest. As mentioned earlier, while marketing can be hard, it doesn’t have to be. Trust our team with your strategy and gain a better understanding of what customers want from your business. Expect no false promises; our approach is grounded in data-informed growth.

Talk Soon!

What's the Deal with Instagram Reels?

The Importance of Instagram in Your Marketing

Make it Reel

Let’s talk about Instagram Reels and how we are helping businesses succeed with their video content in State College, Pennsylvania AND beyond! This new-ish posting tool is now the standard across Instagram and Facebook. This tool is one you shouldn’t take for granted as it can have quite the impact on your business’ marketing! We’re going to give you the breakdown on reels; more specifically, their impact and how they can transform the way you get your business out there. Remember, when it comes time to put theory into practice, our team at PJM is ready to take your business there.

Break it Down Now

To ensure we’re all on the same page here, an Instagram Reel is a short video post that utilizes a few different aspects:

• 90-seconds or shorter
• Uses audio—trending audio or audio that relates to the content
• Typically combines multiple clips to create one fluent and seamless video

It’s important to keep in mind that these videos are intended to be short, almost commercial length, that are easy to view and scroll through.

Organic GROWTH

Instagram reels are being highly-ranked in viewability among social media platforms all across the world and even right here in Harrisburg, PA and because of this, when you post reels to your business–you can expect better data than just a typical Instagram post. Basically, regular posts that you’re not putting any money into (boosting, ads, etc). In recent times, we’ve started to see that the organic posts aren’t going ‘as far’ as they used to, not performing as well, and not being seen by as many people. However, we’re finding that reels are holding a lot of power when just organically posted onto the feed(s).

Take it from us, we have seen reels go up into the thousands of views with no sponsoring needed. It’s because of this favorite type of viewing from consumers that reels have a much better chance of getting your business out there. This is the perfect way to expand your marketing package with our team and get a little more creative with your business strategy.

The Impact of Instagram Reels

Like we said, we have seen reels explode with views quite quickly. When you combine occasional Instagram reels with regular, routine posting you get a solid business profile that builds credibility and traffic. This traffic yields high potential for clickthrough rates and can lead viewers directly to your other business pages and website. Building this web of activity and engagement around your business only serves to attract customers and often produces more customers, more clicks, and more calls for whatever it is that you do, sell, make, or share! If you’re ready for impact, start building up your profiles with our team today! If you want to learn more about building your Instagram profile into something fresh, feel free to look into our Instagram Services!

Check out the difference between a normal Instagram post versus a Reel Instagram post on our own page:

As you can see, there is a real difference between a regular Instagram post and Instagram reels posting, organically. Our post about our furry at home office friends pulled in just over 100 accounts organically but our reel pulled in well over 7,000 accounts! This is the power we are talking about.

Check out some really fun (and well-performing) REELS from businesses we work with! First, check out McKenzie Millward’s really fun real estate update! You might also like seeing what we’ve helped Pakayak create recently showcasing how easy it is to put together their portable kayaks! Then top it all off by getting your bling on with Kranich’s Jewelers where we helped their business showcase the cleaning process of a BEAUTIFUL ring! These are just a few examples, but just imagine what we can create together for your business or company!

Making Work Fun

Another perk about Instagram reels for businesses both in Pennsylvania and wherever you are in the world is that it can also empower your employees…REALLY! We’re not kidding. In order to gather content for reels, our team will work with you to develop ideas for some videos. From there, it’s up to you and your business team to generate some content (we can always come out and help), but this process can be fun and engaging for your staff! Along with being fun, you also get to empower your team as you share how many views your reels are getting and see your employees realize that their work is being seen by potentially thousands of people! Reels are a really great way to get everyone involved and get a little back from your hard work.

Reel in the Customers

Are you feeling like a pro yet? The next step is to start a conversation with your team and then include our team into your marketing endeavors. It’s just one click to start building a stronger online presence and reel-ing in more customers. We’ll start thinking of some ideas for your first reel!

All Reach Is Good Reach

Before we go jumping into this really fun topic of sponsored ads, we just want to say that if you’ve started your online presence for your business, whether in social media, email campaigns, or other marketing efforts—you are on the RIGHT track, and we applaud you for that!

When it comes to maintaining your online presence though, you’ll quickly notice you’re in for a long haul. What we want to help break down for you are these two essential key terms: organic and sponsored ads. We’ll get into definitions later, but just remember that all reach, even if it’s not much, is good reach and a good start. Now…let’s get you armed with some new knowledge and start growing your reach and customer base. As always, our team of dedicated creative professionals are always available to help out in this digital world!

Let’s Start Organically

This is a hot word right now, it seems grocery stores and almost everywhere are boasting about just how organic their products are. But, when it comes to social media and your business’ online presence, it has a bit of a different twang. Here the term directly refers to content you post onto your business social media pages, whether it be Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Just as you would personally post something to Facebook, with your business page these organic (free to post) posts go to laying the groundwork for new and returning customers that visit your page. Let’s look at the quick pros and cons:

Sponsored Ads

So, the basic concept here is pretty simple to understand. You can choose to pay for ad placements of your content on the various social media platforms with multiple approaches and outcomes. The big idea to take away here is that you are reaching potential new customers that are not limited to those who like or follow your page. This puts your content in content feeds of people who may benefit from your product or service. The connection made by your content and potential new customers is created through cookies, browsing data, and other demographics. Pros and cons you say? We’ve got you:

• Pros: Reach more people, get more clicks to website or landing page, choose the audience you target, budget & duration control, gets your image or name onto more devices establishing recognition.
• Cons: Depending on results—desired budget may grow/cost more, some ads may not “click” with the audience producing less desirable results, ad setup can be intricate.

That last little con is what stops a lot of businesses in their tracks when they try to do this on their own. There are some tech skills that come into play and you are better off consulting with some professionals for set up. Lucky you, we’re just the ones for that and when you know it’s time to grow, you can grow more effectively with the Pearl Jade team!

Just Mix It All Up

When it comes down to it, the major difference between organic and sponsored is the budget. Organic is free, yet limited, while sponsored ads cost money, but have more impact and reach for your business. The best approach is a nice mix of the two. With balance, branding, and an informed approach, customer growth, sales, or whatever it is you do, will only get better and better. Now, when you mix the creative PJM team into your strategy, that’s when things really start paying off.

Let’s get to enhancing your online presence together. We’re more than happy to share even more information with you and your business about all the inner workings of social media and other marketing platforms. We are already excited to learn more about what you do!

How approaching social media advertising, with expert guidance, can transform your business.

Tackling The Digital World

If we have heard it once, we have heard it a MILLION times—does Facebook work? Can Facebook work for my business? Can any social media help grow my business? Well, that can be a tricky one to answer. It depends on the business, the product, and SO much more! Let’s break down some of the key factors of finding a place for your business in the ever changing world of social media!

Boosters Beware

It’s there. Lurking on every post. Waiting for you to give it $10-$20. You know what we are talking about? The ‘Boost Post’ button on Facebook and sometimes Instagram. This little gem of an action allows businesses to approach a side of social media advertising that, well, does not represent if Facebook can be a good place to advertise your business or not. These types of ads are not comprehensive and will only reach potential customers or screens based on very limited direction from the user. Sometimes, machines can do things better than us—this is not one of those cases! Throwing money at this button will not be a good indicator of whether or not Facebook advertising is working for your business.

Your Content is OG

Now that we have covered avoiding pouring money into the boost post button let’s move onto keepin’ it real! The function of your social media advertising will rely on the type of content you are using to represent your business or product. If potential customers are seeing content from you with various branding elements that don’t align, images that don’t represent your business well, or even wording that doesn’t sound like your business, they are more likely to a) not remember your product or business or b) scroll by that sucker faster than the road runner. You can connect with our team at Pearl Jade to learn more about how we can lead you to producing original and branded content that aligns all of your social media advertising efforts with what your business is really about.

You Got Choices, Kid

So, the three big things to remember when starting out are: avoid the boost post button, use as much original/branded content as possible, and find and define an audience that makes sense for your business or product. Now you ask, but how? That’s where the Pearl Jade team comes in! We support your business to find the most functional advertising routes, check out some of your choices:

• Facebook: A platform great for reaching a large and specific audience through different creative approaches. Pearl Jade Marketing works to align your branding, appearance, and advertising on this platform to get more eyes on what you do best.
• Instagram: This platform is a testament to imagery. This is a great place to host things like before and after pictures, finished projects or products, or highlights of your business. Our team will shape your Instagram to be a page customers keep coming back to!
• Google Ads/Google My Business: If you think social media is huge, meet Google. You are going to want a partner when you start defining your business on the Google side of things. We’re here to lead you through the construction of showing up as the top search result.
• Email Campaigns: Sometimes relegated to the spam section of our minds and emails, these types of advertising campaigns can hit home with customers. Your approach just needs to be refined. With the right branding and message, you can stay in touch with your customers in more effective and direct ways.

Your business could benefit from any or all of these choices. A quick conversation with the Pearl Jade Social Media Warriors will give you a better idea of what may or may not work for your product or business. Let’s start something new.