Welborn Media and the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
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At the beginning of 2012 Welborn Media joined the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. So far we’ve attended numerous events, given a handful of helpful presentations, met so many hardworking business leaders, and Zeb has become an Ambassador for the Chamber. Recently we were brought on to redesign the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce website.

About the Chamber:

“The Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce continues to be the largest and most comprehensive business organization in the Chino Valley speaking on behalf of its member firms. Members include a mix of companies of all sizes and industries, from entrepreneurial start-up companies to large long-established business entities. The Chino Valley is indeed “Open” to business and the Chamber works to make this community a premiere place to do business.”

We were excited to get the opportunity to create a website that would be able to benefit so many people in our own community, whether it be business owners who would like an online presence, or residents looking to find out more about businesses and events in the community.

The old Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce website was difficult to update and difficult to navigate. We wanted to make sure we gave our chamber something much more useful, for chamber members and visitors to the website alike. We decided to use WordPress as a content management system in tandem with ChamberMaster, a powerful easy-to-use member management software created specifically for chambers of commerce. By keeping the design clean and modern we were able to create a site that is easy to navigate while still representing the Chino Valley. Here are some screenshots of our chamber of commerce website design:

Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - Business DirectoryChino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - Board of Directors
Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - Events CalendarChino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - Join, Sign up
Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - About the ChamberChino Valley Chamber of Commerce Website - Home Page

Check out the new Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce website and let us know what you think!

Click over to our Clients page and scroll to the section Website Design to see some of the other websites we’ve built.

Design a Customized Profile Image for Your Facebook Business Page

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

One of the many things we do is set up Facebook Profiles. It is important to fully fill in profile information and to have a to-the-point description in the About section, since that always shows up on the side bar on the left of the Facebook page.

We do these things, but our favorite part of setting up a Facebook Business page is creating the page’s profile picture.

The maximum width for a Facebook image (as displayed on the profile page) is 180px. Which isn’t a whole lot of room. The good thing is that this image can be much longer. The maximum height is 540px (as displayed on the profile page). Which makes a good size space for you to add some color to a page, add information, or add an image that really expresses the brand.

One important thing to keep in mind is the page thumbnail. The thumbnail is the small square image that shows up next to your page name whenever you post on Facebook. This thumbnail is taken from your profile picture. To get a good thumbnail make sure there’s a square portion that’s almost as wide as your profile image dedicated to giving your page a good thumbnail. (To set your page thumbnail: After you post your profile image you can click to ‘change picture’ and ‘edit thumbnail’ to pick the appropriate part of your profile image to be the thumbnail.)

When designing a Facebook profile picture I usually make sure the logo takes up nearly the whole width of the image, that it has a square portion all to itself, and there’s no distracting background behind the logo. This portion will make up the thumbnail. Then I work with the colors and the attitude of the business to create something appealing and attractive. Sometimes it is important to get more information in the Facebook image, one thing I always try to include is some contact information. It should always be easy to find out how to get in touch with a company. I always keep the Facebook layout in mind when designing these pictures. Once I get the image together I like to put it into a screenshot of a Facebook profile so that I can really see how it’s going to look on the page. After a little fine tuning and approval from the business owner we post it up and admire how much a well crafted profile picture can really enhance the look of a Facebook page.

Keeping the Facebook layout in mind can let you have a little fun with profile images.Try adding a shadow to the edges of an profile picture to create a little bit of depth, or use the white background to your advantage by adding rounded corners. The white background could also be useful in creating a super 3-d look, a photo at an interesting angle with a white background could be used in the profile picture to create a really dynamic effect.


Lacey’s super special tip: Most people recommend that the Facebook page profile picture be 180px wide by 540px tall, but it’s better to upload a page image that is 250px wide by 750px tall. That way when the profile picture is opened the image viewer it will be full size.

If you would like help setting up a Facebook page for your business, or if you already have one but want it maximized contact Contact Zeb Welborn at (909) 973-9088. Be sure to ask about the other Facebook services we provide.

How We Can Create Fun, Exciting and Customized Websites for Any Business

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
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I recently got the opportunity to design the landing page for a magazine website. While working out the details of the assignment my client told me, “I just want to see what you put together without a ton of input from me. I want you to go ahead and design what you think would work best and we can go from there.”

This is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is I have complete freedom. The bad news is that without the back and forth and asking, do you want this or that? it’s hard to figure out what the client really wants.

We already run the Twitter account for this business. She was very happy with the Twitter background I created for their Twitter profile page and she wanted to see what I could do for her new website.

After doing some research I had some good ideas for this webpage but was having difficulty fitting ideas together. Then my client sent me a message, sort of an outline of their plans for this new website. It had a list of the different sections they wanted on their website, the type of content they wanted on their page, but nothing about what they wanted for a design.  However, at the end of the document there was a section titled Brand Personality with a list: Friendly, Fun Creative, Inspiring, Imaginative, Informational, Educational, Savvy, Good Clean Fun, Social.

I wrote this list down. After reading the words a couple of times I knew how I was going to design the site. I knew how it would look. I knew this because I now knew how the site should feel.

After spending a few days developing the design I submitted a first draft mock-up to my client. They had some minor changes for me, but overall they loved it. They really liked the overall layout I set up. They loved how I integrated social media. They loved the feel the design achieved, saying that it was friendly and warm and still clean and organized.

I got to talk to another employee, whom I’ll be working with to get the site live, and he shared with me the joy my client had for the design I put together.

Apparently, they formerly had a full-time graphic artist who’s esthetic didn’t match my client’s esthetic. It was hard for them to reach design solutions that made the client happy. After getting it right on the first attempt my client has a lot of faith in me and has hired me on to help get the site live.

It can be hard to tell what a client wants. By paying attention and putting myself in their shoes, I was able to get some good ideas. Then, with the help of a few simple words, I knew how I was going to put it all together. It’s a design that I’m proud of and that my client is stoked about.

Now it’s a mad dash to get the site up and running to stay on the schedule. It’s going to be a busy week!  Stay tuned for the finished product when the site goes live.

If you are interested in getting customized websites designed for your business, contact Lacey Welborn at (909) 973 – 9088.

Five Tips for a Killer Presentation

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

Whenever we meet a potential client we prepare a presentation for them. We share facts and ideas about what Welborn Social Media can do for their business.

Our presentations have been very successful.  Get our five tips for a killer presentation

Upon the completion of our presentation, our potential clients have a basic understanding of social media, how it can benefit their business, and, often times, business owners begin to see the massive potential social media has to offer.

Slide 1 of Our Presentation

Here are some reasons why our presentations are successful:

  • We alter our slide show to suit the business we’re presenting too. This is beneficial for two reasons:  we provide a personalized approach which gives us credibility that we can take their information and use it to communicate using social media, and it gives us on opportunity to delve into the business to better understand the needs of our customers.
  • We use lots of slides. Clicking through more slides during a presentation helps develop a strong, consistent flow of information to our potential customers. Instead of having one slide with a topic and three bullet points it’s much better for the tempo of the presentation to have four slides with very large, easy-to-read font.
  • Conversation is a must.  At the beginning of each presentation we explicitly encourage clients to ask questions.  Throughout the presentation we ask a lot of questions and make sure they are understanding the material we presented to them.  The presentation is less of a presentation and more like a guided conversation . . . our slides help guide the discussion.
  • Our slide show is very cohesive. It has a set color scheme, a few font choices and consistently placed items throughout.
  • While being cohesive we also have worked to make the slides more interesting. We have a lot of charts in our presentation to visually display some of the astounding facts around social media. We realized there were too many bar graphs and they became repetitive. By thinking of more creative ways to visually display information we’ve been able to make our slide show much more interesting.

Keep Slides Interesting

Our presentation is a constant work in progress. We are always trying to improve both the design of the slides and the manner in which we share them.

We love giving our presentation to business owners. By the end they can see the potential for social media in their business. They can imagine the success it can bring. They can visualize the ways it can allow them to share their passion for what they do.  Use our five tips for a killer presentation.

Welborn Social Media Can Help You Use Video to Build Your Brand

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Technology is amazing. One of the greatest tools for increasing your online profile is developing an array of videos that can provide potential customers with more ways to find you.

Use video to build your brand.  According to a Create Hype article, 5 Ways Business Owners Can Use Online Video to Grow Their Business, videos can be used:  for product/service demonstrations, to provide a video tour of your company, to profile your employees, to highlight your customers and to keep your customers informed.

The possibilities for using videos to promote your business online are endless.  One excellent  example of a company who has used video for their business is BlendTec. They have a YouTube series called “Will it Blend?”

In one of their most popular videos they blend a brand new iPad, completely destroying it.  To date, the video has more than 13,000,000 viewers and counting. Well worth it.

Can your business use 13,000,000 people viewing a message you put out?  Online video is an amazing opportunity to connect with your customers.

In 2012, we aim to help a variety of companies use video to build their brand.  We have access to high-quality equipment and develop ways to engage any customer.  We have already begun creating videos for The Tutoring Solution and Los Serranos Country Club and can do so for your business.

If you want more people to find your business online, use video to build your brand . . . and if you want help, come to Welborn Social Media.

The Top 11 Moments for Welborn Social Media in 2011

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

We founded Welborn Social Media in June 2011 and despite being open for business for roughly six months, we have many memorable moments.  The following is our top 11 moments for Welborn Social Media in 2011.  Thank you to our friends, family and the businesses who have used our services this year.  We are extremely optimistic about 2012 and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Welborn Social Media and the people we interact with.

  1. We began the year by expanding our social media, graphic and website design knowledge by learning new ways to promote The Tutoring Solution.
  2. In June, Welborn Social Media got it’s start with our first client Scrapbook Expo.  We have been running the Scrapbook Expo Twitter Page ever since.
  3. In July, we started work on Los Serranos Country Club‘s blog, Facebook and Twitter pages and continue to run their social media presence.
  4. In August, we began working for WireSpeed Systems, a global supplier for new and refurbished networking equipment.  We run their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
  5. In October, we started a Facebook and a blog for System 1 Interiors, Los Angeles’s best acoustic ceiling removal company.
  6. We launched the Welborn Social Media website and began developing our own social media presence.Welborn Social Media Online
  7. Attended the Arizona Business Growth Expo and began developing business relationships with wonderful people that will continue to help us as our business grows.
  8. As a result of our work, our client, WireSpeed Systems, was recognized by Cisco, the largest corporation in the networking industry, as their Facebook SuperFan. WireSpeed Systems has been featured in Cisco’s Facebook profile picture since the beginning of November.
  9. Hosted our first Twitter chat for our client Scrapbook Expo. It was a success and we’ve been hosting two Twitter chats a month ever since. Follow #ScrapChat at 6pm PT on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month to join in!
  10. Launched DLT Growers brand new website, built by Welborn Social Media.  DLT Growers sells ground cover to companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot.
  11. Helped the Women’s English National Football team’s starting goalkeeper, Karen Bardsley wish fans a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It’s been a truly memorable year. The most exciting part of this year is the possibilities for next year. In the past few weeks we’ve been talking with a variety of businesses about enhancing their brand with our social media services. We already have some exciting things in store for 2012 and can’t wait to write the year in review at the end of next year, it’s bound to be packed with even more memorable moments.

Happy New Year!

Cisco Recognizes WireSpeed Systems (Our Client) as Their SuperFan!

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)
WireSpeed Systems chosen as Cisco's SuperFan on Facebook

Cisco’s Facebook Photo

Our client, WireSpeed Systems, is a small hardworking business that sells new and refurbished networking equipment.

Cisco is a multinational corporation and the world’s largest manufacturer of networking equipment.

When we began implementing our Facebook strategy for WireSpeed Systems we followed Cisco closely because our clients work with their products often. With well over 225,000 fans, Cisco has a terrific Facebook presence. Last year they began featuring SuperFans on their Facebook profile. SuperFans are their most active and engaged followers.

On Tuesday Cisco changed their profile image to the one seen here and they posted, “We changed it up this month for the Cisco SuperFan! Instead of an individual, we are highlighting WireSpeed Systems, a company who has been extremely active on our page and has even been sharing our content on their Facebook page as well. Thanks for being such a fabulous Cisco SuperFan, WireSpeed Systems!!”

Obviously our clients are thrilled. We are very excited and proud to get one of our small businesses noticed by the biggest company in their industry. Having the WireSpeed Systems logo alongside the Cisco logo on Cisco’s own Facebook page adds a great deal of credibility and instills trust in WireSpeed Systems.

We’re very fortunate to have such wonderful clients. It makes the job of getting their name out there and recognized by new people so rewarding.

A big Thank You! to Cisco and their Social Media team. Highlighting smaller businesses is such a wonderful thing for a huge corporation to do. Thank you!

2011 AZ Business Growth Expo

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

On November 8th we will be attending the Business Growth expo at Fiesta Resort in Tempe.

I put together a webpage about the event. Please visit: WelbornSocialMedia.com/BusinessGrowthExpo for all the information. If you’ll be attending the expo send us a message or contact us before the expo, we’ll review your current Social Media activities and tell you ways to improve your internet presence.

Leave a comment if you’ll be at the expo. We’ll look for you.