STYLE: Frame Collections The Lead, Follow Or Get Out Of The Web Award By Staff Monday, August 27, 2012 12:02 AM RELATED CONTENT VM Salutes 2012’s Most Daring Optical Retailers Judges The Resistance is Futile Award The Seeing Green Award The Shop It Like It’s Hot Award The Sphere Of Influence Of Award The “We The People” Reader Vote Award Sight Optical Grand Rapids, Mich. www.sightopticalboutique.com Owner: Michael McConnell SUBMISSION ESSAY… “We at Sight Optical Boutique take our website and social networking very seriously. As a new business, it is paramount that we embrace all that is possible and right at our finger tips, especially when financial investment is so low. The Website: We wanted to create something that was powerful visually, as well as clean, modern and easy to navigate. The main page of the site can be switched to promote products or events, and can be rotated as well. This has given us great flexibility in terms of marketing. Web Shop: We’ve also recently added a web shop in order to bring great products to our customers, wherever they may be. We feel that this is a growing segment of the marketplace and one that simply cannot be ignored. Social Networking: On our site, there is a blog that keeps our customers connected, informed, and interested in our shop. We also maintain a very active Facebook page that has grown to over 500 ‘fans’ in one year. On our Facebook page, we inform our fan base about new product launches, frame designs, celebrity sightings and videos, all while providing an overall branding consistent with the image of our shop. We try to keep it interesting and update it frequently without becoming annoying. We also participate on Instagram and Pinterest. Overall, I think we have really done a great job in this category. There is a science to social media, and we have mastered it to some degree.”