Brand Interview: Dylan Glanzer, Parties by Dylan & Company

By Susan June 18, 2012 Blog, Brand-Interviews, Branding, Events, marketing, Musicians and Artists, Smart Business Practices, Social Media No Comments

Brand Interview: Dylan Glanzer, Parties by Dylan & Company

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
This is my 20th year in business! Since I have pretty much spent my entire life on the stage, making my living as a singer and performer is a dream come true. While pursuing a career in NYC, I got an audition for a job teaching a play program for really young children. It was the most natural thing in the world for me. After being approached by parents to do parties for their little ones, a business opportunity knocked on my door. Now my mission in life is to own the most sought after party entertainment in NJ for children under 5. I am training a team of employees who play guitar, sing and are great with our littlest people. I have two employees so far, and hope to be able to be booking 10 or more performers in my company by the end of next year. I provide quality, age-appropriate parties that engage young children in a positive, interactive, and FUN way! I also help moms plan a flawless event they can feel great about and so they can relax and actually enjoy their child’s special day.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
I do try to donate as much as I can and plan to do more as my company grows. I believe when we give, we get back so much more. I wish I had to more to give right now, but as I grow, I am looking forward to being able to help organizations that do work to help others, especially children. I also donate about 2 parties a year to help causes or charities that come to my attention.

Tell us about your brand.
Parties by Dylan & Company means happy children, life-long memories, and parents who know they chose a reliable company that can deliver what it promises. My logo shows a guitar because having a musician come to lead a children’s party adds a very exciting element. We are all about music as the basic component that ties our party hour together and keeps all the children having fun. I also add the benefit of my years of teaching experience (I have a Masters in Early Childhood Education.) so that my employees and I really know what to do to engage children under 5 and hold their attention in a positive manner.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
My logo had to have a guitar and be colorful – mainly purple, which is my signature color. I truly did not even thing about which typeface would be best.

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
Purple has to be the predominant color for me because I just feel really connected to it as a powerful and creative color.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
My logo designer was a client and in graphic design. My latest web designer was recommended to me by someone in my group Children’s Music Network.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
I began with my service and bought business cards to hand out. It was mostly word of mouth and some ads in parent papers. The internet was not so big in 1992. But I did get a site up pretty quickly in my first years in business. Social media came much later and has been a great resource. I am still looking for more ways to get the word out. Definitely need to work on this! This year, I now have a blog on my site (articles), a mailing list I am always adding to at my parties, and I am looking actively for PR opps with HARO and Savor the Success and pitching out to newspapers as well.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
19 years!

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
I am currently in Melissa Cassera’s Anonymous to A-List PR course, which is fabulous. I also have a business coach, Melody Stevens. I have taken several webinars and teleclasses too – including one of yours! I love to learn as much as I can!

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
I stopped advertising in any papers, as they never worked for me. The only money I spend on ads is online. Fun New Jersey is an amazing site and gets me most of my calls (they have killer seo!), besides my site and word of mouth.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
I have done Facebook pay per click ads and gotten a few new likes. That is about it. I don’t know yet if I will try again.

Which social media site to spend the most time on and how does it help marketing your business?
Facebook is my main one since I feel I only need to post once or twice a day. I do Twitter Thursdays with Savor the Success. I need to do so much more but I am in a learning phase and plan to make a big plunge into building the company in September for a few reasons.

Do you belong to community sharing websites? Which ones and how effective are they in building your audience? What are the best features that help your business?
I am in Savor the Success and loving every minute of it. It has helped me learn and grow personally and in my company. So many resources and so little time!

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
I recently used Vistaprint for my cards and often use Staples for flyers.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
Staples is pretty good about showing what they have.

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
I did not know and would seriously consider this!

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
The only products are my CDs and not sure where they are produced. Good question!!

Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
No. Not really sure there is a huge audience for my type of service, but you never know.

What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
Yup! I have a brand new awesome CD in the works! Expect it to be released in the market by the holidays!!! Also, did a sizzle reel with Michele Lange and I am dying to see how that comes out!

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
Yes! The list is so long! I would love to try B-School one day, but can only do one thing at a time and I am going to be in the next 6-figure club for Savor!! Yippee!