Clear Image Portrait Studio has been an established business in Marysville for decades, but after a change in ownership last year, the company is acting more like an aggressive start-up.

Daniel Jolly, the new owner of Clear Image, understands the power of new media and social networking opportunities.

"We're on Facebook, MySpace, Biznik, and LinkedIn," Jolly said of the studio. "We have a blog and a YouTube showcase."

Traditional advertising is also part of Clear Image's marketing plan, but instead of focusing on yellow pages print advertising, the company focuses on "the big 3" Internet search engines as well as sites such as Merchantcircle, SuperPages, and Insiderpages.com.

"We also have started to send out regular e-mail newsletters," Jolly continued. "It's a whole new ballgame."

Face-to-face marketing is also becoming increasingly important and Clear Image is finding value in the relationships and community visibility that is forged at Chamber of Commerce events.

"We attend the Marysville Tulalip Chamber, the Stanwood Chamber and the Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber meetings, as well as the brand new Young Professionals Group starting in northern Snohomish County."

Biznik, a Seattle-based online networking site, dubbed "Business networking that doesn't suck," provides opportunities for the business community to interact online but also to host and attend events in their area.

"Personal networking is a skill, and the mixture of technology and face-to-face people skills is a win-win situation."

Jolly is also experimenting with technology to stay ahead, and the studio has integrated wireless multi-flash systems for outdoor shoots as well as printing studio backdrops at the company's in-house lab.

"It's been a blast," Jolly explains with creative excitement. "Next year we may start experimenting with aluminum portraits. The whole world of photography is changing rapidly, and we want to be the ones driving that change, not the ones panting for air behind it!"