Refreshed digital presence for Stylus Solutions
How we refreshed the digital presence for Stylus Solutions to generate more leads and improve the user experience.
| Company | Stylus Solutions |
| Industry | Music Rights & Clearances |
| Size | 5 employees |
| Location | Florida |
| Challenge | Outdated website failing to generate leads in an increasingly digital industry |
| Result | 300% increase in monthly inbound inquiries; bounce rate cut by 45% |
Situation
Stylus Solutions is a boutique rights and clearances firm based in Florida, specializing in music licensing for film, television, digital media, and advertising. With over 20 years of collective experience and more than 100 productions cleared, the five-person team has built a reputation for navigating complex, multi-asset licensing across synchronization rights, master recordings, footage clearance, talent releases, and guild reporting.
Their client roster reads like a media industry directory: Bravo TV, BET Networks, Hulu, The CW, and collaborations with figures like Paul Broucek, former President of Music at Warner Bros. Pictures. Despite this pedigree, Stylus faced a growing problem: their digital presence did not match the caliber of their work.
Task
The music licensing market is booming. Global sync revenues reached $650 million in 2024 and are expected to surpass $1 billion by 2027, driven by the explosion of streaming platforms, social media content, and digital advertising. For clearance firms, this means more opportunity but also more competition.
Stylus's existing website was outdated, difficult to navigate, and lacked the content needed to convert visitors into clients. In an industry where 75% of people judge a company's credibility by its website design, this was a liability. Competitors like DMG Clearances and Evan M. Greenspan Inc. (which owns the premium domain clearance.com) had established stronger digital footholds.
The stakes were clear: without a modern web presence, Stylus risked losing new business to competitors despite offering superior service. The team estimated they were receiving only 3-4 inbound inquiries per month through their site, a fraction of what their reputation should have generated.
Action
Over a focused 6-week engagement, a new website was designed and built from the ground up on Next.js 15 with Payload CMS 3, giving Stylus both a polished public presence and the ability to manage their own content without developer intervention.
Key features delivered:
- Service showcase: Eight distinct clearance services, from synchronization licenses to guild reporting, each presented with clear descriptions and supporting visuals, helping prospects understand Stylus's full-service capabilities at a glance.
- Portfolio and work display: A filterable gallery of past productions organized by category, with modal views for details. This gave prospects immediate proof of Stylus's track record across film, television, and digital media.
- Social proof system: Client testimonials with ratings, a rotating logo bar featuring major network and studio brands, and team credential highlights (20+ years experience, 100+ productions) all designed to build trust within seconds of landing on the site.
- Lead capture: A streamlined contact form integrated with Resend for instant email notifications, ensuring no inquiry goes unnoticed. The form was kept intentionally simple — name, email, message — to reduce friction.
- Content management: The Payload CMS backend allows Stylus's team to add new work items, update testimonials, publish pages, and manage service descriptions independently, keeping the site fresh without ongoing development costs.
- SEO optimization: Meta titles, descriptions, and image optimization across all pages, positioning Stylus to capture organic search traffic in a niche where most competitors have minimal SEO investment.
The team chose this solution over template-based alternatives because they needed a site that could grow with them — a content platform, not just a brochure.
Results
"The website finally tells our story the way we tell it in person. We've had prospects reference specific projects from our portfolio during initial calls. That never happened before."
— Margarita, Founder, Stylus Solutions
Within the first 90 days of launch, the impact was measurable:
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly inbound inquiries | 3-4 | 12-15 | +300% |
| Website bounce rate | ~58% | ~32% | -45% |
| Average time on site | 1.2 min | 3.8 min | +217% |
| Perceived credibility (client survey) | 40% | 85% | +113% |
Beyond lead volume, the quality of inbound prospects improved. Visitors arriving at the new site had already reviewed Stylus's services, past work, and client testimonials before reaching out, resulting in shorter sales cycles and higher-value engagements.
The self-service CMS also eliminated the bottleneck of needing a developer to update the site. The team now publishes new portfolio items and updates service descriptions on their own, keeping the site current as new productions are cleared.
In an industry where relationships still drive business, Stylus Solutions proved that a strong digital presence doesn't replace reputation — it amplifies it. With a website that now reflects their 20+ years of expertise, the team can focus on what they do best: clearing rights and closing deals.
