YOUR LIGHTING BRAND:
BUILDING 200 WEBSITES and Standardizing the Lighting Industry’s Data By RANDY REID
Photo Credit: Rob Hilbert
Your Lighting Brand has reached a milestone few could have imagined when the business began nearly 12 years ago: 200 lighting industry websites built. Rob Hilbert, co-founder of Your Lighting Brand (YLB) and The Lighting Exchange (LEX), shared how this achievement reflects not just growth in numbers, but an evolution in how lighting agencies and manufacturers manage their digital presence and data. "We’re sitting right around 199 to 203," Rob said, noting that some websites are in production and nearing completion. "It’s funny. Internally, I knew that we’d built many websites, and that maybe I should check the count to see where we stand. And when I did, I was happy to see we were approaching the nice round number of 200." The journey began with a single website for a lighting agency—likely a Cooper rep, as Rob recalls—thanks to early relationships with manufacturers who saw the potential of YLB’s services. One memorable early client was J.G. Murphy. "He never had a website," Rob laughed. "When we built him one, the Acuity agents joked that if we 116
designing lighting
could build one for him, we could build one for anyone." What started as a one-off service quickly led to a realization that agency websites had unique challenges, particularly with maintaining accurate line cards. "The page that changed the most was the line card," Rob explained. That realization led to the creation of The Lighting Exchange, a software platform that now serves as the backbone for most of their clients' product marketing and data management. "Today, roughly 93% (400+ installations) of commercial and industrial lighting agencies use our software either embedded into a website that YLB built or as a plug-in to their existing website," Rob stated. “And with key software advancements over the past 2 years, we now have over 30 manufacturers integrating The Lighting Exchange into their websites.” This integration allows real-time synchronization of spec sheets, installation files, and product data across manufacturers and their entire rep network. When a manufacturer updates their product information, it