Be a part of our team!

We would be honored to have you join our team and become a more integral part of the Smith Lake community by advertising in our magazine and through our extensive social media and other digital avenues.  We want to be a part of your supportive marketing plan.  We're here to help you build your brand better locally.

​WHY US?  Check out the YELLOW box below.  We are here to serve.  We seek to place participating local businesses in front of the lake community.  We don't stop at a printed AD, we continue to advertise businesses by utilizing our reach on several social media platforms and other digital methods.  We're always open to ideas to fit your plan.  

​Go ahead and start with a FREE listing today - just fill out the green form below.  Yes, a FREE listing showing basic information and a phone link on our website's Business Listings! 

​For additional links, info/bio, photos, and or blog spotlights, get a simple level-up with pricing beginning at only $25 annually (BUT DO NOTE:  our yearly contracted print advertisers list FREE sitewide).  Just fill out the green form below and we'll get you on the site ASAP!  If you need to upgrade your listing level at any time - EMAIL us or purchase your digital option on our SHOP page.

Frequent Questions - see the bottom of this page.

​Check us out:
​Website:  thelakesidelife.com
Facebook:  @thelakesidelife, the "Smith Lake Community" Group, and "Smith Lake Small Businesses" Group
Instagram: @thelakesidelife_smithlake or @smithlakebiz
...and other social media platforms like Pinterest and Houzz.

---

REQUEST MEDIA KIT HERE

---

Pay your invoice

Advertisers can pay quarterly invoices below, just click the link and pay to "[email protected]" or send your check to the address at the bottom of the website page.

Write a CHECK to:
"Lakeside"
and mail to:  
​The Lakeside Life
950 County Road 3930
Arley, AL 35541

Pay via PayPal using our email:  [email protected]
Click logo above to pay.

Pay via Zelle using our email:  [email protected]
Most all banks offer Zelle now for fast/convenient/safe payments bank-to-bank.  Think of it as Venmo for banks only.  Just sign up on your online banking - easy and fast to make payments.

** ADVERTISER MUSTS **

Yes, some of our advertising levels are allowed free social media as a perk of their package.  HOWEVER... clients MUST "@" mention us on their caption or comment so that the social media platform (Meta) notifies our team that a post needs to be seen and shared.  Alternatively, they can also send us the post via DM/PM on IG/FB, or email, but those methods are not as effective and create more work for our team, so those are at our discretion and time allowance.  

​Additionally, those same advertisers can post once every 2 weeks to our Facebook groups:  "Smith Lake Community," "Smith Lake, Alabama."  Any business can post free at any time to "Smith Lake Small Businesses."   

​For information on why using @ instead of # works best, please see the blog on @ vs #.  

?? Why The Lakeside Life ??

• We're locals - We are a small family living right in the middle of the lake area on Rock Creek.  We have been on Smith Lake for over 25 years.  Our company is family-owned & operated from the heart of Smith Lake.  This means that your AD dollars are not going to pay a magazine franchise headquartered out of state (that's right, franchises cause your AD costs to be exorbitant), but instead your money actually stays right in the community.
• Competitive - We pride ourselves on being very competitive with other advertising avenues in the area.  No other entity has pricing and a luxury product comparable to ours - ZERO.
• Affordable - We are the most affordable advertising option in the area while still offering the very highest level product and services - comparable to none.
• Options - We offer many other print and digital packages outside of our regular Media Kit, and we pride ourselves on working with every budget in any way we can to make sure any business can afford to be a part of our team in some way.  We recommend starting with a FREE or affordable linked listing on the website, or an AD on our large Facebook group:  Smith Lake Community, plus many more options - just ask or fill out the green form above to discuss your needs.​
• The most ​comprehensive website - We are the most comprehensive website for the Lewis Smith Lake Alabama area with over a million hits for our sites which are pointed to:  thelakesidelife.com
• ​​Wide reach - We have a wide reach on social media with active accounts, and a fast growing Facebook group, Smith Lake Community, where certain print advertiser levels are allowed to post or we can post for them.
• ​Social Media - We execute complimentary social media posts and reposts for our yearly contract print advertising businesses as part of their yearly committed package, and in order to benefit from this feature, our customers need only "@" TAG us (this means to use the "@" mention tag option - check this blog for more details) on Facebook or Instagram (in the caption, comments, tagged on photos), or PM/DM/send us posts that need to be reposted or highlighted.

• Marketing - Need additional help building your brand and marketing it?  Need a logo, business cards, flyers, ADs, etc.?  Our team can help you with everything you need.  From all the above to additional help setting up your social media accounts, plus a simple website, to maintaining them for you or just handing off for you to handle.  We highly recommend local companies and our team members for a strong in-depth marketing plan offering everything you need to build your brand.  
• Unique - We seek to remain unique in our approach.  We  are not a cookie-cutter franchised publication built primarily out of state with pre-set formats.  We work hard to find interesting subject matter and present it beautifully in a luxury coffee-table-worthy print magazine, more like a book with a heavy feel and a true binding.  The magazine is not a typical thin, discardable, resort-area-style booklet, but a true luxury magazine with engaging articles.  We purposefully choose to work with in-state highest level creatives, writers, photographers and graphic designers; as well as with elite printers who offer premium paper and ink options.  We strive to be enjoyable to our public and produce a magazine that is proudly displayed in stores and homes.  Input from readers and advertisers is very valuable in this process, and their contribution is desired and considered first at all times.  
• Distribution - Unlike other publications that distribute only to one city/county area, we distribute our publication not only in the tri-county area around Smith Lake, but also into Alabama areas of Birmingham, Huntsville, and Decatur, as well as Nashville, TN.  Our magazine is NOT bulk-mailed to areas you are not targeting or to people who might actually have no interest in your lake specific products and services.  That's right, there are people who live and work locally in cities like Cullman, Jasper, and Double Springs who do not even visit the lake often, are not interested in it, and do not own property here.  We have a specific target market - the lake community of visitors (from many states), homeowners, inhabitants and its businesses.
• Subscription base - our readership is large, reaching into 38 states and growing.  No need to send out magazines to random purchased addresses in bulk for attention - littering mailboxes then trash cans.  We are proud to have subscribing customers who want to pay for direct mail of our heavy and content-rich product to their primary and vacation homes to keep and place on their coffee tables long term.  We have many readers who keep a library of every magazine we've ever produced!  And, our digital online content and magazines are enjoyed by readers anytime 24/7 from anywhere - all over the world. 

---

FREEBIES with your AD

We're here to help you continue to boost your presence in the Smith Lake Community, so please never hesitate to contact us directly if you have any questions or ideas.  

Remember, your free annual print AD (based on size) allows you so many extra perks that no other local magazine or other marketing entity offers:

1)  FREE presence on thelakesidelife.com in several spots, including all the site's business listings, the marketplace tab and other strategic locations.  CHECK the site to see where your info is, and if you want your AD placed somewhere specific, let's talk about it!  
2)  FREE reposts on social media (Instagram and Facebook) - just "@" mention us in a post/caption/comments/tag so Meta platforms send us an immediate notification to check out your post.  This is a MUST DO in order to get free reposts.  
3)  FREE posts to our popular Facebook groups "Smith Lake Community" and "Smith Lake Alabama" with frequency depending on size of AD.  Below is the breakdown:  

Premium Full Page ADs or more than 1 Fpg:   6-8 posts a month
Full Page ADs:   4 posts a month (1 each week)
Half Page ADs:   2 posts a month
Quarter Page ADs:   1 post a month

Don't forget to take advantage of these perks! 

---

Media Kit

Call/text any time at 205-470-8250 or 256-708-7679 to obtain a Media Kit, discuss an affordable package, or schedule a meeting with us, and you may also email us at [email protected], or fill out the form above.

NOTE:  Any time that our print AD list is full for a given quarter, we highly recommend that you be placed on our WAITING LIST for notification of open slots in a subsequent quarter.  The waiting list is on a first-come/first-served basis so that we can meet demand fairly.  Also, those who are on the waiting list are still eligible for other benefits and can participate in other marketing options with us.  Feel free to contact us at any time regarding the waiting list.  

---

IMPORTANT ADVERTISER INFO

AD Deadlines

We'll be revising our 2026 design production schedule soon; but our deadlines for ADs should fall near the draft dates listed below. We reserve the right to change this schedule at any time due to content production, print scheduling and even emergencies within our own small team.  Otherwise we try to stay as near our preferred print dates as possible - print dates generally fall within a month after our AD deadline dates.  

Draft 2026 schedule:  
2026-QTR1 - spring - March 15, 2026 - ADs and content due
2026-QTR2 - summer - June 15, 2026 - ADs and content due
2026-QTR3-4 - fall/winter - Oct 15, 2026 - ADs and content due

AD Design Notes

If an advertiser needs The Lakeside Life to design their AD:

• There must be some guidance for the AD to be built - samples or screenshots of ADs the advertiser appreciates can be submitted, or a detailed explanation of what is envisioned.
• All content (logos/photos/verbiage/colors/fonts/etc.) must be submitted via email.
• Logos and photos must be submitted in no less than 300dpi sizing (so over 1MB in size, and typically never in any KB sizing).
• There will be only 3 edits of an AD (per issue) allowed, so please be very specific on what is desired for the appearance of the AD in order to avoid unnecessary edit fees.

If an advertiser designs their own AD or submits an AD designed by someone else:

• Artwork must be delivered in PDF, EPS, or AI files.
• Packaged AI files must have all links and fonts outlined.
• The Lakeside Life is not responsible for typos and errors in supplied art.
• Files must not exceed 10 MB.
• ​Files must be converted to CMYK.  The Lakeside Life is not responsible for color correcting on ADs delivered as RGB files.; therefore, CMYK conversion is required.

Print AD Sizing Specifications

At this time we only offer the following print AD sizes:  (feel free to clarify further depending on whether your AD is print or digital).

REGULAR PRINT ADs
AD sizes (Floating)
See graphics
​
Quarter Page - 3.875" w x 4.75" h

Half Page - 8" w x 4.75" h

Full Page - 8" w x 9.75" h

---

FULL BLEED PRINT ADS
​AD sizes (Full Bleed)
See graphics

Quarter Page - N/A
​
Half Page - N/A

Full Page -
7.5" w x 10" h (safe area)
8.5" w x 11" h (final print AD size)
8.75" w x 11.25" h (full bleed size)

Double Page Spread (2 Full pages together) -
16" w x 10" h (safe area)
17" w x 11" h (final print AD size)
17.25" w x 11.25" h (full bleed size)

Below is a sample for a 1Fpg AD with full bleed:

Below is a sample for a 2Fpg AD spread with full bleed:

---

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Where do I get a media kit?  
EMAIL or CALL, or fill out the GREEN form on this page.  Set up a phone or in-person meeting with us anytime.  Request back issues when you need them.

How do I get my business reposted on your social media?
If you are an advertiser with us, reposts are FREE.  All a clients has to do is utilize the "@" mention feature to notify us what to post (to learn more, head to this blog) - alas we follow thousands of accounts so you might not show up in our feed, and sadly we are not mind-readers nor have psychic knowledge to "guess" what you need posted - LOL! - so just tell us.  SO EASY & takes milliseconds to simply "@" mention.  If we miss something - send us the post directly.  Why pay another entity to do this for you when we do it for free? 

Also, our print advertisers have the perk of being able to post business posts (within reasonable quantity and frequency) on our large Facebook groups "Smith Lake Community," "Smith Lake Alabama," and ANY BUSINESS can post as often as they like on the FREE Facebook group "Smith Lake Small Businesses."  All are great for helping to keep the business community aligned with area clients they wish to serve.

Will you do an article on us if we are not an advertiser?
We reserve the right to complete articles on our advertisers first and foremost, but as space becomes available, you may purchase space for an article if you are not an annual advertiser.  This is on a first-come first-served basis.  Get in touch with us quickly to get on the list.  If we cannot fit you in for your preferred timeframe, then we can do a blog that provides you with a link to use as often as you like until we can get your material into print (and you can update it any time).  Just contact us!

How do I submit an article, idea or pictures for the magazine?  
Simply EMAIL us to start the easy process.  If you have an idea for an article, even if it is not business-related or only slightly business-related, we're happy to help (i.e. your wife is an artist, daughter is a star student or athlete with something interesting to share, son has a new business, neighbor used your company to buy flooring for their new home and you think we should feature the home, etc.).  

Can you help new small businesses, nonprofits, etc.?  
Absolutely, and we do it often.  The are special plans for these type entities.  We enjoy working with artists, start-ups, pop-ups, and nonprofits.  We often help these entities free-of-charge to incubate them as they get a footing in the community.  Our only request is mutual support and for the entity to agree to pay-it-forward in the community.