Let me introduce you to the Property Matrix! This is one of those features that is way under valued and often overlooked. It gives you the ability to mass edit a bunch of objects to avoid doing exactly what you describe!
You can select the object in your scene and use via the world outliner or you can select them via the content browser > right click > Asset Actions > Property Matrix.
This will give you access to settings for all of the selected meshes.
As for lighting, since the time of this original post Eric and I have setup the start of a simple Wiki Lighting Guide for common lighting issues and their solutions with examples to demonstrate. This may be helpful as well. 