Lion's Share Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Seismic Dance Event, a music festival.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lion's Share Digital?

We’re about to start our third year of the festival. In the first year, we needed to get our website up and running. In the second year, we needed to redesign it to achieve more of the vision that we were moving towards. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the entire website on WordPress and consulted on best practices for the site.

Each time we worked with them, we had a kickoff call. On this call, we discussed what we were trying to achieve and what looks we were interested in. Then, they’d go through others’ styles, and we’d work with their design team to come up with design mock-ups and renders for our site. We gave feedback, and then we would go back and forth until we had a final product.

They also created an artist section, which we hadn't asked for but turned out to be an amazing addition to our site. This was a separate page where you saw the lineup and could click on the artists. It would then take you to their social media pages and play their music. It was a really nice touch, and an idea they thought of.

What is the team composition?

My primary points of contact were Alicia (Project and Content Manager, Lion's Share Digital) and Jesse (Founder, Lion’s Share Digital). They worked with a design team behind the scenes who we occasionally also interacted with.

How did you come to work with Lion's Share Digital?

We know both of them from the Austin, Texas music industry. Jesse made some great work for other Austin music entities, so we went straight to him.

How much have you invested with them?

Each was priced on a per-project basis. The first was roughly $4,000, and the second was roughly $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work in 2018, and the work is still ongoing. The work is dormant until the next iteration of the festival.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’re great at troubleshooting. If WordPress is having a weird bug, Jesse can discover the problem and Alicia can fix the issues. They quickly resolve any and all qualms that I have with their formidable formatting skills.

I'm impressed at the site’s traffic numbers. Our patrons have given us some fantastic feedback, saying they’re able to find everything that they need. They’ve done a great job of making our site accessible to all.

How did Lion's Share Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

That’s their forte, they’re great. Our relationship was casual and that made the project have a certain ease as we went through the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience in the music festival world was incredibly valuable. They knew exactly what we needed, and how to structure it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, none that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to have a clear understanding of your timelines. We would slip up on our end, and that would cause the project to slow down throughout because we were not aware of all the things that hinged upon our work confirming designs. You need to know that if you miss a deadline, it will impact you in certain ways.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing for Juan Lobo Tequila. We are a 100% blue agave tequila brand based out of Mexico, but our headquarters are based in Austin, Texas. We have been in business for about two years, but we officially launched in July 2019.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lion’s Share Digital?

We didn’t have a website, as we had just launched, but I have a strong digital marketing background and have been in the B2B tech business for about seven or eight years, so I attempted to build the site myself. In looking at all of our competitors, however, we wanted a website that could stand against the big dogs we were competing with in that space. I didn’t have the technical abilities to create something that robust, so I started searching for web developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had our site somewhat built out, but it was really just a placeholder page on Squarespace. They built out our entire site on WordPress and moved over the hosting domain to WordPress and WP Engine.

We’ve also worked with a designer they have staff who drummed up a lot of beautiful wireframes for us. They handled certain graphic elements, some video elements, and incorporated our current brand aesthetic (colors, our text, fonts, and photos). They created an entire site that really reflected who we are and who we wanted to be as a brand. They exceeded our expectations and made us feel a lot cooler than we are, essentially.

I handled the content on my end, but they optimized it, and Jesse and his team really did a lot to enhance our current content to make sure our ranking is as high as possible. They’re including that in our future maintenance plan as we continue to work with them. They also worked with us on our SEO rankings when it came to content creation, visible functionality on the site, execution, and publishing. It was a completely end-to-end service.

I found the homepage to be really exciting. When we were dreaming of how the site would function, Jesse (Founder/Project Lead, Lion’s Share Digital) and his team did a lot of extensive research on competitor brands and dug into the archives of what they have done before. They also dreamt on their side about what they wanted to do that they had never done before. When we were looking at other people’s sites, we thought they were so out there and that there was no way we could achieve that advanced level of web design, but Lion’s Share really did.

They came to us with a lot of different ideas and brought forth some examples of what other sites have done, whether it was in the liquor industry or not. They wanted to include some type of parallax scrolling and animation of sorts to get people involved in the site more.

When you land on our homepage, it is the most beautiful on a desktop. The initial design makes people want to scroll. As they do that, our different products morph onto the screen, as well as different photos. The entire aesthetic changes as they go through the homepage. I find that to be an addicting feel for a user when they are experiencing a fun transition from product to product.

There are so many little details on the site that a lot of people would look past, but Lion’s Share did a really great job of being thoughtful in their design. For example, on the side of the web page there are hash marks that are on the side of our label. At the end of the day, those are all small touches where people are absorbing more and more of who we are as a brand and our aesthetic starts digging into the consumer’s brain.

What is the team composition?

Jesse (Founder, Lion’s Share Digital) was our main point of contact, as well as Alicia (Project Manager, Lion’s Share Digital). She kept me on task and extremely organized. Prior to all the project management meetings, I worked with their designer, who is extremely skilled. She really sketched out our wireframes and all of our design elements. Jesse had a team of web developers who would then take her designs and execute them, although I didn’t interface with them.

How did you come to work with Lion’s Share Digital?

I wanted to work with someone that was here in Austin where we are because we like supporting local businesses. I also thought it would be easier in case we needed to have in-person meetings.

I reached out to and compared quotes from several vendors and Lion’s Share Digital had such a strong portfolio that I felt that they could very easily complete the task. They had incredible reviews online, and I spoke to a few other people in the tech industry who mentioned they had worked with them in some capacity or another. They came highly recommended.

Pretty quickly after I reached out, Jesse sent me a detailed proposal, a strong maintenance plan that would extend after the site went live, a detailed timeline on exactly what to expect, and a very fair quote. It all felt very organized, and I knew that he would be as diligent as we needed him to be for a task such as this. I think that when it comes to your digital presence and your online site, you don’t want to skimp. They are worth every penny in my opinion, but I also felt like there were other people that I spoke with who had a higher price point and a portfolio that was nowhere close to Lion’s Share’s.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2019, and the work is still ongoing. Lion’s Share has executed everything we asked them to do in our contract, and now we’re starting to move into phase two ideas and ways we want to continue improving the site. I believe we will continue to work with them indefinitely to stay up to date on maintenance and security. Jesse and his team are just so easy to work with and we feel that it is definitely worth the investment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

By the time we launched in July, Jesse and his team had fully moved us onto a WordPress site and developed a splash page to let people know the site was under construction until we finished. Even though it was just a splash page, there were a few things the consumer could do.

Our brand manager has been a high-level executive in the liquor industry for over 25 years and has been absolutely blown away by what Lion’s Share has done with our budget. He’s said many, many times that a lot of the companies he worked with would spend hundreds of thousands to achieve what Lion’s Share was able to do for a fraction of the cost.

One of our content developers, who worked for one of the largest distributors of distilled spirits in his city, has said pretty much the same thing. They are all really blown away by Lion’s Share’s capabilities, techniques, work ethic, and end result. We’re a startup, and we certainly had high goals, but we didn’t think we would be able to execute. Lion’s Share has been able to deliver so much more than we dreamed possible for our budget. We are eternally thankful.

One thing we have been talking through is traffic, and about 70% of our traffic is coming from mobile devices. However, the site was built more for desktop-friendly users, and we do have a little bit of work to do to make things look better for most of our users.

Most of the traffic has been organic traffic, and Jesse’s work on our SEO side has really done wonders for us. It isn’t all due to his content help, as it is also the speed at which the site loads. Jesse did a lot of work to make sure that our site is very agile and fast too.

How did Lion’s Share Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Jesse and Alicia have both been very patient with us, as it took us a lot longer than we expected to complete our content and photos. They would check in with us weekly, if not every other day, and Alicia would give me checklists on things they were still waiting on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The agile team, the value you really get, and the skills they have set them apart. They really have an awesome team of not only fantastic designers but people who can execute on those designs. It is easy to design-out a beautiful site, but to make it work elegantly and rank high on Google is not easy. They’ve done a really wonderful job of making sure the site is beautiful and functions perfectly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. When it came time to launch, it felt like there were a lot of open-ended questions. There were bugs that we didn’t know how to fix, so maybe communication at the very end would have been a little nicer just to feel like we wrapped the project up nicely.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Absolutely work with Lion’s Share whether you are a local Austin company or not. They are extremely organized and incredibly skilled. They will bring your designs to life and will far exceed your expectations. They will bring your site and digital presence to a place that you didn’t know was possible. I would use them time and time again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a principal product manager at a robtics organization. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lion's Share Digital?

We were looking to develop an e-commerce webshop. Our company did not have one previously, so we needed a partner to introduce a solution for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled the UX for the e-commerce shop, including building wireframes to plan the customer journey and how everything was going to look. We worked very closely with them, incorporating them into our sprints.

In that process, they developed the look and feel of the site and actively participated in collaboration with our internal team. They would present a comp to our development team, and our staff would base their work off of that. We would iterate and have back-and-forth conversations if components needed to be adjusted.  

In terms of design, Lion's Share Digital had to base its work on our branding guidelines and parameter. So, there were certain colors and fonts that had to be used. They were able to work within those boundaries. While there were restrictions, they came up with the entire concept and user journey.

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with Jesse (Owner, Lion's Share Digital), Alicia (Program Manager, Lion's Share Digital), and another resource who focused on design.

How did you come to work with Lion's Share Digital?

My boss knew of Lion's Share Digital before engaging with them. When we started our office here, we reached out to them because of that pre-existing relationship. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our monthly spend with them fluctuates depending on our needs. However, we’ve spent between $100,000–$250,000 in total. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on a product landing page in June 2016. In terms of the entire e-commerce site, we collaborated from early 2017 until June 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of their work was fantastic and stayed within the boundaries of our brand. They incorporated everything we wanted from a brand perspective while also including a logical customer journey that we didn’t have before. There are tons of data and registration restrictions, making the journey development challenges. But, they made it as elegant as possible. We really appreciated that.  

How did Lion's Share Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always on top of the development. If we were ever waiting for something, it was because they were waiting for something from us. The team was responsive and easy to work with. They listened, understood what we were looking for, and translated our ideas into a beautiful final product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They prioritized making our site experience be a seamless process for our users. The team immediately got the crux of the problem and figured out a solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I enjoyed working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as open and transparent as possible. That’ll help them be able to solve your problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the President of a plug and abandonment services firm.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide plugging and abandonment services to the oil and gas industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lion's Share Digital to accomplish?

• Create a new logo and website.

SOLUTION

How did you find Lion's Share Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Lion's Share Digital over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Lion's Share Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Created a new logo and company colors.

Create a website with 5 different pages including many contact forms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The logo was completed with many file types and folders. The website was completed and has been put to use.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Lion's Share Digital was very organized and met timely goals. They responded quickly to all my needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Lion's Share Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I found their delegation of tasks to be well-organized.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lion's Share Digital could have done differently?

Lion's Share Digital could potentially have more back and forth real-time communications with designers as opposed to a set number of updates with mass feedback. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Publishing Strategy Officer of Audio Publishing Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Audio Publishing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lion's Share Digital to accomplish?

• website Redesign

SOLUTION

How did you find Lion's Share Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Lion's Share Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Lion's Share Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Redesign company websites and integrate e-commerce sites

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Increased revenue via digital media

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Timing was great. They listened to our needs and developed accordingly.

What was your primary form of communication with Lion's Share Digital?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their ability to find solutions we didn'trealise we were in need of

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lion's Share Digital could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Artist Manager of Papadosio

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We manage bands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lion's Share Digital to accomplish?

• Create highly functional website that can be easily updated for tours, merch, and album releases
• Drive fans to purchase merch and tickets to shows

SOLUTION

How did you find Lion's Share Digital?

Referral

Why did you select Lion's Share Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Lion's Share Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We needed a new website to drive sales for our bands. Merch, tickets, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Increase in visits to websites

Increase the amount of tickets and merch purchased.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Jesse and Alicia were great at asking questions and anticipating the needs of our business. They delivered the project early and addressed all my needs in a detailed way via email and Zoom calls.

What was your primary form of communication with Lion's Share Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Attention to detail and strategy

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lion's Share Digital could have done differently?

Nothing that comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President and Managing Partner of Gunter Bennett Anthes

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Criminal Defense Law Firm

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lion's Share Digital to accomplish?

• New website
• Increase leads

SOLUTION

How did you find Lion's Share Digital?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Lion's Share Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Lion's Share Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Jesse and his team at Lion's share created our website and helped develop our marketing campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Watched the website quickly develop
• Met publishing deadlines
• Regular meetings to discuss our marketing are ongoing

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The company is always very prompt and receptive to calls and emails. There are no issues at all.

What was your primary form of communication with Lion's Share Digital?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The hands-on approach to dealing with us. I appreciated the company leadership answering all my questions quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lion's Share Digital could have done differently?

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Editor of Winding Road Magazine

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Digital automotive magazine

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lion's Share Digital to accomplish?

• Create website

SOLUTION

How did you find Lion's Share Digital?

Referral

Why did you select Lion's Share Digital over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Lion's Share Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Created a website from the ground up, and continue to monitor/fix bugs as they arrive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Overall website traffic growth, higher SEO & SEM.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They ensured immediate responsiveness and timely delivery.

What was your primary form of communication with Lion's Share Digital?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Response time & individualized care - we were not just a company but people.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lion's Share Digital could have done differently?

No.