ShineForth

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m Julie Armstrong and I’m the Vice President of Operations for Five Q. We are a digital marketing agency. We serve primarily in the Christian ministry and nonprofit space. My role is to oversee all of the functions that make our business work, so I oversee finance and human resources, client services, and production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShineForth?

John and his business have been serving as a contractor to do WordPress development for us on specific projects where their skill sets were a good match for the client.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The product of their efforts will be a website for one of our clients, a network of radio stations. The existing client website had old, brittle code. We didn’t build the original website, but it was quite old and had been pieced together over time as the code aged. It hadn’t been documented well, so it had become very brittle. We were in the midst of a complete overhaul of a client website, and just due to specific circumstances on that particular project, we needed to bring in another set of developers to finish that out. He and his team came in and assessed the progress that had already been made until that point, and then they worked closely with our internal team (we do have another developer from our internal team still working on it, and an account executive) to continue to finish out the backend build. It’s been a very complex project: it has a lot of integrations, a lot of moving parts. They have a lot of geolocation features, a very dynamic backend. John [Weiss, Founder and Principal Developer] and his team have been working on the backend functionality, coding that and making sure everything works correctly.

The company whose website it is was spending a lot of money on maintaining old code that didn’t really do what they wanted it to do, on top of it not being a responsive website. So part of the objective was to produce a responsive website for the client as well. So the original project was to produce a responsive website with up-to-date, clean code and additional functionalities.

We worked directly with two resources from ShineForth, John, and Dean; I believe we’ve been working directly with two people.

How did you come to work with ShineForth?

We have a previous professional relationship. We’ve worked together in the past. We have a number of internal resources, but they were fully utilized at the time that this project came up. And then I work with several different WordPress contractors in my cache of resources that I can call on; I develop relationships with a regular core group of contractors that I can bring in for overflow from time to time as needed. But this particular project was a good fit for John’s skill set.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think it was sometime in October of 2016. They’re still working on this project. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The code was brittle and unstable previously. With the new code base, we employ a practice of external peer reviews, and I had two other external developers assessing John’s code. They both said it was excellent, clean, and well-documented. It followed best practices. So the code itself has been assessed externally as having excellent quality.

Functionally, John has brought the functionality to the purpose, which was to bring a fresh, responsive design. Of course, he didn’t do the creative work on it, but he’s brought the functionality to life. I know the geolocation features were of high value to the client, and - in partnership with our internal developer - he's done that very well.

How did ShineForth perform from a project management standpoint?

John’s a great communicator. On our side, projects are managed by the account executives, and John has worked very well with them. We communicate in Slack, Basecamp, and Asana. I know he’s had a weekly meeting with both our internal account executive and internal developers, and then he met weekly with the client as well. He’s been client-facing and internal-facing, and he’s an excellent communicator. He represents both Five Q and ShineForth very well. He’s delivered on time, on scope. I’ve had no issues with project management with John.

John’s extremely responsive. I have absolutely no complaints there. I can call; I can text; I can send him an email. He responds very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about ShineForth?

Perseverance. This has been an extremely complex project, and it was more complex than anybody had assessed it to be at the outset. Multiple developers assessed the project at the outset, including John, and it has turned out to be more complex than any of them thought it would be. I would say his perseverance in not being willing to settle for anything less than excellent. He’s never wavered in his professionalism or his perseverance or the degree of excellence that he has pursued.

Are there any areas ShineForth could improve?

I would just say, constructively, that while I just said we have multiple developers that incorrectly assessed the complexity, if there was an area to grow or something to learn from this project, it would be figuring out how better assess complexity in the future. That, of course, impacts the estimate. I don’t even know that I could call it a criticism so much, especially because so many professionals made the same mistake. But it is a learning opportunity from this particular project.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with ShineForth?

My advice would not be based on criticism but based on it being a positive experience. Be sure to establish regular communication lanes early. Have really well-established, pre-planned, regular, weekly communication times. That’s just from being experienced in project management in general. But that’s been very successful with John.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a commercial concrete and steel construction company. I’m CEO of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShineForth?

We wanted a credible website, and we wanted to use a credible website designer. Since we’re nationwide, it can be difficult at times to be known everywhere. You can be known in certain locations, but as you’re traveling, you’re going to be meeting lots of developers, general contractors, and engineers who have no idea who you are. The obvious remedy to that is a website.

We wanted to have a website that was professional in appearance to demonstrate our capabilities, history, contact information—those sort of things. We specifically wanted to target general contractors and construction companies that hire us to subcontract out their work in regards to concrete and steel. We wanted to have a reputable website to show that we have the manpower to perform the work they’re looking for. We needed a page or a tab that showed the size of the projects we’ve done.

For suppliers, we do rebar reinforcing equipment rentals, crane rental, post-tension cable, air drilling—all sorts of things. This goes for general contractors and developers too, but we also have a reference tab on the site that they can look at, call, and get a reference for us.

We just wanted a website for people to scan when they’re looking for a concrete construction company, whoever that may be. Being in the social network realm was very important to us as well. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I don’t know the technology they used; I’m not sophisticated in web designing at all. They did every single thing that I asked for. I appreciated that they could hear what I wanted and implement my top priorities for the website. They could take that and use their technology, whatever it is, and give me the product I was looking for without speaking about exactly what to use or how to use it. They could just take what I was saying and apply it.

I was in contact with two people: John, the owner, and an extra person in an email here or there. His designer was attached to a few emails, but I communicated with John alone. I don’t know how many developers were assigned to me.

In terms of the specifics of the site, I wanted the appearance of being nationwide. I wanted to convey that we could work in any facet of concrete that the general contractor was looking for. That being said, John designed it in a way that would make us appear to be nationwide from the home page as far as the type of work that we do. I wanted visitors to be able to click on specific jobs that we’ve done. The Clinton Presidential Library is on the front page; they can click on that project, and it’ll show them information about it just from the home page alone.

How did you come to work with ShineForth?

They were referred to me. My wife owns a company, and she used ShineForth. She’s a little bit more sophisticated with website design and social media, so I trusted her opinion. She said that I definitely needed to use ShineForth, so I did.

How much have you invested with ShineForth?

Our budget for a website was tight. At the same time, I didn’t want to receive a cheap website from an amateur designer.  Shineforth was able to work in our budget and produce an incredible website with what we were wanting to spend.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working with ShineForth in August or September of 2016, and they’re still doing work. There’s no set amount we pay monthly; they just work when we need them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

We didn’t want to pay everything upfront. We wanted to pay monthly, and they were very convenient about accepting monthly payments. If we were a few days late with payments, they would send a reminder. They wouldn’t give us any penalties. Our first payment was delayed by a week because we hadn’t put them into our system yet.

How did ShineForth perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at responding to phone calls or emails. What I appreciated most is John’s professionalism in everything he did. He didn’t talk like he was more knowledgeable than me, even though he was. He explained everything in a way that I could understand it. He answered all my questions. If I wanted something done a certain way, he wasn’t shy about speaking up and suggesting a way that might look better. I appreciated that.

We used phone and email to communicate, about 60/40 towards email. I don’t know if they used any bug trackers. They were so good at communicating via email and phone that I never asked about any project management systems. I’d just send an email, and they’d respond pretty immediately. If we weren’t in constant communication, I think he probably would have offered that, but I don’t think it was needed.

What did you find most impressive about ShineForth?

I really appreciate their willingness to work within our budget and still produce a pretty incredible website. I also like their responsiveness. Their end product and the steps from A to Z were great. We were extremely busy and didn’t have a lot of time to spend on this, so I appreciated that John went at my pace. He didn’t push me too hard to get information to him, but if I gave him a lot of information, he’d go at that speed.

Are there any areas ShineForth could improve?

They answered all my questions and got my website up and running the way I want it. They were really great and fair with their billing. I think they went above and beyond what I asked of them. They did some things that they probably could have charged me for but didn’t.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with ShineForth?

If anyone asks me for a website designer, I would obviously tell them to contact ShineForth. I’d put my name on that recommendation, for sure. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m Tom Teckmeyer, and I’m the President of Teckmeyer Financial Services. We’re a full-service investment firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShineForth?

The investing public are people that have a need to manage or steward their financial services wisely. Our website was out of date and looked old; the chassis didn’t give me the look and feel that I was trying to obtain.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They really worked hand in hand with a web design firm. The designers took our ideas and thoughts and organized them, and then ShineForth basically—at least to my understanding—they wrote the code and put it all together, made it accessible, optimized for phones and tablets, all that kind of stuff. They took it from the designer’s ideas and put it on the web. They worked with a friend of mine who is a web developer.

It was all customized. It wasn’t a boilerplate template thing; I gave the designer the idea of what we wanted, he created the tabs and gave it to ShineForth. There was a lot of different nuances and things to it that made it very unique to us.

How did you come to work with ShineForth?

He had a relationship with the designer; they work together hand in hand. The designer brought in ShineForth.

How much have you invested with ShineForth?

If I recall correctly, I’m pretty sure ShineForth was like a subcontractor. ShineForth’s bill was a part of the overall web design bill that included everything from start to finish. So the only bill I could find was from 2015 or 2016, which was the renewal fee for ShineForth to host our website. I don’t know the name of the design firm; they recently changed their name. The designer we worked with for the web design was named Seth Rexilius. But I guess the overall bill for the whole project, from start to finish, was under $5,000. ShineForth was a part of that.

What is the status of this engagement?

It would have been about August 2014. And they’re still hosting the website now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website definitely does look a lot better than the old site; they freshened it up and brought it into the 2000s very nicely. We can get reports from them on traffic and that sort of thing, but I haven’t asked them. We’re a very small business and I have a million other things. I’ve been trying to get my wife to take over the web aspects, but she’s dropping the ball. We could do a lot more dynamic things with it if she would take responsibility for it, but I don’t have that kind of time. I need to have somebody who looks at it, thinks about it, monitors it, babysits it all the time. But we don’t, and that’s on us.

How did ShineForth perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. They did everything I asked and then some. A few times we had to have them adjust a couple things after the fact, but I’d email them and he’d send me back a reply saying it was fixed just about before I hit send. We communicated by email and phone, and he came to my office on several occasions.

What did you find most impressive about ShineForth?

Their creativity, their willingness to think outside the box, their willingness to learn about our industry. I told them I didn’t want to be any old stodgy investment firm; I wanted it to look with-it and hip. They bent over backward to accommodate that.

Are there any areas ShineForth could improve?

Looking back on it, we didn’t have any problems; we didn’t have any glitches. Like I said, post-launch, everything has gone smoothly. When you look at our site, under the News tab, we have all the financial holidays that indicate when the markets are closed and as a result, our office is closed. Every year, I just send John an email with the list of days we’ll be closed, and he’s got it changed in no time flat.

The only thing I would say is that we had hoped to have—our current website has got two sliders. One looks kind of like everything is lush and green and looks like springtime; the other one looks like fall. We hoped to have four sliders that had spring, summer, fall, and winter, so that you’d have an oak tree with no leaves on it and a pretty winter scape look, and the summer one that just looked summery. And we wanted to tie the seasons of life to the seasons of the year, to remind people that they need to start preparing in the spring and summer in order to have some financial resources in the winter of their life. We could never find the right photos to finish out those other two sliders, and that’s on me because I didn’t really circle back on them about it. But that would have been great.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with ShineForth?

If you’re looking for a real honest guy, a guy of high integrity, a guy that’s creative, a guy that, from all appearances, knows his stuff really well, does what he says he’s going to do, then I’d use him. I was very happy with them.