SOLO MEDIA GROUP

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Director of Harper Laine

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We produce custom signage, graphics,ID badges, gift cards, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solo Media Group to accomplish?

• Build a e-commerce website

SOLUTION

How did you find Solo Media Group?

Online Search

Why did you select Solo Media Group over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

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

E-commerce website with product pages, product collections, cart, customizable product page, forms for requesting quotes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Solo Media Group was able to build the bulk of the website very quickly. They were very responsive to any and all questions. We had multiple virtual calls to discuss changes or concerns. Other questions were answered promptly via email and often included video explanations that were very helpful.

From our first conversation, I felt very confident that they would be able to build us exactly what we were needing - they're very experienced in building Shopify websites and it shows. The entire process went very smooth and I felt like they were genuinely invested in what we were doing. I would definitely recommend Solo Media Group.

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

We would have been done much earlier if we had been better prepared with content on our end. Solo Media Group was very prompt with every edit or change requested. Any time I sent them an email, I would receive a reply quicker than I expected.

What was your primary form of communication with Solo Media Group?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their Loop video communication was excellent. Overall, their communication was above and beyond and that really makes all the difference. You're not kept in the dark about what's going on with your site and you're not having to wait hours to get answers to your questions.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solo Media Group could have done differently?

I was very hands on with the design of the pages, etc. I have a background in web development so I wouldn't have wanted to have done that differently. I was glad that they were okay with me making changes myself. With their quick communication, I think they would have made those design changes promptly and it would have looked great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of SmartAdditions, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SmartAdditions creates and sells unique car accessories to improve the comfort and safety of drivers and passengers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solo Media Group to accomplish?

• Create a new website in Shopify
• improve the overall appearance of our web store
• Provide flexibility that makes future changes easy to implement

SOLUTION

How did you find Solo Media Group?

Online Search

Why did you select Solo Media Group over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

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

Develop a new website from our design framework and ensure a consistent appearance for both desktop and mobile viewers. Key deliverables included: 

• base theme recommendations 
• matching our design for both images and content
• maintaining a clear flow for site visitors
• some custom code modifications

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SMG was very responsive from the start. They communicated the progress well and responded quickly to all feedback during development. The people we communicated with were top-notch in listening to our requirements, understanding our needs, and executing the vision. They lived up to their commitments in the timeline and budget they promised. We will work with them again on future projects.

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

The project management communications were timely and informative. They responded to all feedback and requests within a day or less.

What was your primary form of communication with Solo Media Group?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were committed to ensuring we were happy with their work and focused on the successful completion of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solo Media Group could have done differently?

No, they did very well in all aspects of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Newark Auto, an auto parts manufacturer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solo Media Group?

I hired Solo Media Group to help me improve my Shopify store. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

John (Founder) initially went through the website and made some recommendations alongside the changes that I wanted to make. We came up with a list of 3–5 things that we wanted to accomplish. 

He and his team at Solo Media Group have since been working on these tasks. They’ve added a sticky add-to-cart button and helped me rebrand the entire website with new brand colors by implementing them across the website. They did some minimal design work with my direction.

What is the team composition?

I’m regularly in touch with 1–2 teammates from Solo Media Group, including Alix (Project Manager). There are more people working on the engagement behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Solo Media Group?

I found Solo Media Group via Clutch. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment has been around $5,000–$10,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in August 2023, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website’s conversion rates have increased by around 20%–30%. While a lot of different things have helped us achieve this, some of the things that Solo Media Group has done can be attributed to this growth. Overall, I’m pleased with the quality of their work. They’re better than the other firms I’ve worked with in the past that are even more expensive.

How did Solo Media Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Solo Media Group has met our deadlines and stayed on budget, which is wonderful. They’re transparent around budget and time allocation. They work quickly and have a cost-effective approach while still getting the job done for me. Moreover, their communication has been excellent. We use a mix of Slack, email, Zoom, and other ways depending on the message we’re trying to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with their knowledge of Shopify apps. They know how to leverage existing apps to accomplish what I need in my store without having to do custom development. This has helped me save a lot of money and time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leverage Solo Media Group’s ticketing system. They have a great system that’s truly user-friendly. I’ve used it to communicate with them more effectively and track our work in a more organized way. On top of that, ask them what they think. They have a lot of interesting ideas about how to improve a website. You can also start off with a small project to see what it’s like working with them. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at NoviStretch (dba Novigo Designs, llc)

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Design, Manufacture and Sale of Automotive Accessories (consumer products)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solo Media Group to accomplish?

• Trouble Shoot Shopify Site issues
• Audit Site for performance recommendations

SOLUTION

How did you find Solo Media Group?

Referral

Why did you select Solo Media Group over others?

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

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

Solo Media Group was engage to both trouble shoot a variety of back-end problems with our Shopify site as well as perform a “strategic & operational review” and audit of the site to develop a range of “Best Practices” recommendations to help to maximize both the value and efficiency of the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All trouble-shooting "punch list" items were resolved, a recommendation for site updates and modifications was presented for consideration and changes were executed quickly. The fixes stayed fixed and the changes have resulted in improved site performance and customer feedback.

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

On time and super responsive to questions & direction and superb at communicating status, next steps and needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Solo Media Group?

Virtual Meeting

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

They have a rare combination of expertise and service. Very client-forward process and exceptionally responsive and sensitive to unique challenges and needs of the specific clients business and goals.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solo Media Group could have done differently?

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Brand Manager, Digital of Wild Planet Foods

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Wild Planet produces 100% sustainably sourced canned seafood as well as organic land-based canned goods.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solo Media Group to accomplish?

• Maintenance for Shopify site
• Launch of subscription platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Solo Media Group?

Upwork

Why did you select Solo Media Group over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Attention to detail

How many teammates from Solo Media Group were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

SMG helped see me through a transition from WordPress to Shopify, the addition and modification of our subscription platform, SEO crawls and fixes, multi-agency brainstorming sessions, as well as the development of new buildout features for my site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall increased performance of all site metrics and increase in DTC orders.

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

SMG is extremely efficient in meeting deadlines and very responsive and communicative throughout the life of our projects.

What was your primary form of communication with Solo Media Group?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I’ve been working with Solo Media Group for a little over a year. During that time, not only can their team handle almost anything, their efficiency and detail to projects is well above par. Some of our 3rd party partners have also commented on how seamless it is to work alongside SMG on several tasks. If you’re looking for a team that can help optimize your site and more, look no further than Solo Media Group.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solo Media Group could have done differently?

SMG takes initiative to continually learn and improve so that their team can meet our growing needs every day.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO / Founder of Ponto Footwear

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Ponto Footwear designs and manufactures sustainable multi use case footwear made from bio-based and recycled materials, all in a closed-loop supply chain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solo Media Group - Shopify Developers to accomplish?

• Manage our Website and tech stack
• Transition away from being a headless site.
• Implement ongoing website designs and optimize conversion rate

SOLUTION

How did you find Solo Media Group - Shopify Developers?

Referral

Why did you select Solo Media Group - Shopify Developers over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

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

We initially kicked off our engagement with SMG because we had a headless Shopify Site that was difficult to manage the web development for. SMG has a super talented team of front end and back end developers that helped us manage and update our site with much higher quality and quicker turnaround times than the previous 3 firms we had worked with. After our initial engagement, SMG helped us transition over to a fully Shopify Native site. 

This has been drastically beneficial for our business. Throughout that process and now helping to maintain and optimize our site on an ongoing basis, SMG has simply been the best developers I have worked with. They consistently deliver high quality work with very fast timelines.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They completely fixed our Google Analytics tracking issues They successfully transitioned us to a Shopify native site with no disruption in service Our website analytics are more accurate than ever Our website has recently passed all of Google's speed tests for the first time ever They have successfully deployed dozens of design changes to our site.

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

SMG's turnaround times are impressively quick and always on time. The team is super responsive to feedback and respond to all tickets and inquiries in a timely manor. They consistently exceed our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Solo Media Group - Shopify Developers?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Beyond the amazing quality of work, they are actual real, genuine people that I have enjoyed getting to know. I think that's extremely rare in the field of web development.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solo Media Group - Shopify Developers could have done differently?

I wish I would have found out about them sooner and not wasted a lot of time and money with other firms.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of an online web application company that analyzes mathematical data and presents our analysis to consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solo Media Group, and what were your goals?

We already had our MPV built and were looking for a dev shop that could help us grow and try new concepts on our site. We needed a team that was flexible, fast and could keep up with a steady stream of challenges as we experimented with our product. We required a shop with database management, front end Wordpress development as well as a keen eye for design.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed numerous shops we found online as well as referrals for other companies we knew. Ultimately we found Solo Media Group's profile here on Clutch.co

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We began work with a detailed overview of our existing tech stack including web scrapers, AWS, Wordpress and custom cron jobs. We had ideas of additional areas we wanted to venture into so we covered future ideas to ensure they could fill those needs as well. Initially we began with simple tasks of cleaning up parts of our site in order to test SMG. They passed with flying colors and we expanded into more complex tasks. We are still a heavy user today of their firm and often provide them daily tasks we need to keep our site running efficiently and growing.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Our project manager is John, the owner, and we have used multiple devs from their team. However, we work primarily now with Antonio and Moises.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our site has scaled significantly since we brought on Solo Medi Group. We have approximately 5k pages now and many required custom development to display the wide range of data we offer.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

SMG utilizes their own client dashboard where you can post tickets of items needing work. I usually request a skype call with the project manager every couple weeks just to go over key deliverables and priorities.

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

They are professional and have a wide range of capabilities. As we were interviewing shops, not many could cover the full range of help we needed. Additionally, not many shops were willing to step into an existing project and help with maintenance and future development. We found many only wanted to do an initial build and weren't interested in ongoing support or taking on existing builds. SMG stood out as they were willing to take on an existing project and grow with us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Our firm has many tasks we post weekly and most are done on time. Some tasks take longer to be picked up but that is to be expected when you are using an outsourced firm vs having an in-house team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO at PerioSciences, a manufacturer and distributor of premium oral care products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solo Media Group, and what were your goals?

We had multiple disparate commerce tech platforms and hired Solo Media Group to build out a single direct-to-consumer (D2C) instance with a focus on UX/UI and a straightforward path to conversion.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We found the team at SMG on Upwork. After an interview it was clear that Johnathan and his team were more than capable, excellent communicators, and fairly priced. We stopped searching for dev partners when we met Johnathan.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

SMG was present with through all phases of wireframing, design, programming, implementation, QA and launch of the new site. They helped with data migration from woo and wordpress to shopify and are currently handling the day-to-day management of our site.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have had consistent contact with one primary account lead and a project manager as well as several developers behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The primary win for our brand was ease of access to our data. This in addition to an increase in conversion rate and increased site speed.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Very accommodating communication style. Open to joining slack and extremely communicative.

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

They work really fast and are really responsive. Sort of unprecedented in their space.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There are always little things that slip through the cracks but nothing that would impact this sterling review of SMG.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

AMZ Pathfinder is an Amazon Advertising Management Agency serving ecommerce brands in over 7+ marketplaces all around the world. I'm the CMO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solo Media Group, and what were your goals?

Our website had some site speed issues that needed to get fixed so we partnered with Solo Media Group for site speed optimization. We wanted to see how close to 100% mobile and desktop friendly our website can be in terms of load speed.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We heard about Solo Media Group from another partnered company as well as meeting the founder who impressed us with their solutions and experience. We have worked with other site optimizers in the past but with the recommendation and personal interactions, we decided to try Solo Media Group's Site Optimization Services.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Steps and communication was very smooth. Easy setup and we only needed to provided a few account access requests to get the ball rolling. It was mostly a 'give access and step back to let the professionals do the work' kind of service. Communication was solid throughout. We had a bit of a hiccup on the server side but Thank Johnathan and Antonio for the quick turn around and help.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had two people helping us out: Johnathan and Antonio.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The most impactful result we received from the team is our mobile site speed. It went from 47/100 to 99/100!! Really impressive work. Other notable improves is the overall gains of speed and site optimization. From 3 separate web speed test sites, there has been improvements across the board.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They were very communicative, especially being from different parts of the world, they managed to get back to me in less than 12 hours. We used a client portal for communication. They provided images, videos, and text to explain the service. What went well, what they were currently working on, and a final report that sums up the results.

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

They were very straight forward with the work. No fluff which is awesome. They are professionals and they truly demonstrated expert knowledge in working with a website like ours.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nope! Very friendly, professional, and performance driven service. Can't recommend enough.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Boat-Load-Mate is a product that is used by boaters to make life easy when launching or loading. Our automatic boat latching system is truly a game changer for anyone who trailers their boat. I am a co-owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solo Media Group, and what were your goals?

We hired Solo Media to design and build our Shopify store. We relied on them heavily to come up with our visual layout. Our goal was to have our website live in a timely matter, which we accomplished.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We reached out to ecommerce people within our network. Solo Media was recommended by a trusted friend. We decided to move forward with Solo Media because of this referral.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The scope of work was purely to design and build out our Shopify store from scratch. We first worked with their design team to pin down a layout that we liked. Once that was complete the project moved into development. After the code was built out we were handed over the store. They followed up with a thorough walk through and explained how to navigate the website.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with John to come to an agreement on the scope of work, then we worked with their design team, then the development team. John was accessible throughout the entire process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We didn't have a website when we started. Now we have a fully functioning store that has converted traffic into sales.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We were able to book time to meet via Calandly when ever we needed to speak. Everybody was responsive to emails. We were provided detailed videos when the store was handed over to us. The entire team was very accessible and easy to work with.

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

They gave us a very professional website and walked us through how to navigate it. Our team did not have much experience with website buildouts. Their team took the time to walk us through the process and provided a detailed webinar of how to use the tools.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Overall we have no complaints. We recommend they perhaps nail down the scope of work a bit more thoroughly.