Thrive Internet Marketing Agency

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Speaker A: J&B Electrical Services offers residential and commercial work. I am the owner and founder of the company. The initials in the name stand for mine and my wife's names. We're the sole proprietors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

Speaker A: We were looking for a company close to our location, in Arlington, Texas. We liked Thrive's team because they were good, Christian people. We had a few meetings, during which Thrive took the time and actually went over plans and tactics, allowing us to get our foot into the residential services area. We've started getting calls as a result, and it's been a good experience overall. Thrive's principal cares about his clients. We can call and meet him any time in order to figure our goals out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Speaker A: Thrive Internet Marketing goes the extra mile in helping us. We were going through a slow period at one point. We had a meeting with Thrive, who facilitated $1,000-worth of SEO [search engine optimization] services for free.

Thrive has done an excellent job on our website, using different marketing techniques. They manage our Facebook advertising, and have been very creative in their approach. Marketing campaigns have to be constantly managed, and Thrive has done this. They figure out the best ways of getting traffic to our website.

I handle much of the field work, but my wife handles much of our online marketing. She is in constant touch with Thrive.

Speaker B: Thrive is in charge of our weekly keyword rankings. We receive summaries and I also speak with our account manager over the phone in order to determine where we're ranking and what keywords need tweaking. I receive screenshots for each keyword, as well as a video summarizing all of our data.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

Speaker A: We did some online research, looking for an Arlington company. Thrive is right around the corner from our office. We liked the fact that they're very personable and care about their clients. I'm a pastor running a ministry with the help of my wife. I appreciated the fact that Thrive is made up of Christian people. We've had a good relationship from day one.

How much have you invested with Thrive Internet Marketing?

Speaker B: Our budget with Thrive is $1,500 per month, including pay-per-click, SEO, and website maintenance. We have around 10 hours of SEO work per month, as well as a $500 budget for pay-per-click.

What is the status of this engagement?

Speaker A: We've been working with Thrive for a year and a half. Our company is growing and we have a good reputation. We're only now reaching our peak in terms of getting our foot in the door. From what I can see, Thrive's team also has good integrity, so we make a good combination. We've looked at other marketing companies, and haven't found anything like Thrive. If I ever retire, I'll have someone take over our work with Thrive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Speaker A: Our company has come to a transition stage because of Thrive's involvement. They helped us figure out advertising campaigns, which led to many calls. We're currently considering putting another truck on the road.

Speaker B: Our traffic has been improved greatly. We're trying to see more traffic through SEO than through pay-per-click, which was one of the initial goals for our work with Thrive. We're getting to invest more on SEO, and tweak it further.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Speaker B: I love Thrive's personability and the ease with which we can reach out to them with any issue. Our campaign manager lives in Florida, but the rest of the company is local to us. He has come to our location a few times in order to have sit-down meetings. Thrive's owner is also very reachable, which is a unique aspect. We've worked with other companies where simply getting a hold of our account manager was hard, let alone the owner. Thrive is willing to go the extra mile, which isn't something we've experienced with other companies in the past. They're usually concerned with numbers and with how many campaigns can be run at the same time, instead of focusing on each individual client. We never felt that we were alone in this effort, and that Thrive was just out there for the money. They care about our campaign and the success of our company.

What did you find most impressive about Thrive Internet Marketing?

Speaker A: We've used other companies which put us in touch with remote people. When someone left or got fired, we'd have to start a new relationship with someone else who didn't really know us, so we would thus get kicked to the curb. This hasn't happened with Thrive. We've had a good experience with them. Our campaign manager remains close to us; I can call him at any time and have a meeting.

Are there any areas Thrive Internet Marketing could improve?

Speaker B: I have no complaints. In the beginning, there was an adjustment period, which is normal for online advertising. Thrive was very helpful and did everything possible to reach out to us. We had weekly phone meetings and monthly in-office meetings. Thrive has gone above-and-beyond.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Hollow Hill Event Center is an event venue that mostly provides spaces for weddings. We occasionally engage in nonbridal work like family reunions or birthday parties.

What is your position?

I am the general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I had various ideas for the company website, which I needed help implementing. The aim was to increase our visibility for organic searches.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Thrive implemented some design aspects into our website, which I had wanted to try since the business was started. Thrive provided a team of relevant experts who worked with the email postcards that we send out, scheduling and design aspects for individual pages. During the development process, Thrive sent me working models, listened to my critiques, and made appropriate changes, explaining why certain elements were built as they were. Thrive has also helped me manage our pay-per-click advertising as well as handling our SEO [search engine optimization].

We have cut back our social media marketing due to issues with the business that were out of our control. We plan to start that part of Thrive's services again. We tried it for a couple of months and enjoyed how it was working out.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I know a few web designers and computer programmers. I had gotten the name of one developer and reached out to him, but he told me that he didn't actually do this type of work. Thrive was recommended by him. I looked at their website and was immediately impressed by how well it was set up for scheduling calls and visits. It could immediately see that this kind of design would benefit my business. The design and ease of Thrive's website affected my decision to call them. Other developers' sites didn't measure by comparison. If a company like Thrive doesn't have its own site working well, they'd likely not be able to make my own work better.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost for Thrive's services for our first year is expected to be between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship with no plans to stop the work. I appreciate all of the services provided by Thrive and don't like the prospect of becoming stagnant in terms of website look and content.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Customers have been very impressed with how the website works. The venue that we provide has a more rustic atmosphere with many antiques. The buildings have also been set up in a more rustic way, with timber frames similar to the style of 200 years ago. Our customers have commented that they like the atmosphere, but they also appreciate that our website is new and modern, allowing them the same conveniences of any other site.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They keep me updated on a bimonthly basis and answer any questions that I may have outside of the scheduled meeting times. Communication has always been important for me, even when things are going well. Thrive has been able to do that. I was able to sit down with their team in-person and not have them simply be a chat on a screen.

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

I have been thoroughly satisfied with Thrive. They have moved our brand forward and made the website much better. I would recommend them to any smaller business.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

There is nothing major they could improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

P&H Casters Company, Inc. is located in Arlington, Texas. We are a manufacturer and distributor of casters and wheels. Our company is the number one supplier of these products for shopping carts in the United States.

What is your position?

I am the Marketing Manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I am the first marketing person which the company ever employed. We've grown significantly within the last 10 years, so a company website was launched in 2010. It wasn't getting any traffic and it didn't have an impact. Products were very difficult to find through navigating it. We're a business-to-business [B2B] company only, so even though we're not a true e-commerce website and don't sell products online, we offer everything else that would be associated with an e-commerce page. Users can put items in a cart and send them off for pricing.

We needed a fresh approach, particularly since content will tend to become bogged-down in specific lingo and information which would only be understood by other casters, especially after working in this industry for a long time. Given that our customers tend to come from the retail industry, we needed to go back and rethink our approach from the eyes of someone who was outside of the caster industry. We were making them look for products using very obscure terminology which they'd have no way of knowing.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Thrive Internet Marketing built our new website. They're currently in charge of SEO.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We put out a bid which was replied-to by 6 candidates. We reduced the list to 3 and ultimately selected Thrive Internet Marketing. We liked the look of their site and I had known their principal previously. He and I were members of the board for the Arlington Museum of Art. Thrive Internet Marketing was a local company, unlike our last vendor.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost for our website was around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing, and our website was launched 3 weeks ago. The development timeline was very long, but through no fault of Thrive Internet Marketing. Our company works very slowly when it comes to making a decision about projects, particularly larger ones. As such, it took a very long time to get to first base, but once we did, the site was launched 2 months later. I think that this is not unusual for any project in which the client is late in delivering materials.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The quality of the site is very good, although there was a time in which I was unsure that we were communicating on the same wavelength as Thrive Internet Marketing. Ultimately, things were worked-out through the contribution of several members of Thrive Internet Marketing who did a stellar job. They didn't stop until the result was exactly right.

Even though we had an amazing initial design, some things got lost in translation, and there was an issue with someone from Thrive Internet Marketing leaving the company. His colleagues stepped in, picked up the ball, and produced a very nice site for us in the end.

The products are far easier to find and our internal people have really appreciated the site. This told me that, if they're finding it easier to find products, the same must be true for our customers. Thrive Internet Marketing worked hand-in-hand with me and were willing to take directions. They made good suggestions and found solutions in the form of plug-ins and other modules. Ultimately, I'm very pleased with the results.

The site is brand-new, but we've gotten some good results. I had been examining analytics on our old site in order to see what kind of traffic the page was generating. There isn't much ground for comparison between the two, but so far, we've received many more inquiries in the first 4 weeks after launch than we got in the last 6 months of running the old page. Someone signed up wanting to get our newsletter, which was a surprise for us. It's too early to tell what the SEO work outcome will be, but I have been satisfied so far.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

The process for interfacing with the client in the beginning could have been improved. I understand that web agencies need to make money too, and as such, they will have certain ways of doing business, but I didn't appreciate their preference for video conferencing. If we weren't local clients, this would certainly have been understandable.

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

I feel that Thrive Internet Marketing cares about the outcome of their work. They've gotten invested in the effort as much as myself.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

They allocate a set amount of time for us. When our half an hour is up, it's up. This was my initial impression of Thrive Internet Marketing, but it did change over the course of the project and actually became much better. The initial interface for me, as a client, was a bit sterile. After one of our initial developers left Thrive Internet Marketing, the relationship became more intimate than it initially was.

BACKGROUND

Please give me a brief description of your company.

Ready Seal, Inc. is a manufacturer of a stain & sealer for wood.

What is your role at the company?

I am the IT Manager/EDI Sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached Thrive Internet Marketing?

We needed a website that had a better user experience, mobile device platform, e-commerce functionality, store locator that updates automatically, and website management.

What were your company’s business goals for the project?

Our goals were to keep the costs for the design as low as possible and keep the annual ongoing costs the same as the current website.

SOLUTION

Can you tell me about the scope of the project?

They had to take our current website and modify it to be a more modern and fully functional website. It needed to be fully integrated with our ERP software, NetSuite.

What was your process for selecting Thrive Internet Marketing to work with?

We interviewed two other companies to complete the same project and compared them to what we already knew of Thrive. The General Manager here at Ready Seal, Jeff Vosburg, already uses Thrive for a website on his other business. So, he has had a lot of experience with the staff at Thrive. After comparing the companies, we believed Thrive was the best option for our project.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the project in dollar terms, a price range would be fine as well?

We have spent $15,000.

When was the project completed?

95% of the project is complete as of April 15th, 2016. The other 5% is a hold-up on our part which we expect to complete sometime in the next several weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, and are there any metrics you can share? What have they helped you achieve as a company?

Thrive has successfully achieved wonderful results and they have completed all the work that was planned during the initial interview phase. They have completed everything on time. The only delays were from an outside third party vendor we used for the NetSuite integration. We do not have any metrics to compare the new site to the old site at this point in time. The feedback we have received so far has let us know that the Store Locator and overall image is better than the old site. We have had very positive feedback from customers.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform?

Very well. They communicated very clearly the entire process and kept us updated with any changes or deviations of the time frame.

When working with them, was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies that you may have worked with?

They seemed to really be concerned with our issues going into the project and wanted to make sure that the product they produced solved all the problems we were having with our current website.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that they could improve or you would do differently?

I don’t think so. When an issue came up they would get everyone involved that needed to be involved and figured out a solution.

BACKGROUND

Please give me a brief description of your company.

I have a law firm that specializes in real estate primarily in Texas, specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

What is your role at the company?

I own the law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I wanted to drive more business and try to target my key clients as a way to streamline my workload and case types. This would help my firm become more efficient and handle more cases with less work.

What were your company’s business goals for the project?

I wanted to increase the firm's revenue while decreasing individual workloads, so I needed someone to help develop my online presence.

SOLUTION

Can you tell me about the scope of the project?

Thrive was responsible for the complete website redesign and search engine optimization [SEO] presence online.

What was your process for selecting Thrive Internet Marketing to work with?

My family had used them in the past. I met with the owner, and he took me through their process and the results I could expect.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the project in dollar terms, a price range would be fine as well?

My initial site cost about $10,000. For maintenance, I spend about $1,000 per month, plus pay per click services of $1,000-2,000 per month.

When was the project completed?

Approximately two years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, and are there any metrics you can share? What have they helped you achieve as a company?

Thrive Internet Marketing's website design was outstanding, and the integration went smoothly. My traffic increased substantially: we got significantly more phone calls and contact form inquiries.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform?

Wonderfully. They did a great job at delegating duties throughout the build and launch process to utilize their team's respective abilities effectively.

When working with them, was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies that you may have worked with?

Having a project manager as the point of contact allowed me to be able to communicate with only one person, who would then reach out to the appropriate team members for updates and feedback. It was an easy process for me.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that they could improve or you would do differently?

In terms of service, everything went as expected. I did go through a couple of dedicated account managers, but the one I have been with for the last year has exceeded my expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Accurate Leak and Line is a specialty plumbing company specializing in underground plumbing diagnosis and repair, “trenchless” cast-in-place epoxy pipelining of aged or deteriorated sewer and water systems, rainwater harvesting system design and installation, and water conservation. We serve residential and commercial clients throughout Texas with full time offices in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin/San Antonio, Houston and East Texas.

What is your role at the company?

I am Co-Owner/Co-Chief Executive Officer of the company, and full-time manager of our Dallas/Ft. Worth location. In addition to overseeing all day to day business operations, I focus on business development and growth, operations management, and marketing. I am business partners with my brothers Josh Veach and Scott Montgomery, who run the Austin/San Antonio and Houston markets respectively.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We wanted to take an already extensive online marketing campaign to the next level to accommodate our business’s growth. With the current consumer market trending towards online advertising and review sites, we felt that we needed full-time management and implementation of all aspects of our company’s internet presence through multiple mediums.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

The initial scope involved handing over existing management of the website, SEO, PPC campaigns, and overall online presence to Thrive. They also designed and built a new company website with updates in branding and increased functionality.

The continued scope involves constant management of internet marketing avenues, as well as introducing social media management services.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

It was quite simple. We contacted a handful of internet marketing companies based on their own web visibility and overall feel and first impression of the company. I felt comfortable after speaking with Matt Bowman about what caliber of service we could expect from Thrive.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We spent $5,000-10,000 initially, including monthly management and new website. Ongoing monthly expense is in the $5,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial design and implementation of the new site took approximately 1-2 months. Ongoing SEO, PPC, website management, and social media management are continuously evolving processes that will always be necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

With the help of Thrive Internet Marketing as mentioned above, results for the project are ongoing. Our online presence has been greatly increased via a new company website, as well as a strong presence in other platforms such as social media. Leads and traffic to our site continue to grow with ongoing strategic SEO, social blogging, and outreach.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with the folks at Thrive has been a most pleasant experience. Our business needs have been met with great enthusiasm and professionalism. Each member of the Thrive team excels at their specific tasks as it relates to our business needs.

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

Yes, their professionalism stands out amongst other groups we talked to in our decision process. They established good and easy back-and-forth communication with us.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

I don’t believe so.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is called Impression Homes. We build new homes in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of Texas.

What is your position?

I am the Operations Manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We needed them to create a website for us, and once done with the website, to increase our SEO and our presence on the Internet.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Their work was primarily website design and development, and SEO services. They also have done some special campaigns for us. They’ve worked with us with our Customer Relationship Management [CRM], and on mailers as well. They have also been involved in some other initiatives, but the primary focus has been on our website.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We actually looked at six different companies. We received bids from each, and then met them all in person. We decided to go with Thrive Internet Marketing primarily because of their company culture and how they approach things. We were very comfortable with them, and we liked the previous work they had done on other websites for other businesses.

We wanted a fresh outlook, mainly because the building industry is very competitive in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. Everyone has a website, and we didn’t want ours to be just another typical site. We wanted a different perspective, and that’s why we went with Thrive. They really hadn’t had much experience with homebuilders, and that was appealing to us as well. We considered they would be able to do something that would stand out because they were new to our industry.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I don’t have that information in regards to the website since it’s been running for the past two years [since 2013], but for the SEO work, it’s perhaps, less than $5,000 a month.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started out with one of their divisions nearly five years ago, and we still currently work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from this engagement?

When we started out with Thrive Internet Marketing, we were probably on page 25 on a Google search. Now, in some searches we appear on page one and the worst we’ll come up, is at page three. That’s pretty impressive for this market, as competitive as it is, in such a short period of time. They really helped us streamline our SEO.

It was important for us to have the lowest number of clicks as possible, so people can efficiently reach the information they are looking for, and Thrive really helped us with that. They also helped greatly with our CRM, getting it set up and having everything prefilled to make it easier when data comes through to us. There are a lot of different aspects to our work with them. It’s been a very positive experience.

They provide great information. Any time we need help or training, they don’t just put it in writing,  they send us a video that shows us exactly how to do things. We get all our SEO information from them in monthly videos, so we don’t have to sit and read through pages and pages of data. They give us a three to four minute video which we can watch much like a YouTube video, which helps us be completely informed with what’s going on with the site.

I love getting these updates in a video format. We don’t know all the aspects of SEO, among other technical details, so they really break it down and make it easy for us to understand what they’re doing, what initiatives they’ve had and how that’s improved our site and visibility. 

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

I think it would be their command of the technology. I rely on them, not just for the website, but for other things like surveying. I can contact them at any time and ask them what they think about other companies on the web.  I feel very confident with the feedback they give me and know that they have my best interest at heart.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

No, I don’t think so. I feel that it’s been a great relationship all the way through, and there hasn’t been anything we would want to do differently. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a small, family-owned business called U-FIX-IT Appliance Parts, which my wife and I own. We have three retail stores, and we're currently in the process of opening a fourth. We sell appliance parts for do-it-yourself repair for washers, dryers, refrigerators, ranges, air conditioning, and heating. People call with their symptoms and describe the noises that things are making, we help them to figure out what's wrong, and then we provide the parts. Much of the time, they can bring in the smaller parts of their appliances, which we test for them for free. I started in the appliance parts business in 1975, and we've been doing the U-FIX-IT since 1989.

What is your position?

My wife and I are the founders and owners of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I had reserved a URL for our business many years ago when we were just establishing U-FIX-IT. We had a business card type of website. I had made several attempts to expand and develop the site myself, but I just never was able to make that happen. There was more work to it than I had the time to invest.

I came to a point where I realized that the customers were using the Yellow Pages less and the Internet more. I knew it was time to move our advertising dollars to the Internet. In the past, the Yellow Pages was everything. When we opened the store and the Yellow Page ad hit, we could tell the day that the Yellow Pages were distributed because the phone traffic would pick up, and the store would start doing well. In the last few years, every time we ran any kind of survey, we were seeing that the Yellow Pages was becoming less significant, and we weren't getting the growth that we wanted.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of Thrive Internet Marketing's involvement in detail.

They provided website design and development services, and they've also been doing SEO [search engine optimization] since the day the site went live. I think their web design was excellent. If I was going to design another website, I'd go back to them again because they simplified the process and, at the same time, they were able to personalize it the way I wanted it. Their SEO work has been more significant than the actual website development. The ideas they've come up with have been more significant in developing traffic than the website itself.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

I was looking for somebody I felt would do a good job of building the site the way we wanted it built. I preferred to do it with somebody locally but, with the Internet, I could work with anyone anywhere, so I was open to that. But, I was looking first locally, and I saw some of their work that Thrive Internet Marketing had done for other people, and I talked to some of their current clients. I decided that they were a company I could work with, that wanted to understand how we hoped to do business and to present ourselves on the Internet in a way that would allow the personality of the business to shine through.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The website design and development was around $7,000, and the SEO is $1,200 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them about three years ago. We're currently on a month-to-month contract with them for SEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from their work?

Thanks to Thrive Internet Marketing we've gotten a tremendous amount of traffic on the website. I think two months ago, during the height of our busy season, we had 66,000 people access the website, which I think was phenomenal for a month's worth of traffic.

We've ended up shipping parts around the nation, which was never a goal. Our goal was to drive traffic to the stores. We don't have a shopping cart on the site because our goal was to drive people into the stores and increase in-store traffic. The website has done that well, and we're getting significant inquiries from all across the Dallas Metroplex. People are driving to the stores just as we had hoped they would, and this has increased our volume at the stores.

The unexpected part is people calling from all across the country, looking for troubleshooting help on their appliances. Once they receive that help, they go ahead and order the part from us, even though they might be able to get it locally or cheaper somewhere else. They still go ahead and order from us and wait for the part to get to them. We've shipped to both coasts and to Niagara Falls. It's just been amazing. I'm really shocked that we ended up increasing our shipping business in this way.

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

My wife and I are very diligent about the fact that we're a Christian-based business, and we adhere to Biblical principles in how we run our business, treat our customers, and treat our employees. We felt like it was important that the website conveyed that also, but we didn't want that to be blatant. They were good at helping us strike the right balance with that, so that we were able to do that without making it a religious website. We didn't want to do that because it's a business website. We had to come up with a lot of the content for the site because it's very industry-specific, and that required a lot of specialized knowledge. I had to develop a lot of the content that was going on the website myself. Thrive was very systematic about helping us stay on goal to get all that done, so that we could get the website live. There was a point at which they decided to go live and then finish it up as we went along, rather than just stay in the development phase forever. It was the right call to make, and they helped us make it at the appropriate time.

I think the thing that Thrive Internet Marketing does well is they don't try to be experts in our business. They try to lend their expertise in what they can do to help our business. Rather than us go out and learn everything the hard way about the Internet, they try to provide that for us and then leverage what we know about our industry to make the website exceptional and unique. Our site is definitely not a cookie-cutter site where you go out and by a package and try to fill in the blanks yourself.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

No. They've been incredible. In fact, one of the things I've admired about them is that they consistently come up with new ideas to help the SEO and help the website. They push us to try new things. Although we've rejected around 50 percent to 60 percent of the things they have suggested, that hasn't discouraged them. They still come back with more ideas.

They had one idea in particular that I didn't think was a very good idea at all, yet I didn't see any reason not to try it. They've put it out there, and it's proven to be great. They just put in a place on the site where they said, "If you'd like more information about a part, list it here, and we'll get back to you." We're probably getting about six to 10 people a day sending us an email about a part inquiry, and our conversion rate on those when we respond timely – which we try very hard to do – is about 30 percent to 40 percent.

That was an idea they came up with all on their own and implemented with very little input from us, and it's been great. We went from no inquiries to four or five sales a day because of it, every day. I think I would count that as a huge success, and it was all their idea.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for Berryman Products in Arlington, Texas. We're a manufacturing company, and we manufacture automotive additives.

What is your position?

I'm the IT [information technology] manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We were trying to get involved in social media marketing and SEO [search engine optimization].

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They mainly did social media marketing and SEO. We had a newly designed website, but we needed some improvements. They also took over the hosting of our site and did some improvements on the back-end and the design.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing?

We interviewed two or three different companies. We were looking for somebody local, so we actually started off by doing a Google search, and we were impressed by the fact that they came up to the top of the search engine. Since we were looking for somebody who was an SEO company, we thought, "Well, they obviously know what they are doing as far as SEO keyword searching to get themselves to the top of the keyword search." We were impressed with the proposal and everything they showed us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We've been with them for about a year, and we started off with a budget of $3,000 a month. Somewhere along the way, we added a weekly Facebook contest, and that was an additional five hours, or $500 a month. Now, we pay $3,500 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're still currently working with them, and we've actually increased our budget for the coming year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

On the social media, we started off with 400 fans, and we've got 5,600 now on our Facebook page. We don't do a good job of tracking the Google analytics, but I do know that we've moved up in the rankings on a lot of our keywords. We're definitely getting a lot more engagement on the social media end. All around, I think they've done a great job as far as all of the things that we've asked them to do, improvements on the website. 

What distinguishes Thrive Internet Marketing from other providers?

It's hard to say a particular thing. One thing we really liked about them was that Thrive Internet Marketing is a one-stop-shop. They did everything that we were looking for. We talked to a couple of different companies, and some of them did SEO, but they didn't do web, or vice-versa. That was one thing that we really liked about them – the fact that they had expertise in all of those areas.

They're just very hands on. They're very available at all times. Right now, we're doing a weekly conference call with them. They're just very approachable, very reachable, and good with feedback. I've just enjoyed working with them. They keep us in the loop on everything.

We've recently started bringing them more into the team with our traditional advertising group as well, which is why we increased our budget for the coming year, so that we can tie all that stuff together with our social media side.

Is there anything Thrive Internet Marketing could have improved or done differently?

I really don't have any complaints. This is a new area for us, so I can't really compare them to anything that we've done in the past, but we've been really happy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an attorney at a law firm specializing in estate planning, estate administration, and fractional general counsel services for individuals, families, and businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thrive Internet Marketing Agency?

We needed help with our social media marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency has been creating and scheduling posts for our social media marketing. They’ve also reviewed our website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–5 teammates from Thrive Internet Marketing Agency.

How did you come to work with Thrive Internet Marketing Agency?

We found them through an online search. We chose them because they had high ratings, and their pricing fit our budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2026, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency has started posting content for us. We haven’t seen any changes in engagement, followers, or website traffic yet, but we expect it to take some time to see results. We plan to track those metrics.

How did Thrive Internet Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency delivers on time. We communicate through virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like how Thrive Internet Marketing Agency tracks and presents information for feedback, input, and approval.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve.