The Bureau Of Small Projects

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of McGrannLAW LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Bureau Of Small Projects to accomplish?

• Design Website
• Branding

SOLUTION

How did you find The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Online Search

Why did you select The Bureau Of Small Projects over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Bureau Of Small Projects were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We worked with the Bureau for the development of the firm's website, branding, corporate messaging, and base-level retargeting advertising. This included significant design work, copy editing, brand strategy, and ongoing discussions about what made our firm different from most firms (we don't think of ourselves as a law firm, so all of the traditional tropes are out of bounds).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website now converts visits to meetings. Simple as that.

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

The team was exceptional, communicative, responsive, and excellent listeners. I am persnickety as hell with copy, and they worked patiently with me to get everything just right. They are complete professionals.

What was your primary form of communication with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They have a process, but that process is driven to create results for you rather than make the work easier for them. But most importantly, the people at the Bureau are wonderful people, who care about the quality of work, whether the work is going to have the effect you're looking for, and work with you to ensure good results.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Bureau Of Small Projects could have done differently?

Even when things went a little off-track, they were proactive about communicating any issues and working with me to resolve them. I could not be happier with the Bureau.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive of VIVA PIMA!

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

VIVA PIMA! is a nonprofit in Tucson that is making a difference in Pima County through our mission: Be a vital resource to foster a thriving community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Bureau Of Small Projects to accomplish?

• Rebrand
• new logo
• first page wording on website

SOLUTION

How did you find The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Online Search

Why did you select The Bureau Of Small Projects over others?

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

How many teammates from The Bureau Of Small Projects were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We needed to rebrand and we new our messaging needed to be updated.  The BSP helped us re-message by speaking with our customers and grantors.  We needed a new name, and new logo.  In addition, we needed new messaging for our website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a new name, new logo and better website messaging.

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

Project management was spot on.  Every Friday we received an email stating the status and key deliverables.  Everything was on time.  We knew why we had to extend our timeline for one part of this project.

What was your primary form of communication with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Virtual Meeting

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

Every person we worked with were experts.  They helped us.  They were knowledgable.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Bureau Of Small Projects could have done differently?

We wished we had a bigger budget to help us with more of our needs!  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of Topos Partnership LLC. We do strategic communications, mostly for nonprofits and foundations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

We needed to redo our website to have a more up-to-date website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Bureau Of Small Projects has designed and developed our website from scratch using WordPress. The website includes copy, images, and strategies. The team also provides maintenance services. To kick off the project, we had a couple of meetings with their team. We did a landscape analysis of our competitors and a number of different steps.

Moreover, The Bureau Of Small Projects is involved in our digital marketing efforts. They manage Google Ads and do remarketing, being responsible for creating all the assets.

What is the team composition?

The Bureau Of Small Projects' CEO has stayed involved throughout the process. We also work with 4–5 teammates, including a developer, a creative director, a graphic designer, a strategic branding person, and a market research person.

How did you come to work with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

We found them on Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received lots of positive feedback from our client community. We’re getting signups for our newsletter via the invitation. It’s hard for us to figure out the impact in terms of dollars, but we’re very satisfied with the fact that it’s making a much better impression.

How did The Bureau Of Small Projects perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been excellent. We communicate via phone calls, emails, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with how quickly they rectify problems. In any project, there are many little snafus and miscommunications.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their instructions at the beginning. One is the importance of a value proposition for your company. If you’re doing website development, get a template, modify the template, and think very carefully.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Global Learning Online, LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company focuses on legal education training in countries with segments of the population that are currently underutlized. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Bureau Of Small Projects to accomplish?

• Website development
• Educational portal

SOLUTION

How did you find The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Online Search

Why did you select The Bureau Of Small Projects over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Bureau Of Small Projects were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our company had an overseas project that was time sensitive & complex. We needed an agency we could rely upon to develop a brand new website for us with an educational portal component. We ran across, "The Bureau of Small Projects". An agency composed of elite professionals with  fortune 500 experience, who have come together to provide their expertise to grassroots companies like ours, whose marketing and design budgets are modest. 

This agency not only listenend to our goals, but went out of their way to meet our compamy objectives. The end result was a beautiful website that not only surpassed our expectations but met the needs of our end users. We highly recommend this agency & will continue to use them, as our business expands. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The bulk of our project consisted on delivering an online pilot educational course. We had 180 students go through our course. At the end of the course we asked the students to fill a survey with 4 very specific questions, including ease of our website and what would you change on our website. We received aproximately 50% of our students respond to our survey. Of those surveys we had "0" negative feedback. We would say that says it all. 

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

Project Management was excellent. As a project manager myself, one of the most difficult jobs of a project is keeping all parties on task, so that the project flows like a well-oiled machine. This agency knows how to properly execute a project. I cannot say that we had " no issues", that would be unrealistic, specially considering the tight deadline. However, when any issue did come up, it was quickly dealt with, so we could continue to move towards the finish line. 

What was your primary form of communication with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their commitment to the success of the project. I know this sounds like a "no brainer" but it is not. Other companies may be able to do the job, but their are not personable. We found at every turn that this agency tried to do what was best for our company goals. This was refreshing. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Bureau Of Small Projects could have done differently?

Perhaps the only thing our team felt could be better is the IT verbiage. As legal professionals we are very cautious to use terms or words that are not part of layman terms, because we will loose our audience. 

We would suggest that as new parts of the virtual experience are introduced to clients, this too is kept in mind, that clients for the most part have little grasp on the terms and verbiage in the IT field and therefore these need to be continiously defined to ensure understanding. This is the Apple model regarding customer support. The agency did have one particular professional who was very good at word pictures to explain steps on the process, Daira Fazenda. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Cenmed Enterprises

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Supporting healthcare, research, and science with products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Bureau Of Small Projects to accomplish?

• Web redesign, targeting specific sections for enhancement.
• Get insight on latest design ideas, and utilizing those ideas to drive more traffic.
• Integrate BigCommerce into our ideas to generate revenue.

SOLUTION

How did you find The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Online Search

Why did you select The Bureau Of Small Projects over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Bureau Of Small Projects were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Cenmed's homepage and five interior pages were redesigned by BoSP, providing creative direction and input. They crafted pages to align with the overarching design, which we reviewed before forwarding to our development team for implementation. BoSP ensured consistency and cohesiveness across our entire website by reviewing and offering feedback on any pages, even ones they didn't directly design, making sure all pages appeared as part of the same "family." 
The entire process was structured into specific, measurable "sprints" for efficient and clear progression.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They completely redesigned six pages, including the homepage, and also provided input on additional interior pages. Each phase of the project was meticulously measured and discussed in meetings, culminating in a weekly wrap-up.

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

Incredibly organized, Abby was also one of the most enthusiastic PM's I've had the pleasure of working with.

What was your primary form of communication with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Virtual Meeting

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

I appreciated the simplicity of the pricing and the straightforwardness of the quotes provided. The transparency in both communication and pricing was a significant advantage in working with this organization. I also liked that they didn't nickel and dime us to death and offered some services, or overages in our project free of charge.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Bureau Of Small Projects could have done differently?

I really liked all aspects of working with the Burea Of Small Project's team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Product Marketing of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Mortgage technology platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Bureau Of Small Projects to accomplish?

• Website Design
• Website Development

SOLUTION

How did you find The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Online Search

Why did you select The Bureau Of Small Projects over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from The Bureau Of Small Projects were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We partnered with Small Projects Bureau for the design and development of a new website. We originally had a one-page website with limited information about our business and very basic design. Drop-off was a huge problem for us, our audience didn't understand our product, and there was minimal conversion. 

We had a vision for a modern, immersive, and compelling website with very clear and compelling messaging and design that would inspire our customers and set us apart. The Bureau's expert team of strategists, designers, writers, planners, and developers helped us achieve this. First, we partnered on the homepage, launched, and then added additional pages over time.

The project manager was my closest contact and we were able to speak multiple times a week. I also worked with the designer who graciously considered all our ideas and requirements, and revisions, and turned them into something beautiful. At the end, I worked with the developer to review and make final adjustments. 

As with any large project, a few things were missed, but their team was quick to resolve them without any downtime. Everyone I had the pleasure of working with was incredibly talented, personable, and such a joy! I highly recommend this team for companies of any size and industry. Their skills are vast and they are a delight to work with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Project completion

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

Items were typically delivered on time. We required a quick turnaround for the first project and they worked with us to make it happen- and it was a miracle. After the first deadline, which was crucial, other deadlines were hit and some slightly pushed out. Their process is evolving and maturing as there are things they're experiencing with new customers that they have to account for, but through it all they always bend over backward for the customer and deliver.

What was your primary form of communication with The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their wonderful personalities and expert skills.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Bureau Of Small Projects could have done differently?

Back and forth email conversations extended the process and caused some friction. The flexibility to schedule a call would eliminate some of that extended time and provide more clarity between contributors. The first project included weekly video calls. But after that, they stuck to email and sometimes the process was confusing and frustrating. Weekly or bi-weekly calls would be a good use of time and certainly reduce the total time of a project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a partner of an IT consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Bureau Of Small Projects, and what were your goals?

We were looking for a long-term marketing partner to assist us with inbound/outbound marketing starting with re-building our website.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed about a dozen marketing agencies, created a short-list of three and then strongly vetted the final three to make a decision. Part of this process was interviewing the team that would be working on our project as we strongly feel that the personalities and ability to connect will determine the ultimate success.

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

Building a new website from the ground up starting with a Value Proposition effort. The plan was to continue working on ongoing inbound/outbound marketing efforts including SEO, e-mail campaigns, and ongoing content including blogging.

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

I would say about a 6-8 overall. The initial Project Manager we were assigned to was different than the person we spoke to initially when we made the decision to move forward with BOSP which was the first red-flag, we felt it was a bait-and-switch. We reached out to the salesman we worked with, the COO, and he assigned the Project Manager we initially spoke with to out account which caused the initial delay. This Project Manager left the company shortly after we got started and the COO jumped into the Project Management role.

There were other copywriters and designers overall, I believe they were all freelance workers. I believe the website development was outsourced to a company in Argentina but I am not 100% sure. The Project Manager/COO seemed to jump in to edit the site regularly throughout the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, poor.

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

We received weekly reports more often than not from what I can recall.

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

They are good at branding themselves and the initial proposal was impressive.

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

First and foremost, they should get the company name of who they are working with correct. From the initial proposal to the weekly updates to the final invoice, they could not get our name correct. I even brought this up early on during a call - something to the effect of "As our marketing partner, you should know our company name". This really was a red flag, but we were already engaged in an agreement. This company overall seriously lacks attention to detail which is super important for marketing initiatives.

I am sure that BOSP does some things well (which is why we chose to work with them) but my experience working with them, and the product they delivered, was extremely poor. We chose BOSP to be our long-term marketing partner at the end of 2021 after interviewing several agencies, the first component was to re-build our website from scratch.

Shortly into the process, we started seeing that there was a lack of continuity on the team which I have to believe is due to the fact that they rely heavily on freelance/contract workers which are far from engaged. Pull up their company page on LinkedIn and you’ll see that most of the creative people associated with BOSP have multiple current positions listed. We had a project manager that seemed to just pull in different resources for different components and no feeling of continuity.

As the site development progressed, some of the pages they sent to us for approval were underwhelming to say the least. We were nickel-and-dimed to get more “complex” pages which I still do not see a difference between those and “basic” pages. The process was frustrating to say the least. It was clear that BOSP would not be the long-term partner we engaged them to be so at one point we decided to just move forward as quickly as possible, get the site up, and then find another agency to take it over and move forward with.

Then came the launch. The site went up with broken links, pages with links back to themselves, form fields jumping around, and image alt tags that were a complete mess. I ended up having to do the QA work myself and the PM seemed to be frustrated that I kept finding problems since they didn’t do their QA/”Polish Pass.” Post launch, we started discussions with other agencies to move forward and found out that the WordPress Page builder the site was built on, WPBakery, is an older technology and not preferable by developers to work with.

I am not a web developer and I could care less about the underlaying page builder used so long as it is maintainable. I completely understand there are personal/technical preferences for using different technologies but the comments about WPBakery being less than desirable to work with was the consensus from everyone we spoke with and basic Google searches return the same.

Ultimately we engaged a new agency to build a new site from scratch that will be up by April. We had an initial site mockup progress meeting with them less than three weeks after signing and what they presented is far superior than the site BOSP delivered to us. So after a year of working with BOSP and $25,000+ later, we would have had the site they created for us up for less than four months.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on September 23, 2023.

Hi Joe. If you go to our website and look at our work and clients, I’d stake our design skills, technical expertise, and reputation up against any agency, big or small.

But that does not mean that mistakes can't happen. We are human, and websites can be complicated. The reason we have 5-star reviews everywhere is because we always make it right.

We’ve tried to reach out many times. Please let us work with you to make this right.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of Thermal Battery Corporation

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Bureau Of Small Projects?

We needed a new website that reflects the level of investment we've received and development we've done.

SOLUTION

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

Looked around online and found them. Was very impressed by the other sites they've done and their responsiveness when I inquired about pricing.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The did a complete revamp of the site. They worked collaboratively with someone else I hired to do an explainer video that describes the technology. We met, they did a great job giving a flexible scope of work where I could see their designs first before committing to doing the rest of the project. Then we did a few revisions and they did a great job coding the site - The site worked beautifully.

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

2 people. Me and the person doing the explainer video.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We got a big spike in viewers when I sent the website out to my colleagues. The site even ran into its bandwidth limits, with thousands of people visiting the site within a few hours.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. I really enjoyed receiving the weekly updates that identified any lingering action items.

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

The beauty of the site they created. It really encompasses the feeling I was after.

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

None - great job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director at BHS International, Inc. We create and supply custom branded marketing and retail products for many industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Bureau Of Small Projects?

Our website, which we had designed ourselves, was dated. We needed a fresh new look and guidance on how to best position BHS in our industry.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed three different web development companies and selected The Bureau of Small Projects because they were the only company who wanted to figure out who we were. They included hours of strategy sessions with their experts to help us analyze our business.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We started out with several meetings in which we shared everything we know about our company: history, current situation, and our goals. We even had homework! They asked so many questions which brought our "value proposition" into focus. This was similar to the introspective kind of analysis that goes along with developing a corporate mission statement. Once that work was done all the pieces fell into place.

They guided us on what was important to say on our website and how to say. They guided on on what was important to show on our website and how to show it. They were honest and we learned so much from them. For example, they encouraged us and guided us through the process (while keeping to budget!) to change our logo and improve photography of our products. They presented creative options for new web design and they executed with perfection! Our company has a fresh new look and amazing website!

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

We mainly worked directly with four people. Konan was our initial point of contact. He was engaging and enthusiastic. He explained what The Bureau of Small Projects could do for us and we were excited! He came up with a plan within our budget and very clearly explained how the process would work. And, they delivered. We are so happy we selected this company over the others we were looking at.

Trine was our Project Manager. She was delightful, insightful and always a joy to work with. She kept the project moving forward and was always looking out for us, considering ways to make our site better and looking for creative solutions that didn't put us over budget.

Theresa was our Strategist. She is amazing. She helped us to take a deep dive into our business and truly figure out our strengths and then she created copy to communicate that on our website. Sunny was our hero when it came to design advice. She confidently guided us through many design decisions on the site, with the photography of our products, new logo design, color selection, and more. Her expertise was invaluable. She was also wonderful to work with. Honestly, everyone was great.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are thrilled with our new website and the feedback we are receiving is very positive!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

This project was perfectly orchestrated. Communication was great. Via video calls and emails we maintained a constant flow of communication. It felt very natural and easy.

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

We were impressed from the beginning about their unique approach to take a step back and analyze our business before even thinking about a new website design. After all, how could they execute the perfect website design for us if they didn't really know us? Also, they were very insightful and honest. We felt, every step of the way, that they truly wanted to help us! We always felt like we were in good hands. They exceeded our expectations!

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

We cannot think of anything they could have done better!