Dynamic Designs NW

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of a natural health practice that offers energetic healing.

What challenges were you trying to address with Dynamic Designs NW?

I hired them for web development and web design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a website for me using WordPress. I had a website, but I’d created it myself, so it didn’t have the capabilities that I needed. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Stacie (Owner).

How did you come to work with Dynamic Designs NW?

They were recommended to me by one of my colleagues. I looked at another company, but I felt that Dynamic Designs’ web presence was stronger which I thought was important since they’d be building my website. 

How much have you invested in them?

I spent less than $10,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020, and we’re still working together.

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

I wasn’t looking for the most mainstream setup, especially because of COVID-19. I wanted to offer different services, from virtual sessions to packages and in-person appointments. There were a lot of elements at play. They helped me figure out what software tools to use for payment, scheduling appointments, and more. 

The website turned out beautifully. They had an eye for graphic design. 

How did Dynamic Designs NW perform from a project management standpoint?

They were upfront and organized at the beginning of the engagement. Stacie made sure I knew what I had to do to keep the project moving forward. There were a few things that were off, but I think that was because Stacie was working from home, and we started working together in the midst of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. 

We had several Zoom meetings, and then we primarily communicated over email after that. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very patient and not pushy. I didn’t feel like Stacie was trying to push her own agenda on me. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their QA or auditing practices. I found several glitches in the website after it was launched. They fixed them right away, but it would be nice to have checked beforehand. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

I had a lot of things prepared upfront, so the project was more seamless. The more legwork you can do, the more efficient the process will be. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of Hands 4 Building, a seller of educational kits. It’s a woodworking and engineering curriculum for kids and teens. We also have an engineering kit for little hands as well.

What challenge were you trying to address with Dynamic Designs NW?

Our son developed a pretty complex website for us years ago. However, we changed the curriculum so much that the website became outdated. Our son then encouraged us to find outside help. We originally just had our product on Etsy; it wasn’t a website, but rather a product page. After two years of going down that route, we realized we needed a website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dynamic Designs NW developed our new website. We had the content but didn’t know how to approach the whole project. Stacie was perfect for us. She presented an overall package and laid out an outline of how we’d deliver information and make the website happen. The first step of execution was deciding to go with Shopify to develop the platform.

Apart from web and e-commerce development, Stacie helped with the web page layout and gave us homework every week. She’d assist with questions that we needed to think about and provide content for. Once we had that, Stacie gave us choices to decide from. Sometimes, we’d have to tweak the backend of Shopify to make a page look a little different.

Stacie guided us on how to select what would work best for our website and created lists of things for us to do. It was a back-and-forth methodology for quite a long time. Overall, the project was a very long process because we had to put it on hold for a while.

We wanted our website to tell the story that we’re able to tell when we go to conferences. Our product is complex. All a person sees is a box, but they don’t understand the process involved with it. Essentially, we needed a professional photographer to help us tell our story. Stacie helped us put the photos into a slideshow presentation on the website.

Dynamic Designs NW still maintains our website. When we need something changed, there’s a fair amount I can go in and edit myself. However, Stacie handles more complex changes. In addition to the website, she provided a fair amount of social media marketing efforts. She created our Instagram and Facebook accounts as well as got our blog up and running. We attempted utilizing Facebook Ads but didn’t receive a lot of traffic from it. However, Stacie did a really good job with advertising regardless.

What is the team composition?

I only directly work with Stacie (Founder). However, I know she pulls in colleagues when needed.

How did you come to work with Dynamic Designs NW?

We found Stacie on Craigslist. I initially called her, but she was the one who reached out and followed up. She came up with a plan and walked us through every step of developing the website.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested between $4,000–$6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

Since working with them, we’ve tapped into the home-school market, primarily in California and Arizona. This market has given us the opportunity to join its Facebook Group. Doing this has boosted our sales tremendously. I can actually reach the population that’s interested in our product.

What’s more, this audience receives educational dollars from the state to spend on enrichment products. Dynamic Design NW’s services have allowed me to reach the audience that has the interest and money.

The website tells the story of our product and how it works. We’re now getting online orders from people who have never seen our products first-hand.

How did Dynamic Designs NW perform from a project management standpoint?

Stacie always meets deadlines and is very easy to work with. We talk on the phone every couple of weeks and correspond back-and-forth through emails. However, since I’ve been handling my own marketing, we haven’t done so recently.

Also, Stacie moved to a ticket format for inquiries. Our current working relationship isn’t as personal anymore. Now, I just put in a ticket if I need it; I’m not as up-to-date anymore. We used to text one another and if something wasn’t clear, she’d call me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really liked them a lot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m less excited about the ticket method. It’d be nice to have some form of an update every couple of weeks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend them to any business that’s getting started. Stacie is very reasonable.