Hustlemore

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company specializes in restoring and refurbishing historic buildings, including churches, theaters, and some hotels. We have a stained-glass studio and a full custom stone and marble studio. We also do a lot of artwork, murals, decorative paintings, and custom floors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hustlemore?

Our company wanted to upgrade and optimize all of the technology related to our website and marketing. We wanted to work with SEO and AdWords placement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right away, they helped us cultivate an image for our company and our brand. We’ve been in business for about 150 years, but never paid a lot of attention to specific branding. We had a lot of history and experience, but they helped us focus on how we present ourselves to possible clients and customers. They brought us up to speed on our marketing and technological aspects and helped with our branding scope.

They helped us redesign our website. They gave us a lot of guidance and direction on how we should showcase our work online and improve our SEO. They’ve really made a difference with all of our marketing materials. We’ve begun work on our logo and on flyers and promotional materials. They did all the branding design and recommended ways to appeal to more people and present our best work.

They’ve also helped accumulate and organize a lot of our data. We have a lot of old catalogs and pictures and information that was hard to access. They’re helping us aggregate and sort it for future use.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three different team members. They’ve been very helpful and professional.

How did you come to work with Hustlemore?

They worked with a family member at another business. Stu Foster (CEO, Hustlemore) had a successful track record and a genuine interest in the history of our business. He wanted to know more about the people and wanted to help build our company. From the beginning, they were emotionally invested in our company and our success.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2016 and work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen increases in our website visits and phone calls from people who found us online. We just completed a $200,000 job that came to us specifically through a Google search term that added to our site. It was a sizeable contract from an out of state community that was impressed by our online presence. We landed the contract exclusively thanks to the work they’ve done.

How did Hustlemore perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well. Every time we engage them, they break down contract specifics and price them fairly. We work through each contract step by step. They’ve done a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Stu and Ron (Creative Director, Hustlemore) have good marketing experience. They’ve done a good job finding a unique way for our business to penetrate the marketplace. They look at our competitors and what we offer and came up with new areas we could succeed in that we hadn’t considered.

I’ve spent my whole career in this company analyzing our competition and thought I had a great handle on the best strategy. I learned really quickly that they were expert strategists who knew how to play to our strengths and find areas that needed help.

First and foremost, they’re interested in making buildings and spaces more functional for the human beings who use them. They want to make our city better from a higher perspective than just monetary gain. They earned our trust through their values and made us want to align ourselves more with their mentality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I can think of would be more itemized specificity in their cost breakdowns and scheduling estimates. I would love for them to have more employees, but they’re growing at an organic rate. We’ve had a positive experience with their company and look forward to working with them more. Everything from a business sense is really on-point.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am the owner of Cryobar, which is a cryotherapy spa in Lincoln Park, Chicago. I handle our back office and run everything in-between. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Hustlemore?

My background is in finance, and I don't have a good understanding of SEO, Google, or social media. I needed help putting everything together and figuring it out. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Hustlemore helped me figure out why we weren't coming up on Google searches. There were only two places like mine in the whole city, but we ranked on page four. There were also some shortfalls on the website since the person who built it was not an actual website developer, but rather the friend of a friend. Hustlemore was able to come in, take a look at the site, help us with keywords, and figure out what we were missing, starting with the site and continuing with the Google side of things.

The next question for me was what else were we missing in terms of blogging, making our social media posts more cohesive, and coming up with a marketing plan. I wanted to address what the Cryobar was and what we wanted to portray to potential clients.

We have a graphic designer and had already created all the branding for the business. Hustlemore was definitely helpful in figuring out what we needed to update for our promo cards and other material.

Hustlemore has only made enhancements to the website so far, but we are going to use them for redesigning the site. The business is only a year old, so we have many things to do at the same time.

How did you come to work with Hustlemore?

Hustlemore was recommended to me by a doctor friend. I have since recommended them to three other friends, who have been happy, and I know a fourth person who is looking to start a collaboration.

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

I am not in charge of the backend books, so I'm not sure what the cost was. We have a set monthly cost, and Hustlemore also manages our Google AdWords and Yelp advertising. The other website work is separate. We're new, so we're figuring this out as we go. The overall cost has been above $50,000, approximately.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Hustlemore in June 2016. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have gone from page four or five in Google results to page one. We are still trying to figure out some loopholes within our competition, but after only a few months of working with Hustlemore, they’ve increased our presence, moving us to where we felt that we should be.

We were a new business when Hustlemore started working with us. I would say that most of the inquiries we've gotten have been from people looking for cryotherapy services. Word-of-mouth has helped us as well, but in terms of Google searches, Hustlemore has definitely helped.

How did Hustlemore perform from a project management standpoint?

I've never needed to wait more than 10 minutes to hear back from Stuart Foster, their CEO. He is always available. I was given different PDFs detailing our programs and overall branding. Hustlemore's team will sit down with me, open up Google Ads pages or my website, and explain things to me. There is a lot of handholding involved, which is what I need the most at the moment. Hustlemore has been organized throughout every meeting we've had. We collaborate very well together, and I was never made to feel stupid.

What distinguishes Hustlemore from other providers?

Hustlemore's team has been personable. We were working with another SEO company, but I fired them because I didn't feel like being one client out of a million. If I had a question, I could call Hustlemore and get a human to answer. They didn't make me feel stupid for asking questions and were willing to explain concepts. This is important, especially for small businesses. Everyone I've given their name to would say the same thing. Hustlemore digs in deep and finds things that other companies don't.

Is there anything Hustlemore could have improved or done differently?

Not right now. Hustlemore has researched cryotherapy, which we didn't see with other companies. They are responsive and personable, and they treat clients with respect. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is Innovative Express Care. We’re an urgent care and primary care center in Chicago. I am the Chief Executive Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hustlmore?

We are great at what we do. I feel like we give the best care in the city of Chicago. But, if we’re not able to tell people that or show people that, we can’t expand. We needed marketing. Hustlemore gave us a chance to let them know what we wanted to do, and they not only listened to us, but they took off with it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re involved with Google Adwords, Facebook, and more. They honed in on the right words to advertise with. They needed an analysis of what our needs were and what our brand was. They set up steps that we’d have to take in the next year. The low hanging fruit was the beginning, then we had a medium time frame and then a long term time frame which included things like redoing our entire website. The short term was Google Adwords. The medium stuff was how to increase our brand awareness. They were a one-stop shop. They could help with little things like getting bags that we give our medication in to have our logo, website, and phone. Then they did the big things like SEO [search engine optimization].

How did you come to work with Hustlemore?

A marketing friend of mine who owns a bar used them. He said that this is who we needed to get. I tried them out for a couple of different projects first.

How much have you invested with Hustlemore?

We spend around $3,000 - $7,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in December of 2015. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had an 80% increase of volume within two months. We were pretty happy about that. There is so much to marketing and so many people that do certain things and others that don’t. Some will do SEO, but they won’t run your Google Adwords campaign. Some will do social media but won’t do SEO. They have graphics as well. They are a group that will really understand your needs and will get the right person to do the job. It’s a great place to go to for all your needs. It’s not a huge corporation. It’s a couple of guys who really want to work hard for their customers. 

How did Hustlemore perform from a project management standpoint?

They will work with whatever I’m comfortable with. We used Basecamp at the beginning because we had so many projects going on. I loved using that. A lot of it is email and texting. I would get a text about things that were important. I got an email about things that could wait.

What did you find most impressive about Hustlemore?

Promoting a brand name and thinking of more than just the short term stuff. They know how to launch a business for the next three to five years. They really helped me in doing that.

Are there any areas Hustlemore could improve?

No. They’re doing a great job. There were things I addressed with them - I thought they were a little expensive. They were able to work with me and I thought that was great.