Redline Minds, LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Choice Checks

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Accounting Supplies

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Redline Minds, LLC to accomplish?

• The project's goal was to design and build a new website that conveys the trust and professional factors required to convince shoppers to purchase.

SOLUTION

How did you find Redline Minds, LLC?

facebook

Why did you select Redline Minds, LLC over others?

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

How many teammates from Redline Minds, LLC were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

• Re-design Kitchenary Theme and make it sutable for my company.
• Make it very professional, clean, with an easy user experience.
• Re-design the current logo where it blends in with the colors of the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The design, look and feel was very easy and pleasing. Perfect details in the communications, videos and other information that make the build easy. It was straight forward, direct, and hands down professional work that was done right the first time. 

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

The time to do the work was quicker than we thought it was going to be. By having the template already purchased, and the work that was done with in the template, really helped to make the project go easier. Great outcome overall. 

What was your primary form of communication with Redline Minds, LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The communications, clarity,  and how things were put together.  I highly recommend them; we should have used them first. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Redline Minds, LLC could have done differently?

Not that i can say at this time. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Owner/Operator of a brick/mortar and online retail craft store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Redline Minds, LLC?

We hired them to redesign the web site making it more current to the times and easy to use. We also use them for monthly marketing.

SOLUTION

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

We chose this vendor due to their knowledge of web design and their knowledge of our product.

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

After a series of meetings and designs, Redline Minds LLC, continued to keep me up to date with the steps they processed through for the final design. There was a lot of data work, but their team was easy to understand and work with.

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

We worked with at least 3 different team members on this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was thorough and when issues did pop up, Redline Minds was quick with communication and fixes.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow appeared to work well. I felt I was aware of what stage they were at at any given moment.

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

The owner was highly recommended by other search engine optimizers and her knowledge of my product was exceptional.

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

Not that I can think of. My work was done during covid and despite losing an important team member (or 2) Redline Minds managed to bring my project to completion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pure & Gentle is US-based manufacturer of planet-friendly home & personal care products. I manage the digital marketing strategy and programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Redline Minds, LLC, and what were your goals?

Pure & Gentle's website was outdated and desperately needed a rebuild, not just a brand refresh but technology updates to make the site more stable and secure, and to improve the site's workflow and processes. We did not have in-house developers to invest in a new website, so we hired Redline Minds to design and develop the site. By doing this, we hoped to increase traffic, reduce the manual burden on our CSRs, and improve security on the site.

SOLUTION

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

We created a formal RFP process and Redline Minds was selected as a part of this review. Their application was non-standard but capabilities were highly compelling and made them the obvious choice.

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

We started out with discovery meetings to discuss goals/objectives and to probe into Pure & Gentle's business model, which is relatively unique. From there, Redline Minds began to structure wireframes and build out both design and development tasks that would get us to each objective. We reviewed site designs first, based on the new Pure & Gentle brand created by a separate design agency - Redline Minds worked closely with us to ensure that the digital design reflected the brand guidelines closely. We then moved into coordinating the site migration and the move into the e-commerce site. We are currently working on a Phase 2 custom build that requires an Acumatica integration.

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

Approximately 3-4, including a project manager, a full-time developer, and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After launching the new site, we have seen notable traffic increases and dealer participation on the Dealer Portal (there was virtually no participation prior to the site redesign). We have also gotten tremendous feedback from clients, customers, and vendors on the new site, noting its improved appearance and ease of use.

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

We have weekly status meetings via Zoom and primarily use Google documents for project management. Training sessions are recorded and posted for team members to access as needed.

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

The best word I can think of for Redline Minds is "scrappy." They are a highly flexible team with a terrific source of knowledge in the digital industry. They're fun to work with. They are able to provide companies a significant number of digital and web services - without the fluff or unnecessary overhead. This is especially valuable for small businesses like Pure & Gentle because we don't feel lost or undervalued as a smaller client.

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

Not at this time - Redline Minds is a valued partner and I look forward to building more in the future together with this team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is in the women’s fitness industry but because of COVID-19, we’re transitioning into manufacturing kettlebells.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Redline Minds, LLC?

They’re helping me expand and pivot during COVID-19. In March 2020, we looked forward to the idea of manufacturing kettlebells so we needed a nice website to utilize for sales.

I had a Squarespace site, but it was just sitting there with a home page. We knew we wanted to do something with it eventually, but we never built it out and we were waiting for the launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The web design and development was provided by their team. The platform they used was BigCommerce. They also helped familiarize me with what I needed to do on the site and we collaborated on building it. They implemented a chat feature where customers can chat online with a live agent, but we haven’t launched it yet.

What is the team composition?

I only worked with Lori (Owner) for the duration of the project.

How did you come to work with Redline Minds, LLC?

I searched for the creators of a website that I really liked but they told me they couldn’t work with me because they were designing the website of my competitor — it was considered unethical. Instead, they referred me to Lori and I liked her pitch and her work and she seemed friendly so I didn’t look into anyone else.

How much have you invested with them?

We worked with them around July–October 2020. The website launched around the end of October.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project cost a little over $3,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Now that the website has launched, I actually really love it and I’m happy with its user-friendliness. Lori was able to explain the features and how to navigate the site because I’m not familiar with the language since I’m in the fitness industry.

Lori was just very accessible and responsive whenever I had issues or had questions. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her.

How did Redline Minds, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main communication was through email or a 30–60 minute Zoom call, if needed. They had deadlines and told me it would only take a few weeks to launch, but it was my fault that the project took longer than expected because I didn’t have things prepared on my end. It was a new product, we needed to do photoshoots and all of that took a while, so if I had been prepared it would have fit their original timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What we found most impressive was the turnaround. If we needed something, they were there to respond and as a business owner, I appreciated the quick response to my emails. If I needed to seek help or needed to know what to do, I really liked the speediness of her responses with that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was very satisfied so I’m not sure there’s anything to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have your thoughts together with your vision and what you want to do because they’ll deliver and put it together quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I started out doing consulting for a couple different companies, but now I am the fulltime VP of marketing and emerging markets for a medical and PPE product company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Redline Minds LLC?

We had purchased an off-the-shelf shopping cart to hold our product catalogue, and we had a very basic wraparound design to go along with that. We customized that solution to such a significant extent that eventually, the shopping cart just broke, and we needed to do a complete rebuild.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Redline Minds helped us to develop a completely new ecommerce site from scratch, including the backend, frontend design, plugin customization, and migration of the products from the old site to the new one. The whole new site is built using BigCommerce

The project ended up being a little more challenging than we expected because it needed to be able to host all 1300 of our products, as well as to offer comparisons with our competitors’ products as well. Their team stuck with that and got it done, so we still have that capability, complete with new graphic work to refresh the look and feel.

What is the team composition?

Lori (Ecommerce & Online Marketing Consultant) was our main interface point for most of the work, but we had several other individuals and organizations working on specific elements of the project where they needed supplementation.

How did you come to work with Redline Minds LLC?

For a project with another company, I posted a description of what we needed to the BigCommerce website. We received a number of proposals, but Lori’s really stood out from the crowd. I considered two or three other vendors seriously, but Lori really took the time to understand our circumstances and provide robust feedback along with her recommendations, so it was clear she was the right fit for us.

When the need came up for the medical company that I work for, I knew right away that I wanted to work with Lori again

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project was about $7,000, which we were very satisfied with.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first accepted their proposal in March 2020, and we launched the new site in May.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At a basic level, the website is functioning, which is already a huge step up over what we had before. But the refreshed look and feel is very nice, and we have a lot more customized abilities to interact with our customers and provide them with all of the information that they need.

We haven’t gotten too much into SEO so far, but Lori’s given us a ton of tools and tips that we could use to increase our operations there whenever we’re ready to do so. Because of COVID, we have a lot more customers purchasing from us directly, so we are planning to rely on that more and more.

How did Redline Minds LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was great throughout all of the work. Lori stays on top of all of the work that we give her, and the only issue we ran into in the entire process was with pulling some of the data from our products on the old website that turned out to be missing. That delayed our work by a little bit, but they did a great job of troubleshooting and rolling with the changes to the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their sheer knowledge of websites, and BigCommerce in particular, and how to use those to best serve your goals was a really useful asset for us. I plan to continue to engage with Lori to determine what ongoing maintenance we should do on the site.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was one challenging situation in which they thought BigCommerce could handle the scope of our search functionality and it turned out it couldn’t, which delayed our launch by a little bit. We ended up launching the site without the search and then adding it later, so in the end, it worked out ok.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be applicable to working with any developer, which is that it is critically important to have the scope of your project fully outlined before you start the project. The fact that we did that made things so much easier down the road for our team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an e-commerce company focused on automotive aftermarket parts. The company is five years old. I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Redline Minds, LLC?

We contacted them for an updated website, brand look, and shopping experience for consumers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I bought the company, which came with an existing, weak website. We requested that they recreate the site, prioritizing ease of shopping and site speed. I provide them with metrics I wanted to improve, such as our previously high abandonment rate and speed of the checkout process.

They drafted a proposal to correct the criteria that were holding our business back. From there, they launched e-commerce development. Their work primarily focused on matching our needs to wireframe and theme within BigCommerce. 

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Lori (E-Commerce & Online Marketing Consultant). She had two contractors assigned to the work as well. 

How did you come to work with Redline Minds, LLC?

I researched companies that were experienced with BigCommerce, which we were using for the site. They understood our customers’ needs and were well-versed in creating experiences that satisfy customers. There are very few repeat customers in this business, so that factor was important to us.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $7,600 on their work.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our conversion rate has increased, which was our primary priority. Unfortunately, our abandonment rate has not improved to this point and that is still a major problem with the business. However, I was impressed with their ability to encourage more customers to covert.   

How did Redline Minds, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

There was some turnover early in the project, so project management wasn’t great at the start. She rectified that by the third week of our engagement. They provided us access to a dashboard within BigCommerce that was intended to track their progress. However, that was not very helpful early on in the process at all.

Once they selected a theme that would work for the site, we were better able to collaborate and envision how the site would look and feel. In terms of project management, they came on pretty strong toward the middle and end of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their partner drove the project. I’m relatively new to e-commerce, so I had questions about many different aspects of the industry. She brought helpful resources to the project that were outside of the scope of work. I was able to learn about e-commerce through working with them, so I’m now able to handle many things myself. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Starting off the project with weaker contractors was painful to her, and she apologized for that experience. I’m sure the contractors slowed her work down. 

They have extremely high fluency for BigCommerce, but it would’ve been more helpful if they explained some of the platform’s capabilities to me prior to starting the engagement. That would’ve helped me think more creatively as well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a detailed scope of work with an end product in mind. If you provide them with helpful information about your brand, they’ll be able to approach your requirements more effectively.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of a hair and skincare company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Redline Minds, LLC?

We were migrating from the Yahoo e-commerce platform to BigCommerce. Our old vendor was a Yahoo expert, but we needed someone new who had more experience with BigCommerce.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a redesign of our website and helped migrate our website to BigCommerce. They added some features that were specific to BigCommerce. Most of the content had been done before we brought them on. 

I’m still working with them. Whenever there is new content I want to put on the website, I contact them. I consider them to be my development team. They’ve also provided me with advice over the years, including helping me with ADA-compliance. Over the years, they’ve referred me to other service providers as well. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with one employee who is no longer at the company, but my current point of contact is Lori (Co-Founder & E-Commerce Consultant). 

How did you come to work with Redline Minds, LLC?

I found them through the BigCommerce support site. Lori was very active in the forums, and she was quick to respond to me and provide advice. 

How much have you invested with them? 

We spent about $3,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The migration and redesign took place over the course of a couple of months in 2017. We still have an ongoing relationship where they provide me with advice and ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has helped improve our website traffic and make our processes more efficient. They also helped with SEO, our e-mail platform, and with our SMS. It’s been a great ongoing relationship. 

How did Redline Minds, LLC  perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really good at meeting deadlines. My previous vendor was terrible at meeting deadlines. It’s nice to work with Redline Minds because I know that when Lori gives me a date, their team will stick to it. Their communication is also strong. We mostly talk over email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a strong business sense. I trust Lori’s advice because of her experience. They also bring me cost-effective solutions, so they’re great as a small business. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, they have more work than they have the bandwidth. It would be nice if they could expand their team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Be open in your communication with them and share as much as possible. I run everything by Lori, and I recommend leaning on her expertise.