RNO1

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an architect, and I own and operate Toby Long Design, an architecture firm that does design and coordination work largely for projects utilizing prefabricated construction methods. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RNO1?

I was looking for professional insight on refreshing the look, feel, and navigation of the company website that I had built as a nonprofessional. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The services we get from RNO1 are pretty simple. Essentially, we ended up refreshing the informational, portfolio-styled Squarespace website that I built myself several years ago. We wanted a current look with a new feel. We stuck with Squarespace, and with RNO1’s help, we built a template customized for my site. RNO1 also helped us paint a bit of a path for future engagements, such as building our brand and working to improve our online presence.

Another thing that RNO1 helped us accomplish was distinguishing my work as an architect and designer at Toby Long Design from my work involving Clever Homes, the prefab company that drives the engine of my design firm. On the new site, visitors can see both of them, and I think RNO1 did a nice job of bringing that together more than it was before.

How did you come to work with RNO1?

We weren’t really looking for other designers when we hired RNO1. Squarespace has a list of “preferred” designers and engineers, and I chose RNO1 from that list because they’re local, and it made sense to me. I reached out to RNO1, and Michael got back to me; after that, it was all about working with him.

How much have you invested with RNO1?

We’ve invested between $5,000 and $10,000 with RNO1.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working on the project in August 2016 and wrapped up around February 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn't do a lot of recasting of traffic tools, but we have received a lot of positive feedback from people in our network.

How did RNO1 perform from a project management standpoint?

If I'm being honest, I think the project was a little slow. But, I understand the creative process, and in the end, I was satisfied with how we brought everything together.

What did you find most impressive about RNO1?

My business is very relationship-based, and that’s how I engaged with this process. The personalities behind this effort were as important to me as anything else. I liked the look and feel of the work, and I liked the presentation of the company, but most importantly, I liked the people with whom I was connected. That really connected the dots for me. I was not on a campaign to do a lot of interviewing. I hire people who I know can perform.

Are there any areas RNO1 could improve?

One point of critique for RNO1 may be their over-reliance on online management coordination and project management tools instead of just picking up the phone to talk to somebody. I think that was a little bit lacking. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a luxury and upscale pet boarding company with 28 locations across 7 states. We provide boarding, daycare, and grooming services. I am the senior director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RNO1?

Our goal was to find a partner that was technology driven and can provide solutions using technology. We wanted a partner who used the latest analytics to provide for our digital advertising needs. In terms of analytics, there was a big gap with the other providers that we used. We wanted someone who could make quick, important decisions on our campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

RNO1 is handling our digital advertising on Facebook as well as Google pay per click campaigns for our services. We also wanted to understand when to serve those ads during different times of the year. We targeted locations having trouble bringing in new clients, as well as locations that were having a downtick on their Internet referral source for new customers. These were our 2 specific goals when we started. RNO1 did not add social media, on-site SEO, or off-site SEO.

How did you come to work with RNO1?

I was doing a search of providers outside of Florida. When I stumbled across them in California, they were voted one of the top 10 digital agencies out there. That piqued my interest. I read on their website about what they do and they seemed very knowledgeable in that space. Since that space is constantly changing, having a partner who gets that is important to me.

How much have you invested with RNO1?

We’ve paid $10,000 to $50,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in July 2016 and are currently running with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw results on the new customer acquisition side, and that was our goal. There was an uptick of 30% to 40% for Internet leads coming locations that were not driving those before.

How did RNO1 perform from a project management standpoint?

RNO1 did very well in terms of project management. There was a lot of open communication and constant feedback. They gave us recommendations and we gave them ours. We found that RNO1 was flexible and accommodating to our recommendations.

What did you find most impressive about RNO1?

They are on the West Coast and we are on the East Coast, so I was curious about how that was going to work out. They came across as very personable. Their expertise and recommendations have been great.

Are there any areas RNO1 could improve?

Nothing at this time that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an independent record label. We discover and develop artists.

What is your position?

I am the managing partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with RNO1?

We have never been happy with our website and were looking to update it through a company that worked with a Squarespace-based platform.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

One thing we were specifically looking for was an e-commerce functionality since we sell merchandise through our site. RNO1 set that up through Squarespace, and it was very easy for me to set up the third-party transaction software. RNO1 also had to customize a Spotify playback function for our site, which was very difficult. They designed a much more functional and user-friendly solution than we had previously.

The site itself is very easy for us to change because RNO1 gave us a video detailing the process of how to make edits. They created each section based on the content we wanted to showcase, but it's very easy for us to move things around if we want to.

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

The project ended up costing between $7,000 and $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The site went live in the beginning of February 2016. We have RNO1 on retainer for maintenance, but haven't had to use them. The site has been running so smoothly, and the videos that they provide are so detailed that I don't foresee them having to step in any time soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did RNO1 perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp for our management and everything was simple and straightforward. I think there was only one designer assigned to the project, and we communicated to him through the project manager. Everything was coordinated well.

What distinguishes RNO1 from other providers?

I found the tutorial videos that RNO1 sent to us to be very helpful, and I appreciate that they include them in their package. We had gone through a similar design process with other website developers before, but had not been happy. We found RNO1 to be extremely responsive and exceptional at communicating. They were very creative, and my whole team was very happy with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is BloomReach. We are a big data marketing company that powers personalization and optimization for big Internet retailer companies within e-commerce.

What is your position?

I am in the marketing department. I am responsible for corporate marketing, brand, sales enablement, and web.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with RNO1?

We had an outdated website when I first came on to the company. It was definitely in the queue to do a website redesign.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

RNO1 was mainly responsible for the development and maintenance of our new website. I created the design from scratch. I created the mockups, and then RNO1 developed the front end for it and made my designs a reality. They helped maintain and made sure it worked properly on WordPress. We also had a big QA [quality assurance] session that lasted a few weeks, and they were quick to correct any bugs that popped up.

They did some graphic animations for us. They allowed us to use this new resource system that promotes our case studies and infographics. Whatever we asked for they could actually just look into and help create.

How did you come to work with RNO1?

I was referred to RNO1 from my higher ups – my boss and my boss's boss. They said they worked with them before, and they'd like to work with them again on this. They put me in connection with them, and then we got started on ideas and how we would execute a new website redesign.

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

It cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't have any particular metrics to share, but the overall response to the new website was very positive. We definitely saw more engagement based off the new design and new website. People said it had a lot of character – probably had to do something with the design – but the design's only good if you can make it a reality.

How did RNO1 perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management perspective out of 10 was a nine. For quality of work, I'd give an eight, but I think that just comes with fast development – like a build fast, break things kind of mentality. The good thing is they were able to correct any kind of small glitches that came up within the design. I think that would be the only thing – just small attention to detail. But, that's what you need an extra set of eyes on my end for – to make sure everything is running smoothly.

What distinguishes RNO1 from other providers?

RNO1's great attitude sets them apart. They kept on mentioning how they wanted to be treated like an extension of our team, ready whenever needed and happy to help and not just another vendor. The service and attitude was great.

Is there anything RNO1 could have improved or done differently?

I would say probably keeping SEO [search engine optimization] top of mind would've been good. The website works and is great, but it could've been cleaned up a little bit more as far as how we designed the header tags for optimized search traffic and all that good stuff. Honestly, we're a company that doesn't get much of our business through SEO. That's nice to have – not so important to us – but it would be nice.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization and you role in the organization.

Our company is Curium. It’s a part-time company that myself and some other friends of mine run. We’re trying to get Ph.D. students transferrable skills so they can get access to careers outside of a traditional academic role. One of the ways we do that is by collaborating with larger biotech companies and doing consulting projects, and then having the Ph.D. students or postdocs participate in those projects to get on-the-job training.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with RNO1?

When we started up, we didn’t really have any money, and so we did everything just through family and friends. We had one of our internal people that was working with the team to develop a website for us through WordPress, which was not really up to snuff. Once we got some revenue coming in and we wanted to look a little more professional, we went to them to completely build out the brand new website and redesign the logo.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We originally had built the website through WordPress. There were a few very minor aspects that we wanted to keep, but the initial concept, the logo design, the color palette, and everything was completely done by RNO1, with some back-and-forth with our team, but it was all generated by them. The vast majority of the content, all the design, the layout, and all the integration into Squarespace and some of the other programs that we use was all completely done by the team at RNO1.

How did you come to work with RNO1?

We originally had a WordPress website, which most of us had experience with. We had done a little bit of research and looked into doing something through Squarespace. RNO1 were listed as a recommended partner on the Squarespace website; there was a list of maybe five to ten companies that were recommended. I went through interview processes with each of them over the phone, just talking about timelines and what their process would be, looking at their previous clients, cost, and things like that. At the end of the day, we ultimately decided on going with RNO1.

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

It was just under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was fully completed towards the end of fall last year [2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don’t have exact numbers, but I know for a fact that the traffic to the website has increased. One of the main issues we were having initially was that we had a membership form that was integrated through Google Docs, and it was very clunky and not very user-friendly. Out of 300 or 400 people, we would have maybe 2 people that would actually go through the sign-up process. Now that they’ve integrated it in a much more user-friendly way, I’d say probably 50% of the people that go to the website ultimately end up signing up and filling out that form, so that’s been pretty huge for us.

How did RNO1 perform from a project management standpoint?

The RNO1 team was great as far as quality of work and project management are concerned. Michael was super responsive. You’d email him and he would get back to you in a couple hours, so there would be multiple back-and-forths through the day. He was on top of timelines and everything. Everything they laid out when we went over the project was stuck to 100%.

As far as the quality of their work, RNO1 exceeded our expectations. We didn’t want to spend a ton of money on the website, so we didn’t know what to expect. At the end of the day, we really liked what they came up with, not only the website but the logo design too.

What distinguishes RNO1 from other providers?

Two things make them really stand out. I mentioned it before, but they’re really good about getting back to you. Response time is just exceptional with RNO1. I felt like I was really their only client the whole time, and we weren’t. They also really seem like they enjoy what they’re doing, and it reflects in their work. They’re really excited about the project, and so it was nice working with people that are passionate about what they do.

Is there anything RNO1 could have improved or done differently?

Off the top of my head, I honestly can’t really think of anything. They pretty much blew us away. There was never a point during the project that we ever talked about anything that we wanted different, or changed, or negative. It was pretty solid all the way through, so nothing really sticks out, to be honest.