Shanty Town Design

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO and we are Cannabis Marketing Association. We are focused on providing educations and best practices for marketings in the legal cannabis industry.

We teach businesses how to stay compliant, we also provide networking with our members and create relevant content such as case studies and white papers, and we keep the marketers in the loop of what’s going on.
 

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanty Town Design?

We were a brand new startup at that time, and we needed a new website built with a membership portal and payment processing integration. We also needed help getting our technology together in order for us to launch. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a WordPress site, which took about two months. They managed to provide all the technology and tools that we’ll need. The team built everything from the ground up. They also helped us with copy, design, and messaging. 

They were successful in implementing the membership portal using a plugin where members can access different types of content based on their members. They also added an onsite payment method. The team provided a marketing strategy at the early stage of the engagement, too. They are still working with us on the maintenance of the website.

What is the team composition?

I work with Sam (CEO), she is the main point of contact. There are probably 4–5  people in total, made up of developers and designers.

How did you come to work with Shanty Town Design?

I was part of a Facebook group for professional women in Denver and I made a post about what I needed. I had a dozen different people reply, but Sam was the most thoughtful and coherent person as far as her proposal was concerned.

I was a former CMO, so I was coming from a marketing background, and I loved that she was speaking my language.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve likely spent between $6,000–$7,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with the team in January 2019 and we are still working with them.

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

We’ve have minimal to no issues as far as the website and membership portal are concerned. So the fact that we haven’t launched a broken website is pretty huge and probably the biggest metric we have.

How did Shanty Town Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing. Sam worked nights and weekends for us. We had a tight deadline because I was bound to go on a trip to the East Coast so we can launch out there. I had a whole week and a half of basically doing a series of launch events in person. We had a hard deadline, but she worked around the clock until it was done. 

She is always a step ahead of me and she is able to help manage the project for me. She really took a leadership position as far as making the website happen and she isn’t relying on me too much to give her directions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Because we work in the cannabis industry, there are a lot of service providers that won’t work with us. They weren’t turned off by the challenges of working with a cannabis company. The team is flexible. Sam just knows her stuff and is very confident in it. I’ve worked with a lot of service providers and designers who don’t take my feedback into consideration. 

She has a good balance of being a professional who wants to get my vision out there and someone who knows what works. There was this creative line where she was working and coaching me as her client, and also hearing me out and listening to my vision and making it happen. She was really exceptional at that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should let people know how awesome they are in the market. I would encourage them to do some more marketing because she offers a high level of service.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can just trust Sam and her team. They really do know their stuff and particularly when it comes to website development and design.

She will figure things out and anytime we’ve had an issue come up, she already knows what to do. She is very thorough in her research and problem-solving skills. Just try to keep an open mind and trust that they are professionals.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company called The Beekeeper’s Daughter. We sell a variety of products, including raw and filtered honey, candles, etc.

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanty Town Design?

I reached out to Shanty Town Design to help us update our look. A friend of mine had been doing our graphic design, but we really wanted to unify our design across all of our products.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Shanty Town Design redesigned and created the packaging for a lot of our products, doing a whole branding package for us. Using my vision, Samantha (Founder & Creative Director, Shanty Town Design) enhanced our original designs and developed new ones. 

Across several of our items, including our “bee van”, honey-themed products, our storefront and bottling facility decals, they handled the logo creation and overall look. Samantha also designed our billboards, social media images, and labels, amongst other things. They handle smaller scale tasks too, like small advertisements for local use and sponsoring tools. 

What is the team composition?

Samantha is my main point of contact, but I know she has a team working on the project with her. 

How did you come to work with Shanty Town Design?

I saw Shanty Town Design’s work online and felt it resembled our style. I reached out and Samantha was very kind; I could tell she understood my vision. 

How much have you invested with them?

It’s hard to estimate how much we’ve spent, since a lot of projects over the years have been nickel-and-dime tasks. I’d guess we’ve spent around $5,000 or more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together during the summer of 2016 and it’s very much an ongoing engagement. 

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

The design of everything Shanty Town Design has produced completely fulfills our expectations. People have come up to us and complimented our branding and marketing. Samantha has done a great job of unifying our products and putting everything together in a cohesive way. The social media ads and other creative work have been very impressive. 

How did Shanty Town Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a really great job and are very professional. Samantha always gets back to us in a timely manner. Although some of the work can take a little longer to get from the graphic designers, I always know she’s working on our project and doing a good job. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Shanty Town Design has great vision—they always know what’s trendy and have an artistic eye. Compared to the last company we worked with, they really know what looks good and are up to date on the industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for them to improve—I don’t have any complaints. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be very clear about what you want. Sometimes I have a vision in my mind about what I want, yet if I don’t explain it well, their team can’t produce exactly what I need. The more descriptive you are about what you want, the more you’ll limit the amount of back and forth that has to happen. They’re great, but no one is a mind-reader so it’s up to you to communicate. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Nailed it Denver, a specialty nail trim service for cats, dogs, and select small animals. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanty Town Design?

I initially reached out to Shanty Town Design to design and develop my website, along with some other branding and marketing collateral. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Shanty Town Design designed and developed a website from scratch on WordPress, customizing one of the themes I selected. They made the two different types of services we offer (in-home versus events) very clear on the site. 

We provided a logo, but they designed other materials including posters, flyers, and printed reminders for our less tech-savvy customers. They also designed commission sheets, personalized cards we send out to clients when a pet passes away, and intake forms for appointments. 

What is the team composition? 

I mainly just work with Samantha (Founder and Creative Director, Shanty Town Design).

How did you come to work with Shanty Town Design?

I met Sam through a small business networking group in Denver. After she made an appointment to sit down with me, we hit it off right away so I decided to give them a try. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested under $5,000 thus far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since February 2018.

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

Shanty Town Design developed our online presence from the ground up. Our page has had over 1,300 page views thus far. I get a tremendous amount of positive feedback, including that the site is easy to use, clean, and very professional. Meanwhile, the intake forms they've designed have streamlined appointment setting, saving me hours of time on the phone each week. 

How did Shanty Town Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They're great to work with overall. I don't have to micromanage any aspects of their work–they're on top of it. We primarily communicate through Facebook messenger, but I email or call Sam for more urgent requests. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide personalized customer service. Sam is also very receptive to client feedback and doesn't try to push her own branding ideas too much. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. As their company grows, I imagine they'll need a bigger team to take on more projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about project goals and objectives, so they have a good starting point.