Shimshock Group

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

My company is TF Metals Report. I kind of stumbled into a blogging occupation. But, two or three years ago, my site was originally on the Google BlogSpot. As I started thinking about building its own dedicated site, I was contacted by Ron Shimshock [founder of the Shimshock Group]. I looked at some of the work he had done in the past, and he certainly seemed to understand my vision of where I wanted to go. 

What industry does your organization serve?

It’s a precious metals website. We operate on the fringes. TF Metals Report is basically an online community where I post my market analysis every day. I post podcasts every day. I record webinars that are posted to the site. But, then the site has a whole has many thousands of members. I have about 1,200 paid subscribers that have subscription access to information as well. It’s one of the most popular websites in all of the world, really, when it comes to precious metals investing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with the Shimshock Group?

We’d gone about as far as we could go with the Google BlogSpot platform. That platform is great for anybody that just wants to set up a blog, to post pictures of their family, or just to get their opinions out there. But, it had grown so rapidly in the spring and early summer of 2011, that I knew there were other things I wanted to do to the site. That’s when I got in touch with Ron, and we kind of strategized and thought of what we could build. He was very receptive to what it is that I wanted to do, and then came back to me with a plan for how we could make it happen. They were always very thorough, always very upfront about the costs involved, and they did a great job in delivering my site.

On what platform did Shimshock Group construct your new site?

They built a Drupal site. 

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this project?

It was a lot of work. It was a lengthy project for them to do. The site had to be built, not only to accommodate my limited technical expertise. I remember telling Ron, I want to be able to keep doing it just the way I’d been doing it, which meant scanning documents in, then posting them as JPEGs, and then adding my information. I then wanted to build a forum and add podcast functionality. In the process, we were able to add a whole bunch of new advertisers as well. They then helped me implement a subscription and payment portal. 

What was the process by which you discovered and then selected Shimshock Group as your solution partner?

They actually contacted me. Ron had been a regular reader of my blog and reached out with some ideas for growth. I was at the time very open to the idea of expansion because as I'd mentioned, my site traffic was increasing exponentially. 

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

It cost between $25,000 and $30,000 in total. 

When was this Drupal implementation completed?

The site, as a whole, went live in June of 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?

This is not reflective of Shimshock’s work by any stretch of the imagination, but we had a really tough couple of years in the metals world. There was a lot of hype and excitement in 2011. Prices were peaking and had been headed downward for about almost three years then. So, the fact that the audience isn’t as big as it used to be is linked to that. Additionally, the traffic at my site had gone down since I put up a paywall. That’s fine. I was anticipating that as well.

But, to begin with, as the site rolled out in 2011, it quickly became at least in the top five of the busiest precious metals-themed websites in the world. It was really busy, and Ron and Stephanie Brail [technical lead at Shimshock Group] were both there helping to manage that because we had to add more servers immediately. Their team was extremely responsive to my needs. 

Do you remain confident that the Drupal content management system will continue to satisfy your business needs into the foreseeable future?

I don’t know. We’ve talked about that. For now, we’re sticking with it. Like I said, we need to get the updates done, and then see where we go from there. But for now, we’re sticking with it.

When working with Shimshock Group, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors with which you’ve worked?

I really treasure the relationship I have with Shimshock Group because Ron and I share a lot of the same values, both personal and professional. He's really taken the time to understand my business and my readership. His knowledge of my business has made their whole team that much more effective at devising tailored solutions. That's not the kind of service you can expect from the majority of vendors out there. I deeply appreciate that approach. 

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work at the Westbank Community Library. We’re a public library on the west side of Austin, Texas. We provide informational services to our community such as programming, and, of course, our book collection, and we have electronic books, microforms, and more.

What is your position?

My title is reference manager, and I’m responsible for coordinating our various services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Shimshock Group?

Our previous website was a homegrown CMS [content management system] that was trapped in the ‘80s. Our biggest challenge was to integrate the catalog interface with our primary site.

What we had previously was two separate systems. We had our website, and we had a Web-based interface that functioned as our catalog, but they weren’t interoperable. Someone could jump from our website to our catalog to search our inventory, but they couldn’t then jump back to the original page on the primary site. It became very frustrating for a lot of our users, and it was extremely inefficient. Shimshock came in to integrate our two systems and enhance the functionality behind them.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For instance, did it involve custom visual design, backend development, training, and support?

It was a comprehensive undertaking. We started with the desire to rebrand ourselves. So, we were working with a graphic artist to come up with a new logo. We had come up with a slogan and things like that. We got input, very useful input from the Shimshock Group on choices as far as the branding would go, and what would look good and that kind of things. We found that very useful.

Then based on our new brand, they did a complete redesign of the website. They started from scratch and performed the complete visual design, the page layout, navigation, systems integration, UI/UX [user interface/user experience] testing, administrative training, and ongoing support.

How did you select Shimshock Group as your solution partner?

I created a request for proposal and distributed it to a couple of Drupal service providers. We went through those and based on their applications, their responses to the RFP [request for proposal], we selected three candidates, our three top choices.

We then contacted references for each of them and spoke individually with three references for each of the three candidates. Nine different people we contacted and probed. Shimshock was chosen based on their demonstrated expertise and their references.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this project in monetary terms?

It was probably in the $5,000 to $7,000 range.

When was this project completed?

It was completed in March of 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

Yes. We saw a dramatic increase in the number of hits. I believe we were getting in the range of 300 to 400 hits a month on our old website. Our new website receives between 1,200 and 1,300 hits. That’s a very significant increase for us in terms of utilization. Not to mention the fact that the site looks fantastic now, and it’s entirely functional. We no longer have interoperability issues between our primary site and our system catalog. The functional enhancements have been wonderful, too. For instance, we can now embed YouTube clips into our primary homepage and input links to various microsites and related social media channels.

When working with Shimshock Group, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors you’ve worked with in the past?

You know, most of my experience is with Shimshock, so it’s rather difficult to identify unique traits. I like the fact that they’re approachable. I receive great turnaround on project tasks. If we have questions, they respond quite promptly. They’re a real pleasure to work with, too. I feel like I can trust them, which is extremely important to our staff.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve upon, or are there things you’d do differently as the client before initiating this type of project?

From the client perspective, I think having a better idea of what we actually wanted when we started. I think that was a little hazy. We knew that we wanted a different website, but that’s so vague in actuality. We probably should have invested some more time contemplating what it was we wanted exactly. That would have made the process easier on our side because we’d have a clearer idea of what the final product would look like. The only thing that I’d have liked to see more of from their side is additional testing. They conducted some preliminary user testing, but most of our staff wasn’t involved, and since we’re the administrators and problem solvers for our end-users, it’d have been nice to be included more heavily in the testing process. But, that’s really the only critique I have.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

I work for the Coin Laundry Association. It’s a trade association for the self-service laundry industry. We provide marketing, educational, and business support, alongside other resources, to potential investors, Laundromat storeowners, and then also manufacturers and distributors in the self-service industry.

What is your position?

I’m the director of marketing and online development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with Shimshock Group?

I’ve been here for almost a year, and I’ve inherited a whole bunch of unique challenges. The biggest challenge is that the database my predecessor implemented isn’t sufficient for our needs. There’s also been a lot of workarounds, which really only make our online systems more complicated than they should be. These things made it difficult for our members to interface with us.

Shimshock Group has helped us identify a number of alternative database solutions for us. We’ve been working with them on maintenance for our current WordPress websites. We’re also working with them to establish a plan to update our new websites, primarily for coinlaundry.org, which is currently a WordPress website; and for planetlaundry.com, which is a Drupal website.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of these projects? For instance, did they involve custom visual design, backend development, training, or support?

We have a number of small projects in motion. We’re currently working on our other website, findalaundry.org, and Shimshock has been enhancing the functionality on the backend as well as some of the frontend visual components. They conduct all of the QA/QC [quality assurance/quality control] testing and deal with integrating our various systems. They also provide ongoing support on a case-by-case basis.

How did you select Shimshock Group as your solution partner?

My predecessor is the one who originally established the relationship. I’m not sure how that came about. But, at the time, he was executing a lot of one-off type projects related to Drupal. My predecessor was managing the WordPress site. She was spread very thin and was forced to make some tough decisions, which meant sacrificing certain projects and upgrades. Those decisions have in a way come back to haunt us. Shimshock Group is an integral part of solving these lingering issues.

Could you provide a sense of the size of these initiatives in monetary terms?

Last year we probably paid Shimshock Group around $40,000 or $45,000. This year, with all of the planned upgrades to our two primary websites, we could be investing close to $100,000 in Shimshock’s services.  

When was the most recent project completed?

October of 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness in the work they’ve delivered?

I don’t have any metrics or figures for you because a lot of the work they’ve done thus far has been troubleshooting, bug fixes and minor enhancements. Those things are difficult to quantify, but I can tell you that their help has definitely streamlined our processes and reduced the amount of maintenance time we dedicate to our sites.

How do you think they’ve performed on these projects?

Great. I think that their group is very thorough. The value with Shimshock Group is that everything is done and done right. Perhaps more importantly, everything is done on time and within budget. They are very responsive and very reliable.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think Shimshock Group could improve upon, or are there things you’d do differently as the client before initiating projects with them?

I think the pro and con are that Ron Shimshock [founder & CEO of Shimshock Group] wants to make sure he understands exactly what is involved in each project. Depending on the task, this can be rather time consuming. That being said, it’s probably extremely valuable because they rarely if ever make mistakes.