Simply Stated Solutions Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Public Relations & Communications Specialist of Our Kids Network

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

OKN supports the healthy development and well-being of children and youth through sharing evidence, building relationships and creating resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Simply Stated Solutions Inc. to accomplish?

• Update our website and create an intuitive resource hub

SOLUTION

How did you find Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

• They were our current web developers

Why did you select Simply Stated Solutions Inc. over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Simply Stated Solutions Inc. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Website should be hosted on a user-friendly and universal CMS
• Redesign homepage to be clear, simple and easy to navigate
• Improved site-wide search functionality
• Simplify user experience and make it more intuitive
• Development of a resource hub to host all resources
• Robust tagging taxonomy to be applied to all resources
• Strong, intuitive search functionality on the resource hub
• Transfer the current OKN blog to the new website as a separate blog page
• The website should adhere to AODA legislation and standards
• The new design should be approached from a diversity, equity and inclusion lens
• Website is SEO optimized

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Scope of work fulfilled
• Project goals accomplished
• Exceeded our expectations with the overall look and feel of the website
• Community feedback on the website was superb

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

Timelines were respected. The team responded to our many revisions with high flexibility and great energy. All our needs were met.

What was your primary form of communication with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their adaptability to our changing needs, their availability and transparency in their work, their professionalism and fantastic web design capabilities and creativity, their attention to detail, and their commitment to website that reflects diversity, equity and inclusion values.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Simply Stated Solutions Inc. could have done differently?

Everything was up to standard!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of Show Kids You Care. We’re a nonprofit organization that runs a national meal program for kids living in poverty in Canada. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

A previous team had developed our website, and we needed assistance updating it to showcase our work and create a trustworthy image of our organization. We also needed to incorporate new features, like receiving donations and processing fund applications for schools’ nutrition programs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simply Stated Solutions Inc. has helped us update the design of our website. They’ve made our site current and incorporated new features; we’re now able to process donations and applications through it.

We initially went over our previous website page by page. I told Simply Stated Solutions Inc. what I liked, what I wanted to change, and what I hoped to see. They came up with solutions and developed the new site using WordPress.

Additionally, they’ve been providing email hosting since we started working together and continue to assist us with web hosting and maintenance.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Brian (Co-Founder) and Oliver (Co-Founder & Director of Operations).

How did you come to work with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

I knew Oliver and Brian before they started Simply Stated Solutions Inc. through a previous vendor I worked with. They used to work for this vendor, and then they opened their company and asked me if I’d be interested in working with them — I accepted.  

How much have you invested with them?

In the development phase, we spent less than $10,000 CAD (approximately $7,400 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The development phase of the project took place from January – April 2018. Our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website donations are higher than they've ever been, and I attribute it to the site that Simply Stated Solutions Inc. has developed. The site looks current, authentic, and trustworthy, which is what we were looking for. Other than that, we don't have specific metrics.

How did Simply Stated Solutions Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Simply Stated Solutions Inc. has been meeting deadlines and staying on budget. We communicate effectively through phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Simply Stated Solutions Inc.'s personal service is what I find most impressive about them. They're genuinely invested in my project, constantly ask me for new content, and are great at following up.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for Simply Stated Solutions Inc. to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend having an upfront conversation with them where you talk about your investment possibilities and what you expect.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Naviga Supply Chain. We’re a business services company that aims to help manufacturing firms become more resilient in their supply chains.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

In line with our rebranding efforts, we needed their help with creating a new logo and branding kit. We also needed them to align our existing icons with the new branding.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start off the project, Simply Stated Solutions Inc. interviewed us in order to figure out our objectives and gain a better understanding of the business. After that, they synthesized all the information they gathered and used it to generate some conceptual ideas for the new logo and branding.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from their company: the founder and chief designer.

How did you come to work with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

They were recommended to us. We decided to go with them because of their structured method and in-depth experience; they were also able to understand what we wanted to achieve quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership ran from June–September 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We noticed an improvement in terms of brand awareness. Before this rebranding project, our customers never really knew us or understood what we did — that's no longer the case now.

How did Simply Stated Solutions Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was really good; they always delivered on time and stayed on top of everything. We communicated through email, phone calls, and video calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their creative process; it was very methodical and well-structured. Their team took something very complex and turned it into something specific that not only captured the spirit of our company but also resonated with our customers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of anything that Simply Stated Solutions Inc. could’ve improved on. They did a great job overall.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

My advice is to let them handle the creative work and don’t get in the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a volunteer on the executive committee of a nonprofit association for fundraisers in Canada, working with charitable gift fundraisers. My participation in the committee revolves around our marketing and communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

We were having trouble with our existing website’s maintenance, and we were facing a lot of technical issues. Therefore, we needed someone to help us update our website and make it easier for us to edit.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simply Stated took our existing website and moved it into WordPress to make it easier for us to maintain. Throughout this process, they also updated our website’s layout and functionality, improved its editing features, and created new content and features related to our industry.

As part of our website’s new functionality, Simply Stated worked with us to implement an event calendar feature. With this feature, the members who come to our events for professional development and education can easily see upcoming events. This feature is connected to an event registration system.

Additionally, Simply Stated integrated a page to promote news about our industry and organization. Although they’ve already delivered and launched our updated website, we now work with them for ongoing hosting, technical support, and maintenance. 

What is the team composition?

We work with two people from Simply Stated: an account manager and a website designer and developer.

How did you come to work with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

We had a previous relationship with them. Many years ago, my organization worked with a web development company where both the account manager and the developer used to work. Later, they decided to leave that company and establish their own. When this project arose, we contacted them directly.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2022, and Simply Stated delivered the website changes within a month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Simply Stated made a lot of positive changes to our website. Thanks to our new site, it’s very easy for us to make updates internally, which we do a lot. We’re still working on the site ourselves and making the updates we need, so we don’t have any metrics regarding its performance so far. However, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback, and we feel that the site is more effective, responsive, and easier to use. Additionally, it’s very user-friendly; anyone who enters the site knows what’s going on.

How did Simply Stated Solutions Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Simply Stated performed perfectly. Initially, we talked to them about the budget. Given that we’re a nonprofit organization, we also added some things to the scope and removed others based on our ability to pay. However, they came back to us with another plan and worked with us to fit our budget. We used Zoom to communicate, as well as phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Simply Stated’s main strengths were their commitment, dedication, and flexibility in working with us to meet our needs, finding ways to achieve our goals within our budget. Moreover, they were very responsive and hardworking. Whenever we found an issue, they sorted it out quickly. We had total confidence in them, and we felt comfortable and happy to work with them. To this date, they get in touch regularly to see how everything is going.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing Simply Stated could improve on. We were very happy with the result, and they were very effective. There are two people on their team; each of them works within their areas of expertise, and they complement each other well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear objective and a good grasp of what your budget is, and be realistic about what can be achieved within that budget. Still, Simply Stated is very good at helping you realize your objectives and find ways to work within your budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, a nonprofit organization. Our purpose is to enhance the prosperity and overall well-being of rural and small urban communities across certain regions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

We wanted to update our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simply Stated Solutions Inc. completely redesigned our site to refresh it — our organization changed since the last time we updated our website, so we needed to align our platform with the direction our organization was taking. They took over the content and refreshed it along with the site’s look and feel to help us bring our platform to a more user-friendly site.

Regarding our requests, we asked them to add a sign-up part for our newsletter, and we also wanted to have our social media featured on our homepage.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked directly with Oliver (President) and Brian (Owner).

How did you come to work with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

We’ve worked with Oliver on different projects for almost 15 years, so we also decided to use him for this one.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $2,500 with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–June 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People liked and appreciated the site’s revamp.

How did Simply Stated Solutions Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is amazing; they were always on top of everything, even if something fell off my radar, because they remind me of everything. Regarding communication, we used email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were easy to work with; I’m not a tech-savvy person, but they were able to put everything in layman’s terms for me to understand everything. Overall, they lead a straightforward and enjoyable process, and that’s why we keep going back to them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Let them know what you want them to do; they’re dynamic and will work for you to ensure they deliver the best product possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a freelance creative services director and production manager. I’ve just left my position at a youth engagement and support network; it’s a region-wide partnership of organizations and agencies that support children, youth, and families.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

The project required a visual identity, social media campaigns, video editing as well interactive webpages to engage survey takers across an entire region. We hired Simply Stated Solutions Inc. for website development, content management, and maintenance of our website prior to the youth survey, but the website was one component of the project. Simply Stated also offers graphic design, content development, video production services and social media management. To ensure brand and messaging continuity across numerous media and to strengthen project coordination across different media, Simply Stated was brought on as part of the team to handle creative services and social media for the project as well as website components.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, I worked with a graphic designer and Oliver (President) to create a visual identity. This included all the graphic design files needed to implement a campaign to engage community agencies. 

Second, Simply Stated developed web pages with our provided content, applying the visual identity we developed. They also added a number of online resources youth could use to promote the survey among their individual networks, like social media cards, taglines, and media files to be used on social platforms.

One of the services that stood out was Simply Stated’s editing of raw video provided to us by youths. We posted those refined products on YouTube and social media to further reach youth.

The relationship also expanded to official social media accounts — managing Instagram and Twitter accounts in the background for both industry professionals and youths.

We ran into a hiccup with our incentive program, where youth could be entered into a drawing for gifts and gifts certificates. A large number of the entries were spoiled, but Simply Stated went through and cleaned everything up to ensure there were no legal issues with the winner.

What is the team composition?

I mainly worked with the graphic designer and Oliver, but there may have been other people in the background.

How did you come to work with Simply Stated Solutions Inc.?

I met them way back in 2000 when I was working for an arts firm and needed a new website.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000–$50,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The website development and branding project ran from January–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a tremendous success. We received over 2,500 survey responses, not to mention millions of hits to our website. In terms of social media, engagement was high and sustained on both Instagram and Twitter.

How did Simply Stated Solutions Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated over email, Zoom, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have found that working with Simply Stated over the years, whenever additional effort is needed to address challenges, they participate in creative and collaborative brainstorming.

Anecdotally, they have spent their personal time to ensure a deadline was met. That’s the result of a 20-year relationship.

Simply Stated is dependable, creative, flexible. They go above and beyond to ensure the top standard of service for their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. It’s always a partnership. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide comprehensive project descriptions. Collaborate and be open to their using their knowledge and expertise.