Sleepless Media

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing content project manager at Spike Brewing. We're located in Milwaukee, WI, which is great for our industry because it’s considered the beer capital of the world. I worked alongside another project manager to ensure the project scope, deliverables, and assets ran smoothly from inception to launch.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We needed to refresh our website because it looked outdated. The functionality was fine, but we wanted to elevate the design to be more innovative and set ourselves apart from our competitors. 

We also wanted to branch out and reach new customers in different demographics, attract new homebrewers, and build excitement for our products. We wanted the website to have new capabilities like a brewing quiz, custom builders, and more user friendly pages. We needed a website to support these initiatives before moving forward with marketing campaigns. We wanted a partner that could update the website with a redesign and give us the tools to launch new campaigns.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sleepless Media designed and developed our new site from scratch, and they continue to support us with new product pages. We had several meetings to discuss our needs and gave them access to our photo library and brand guidelines. 

The content was custom designed and conceptualized for our company, and our platform helps support it. We worked closely with various team members on new icons, the quiz, page structure and imported copy and photos into the new website layout. 

We are in the equipment and manufacturing industry, so we had specific asks for our pages. The pages had to work a certain way based on SKUs and product packages. Sleepless Media worked within our requirements and found creative ways to maximize the site’s user-friendliness. They built the capability for users to create accounts within our site. They also built a mini-cart tool to encourage users to increase their spending before checking out.

What is the team composition?

We had the pleasure of working with: Jon (CEO & CD), Leslee (Art Director), Allie (Senior Designer), Chris (Developer), Dustin (Technical Project Manager), and Alex (Developer)

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

My co-worker and I did a great deal of research and found Sleepless Media on a Top 10 List of Shopify developers. We needed to find a partner well-versed in Shopify because that was our site domain, and we weren’t looking to change it. After assessing their portfolio and reviews, we reached out via email to schedule a discovery call. We immediately connected with their team, and they seemed like the best choice to support our needs and vice versa.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged Sleepless Media in October 2021, launched our new website in May 2022, and they continue to support us.

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

The results from Sleepless Media have been encouraging. The average time spent on our pages has increased, and more users are scrolling through to the bottom of the page.The average daily orders have increased, and we hope to see that continue long-term. Users are also creating accounts on our site now.

Our mini-cart feature has been successful. Within one month, we’ve seen the mini cart add-ons increase by 145%. If every user adds an item from the mini cart, we will easily see between $8,000–$15,000 in additional revenue just from those "low level" items. 

The site looks great, and we love the functionality; we're planning on capitalizing on that as we progress. We are receiving great feedback from customers regarding the site’s ease of use. Customers have commented on the modern vibe of the design, saying they love the use of photography, new pages and iconography.

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

The Sleepless Media team is very hands-on. They're very responsive and have pushed our project off the ground and to the launch. In the beginning, we had biweekly check-ins, and we could schedule a call if impromptu questions arose. 

We could not have gotten to this point without Dustin; he is our main point person helping with ongoing support and keeping everything on track. Chris has also been a key players throughout the development process. Those two are always willing to hop on a call to discuss progress or provide clarification, which is so important. We wanted to work with a company that wasn’t afraid to ask questions and confirm they were on the right track before designing something and running the risk of us not liking it.

It is our responsibility to hold them accountable and vice versa, and we work together to maintain clear, open lines of communication. We mainly communicate via email and Google Meet. We use Excel, Google Docs, and Asana for project management correspondence with Chris and Dustin.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are honored and excited to be in partnership with Sleepless Media. The team holds themselves to a very high standard, and so do we. In an industry where we are trying to stand out, we want a partner that wants to do the same. They handle everything with an elevated sense of professionalism and creativity. They push the boundaries of what's possible and if they don't know the answer to something, they'll find out for you. Everything from their designs to their communication and support efforts is impressive. They have not only met our expectations, but they have exceeded them. We continue to partner with Sleepless Media because we also want to exceed expectations for our customers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want beforehand. Find examples of websites that you like and don't like. This will help a great deal. Also, communication is key. Having a clear project scope is essential to keeping the collaboration on track.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director at a gaming company and hired Sleepless.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sleepless Media?

We hired Sleepless to revamp and redesign our website theme on Shopify.

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

A lot of research on which agency would be able to best "get" our brand and deliver the best looking and highest functioning Shopify web theme for our company.

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

Sleepless had a great system. First we filling out a concept survey, then we submitted things we liked about other sites, then they mocked up the home page. Once that was approved they started working and then they mocked up the other pages. The process was seamless and efficient.

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

We had three regular team members, a designer, a programmer, and a project manager. They were great and responsive.

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

We are happy with our theme and Sleepless continues to be great during post launch updates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very effective and they were quick to respond and jump on calls with us.

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

We loved that they got what we were trying to do, they matched the style we were trying to go for. We didn't want to use an agency that used outdated designs or practices and Sleepless is far from outdated.

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

We're happy with the process.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Olive Oil Lovers, a company that imports high-quality olive oil from around the world and sells them online. I oversee our e-commerce strategy and fulfillment operations; I also handle our brand initiatives.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We found some limitations on our previous e-commerce shopping cart, so we decided to search for alternatives. However, if we wanted to switch to another platform — such as Shopify or Shopify Plus — we might as well reinvest in the website’s design. In other words, we wanted something nicer than what we’d received before from other firms. Specifically, we sought out great continuity in terms of the site's homepage design and the product details on each page. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement with Sleepless Media started with a survey. They asked us about the themes of our brand and its parallels. There were some seemingly corny questions, but we answered them and tried to nail them on the first try. Based on that survey and a couple of calls, the Sleepless Media team gained a sense of direction in terms of our design. 

This process paved the way for the rest of the project. They sent us updates through emails, and then we provided them with notes of what we wanted to include on the new website. The team also added some improvised touches to various parts of the website. 

At present, we’re working on some minor items. The main project is finished, but we’re working on post-project fixes here and there. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 people. Sometimes, I talk to the designers; other times, it’s with our project manager or developer. I also talk to Jon (CEO & Creative Director).  

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

We knew we wanted some of the features available on Shopify Plus, so we searched for designers that specialized in that platform. Sleepless Media was one of the teams that came up in our searches. They had nice designs, and their experience and work for other brands were good. Those brands weren’t necessarily close to our company, but Sleepless Media’s work was so remarkable that we were eventually convinced to contact them. 

For comparison, their competition wasn’t as impressive as the Sleepless Media team. Jon and his resources seemed well-versed in Shopify Plus, and they’d created clean, custom-built websites, which were what we wanted. Ultimately, we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. However, the bulk of the work was already wrapped up by the end of September 2021. 

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

Our conversion rate is higher than before, and that’s a major metric that all e-commerce shops track. We attribute this to Sleepless Media’s design; there haven’t been any other massive changes that can affect our conversion rate so positively other than the designs they’ve put into place. 

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management, we review designs on InVision. Our teams talk about the various parts of their design through it, and we can leave comments on each of those parts. We also communicate using one email thread. That way, we can review everything in one place, and no side conversations will confuse us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sleepless Media has understood our vision from the very beginning. We’ve never had to go back to the drawing board, and we seem to have a deep connection with each other.  

Who else understands what we’re saying so perfectly on the first try? It’s usually our best customers or friends — the fact that Sleepless Media has done this is truly impressive. Overall, they go above and beyond and take the time to invest in our brand; they go the extra mile. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be comprehensive with the notes that you give to the designer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Sleepless Media has limitations; their designers simply need your thoughts and comments on where you want to go with your design. Simply put, the more comments you can deliver, the better the results will be. 

On top of that, communicate quickly. They don’t want too much time to pass before they make changes to their designs. That goes for any other designers. You can’t let such projects fall on the wayside; you must communicate effectively. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a staff attorney and advocacy director at Mountain Lion Foundation. We’re a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting mountain lions. Our goal is to protect and ensure that mountain lions continue to exist in the wild.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We had been around for a long time and had a legacy website that was no longer meeting the needs of this current environment. It wasn’t mobile-friendly, and we wanted to update its look and feel to something more modern. Since 65% of our engagement was through mobile devices, we wanted to switch to a modern platform that’d look modern and be responsive.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a lot of material we wanted to move over from our previous website. We had an initial meeting, and they put a storyboard together for us. Their team did a mockup of the designs for some of the key pages we needed. We looked at them and came back with a couple of suggestions. Then, Sleepless Media came back with the changes and we approved them.

We switched over to the development phase and started coding. On our end, we started downloading and migrating content, which they also assisted with. We had a couple of changes along the way and finally got everything together. Our new website is on WordPress, and they built a custom template for us.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Jon (CEO & Creative Director) and Alexa (Project Manager). There were two developers present on a couple of our calls.

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

Our CEO was looking around and came across Sleepless Media. We looked at the work they’ve done for other organizations and companies, and really liked their work. We approached them and asked if they could help us start fresh.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement was from May 2020–March 2021.

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

I’m incredibly impressed with their work. I’ve worked in design studios and at three different companies where I coded different interfaces. When we went live, there were no glitches, and everything transferred over correctly. Everything works perfectly. We don’t get any bounces or things like that.

Any missing pages are ones that weren’t transferred over. Our board was amazed and happy. One of our photographers expressed how impressed and happy they were with the way it looked. We haven’t had any calls or issues, so it’s been very seamless and wonderful.

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They have their own tools for tracking that they’d occasionally share with us during the early part of development. We had the project on a timeline, and they met the deadlines. Our communication was primarily through Zoom and email. Sleepless Media provided status updates. We knew where everything was when they were doing their portion of the development.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a one-stop-shop for everything. Sleepless Media has a great eye for design. They understood what we were trying to accomplish and what our audience was. Their developers are incredibly competent, and the project manager seamlessly fits everything together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. Any delays were self-induced in terms of our moving slowly. They were very patient with us in that regard.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them. It was hard to let go of a 20-year legacy, and it paid off very well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of HeidiSongs, a company that provides children’s educational content and markets it to teachers and schools worldwide. We provide musical and teaching content that works for children in the second grade.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

As the industry moves away from CDs and DVDs as a distribution platform, we’re moving towards a streaming platform. 

I needed help reorganizing the website so that it had a simpler interface and could direct our users and customers more to the streaming aspect of it and less to the physical product. I also wanted to make the interface as simple as possible.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sleepless Media designed and developed our website. The actual website platform is a Shopify e-commerce site. For the design, we provided some of the overall ideas of the look and feel that we wanted.

We went through about a dozen websites and identified what we liked and what we didn’t. The team took that and melted it all together on our website to where it was unique for us. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Jon (CEO/Creative Director), his producer, a designer, and two other teammates.

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

We had used them in the past. This will be our third full-blown website. We chose them because Jon has a great eye for design. Sleepless Media has had so many years of experience and knows every little detail.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from January–June 2020.

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

They pretty much nailed the design the first time. We had very few changes after the design, and I’m a picky designer. We were thrilled with how well they took our information and made it work. That happened in the first 2–2.5 months of our schedule. We’re really happy with the result of that.

We made it work for us the way we wanted it to, and it turned out great. One of the ways I measure a website is based on the number of calls we get. Our teacher audience isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and say something is broken. When we have a site that isn’t working, we get a lot of phone calls. 

So, the first metric is how many phone calls I get about how to use the site and where to find stuff. I can honestly say, it was the smoothest launch we’ve ever had. Additionally, my Google Analytics show improvements across the board.

The number of users, sessions, and page views are up significantly from the previous year. I know the website is working and my audience is there. I don’t have any problems or issues. This has probably been the best design I’ve gotten from them with numbers and ease of use for our users.

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

 I was in contact with the producer and he was so organized and on top of every little detail. Most of the time, he could answer the question right away, otherwise, he’d get back to us within a day. All the design elements were done in InVision. We hadn’t used that before but it was a very nice tool that put everything in place.

Their build process was spot-on. Early on, I talked about a schedule because we needed a delivery before our school season started. I needed everything done by the end of June or early July. Jon scratched out a schedule saying what to do and our schedule fell to almost the day of what he projected. 

Whenever I had an issue, I talked to them, and they always suggested a new or better way because it’s an ever-changing industry. 

Considering they had a pandemic to work through, and I know they all left their offices and worked from home for a majority of the project, it was without a hiccup from the schedule that was proposed in January. That’s just a testament to the ability and dedication of their employees.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professional design, production, and oversight were impressive. Phone calls and emails were returned so quickly and professionally. I’ve done a lot of producer work myself and Sleepless Media’s producer has got some of the best people working for him. It was just a joy. My standards are pretty high and they did a great job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’d be hard-pressed to identify anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want. Being prepared, knowing what you want, and accurately communicating it will get you so much further down the road. Once you’ve done that, allow them to do what they’re good at. 

The combination of those two things really helps define a project and get it off on the right foot. It helps it to be estimated correctly so there are no surprises for anybody as you move down the road.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of e-commerce at Lenny & Larry's, a protein cookie manufacturer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

Our old website was built on a proprietary platform by one individual, so we had to go to that individual for any updates or changes to the site; we didn’t own it. So, we contracted Sleepless Media to port us over to the Shopify platform and to build our website into a more modern, customer-friendly experience.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sleepless Media didn’t entirely start from scratch; they used our old website as a template in terms of functionality, look and feel, and ease of use. We were going for a conversion-focused website. All of the assets and the look of the site are new; we just kept a lot of the pathways for the site. 

The team replicated the core functionality of our previous website. We didn’t request too much to be added to it. They did the design work as well, and they also helped with our net speed integrators from time to time, which wasn’t in their scope of work.

What is the team composition?

Adon (Project Manager) and Jon (CEO & Creative Director) were my main points of contact. 

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

We got a list of Shopify developers from industry contacts and colleagues, and Sleepless Media was on the list. We contacted each recommendation and evaluated them with our own metrics. Sleepless Media came out on top of a group of about 12 development companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $40,000–$45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in mid-September 2020. Our initial scope of work was completed in October 2020, but we’re looking to establish an ongoing relationship with them because we were happy with their work. 

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

The project was successful based on the fact that the site was complete and functional. They asked a lot of questions before beginning, and they took our feedback and gave us a site that they felt would meet our needs and our approach in the initial presentation. It was pretty darn close. 

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

We were always up to date on the project timelines. Sleepless Media gave us a spreadsheet of the development timelines; we didn’t have a specific tool. They kept it very tight. We had weekly meetings on video call, and we knew exactly what was going on. The team was also very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listened to what we wanted, understood it, and provided exactly that. They understood the look and feel of our brand. Far too often, you hire agencies who don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve, but Sleepless Media did that very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them to anyone looking to build a Shopify website. Sleepless Media was reasonably priced and delivered high-quality work within the timeline they said they would.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of EverSmile, Inc. We’re an oral care company whose main product is a cleaner for Invisalign and other clear liners. We’ve expanded to include denture cleaner, bridge cleaner, and other dental-related products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We were aiming to move into a more B2C environment so we wanted to turn our low-quality website into a beautiful, fun, millennial-facing website. It really had to pop and include a way to communicate with our doctors. Their job was to create the design of the site and put it all together.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created an all-new Shopify site for us using a custom theme. We started out with an official consultation with Jon (CEO), and he told us what they do and got the ball rolling. Then, we met with Leslee (Art Director) and her team to get a feel for what we’re looking for. Finally, we settled on a design and moved onto Alexa (Digital Project Manager) and Dolly (Developer).

What is the team composition?

We had different points of contact throughout the project, but we were in touch with Alexa throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

We looked through quite a number of companies, getting recommendations from PR companies we’d worked for and through Google. A number of companies submitted portfolios and proposals but a lot of the work we received was very corporate-looking. It wasn’t very fun or engaging to millennials. It was like what you would imagine a steel mill’s website would look like: boring and plain. I came across an article about Sleepless Media and thought their website looked fun and engaging. They had all kinds of interesting animations and seemed like a fun team of people. At the time, I was in the same location as they were so it worked out.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2019 until May 2020. Currently, we’re working on some revisions and add-ons but everything from the original statement work is done.

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

We launched the full site about a month and a half ago; that was the first version without any of our edits. Pretty much every person who’s looked at the site since then has told us how amazing it looked. We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback on the website and are proud to show it to people

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

We went in at a busy time, so there was a large number of other customers they were working with and we noticed a delay at a few points. Overall, though, they did really well. They were very organized in the way they spoke to us through email and gathered information. They were very good at jumping on calls and constantly messaging back and forth. Eventually, once we launched the site and moved into editing and bug-fixing, they had an entire Scrum board. I got access to that which allowed me to see all the stages and tasks and what was being worked on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing. As a whole, they did a good job from start to finish. The design side of everything they did was beautiful; it included our vision without us having to nitpick too much. When it came to development, they moved through the bug backlog quickly. They flew through it and were very driven.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some pauses between work and I was unclear about what was going on. I didn’t see work happening on the site exactly and wasn’t sure if we were in a queue or something. It felt a bit like they had too many accounts on their hands and we weren’t getting all their attention because of that. As someone who works at a business that’s crazy all the time, I know how it feels to be jumping between tasks, but other people may have wanted them to speed things up. It wasn’t too much of an inconvenience overall, however.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very organized on your end. You can either give them every single detail and hope they accomplish it or give them nothing but the requirement of a beautiful website. We empowered them to come up with a vision but I was pretty involved in the process from start to finish to ensure things that were going wrong were fixed regarding functionality and responsive design. Things move in waves because they have other customers, so when they come to you it helps to have everything you need ready to go.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re Breeo LLC. We manufacture and sell outdoor wood-burning fire pits and grills and ship them throughout the states. We also have an e-commerce network. I’m a co-founder.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We needed a website designed and optimized for e-commerce and a good customer journey. We had an existing Shopify website that was converting okay in 2019 and we knew we needed something new and fresh going into 2020.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought them on specifically to help with the design side of the new site. They took all of our brand assets — we just launched a new brand — including our style guide, logos, sponsors, creative, and photography. Then, we went deep with us about who we were trying to communicate with and what type of site we wanted. They also had us look at other successful sites and what they’d done.

They came to us with a few different design concepts for the home page and other pages. Once we approved a direction they were able to design all the pages and build a sitemap. This made it really easy for our development team to follow exactly how they wanted things to scroll.

What is the team composition?

Our in-house project manager communicated with John (CEO) and Adon (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

We found them on Google looking for highly reviewed e-commerce design agencies. They also serve a lot of clients in the outdoor space selling similar products and targeting similar demographics to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $15,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2020. The e-commerce project has been complete since May 1 but we’re still in communication with them.

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

We’ve seen a significant increase in conversions since the site launched on May 1st. We sell expensive products; our old site was converting at 0.5% and the new one is converting at .65%. Overall e-commerce is way up since last year, and that’s due to a lot of things beyond the website, but we definitely saw conversions jump.

Internally, it’s much easier for our customer service team to work with customers. The site is much easier to navigate for both sides.

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

It was our first time working with a truly professional design agency on the website, and the difference between them and a freelancer was pretty extreme when it came to project management.

They did a really good job. They took initiative in mapping out the different phases. We told them what we needed from the timeline and they told us exactly when we’d see first looks. As soon as we gave them feedback, they jumped into the next phase.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are two things. First, they understand how design connects with conversions. Their work isn’t just pretty; they have the buttons in the right place to increase conversions. Second, from a tactical standpoint, the way they submit the final design shows exactly how things should move. It’s basically an already-done mockup. The development team can see exactly how it integrates into a real-life site.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really, no. They hit their deadlines. The budget was more than we’d ever spent before but it was in-line with what they were delivering. If we did it again, we may have kept them on for the development work as well instead of opting to keep it with our current team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them as much information as possible. We recorded a video with our in-house project manager as we onboarded them that went through in great detail what we needed from a new site conceptually.

Also, give them as many touchpoints as possible so they can really capture the vision of the project. They can’t execute if they don’t receive the vision.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Eye Q is a boutique optometry practice. We have five optometrists that offer medical services and optometric services. I’m the practice manager and partial owner.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

Initially, we wanted the website to know how long we’d been here and what services we offered. As it grew, it became more brand management and advertising.

We’d never used a professional web developer, and we were looking for web development help at first. Then, we ended up retaining Sleepless for web development, brand management, graphic design. It spiraled, in a good way, into a multi-faceted thing.

It started as a mom-and-pop business, and the concepts weren’t too cohesive, whether that was social media, web presence, or print presence. We wanted a more refined brand theme and feel.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely redesigned our website. We had three owners with all different concepts, and they did a great job offering us options to consider. We have to be HIPPA compliant with the little patient data we do capture, including demographic information, so they helped us set up an integration with our electronic health records which allows us to download patient information and exchange it properly.

Outside of the web development, they’ve helped with several print items. They took a look at our existing stuff and took them up a notch. We have business cards and letterhead already designed, but we wanted stationary and recyclable paper bags. They took our overall vibe for color schemes and being environmentally friendly and created a fairly comprehensive print package. We’ve relied heavily on stationary, pieces of paper we send to patients, and different bags for particular products.

All our inventory is handmade, ethically sourced, and very unique, so they helped us to brand communication with our patients over shows that we do. We invite patients quarterly to certain events to promote products, and they do invitations and post-cards. The graphic layout and wording are all them as well.

They’ve also rolled out to advertising in print and digital formats. They’ve helped create ads with the same sort of look and feel like our business for local universities, lifestyle magazines, and newspapers. A lot of print companies will make crappy ads that don’t have your vibe. But Sleepless looked at our vibe and who our target audience is for each publication, and then tailor the ad.

What is the team composition?

When we started, the biggest project was the website. We sat down with their senior team: the Jon (CEO, Sleepless Media), the project admin, and then two other designers. They worked through the basic ideas and talked about their services. After we established a general concept, we worked primarily through the project admin. They did have one turnover in that role but it was pretty seamless for us.

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

Our original website was done by one of our original owner’s family members. We then had it redone for a cheap price. We then decided to bite the bullet and get a professional website.

After researching online, we decided it was important to have someone who would deliver non-sterile, non-corporate work. We wanted someone to be consultative with what we were looking for. After Google searching, I talked to someone do graphic design for us (he’s retiring) and he recommended Sleepless. I checked out the different websites they’d designed and saw a lot of their clients were local. I was familiar with their clientele and thought they hit those sites pretty well. They took the concept of those companies and created public spaces for them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $55,000–$80,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2014. The heaviest workload was in that first year, but we’ve definitely had an ongoing relationship the whole time.

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

We track how new patients learn about us, and, before the website was rebuilt, the form was a standalone component. Now, the form is used at a much higher rate. Sleepless was giving us Google Analytics and statistics from our previous site and our current site so we could see our immediate impact, and it was substantial. We don’t do as much of that anymore.

They did a lot of SEO for us, in particular, tagging a lot of our very unique products. We were getting people coming from a lot farther away. People would be willing to travel for us and our unique products.

They’ve also given us a great platform for attracting more students. Students want things that are fairly current and modern, and Sleepless was able to figure out how to engage them much more. We’ve seen a huge uptick in business from our student base. Our web traffic has also seen a huge increase.

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

I only had one glitch with them, and it was probably more our fault than theirs. I was trying to pass off the reigns of management on our site internally and there was a miscommunication. I’ve handled 99.9% of the communication with them over our five-year period and had no issue with them.

They’re super-fast in responding, which is something I look forward to. If they couldn’t get something done in two weeks, they were great at letting me know. My previous web person would tell me after two weeks that they couldn’t get something done. Sleepless always communicates the timeline and helps sets expectations. We work over the phone, text, and email, as well as in-person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A big thing for me was that they were consultative. All of the others I interviewed wanted me to tell them everything to do and let them go off and do it. Sleepless, on the other hand, gave us a lot of different options and mockups. They listened to our story and used that, which is great because none of us were web designers. They translated us properly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. The only thing we might have fallen a bit short on was, initially, we thought about looking into social media management. It’s not really their cup of tea, I don’t think, and we ended up hiring someone else. It would have been nice to have one company handle all of our stuff, but it wasn’t high on their list when I brought it up five years ago.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply. We provide products ranging from animal feed to food preservation housewares to farm supply goods.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sleepless Media?

We didn’t have a web presence at all, so our first challenge was to get a website up and running. In that process, we built out an e-commerce website typically for our housewares. From there, we saw a large following for our blog and newsletter. We wanted to integrate that with e-commerce to increase online sales. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sleepless Media redesigned our e-commerce website and blog and then moved it to Shopify. 

The first part of the process was the design. Sleepless Media did a custom design with us, and we were really involved in that. We had lots of face-to-face time to talk about little aspects of the design. We were looking for a minimalist look and feel so it was important to showcase our photography.

After that, Sleepless Media integrated e-commerce with our blog. The blog is made up of how-to articles and recipes that feature things we sell. The big challenge was to create a UI that integrates products and posts seamlessly and is easy to manage on our end. We’re not the most technologically savvy, so it was difficult to make it easy for us. However, Sleepless Media accomplished it. At the time, there were no plugins available for what we wanted to do, so their team did a lot of custom work. We haven’t upgraded since.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the main designer and the owner on the design. After that, we had a project manager to write specs for the functionality and for the rest of the process.

How did you come to work with Sleepless Media?

One important factor for choosing them was the fact that they were local to us. That allows us to have lots of face-to-face meetings as needed. Second, Sleepless Media is well-known for e-commerce. We didn’t want someone winging it on our first website ever, especially since an e-commerce site is a big undertaking. That’s why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in May 2015 and is ongoing.

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

Since we didn’t have a website before, we don’t have a gauge on what improvements we saw there. However, the visual change and switch to e-commerce were pretty significant. Our sales increased by 100% because of our refreshed site. We did a lot of AB testing to ensure that we were making shopping easy as possible for our customers, who tend to be less tech-savvy. The checkout process is a lot less cumbersome. Plus, even though our audience tends to do less mobile browsing than average, getting a mobile responsive site was a big deal for us. 

How did Sleepless Media perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s been fairly painless. Their team has a good system setup. We send in requests, and they responded with time estimates and quotes. Most of our requests are small projects, so we’ve seen no significant delays or timeline issues. As far as communication goes, we have the occasional in-person meeting because it’s easy, but we mostly keep in touch via email

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sleepless Media has been doing e-commerce for a long time, so they have a lot of experience to speak from. They can explain why our ideas might not work based on their experience, giving legitimate reasons rather dismissing us outright. In turn, they’ve also made a lot of suggestions. I don’t think another web dev firm can do that without a similar level of experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, the process hasn’t really easy. There’s been no spot where we got stuck or that should’ve gone differently.

Any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend being organized upfront and having a good idea of what you want. For the first project, we didn’t have as clear an idea, and it was a much longer process. The second time, we had a more vivid concept and were way more organized. Sleepless Media offers scoping and planning services, but in both cases, that wasn’t in our budget. So, planning ahead of time will save you both money and time.