The Story Web Design & Marketing

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Chief Operating Officer and VP of the North York Knights Hockey Association.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We had a very basic website that we wanted to modernize. In addition to allowing for more efficient and timely distribution of information, we wanted the new site to support our league's registration process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start the engagement, I provided a broad outline of what I wanted from the project. From there, they delivered a complete site rebuild. They put together a full suite of design elements for the site, including logos, banners, banding, sidebars, and page links. The content was pretty much where we wanted it to be, but we still had them help update some of the informational aspects of the site to clearly differentiate our offerings.

The revamped solution was an all-encompassing website that was both informative and interactive. Our overall goal was to ensure that a new hockey participant in Toronto could simply navigate to our website and easily understand their membership options. We wanted our audience to be able to make informed decisions based on who we are, what products we offer, and what the program would look like for them. We also wanted to make sure that the site would allow people to register immediately while conveying a clear understanding of the rules and regulations of our organization. These included participant photo regulation as well as inclusion and diversity conditions. As the project has gone on, the design has evolved to include a place to locate standings and performance measures for the different teams. The site also includes messaging functionality, allowing our organizaiton to easily communicate with and receive feedback from our members.

They implemented SEO best practices into the new site, but this was more of a secondary aspect of the project. We have a strong brand awareness in our area, but we definitely wanted to ensure that registrants wouldn't be confused by Google search results. Their team made sure to keep this goal in mind throughout the design process.

What is the team composition?

Trevor (President) was the project lead. There may have been two or three other design professionals from their team working in the background, but I'm not sure of an exact number.

How did you come to work with The Story Web Design & Marketing?

A colleague of mine at another hockey organization provided me with a couple potential firms for the project. We decided to go with them after speaking with them on the phone and reviewing their previous work.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent about $21,000 on the intial site redesign project. Since then, we've spent an average of $4,000 per year on their ongoing services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since July 2014. The site launched int 2016, but they've contiued to provide us with hosting and maintenance services.

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

Our website was honored as a bronze winner of the Horizon Interactive Award. I'm pretty proud of this external recognition. Additionally, as a volunteer organization we usually only receive complaints as opposed to positive feedback. However, we have never received a complaint about our website since the beginning of our engagement, which is pretty amazing. Their team delivered an informational, easy-to-navigate solution that meets all our participants' needs. Any questions, whether they're related to equipment, registration, or other issues, are easy to answer through the site. We've also never had any issues with the site's registration functionality. Despite thousands of parents trying to register their children during the same yearly window, we've never seen any crashes or lapses in responsiveness.

How did The Story Web Design & Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. They had never worked with a hockey organization, so they had to adjust their processes to the needs of our end users. From a project management perspective, this led to a lot of back-and-forth between us early on in the engagement. I taught them a lot about the necessary content for this type of site, and they taught me a lot about how our audience's needs would translate into site features. This process went really well on both sides thanks to their team's flexibility.

We mostly communicate through email. Our teams also collaborated on the site mock-ups they would create during the initial portion of the project. Trevor would share these with me and then alter them based on my feedback. When an issue needing an urgent response arises, I'll let them know that I need it within 24 hours. They've always met my needs in this regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're flexible with their processes but have stood firm in ensuring that the site is easy to navigate. Since I have more knowledge of the site's content than they do, I'm often tempted to overload pages with information. However, they make sure that the content on the site is implemented in a manner that allows visitors to find what they need quickly. We've worked together so that all necessary information is showcased properly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only area that could use improvement is how thoroughly they proofread the changes they make to the site. They sometimes publish updates too quickly rather than taking the time to properly review everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be comfortable serving as the expert on your site's content. While they are prepared to do research on your business, they won't be able to come into the project with a deep understanding of all aspects of your industry. It's not fair to hold a designer accountable for this knowledge, even if they do their own research. Rather, your team should be responsible for shaping the content focus of the project. I would definitely give them control of how the content is presented on the site, though. They have a great understanding of this area, regardless of industry.

Please describe your company and your position there.

blue i music is a music production and publishing firm for b schmidt and his co-creators. I am the founder with the roles of composer and songwriter in addition to the marketing and promotion of the music. 

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

1. Web Design
2. integration with social media
3. integration with music streaming services

What were your goals for this project?

It was time for a properly designed web site. Previous versions of the site were set up by me directly and lacked the flair and sensibility of a professional design. Additionally, the design had to have elements that could be repurposed for social media platforms so that there was a visual brand consistency across my internet presence.

How did you select The Story Web Design & Marketing?

I was familiar with The Story Web as I had recommended them to some of my past clients. The feedback from my clients was uniformly good on their experience and so I was very comfortable in moving ahead on my own site with Trevor and his Team.

Describe the project in detail.

Project required:

• a design that captured a contemporary artist sensibility
• integration with major music streaming platforms
• a blog to highlight various music projects
• an electronic press kit
• ease of use for me when adding content to the sore site

What was the team composition?

Trevor acted as my main liaison and fulfilled the roles of project manager and design advocate. There were also designers and programmers from Trevor's team that were involved, although my need to work with them directly was not required.

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

The site and its content is now seeing higher user retention, plus it is a better vehicle for me to showcase my compositions to music industry professionals. Feedback from my fan community has been uniformly positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was excellent. Goals and timelines were established at the onset to properly set expectations around timing and scope.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Probably the biggest element was related to the site design, which had a focus on me visually. This was a new experience for me, and full credit to Trevor for his sensitivity in managing my concerns while still advocating for the version of the design that he felt was the most impactful and that would show my works in the best possible light.

In the end, I trusted Trevor's judgement and experience and that's the design we went with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was pleased with the experience and the resulting website.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Lori's Lending provides financing for small to medium sized businesses. We provide funding for small businesses in and across the business spectrum. I am are the owner and founder of Lori's Lending.

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

Web design and development, branding and logo design.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed a whole brand for my website, including logo, overall look/feel and copyrighting. I needed a professional website that would help prospective customers know who we are. It was (and is) very important that we differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Our clients want someone who's personal and who will give them personal attention. The website needed to reflect that.

How did you select this vendor?

A former colleague of mind had some work done by The Story and recommended them to me. In the proposal phase they had a clear understanding of what I was trying to accomplish and demonstrated they could do it.

Describe the project in detail.

The Story stated by working on our logo. From that they developed business cards and letterhead for us too. The Story interviewed me in order to better understand who we are and our target customers. They got a clear understanding of our value and the issues that our prospective customers are facing. They created the home page copy and then started designing the caricatures. Once the caricatures were developed, they created the home design. Once that was approved the created the rest of the copy and designs. The story gave us the great copy and a fantastic design.

What was the team composition?

The Story composition included Designers, Marketing experts, and Copywriters.

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

I wanted a unique, personable, professional website and The Story gave that to me. This is very helpful in assisting me to a unique in crowded market.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was a lot of follow up throughout the project to keep everything moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I got the website that I wanted and love it!

Are there any areas for improvement?

The Story continues to be helpful to me as I look to expand my marketing efforts.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Dynamic Health Collaborative is an integrative healthcare clinic in Toronto caring for clients struggling with physical and mental health symptoms.

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

I hired The Story Web Design & Marketing to design and develop a website for us.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed a website designed that looks professional and showcases our practitioners in an easy to view way.

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to The Story by a marketing firm.

Describe the project in detail.

The project began with a kickoff meeting where I understood what I would need to provide The Story with. Once I provided the home page copy, The Story provided me with two different design concepts. I chose one and made modification requests. After a few rounds of feedback, we got it just right. All of the other pages were designed and developed. We had a lot of changes we requested, and The Story was accommodating in helping us get the changes for the website we wanted. Throughout the process there were lots of questions we had and lots of feedback The Story provided. I found them very knowledgeable and trustworthy.

What was the team composition?

Excellent.

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

The design I got for my clinic is excellent. It’s high quality work and I’m very satisfied.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The weekly project meetings really helped us to stay on track throughout the process. They provided excellent follow-through on commitments. They were conscientious about providing their best work and ensuring we were doing things to make the website more effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Both the excellent design work and the weekly meetings that kept the project moving were very valuable to me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We will continue to work with The Story as we do further work on our website.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of BeniPlus. We provide affordable, flexible benefit plans that are ideal for small businesses.

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We needed a range of services to help build a digital marketing strategy, including web design, SEO and online advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to create and launch a website that clearly communicated who we were to our target market. We wanted to increase our online visibility.

How did you select this vendor?

I’d known the founder of The Story Web Design & Marketing (The Story), so I approached him to see what his team could provide. He was knowledgeable and open to working with us on the array of tasks we had.

Describe the project in detail.

We began with a meeting for The Story to gain a fuller understanding of my company, target audience, and the overall value we bring to our market. We also showed them the website appearance we were aiming for. We gave them copy for the site, and they returned with two unique design options. They refined the design we chose and began the development for the rest of the site. Their team helped us understand how to shape our landing page to better serve users making purchases. The Story continues to work with us, helping with SEO, online advertising through PPC, and copywriting for our site.

What was the team composition?

We interact directly with the Trevor (President, The Story Web Design & Marketing) during each stage. 

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

We’ve seen immediate results since implementing PPC advertising, and we’ve received fantastic feedback from our partners and new customers. The site has a strong flow that has a great overall look and feel.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have regular meetings on a weekly basis for progress updates. They are a team of strong communicators. We appreciate that they provide us with meeting summaries for future reference, including the topics we covered and any agreements made.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story produced an attractive website and help us understand their process every step of the way. We now have a greater comprehension of what successful digital marketing requires.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s nothing I can think of—The Story has been helpful throughout the process.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of marketing for Eddy Solutions. We provide intelligent leak detection and risk management for buildings including commercial, multi-family buildings, and single-family homes.

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We engaged The Story Web Design & Marketing to redesign our website.

What were your goals for this project?

The website needed a “wow factor”—something to grab people’s attention and immediately engage users. We wanted video motion content as well. n our website that grabbed a visitor’s attention.

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with them at another organization. They delivered excellent work in a timely fashion.

Describe the project in detail.

During the kickoff, we described our company vision, business goals, target market, and messaging. We then described the style and effects we enjoyed from comparable websites. Next, The Story Web Design & Marketing provided various concepts for the homepage; we selected one theme from the multiple options. The team then designed and developed the site on WordPress. We supplied content and they created a motion video. We approved everything before the site went live.

What was the team composition?

We worked with the president, VP of sales, and three marketing team members.

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

Engagement levels grew at a tremendous rate. Our bounce rate decreased from 68% to under 3%. We also won an industry award for design. Furthermore, WordPress development enabled our team to make changes after the project’s conclusion.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team regularly tracked our requirements, and readily shared concepts and drafts as they finished work. That approach maximized the project’s efficiency.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The home page’s “wow factor” exceeded our expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Our side was responsible for the delays. They worked quickly and managed the project well.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a pastor at Kingsview Free Methodist Church and I am responsible for communications. Kingsview is an inter-cultural and inter-generational community church serving the Kingsview Village-Westway neighborhood of Toronto and beyond. 

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We needed to redesign our website because it had become outdated. 

What were your goals for this project?

We needed simpler navigation and wanted quality content to showcase our church. We wanted to organize the content to make sure visitors and attendees could easily find the essential information.

How did you select this vendor?

We are familiar with The Story and its founder's work with other non-profits. We discussed with them our budget and proceeded to start the project. 

Describe the project in detail.

The Story assisted us with not just our website, but also our brand. They designed the style of our logo, including colors and developed associated material, like business cards and letterheads.

Once we had the logo, they provided website concepts based on the photos of the church we provided. Their team helped us clarify what information we needed, organized the content to be easily accessible to visitors, and worked extensively on our web copy. The Story's team created took our feedback, made the necessary changes, and developed a draft website. We reviewed the website before launch and their team trained our administrator on how to add new content to the site. After the completion, they called us 45 days later to make sure everything was running perfectly.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with their web development team. 

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

We had someone who came to our church because who they enjoyed our new site. They said the website really showcased what they wanted out of a church. We believe that our new site is much more effective at attracting new people to our church. We’ve received really good feedback from our congregation saying that the site looks great, clean, and modern; reflects our diversity well; looks professional, and is easy to navigate. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Story was professional and customer service oriented. They communicated effectively and helped us to understand what we needed to rebrand. They took the time to coax our web copy and our website's development.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story was very understanding about the needs of visitors to a website and how to organize our information. The Story was also great at understanding how to represent our content to reflect who we are as a church.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If they had a more out-of-the-box solution, it would have taken less of an effort and completed in a shorter period of time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

American Infection Control, Inc. makes private label disinfectant wipes for large companies that service the hospital and dental industry. We have the best formula in the marketplace because it kills everything in less than one minute without killing the user or surfaces it goes on. I’m the president.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story Web Design?

Our business is B2B. Hospitals have to control all the hospital-acquired infections known as HAIs. We do that the wipes we produce. We wanted a website that would promote our private label business and the qualities of our formula. I have very little experience with websites.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have two people in my office who are familiar with websites and doing the art for them. They worked with Trevor and his group. The whole thing was custom. We provided a lot of the artwork. Trevor had a graphics person who did some logo work for us, but all the other artwork was ours. The Story Web Design did all the layout and the appearance package for the website which we all discussed and made changes to. We have a detailed comparison sheet of our formula versus the main competitors in the marketplace. Those all had to be customized and plugged into the website. We were in constant contact. I was in my Toronto office and Trevor would come over and we would conference in the people from Cleveland. We did that two or three times a week until the project was complete.

How did you come to work with The Story Web Design?

I searched online and found The Story Web Design. I liked the work Trevor [Hamilton, president] had done for other people. He showed various sizes and types of companies that he had done websites for and I liked that. We were a startup business at the time and I didn’t want to pay a fortune to build the website. He gave average pricing for the types of websites he was showing. I liked that I could see a price estimate for the type of website I wanted to get. All the other website developers I looked at, I had to go through a process to get an estimate.

How much have you invested with The Story Web Design?

We spent $8,700 on the project. We negotiated what the price would be, and it came in right on budget. His price also matched what his website pricing showed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2015, and the project went live in February 2016.

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

There’s more traffic on our new site. We’re so specialized that we still don’t get a lot of traffic. We’re not a consumer based company at all, but we do have inquiries from serious players. One of the things we’ve gotten is inquiries from overseas. This year, we’ll probably have a large deal with someone from the United Arab Emirates, and we also have inquiries in from Germany and India.

The art is much better on this site than the old one. We redid all the logos which was done by Trevor’s team. The website looks a lot more professional and is easier to read and navigate. It has to look professional in the medical industry.

How did The Story Web Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We did joint conferences online and in my Toronto office, and they all went very smoothly. I have basic technological skills but I don’t have any depth, and Trevor treated that very well. He explained how things work and why we were doing certain things. It was a very positive learning experience for me. I would recommend them for anyone who is non-technical. He was very responsive. Questions were answered instantly when I went online.

What did you find most impressive about The Story Web Design?

I found that Trevor identified our needs very quickly and shaped out a plan and budget quickly. I was impressed by his ability to communicate with us in a way that was easy for all of us to work with.

Are there any areas The Story Web Design could improve?

There were several plugins on the website that are proprietary to him. We would prefer they were public so if wanted to make changes, we could. We haven’t had a problem.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Story Web Design?

He’s great for small and medium-sized businesses. I don’t know if he has the scale to work with large companies. He was very helpful to us, and I would definitely recommend him. I would say look at the website and see the cost estimates he has there. I like how upfront he was on cost.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP and webmaster for the North York Knights Hockey League. It’s a volunteer organization based in Toronto. Eight volunteers run this organization, and a thousand kids participate.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story Web Design?

It’s not inexpensive to play hockey, so the reflection of how well the organization is run and how well it markets itself is extremely important in regards to having a professional website that’s easy to use and find the information. I’ve been to our competing leagues, and we all have top-notch websites. For the others who don’t, they lose participation.

When this project started, the website was what would charitably be called a 1990s version, and it’s now something you’d expect in this current day and age. Parents and their kids are registering are expecting.

The professionalism, ease of flow through the website, and registration process have to be really up to the standards of parents looking to send their kids to a hockey program. That’s not something I’m familiar with. It’s always been pen and paper, but I’ve recognized in my role that this has to be done, or else our participation will fall.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website is a pretty critical tool for us. While we do send out emails for various things, our website serves as communication and marketing for what we offer to the kids in Toronto. While we’re associated with the GTHL, we’re not the same organization. Because we tend to feed into that much more competitive organization since we feed many of our players and coaches into it, we should have a combined website. It made no sense to be associated wihout linking to each other.

I had my ideas as to what the content would be. In fact, I provided most of the content. For the whole look and ease of navigation, there are two parts to our organization: there’s a Learn to Play, so that’s kids under seven, and then kids over seven are House League. Most families have kids in both. The content is going to be a little different between Learn to Play and House League in terms of how to register, what’s important, and how to pick a league. Families are coming in with kids at all different ages, so it’s got to be easy to jump from one site to another—from House League to All Stars to Learn to Play. It’s got to be seamless and easy. They can’t get lost and buried down in that sort of thing. So in navigation, he was critical.

Interestingly enough, he’s not a hockey person, and I’m a hockey person. He doesn’t know anything about that. It’s not like he had a certain bias towards anything. In fact, he said, “What about a parent who knows nothing about this and that?” And I said, “Parents do know that.” He would say, “Not really. I don’t.” So we had that conversation as to how to attract someone with little or no background knowledge and be able to guide them through the site.

I actually wrote everything I wanted on the website and submitted the content and pictures to him. He had the flair to identify if something was too busy, this was too thick/heavy, the eyeballs need to roll off this to get to somewhere else. We collaborated a lot. I said, “Don’t you think that’s too many titles at the top,” “Do you think it’s too crowded,” or “How do we use pictures effectively to bring them in?” That’s so out of my domain, and that was everything he did. The other thing he did was make it responsive for mobile and tablet.

For our landing page, 90% of our audience could figure out very quickly which of the four groupings they should head towards. That’s where he was really instrumental in keeping things simple, while knowing when to push and pull, and when to back off.

We still have a good working relationship. It’s still evolving. One of the things we felt at the beginning is that we didn’t have enough pictures of kids playing, successes of teams, or bragging rights. Parents coming to look for an organization are looking for a reasonably successful organization that is proud of their achievements. We had to put different types of pictures. I sourced the pictures, and he put in collages and a mounted championship table.

How did you come to work with The Story Web Design?

I had a quote from an organization, and I wasn’t too happy. Then the GTHL found Trevor and I got the project started.

How much have you invested with The Story Web Design?

Over five years, it’s been $50,000, which for a volunteer non-profit organization is a lot. At the beginning, it was a little more because we were designing and he was spending the hours but gave us a good incentive. Because he gets his name on the website, it’s good marketing for him.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012. The work is ongoing because I use it for information, marketing, and registration, and for advance notice for important events, scheduling, and standings. It’s used a lot in terms of information flow.

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

We’ve had no issues. We’ve always had a dry run before registration, and that’s critical. We open it up on April 14th, and we’re filled up two weeks later. Our participation has gone up over the years. It’s a massive input. We’ve never had any complaints. One of the things Trevor has done is send out confirmation emails, and we never had any problems with that.

Our registrar and some conveners used to send out emails constantly to parents. But then, of course, there’s always a whole bunch of parents with thousands of questions. We stopped all of that. Now we just say, “All information on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s day with our organization, which is on November 15th, will be on the website by October 15th.” That’s it. The conveners no longer have to work their ass off trying to answer questions from thousands of parents. That’s a soft one, but it’s an important one. We’re funneling the eyeballs to that site.

We won a bronze award from a website competition. Whether it’s a small or big organization that gave us the award, someone recognized that we have really good pages. I think that’s kudos to him.

GTHL said it looks great, but it’s not a big thing for them since they don’t need to market, register their kids, or send information. It’s a very passive page for them. It changes once a year when they change their coaches. What uber-competitive parents need to know is the name of the coach and the organization, so it’s quite different. They’re easily attracted to that website and need minimum information. But mine is way different.

How did The Story Web Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We would communicate through email. He’d show me dry runs. We’d go into his model, and I’d look at it and adjust. We’d be talking regularly on the phone. When we were designing it, we had calls nearly daily. He’d show me various methods and I’d dial into a certain website viewer that I could go through with hime. It was very interactive.

What did you find most impressive about The Story Web Design?

Timeliness, for one. Once I’ve submitted to him, as the webmaster, I have an expectation that I want that up in 24 hours generally. If it’s urgent, then within the hour. Sometimes, we’ve had a problem with the website, and he was very responsive that way. What impressed me with working with him is getting rid of clutter. He had the ability to see a clean look. He streamlined the design to just what matters. For a designer, that’s got to be critical to your success—what’s extraneous and what’s not, and to be able to convince me, the content provider, that it’s not necessary. He does it very smoothly and encouragingly, but also in a very thoughtful and well-reasoned way where I can’t say no. He’s just good at that, and that’s a real skill for him.

Are there any areas The Story Web Design could improve?

Because he knows nothing about hockey, sometimes I have to be super clear. For example, when I make a change that affects both Learn to Play and House League, I will not say in the text, “This should go in both the page of the House League and Learn To Play.” That’s not going to work. What I do, and we’ve learned through trial and error, is I’ll put the exact page. I’ll post and hyperlink the page, saying this is this and that is that. Since then, we’ve had no problems whatsoever.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Story Web Design?

Direct Trevor. He’s inquisitive and asks the right questions. He’s very flexible which is a strength and a weakness. He can go off in a way that he thinks is good, but that’s not quite your vision. The communication at the beginning has to be clear and upfront: this is what I’m thinking, and this is how I want to look. Sketch it out and come back to me with your ideas.

Have a good timeline. I want that constant feedback, and that’s the way we worked together. He was very good with that.

He’s not a hands-off person who will come back and wow you. I think that’s not quite Trevor’s skill—implementation and visuals are surely his skills. You have to be driving the bus with him in terms of vision; don’t just let Trevor drive the bus and come back a month later. That’s not going to work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Diallog Telecommunications is a provider of hosted PBX, PRI and other telecom products of all types. I was the director of marketing for the company when they first worked with The Story.

I’m also currently working with The Story again for Eddy Home Inc., which is a smart-home water-monitoring system being developed in Canada. We have amazing technology, but people don’t know about us yet. Our biggest challenge is spreading the message, and we’re using The Story again after the work they did for Diallog Telecommunications got such positive feedback.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story?

The existing website for my former company hadn’t been updated since 2006, and needed to be redone.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Story developed our WordPress website. They kept much of the brand essence, but created an updated look and feel on the WordPress platform, making it much easier for us to update the site. Some of the suppliers we had reached out to had asked for wireframes, but it was really not necessary for this project. We had a simple website, and The Story understood that our technical capabilities were limited. They were able to quickly put together what we needed, without the need for wireframes. I’m sure that their team could have created some, but it wasn’t necessary.

They provided some Google Analytics work for us, setting up our SEO, but they didn’t provide any social media or content marketing. We decided to use a different service provider, although they do offer the service.

How did you come to work with The Story?

We found them through an organization called The Canadian Association of Marketing Professionals, or CAMP, which I am the founder of. Trevor Hamilton is a member, so I reached out to him when I had a project. I did contact four other suppliers for quotes, but we decided to choose The Story. They came back with the best overall quote, relative to our limited budget.

Even though, at the time,I hadn’t worked with the company before, I liked what they were able to provide, and found that they were willing to go through what we needed, during the information-gathering stage.

How much have you invested with The Story?

They delivered the website for a little over $5,000, which is almost unheard of these days. The Story had half the cost of other suppliers, but they have the same output. We received a lot of value from our website, which is why we’re moving forward with The Story for the company I’m currently working for.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Story in May 2016. They’ve done clean-up work on the website, and The Story has been working with the telecom company on an ongoing basis.

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

We saw a significant improvement, compared to what was there before. We hired a new sales team, and results started going up considerably once we introduced the new website. The feed-back was positive from our own team, and the site also helped people researching our company. It left a better impression overall.

We saw a slight uptick of about 10% on our Google Analytics, simply because we had better SEO and were doing content marketing. The website impacted our overall bottom line positively.

How did The Story perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t use project management tools, but did have a video-conferencing platform in place. We had meetings with The Story through Join.me, during which they shared a screen and took me through the process. We had email exchanges and phone calls when needed, and deliverables were always met. Unless the supplier really wants to, I tend not to use project management tools like Basecamp. The Story tends to follow the lead of the client, so nothing was implemented in our case.

They have been extremely responsive. Within minutes of emailing The Story’s team, I would hear back with answers to my questions. I’ve never had to wait more than a couple of hours to hear back from them.

What did you find most impressive about The Story?

They took the time to get to know us as a client, as well as what we want, and deliver a very good end-product at a very reasonable price. Designers are willing to charge whatever they think the customer will pay, which can range drastically. I find that the value we’ve gotten from The Story is amazing. We’ve had a top-notch person managing our site, who was able to bring big-agency skills, without a big-agency price tag.

Are there any areas The Story could improve?

It’s hard to say because we’re using The Story again as a technology partner.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Story?

If the client is looking for a cost-effective technology partner, The Story is a great option.