Temper And Forge

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for Theory Wellness. We’re a cannabis brand with operations and multiple licenses between Maine and Massachusetts.

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper and Forge?

As a brick and mortar retail operation, we have one foot in e-commerce and another foot in traditional retail. In the cannabis industry, we’re limited in our resources for the e-commerce shopping experience. One of our major goals for working with Temper and Forge was to elevate the cannabis shopping experience. It was important for us to integrate our marketing systems and platforms.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team managed a lot of the design work but partnered with Temper and Forge to refine them. They helped us balance aesthetics and function. Their team built the WordPress website from scratch, ultimately delivering a website that didn’t carry much technical debt. They didn’t build a mono-state website. Instead, their team worked to deliver a platform that would allow us to move into an enterprise approach. They build the frontend menus through a third-party system called dutchie and implemented WooCommerce to serve as a product library.

The project began with the website development and grew into further optimizations and features. Our web project scaled into a partnership between our organizations.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Nathan (Founder and Owner) and Sam (Frontend Web Developer).

How did you come to work with Temper and Forge?

A network of my contacts from New York City connected us with Temper and Forge. They were familiar with Nathan and his work.  

We went through an RFP process through which we evaluated vendors' proposals for time to market, approach to the build, and management. As we scaled our operations, we wanted to ensure that we would have a trusted partner that could scale with us. We went with Temper and Forge because they understood the business strategy and nuance of what we wanted to accomplish with this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in October 2019, and the bulk of it was completed in September 2020. However, we have an ongoing relationship.

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

It’s been a wonderful experience working with Temper and Forge. Nathan’s attentive to the needs of the business and never pushes us in one way or another. He comes with meaningful solutions when we identify challenges.

We have numerous KPIs: site traffic, load speed, and SEO. Load speed and SEO are two of the most important criteria for our evaluations of the site as a whole. They did a fantastic job on both fronts. That goes toward our narrative of the success we’ve seen so far.

How did Temper and Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Nathan took the time to educate us on ways to approach our goals. He's always willing to take phone calls and always in contact whether it’s through text messages or late-night phone calls. We manage projects through Mondays and use Dropbox and Google Sheets to share content. There are several platforms that we use in this engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their leadership understands the consumer and technical aspects of marketing. Their team has our best interests in mind when coming forward with feedback or recommendations. Knowing that their feedback’s reliable is a sign of a great partner.

At the end of the day, we've moved on from a website with five different languages. They saw our challenges early in the engagement and wanted to provide us with a functional website that could scale with us without creating tech debt. Their team understood how to create an interesting website without sacrificing speed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The challenges we faced would’ve existed regardless of our partner organization. We designed in isolation early in the development, which created challenges down the road. We missed handing off designs that met functional standards. However, our fruitful conversations made it easier for us to bridge those gaps. It’s not usual that one team from one organization designs and then a different team from a different organization builds.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even if you don’t know exactly what you want, they can help you figure it out. They’re a dynamite team that’s a helpful partner. As time goes on, I noticed that they have a fundamental interest in our business. They know our goals and can execute them quickly. That approach is helpful on the digital side, especially in the quickly evolving cannabis industry.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of an organization that provides market research for companies in the networking and communications space.

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed web design services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge redesigned and developed our website’s frontend. They selected a new WordPress theme and used that theme to implement a design that was consistent with what we need to do from a business standpoint.

What is the team composition?

I believe there are two people at Temper And Forge, but I primarily worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner). 

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I found them on Google.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2020–January 2021. They completed this project, but because it was successful, we plan to continue engaging them for additional work.

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

It was a complete success. They made the site look much more professional and work much smoother. We have a very complex WordPress site with a lot of custom code on the backend, and one of the things that Temper And Forge did very well was migrating all of that code painlessly to the new design on the frontend. That was a significant risk, but they handled it very well.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

I found them to be professional and exceptionally easy to work with. They were very efficient and had excellent project management. They used some project management tools internally, which they offered to us to use. I didn’t need to be very involved because things went smoothly. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their efficiency and responsiveness were impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, they’re very good at implementing it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an AI machine learning startup as director of customer success. We’re an AI solution for cyber fraud and threat intelligence, combating financial crime and cyber threats against financial institutions. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We were taking a new product to market and were given a short deadline to launch our site, migrate content, and produce original pages.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided design and development work in creating the WordPress site. In the process, they migrated some existing content to the platform while also building out content and pages on their own. They built out our blog, news and media section, white papers section, and webinar and podcast sections. Their team also expanded on company pages with forms, sign-ups, and demos. 

After the site was complete, Nate (CEO) also provided us with guidance on SEO and marketing platforms. In the future, they’re also planning on helping us with Google Ads.   

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Nate.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They were recommended to us through someone I met at an accelerator program for fintech startups. 

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, we’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000. We’ll be continuing the agreement, so I’m sure the project will eventually exceed this. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since September 2020.

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

They far exceeded expectations by meeting our deadline in short order. It was a robust site. They contributed opinions and educated guidance while remaining receptive to making our vision a reality. Their work enabled the rest of the organization to continue with growing the business. 

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

They were extremely organized, working with us through Monday. We’re always updated on the status of tasks on their way to completion. On top of that, they’re communicative through emails, text, and phone calls. We have calls and meetings on a regular cadence. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very responsive, efficient, and transparent. We’ve seen high-quality work from them at a fast pace.   

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything, they’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to give them a call. They’ll work with you to achieve your goals while providing insights along the way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at Sciolytix, an experiential learning company focused on the sales training space, but also all digital learning.

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We have a learning management system that is very technically advanced. We’ve been doing quite well in our PPC campaigns but we knew we could do better by upgrading our landing pages. Temper And Forge worked closely with us to create three different versions of the landing page so we could determine what could help us increase conversions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with web page design and then used WordPress to develop the platform from scratch. We went over our existing landing page and outlined what our goals were. Their ideas were very data-driven. They came back to us and gave us advice based on their experience.

They also set up the backend and set up heat maps. They used heat maps to make small tweaks that would help us increase conversions. The three pages we put out were a hybrid of all of our ideas.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nate (CEO).

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

We work with another digital agency and they recommended that we work with a web developer. They recommended a few companies, including Temper And Forge. We gave them a few ideas and asked if they could iterate on that. They jumped on the project and presented a data-driven approach. Additionally, their price was very reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $3,000­–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–August 2020.

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

They provided excellent feedback based on the data they collected from the heat maps. As a result, our conversion rate increased by about 150%, and our cost per acquisition decreased significantly.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a very collaborative process and we got a lot of information from them. He shared a project plan and met all of our deadlines. They ran the project very well. When we communicated, we either talked over phone or used email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

He was very responsive and used the data very well. He was excellent on both of those fronts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing for me to complain about. It project was well-done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve you’re looking for a relatively low-cost, and experienced web designer, they’re a good deal. They know their stuff and I would certainly use them again.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a medical device startup, and I manage the marketing communications function.

For what projects/services did your company hire Temper and Forge, and what were your goals?

We hired Temper and Forge to improve the performance of our website for our customers and prospects. Our goal was to achieve significantly improved Google PageSpeed scores for better site visitor experience and SEO.

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

Temper and Forge came recommended to us by another consultant whom we trust. In interviewing Temper and Forge for the project, it was apparent that they understood our objectives and knew how to achieve them efficiently.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Establish new web hosting service for improved server performance, migrate mission-critical live website with no down-time, and optimize newly activated site to refine performance.

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

Nathan Botelho was our project manager and main point of contact.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our new website demonstrates considerably improved performance on our main measurement benchmark, Google PageSpeed.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Temper and Forge was clear and consistent in communication and performance of service. They were also patient with our questions and adaptable to new requirements as they occurred.

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

Temper and Forge accomplished our objectives swiftly, efficiently, and professionally.

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

None

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a venture capital firm called Building Ventures. We invest in real estate and construction technology early-stage startups. I am a principal on the investment team, and I also double as our brand and marketing expert.

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper and Forge?

We wanted to redesign and relaunch our website and, in the process of doing that, migrate from Joomla to WordPress. I was also looking for a partner to not just do the development work and migration, but to project manage the entirety of the redesign process. This meant either bringing in or helping me to manage the design vendor and keeping the entire project on task. We’re a small firm, so the site management and marketing are my secondary responsibilities. We needed to hire a development firm to help us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a designer in mind, a woman who had worked with me previously, and I introduced her to Nate (Founder & Owner). They met and really kicked it off, so it was really the three of us starting from scratch. 

Nate managed all of the deliverables from the designer and reviewed the feasibility of the design within the template and the WordPress platform along the way, so that I didn’t have to review anything until the final high-fidelity design mockup. Nate enabled some animation capability and video elements on the site. He also integrated the site with our CRM for form submission. 

What is the team composition?

I worked exclusively with Nate on this project.

How did you come to work with Temper and Forge?

Nate was recommended to me by a former teammate who is somewhat of an expert in the marketing field. In January, we met to discuss the scope of work.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2020, and we just went live in April 2020.

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

We aren’t a traditional e-commerce or even a true B2B site in that we’re really trying to drive a lot of traffic to the site organically, so many the more traditional metrics aren’t as critical. Our real indicators would be lack of bugs, timeliness of project completion, and site speed and accuracy, all of which have been excellent.

How did Temper and Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Nate was excellent. He had a preference for using Monday.com, a tool that my firm likes to use as well, so that was very streamlined for us. He really kept us on task, which was really important for me so that I could ensure that my team was providing deliverables in a timely way without having to monitor that whole process myself. Nate was great about keeping our designer on time; she’s a very organized and meticulous person as well, so she valued that as well. I know from the designer that Nate was great to work with and very collaborative. 

Project management was a hugely important element for us; we obviously wanted to have a beautiful site, and that was achieved, but having someone who felt like an extension of the team and keeping us on task was huge. It was important to me that we were able to use the designer that we did. She actually has another full-time position, and the fact that we were able to be on time and very respectful of the time she was putting in to be a part of this project was a testament to Nate’s project management. That was really helpful to her.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d have to say two things: Nate has a great disposition and is really easy to work with, combined with his organizational and project management skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. It was really great overall.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you’re comfortable handing over the reins from a project management perspective. If someone wanted to follow their own procedures or manage the project themselves, they might want to vet if that would be as good of a fit, as opposed to a firm like ours where we really wanted someone who could come in and manage us while still being flexible.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Principal Writer and Co-Producer at my video production company. I oversee all copywriting and project production.

For what projects/services did your company hire Temper and Forge?

We didn't have a website so we hired Temper and Forge to build us one from scratch. Beyond design and implementation, he consulted on copy to help us represent ourselves accurately.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a website with intuitive design that accurately represented our company by displaying our work and team in a friendly, transparent, engaging way.

How did you select this vendor?

We heard about Temper and Forge through a friend who had used their services and had a great experience.

Describe the project in detail.

We first contracted Temper and Forge services in February of 2018 after we had rough drafts of our website copy. Over email, we discussed a design that would support the structure of our copy and Temper and Forge offered constructive criticism on our copy.

We finalized our copy and Nate implemented the design over the course of a few iterative sessions of builds and feedback. We were allowed edits upon request after the initial finalized site was done, given that his services were on retainer.

What was the team composition?

We always had full access to Nate Botelho, the founder and lead web designer at Temper and Forge. All of our discussions were with him and he delivered all website drafts.

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

Our site was built and edited on schedule with each deadline that we requested and we at ButAlso Productions were all very pleased with the finished product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There were no issues in workflow between our team and Temper and Forge. Communications were easy and prompt, and we never seemed to have any complaints.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We got a sense that Temper and Forge generally went above and beyond. Nate is clear-headed, quick, and understanding. He was always on time and his accomodations were beyond generous.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nate is realistic about expectations and works fast. We never faced inappropriate lack of progress or communication. We have no recommendations for improvement since we were so pleased with the result of Nate’s work and how he does it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director of Operations

For what projects/services did your company hire Temper and Forge?

We hired Temper and Forge to redesign our website and content. Nate was referred to us by another business owner who used his services.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to update our website. Our current site was outdated and needed a full overhaul. Nate was the perfect guy for the job.

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred to this vender through another business owner who had used his services.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Full website overhaul.

What was the team composition?

Nate worked closely with our team. He took our ideas and thoughts and made them a reality.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We needed a stronger digital footprint and having an update to date, streamline website was part of that. Thanks to Nate we have had more foot traffic to the website than we have in the past.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Nate kept us in the loop on progress as the project went forward. Weekly, sometimes daily, chats took place to keep us informed on progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Nate is extremely responsive and trustworthy. I would recommend him to anyone looking for website design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this time.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Digital Acumen is a New Hampshire-based technology company with ventures in advertising, data activation, and custom development. I am co-founder and Chief Operating Officer.

For what projects/services did your company hire Temper and Forge?

We initially hired T&F to assist with a string of web development projects that occurred in quick succession, all of which had extremely truncated timelines to completion. What resulted was a years long relationship in which the crack team of PM's, developers, and designers at T&F have been instrumental in everything we've done, from b2b/DTC web builds to custom app development.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to be able to offer faster, scalable, ongoing web services to our customers. We primarily work in WordPress and Shopify, with customers in the cannabis and cbd space. As such, integrating payment processors/with state seed-to-sale tools via API connections is table stakes. The ability to offer this kind of work in addition to our core business (programmatic advertising) has been a gamechanger.

How did you select this vendor?

We met T&F through a referral. We vetted a handful of vendors but Nate and his team brought the perfect blend of experience, speed, and affordability to the table.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

T&F built an entire digital ecosystem from the ground up which started with server architecture in order to facilitate state by state expansion (client: multi-state operator with cannabis operations in 13 states, each of which required its own microsite in addition to a corporate site and a cbd site with transactional ecomm functionality).

They built and deployed strategies to accommodate multi-state operations so that each state could comply with state guidelines and provide state-level teams with input and control over certain areas of their respective sites. They actively managed, maintained, improved, and roadmapped the next iterations of this ecosystem on a daily basis.

What was the team composition?

The vendor's team involved two core developers, an SEO/analytics person, and a UX/UI designer. For more specialized projects (map tools, physician directory, custom Shopify plugins), the core team was supplemented with effective subject matter experts.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

In total we worked to T&F to build:

• 18 unique websites
• $50+ million in sales
• Email list from less than 1,000 to over 1.3 million - 200 million targeted ad impressions across 13 states (cannabis) and 48 states (CBD) respectively
• $3.8B market cap for client

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was managed through a combination of AGILE methodology and the use of project management tool Monday.com. I thoroughly enjoyed the insights and feedback loop this tool created.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed and malleability set them apart. Scope changes were aplenty and T&F was willing to work with us to accommodate the client at every turn without missing deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't think anything could have been improved. Nate & co. are wizards.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications and Operations Manager for a Boston-based think tank and policy institute focused on the role of business leadership in creating a sustainable society. While we are a non-profit, we work primarily within the business and financial sectors and communicate with corporate executives, business leaders and investment management professionals.

For what projects/services did your company hire Temper and Forge?

Our previous website was designed in 2014 and had an outdated look, as well as lacking some of the functionality we required. We hired Temper and Forge to redesign the site to give it a more polished and professional appearance and increased functionality.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a site that would be more inviting and intuitive for visitors to navigate and that would showcase our publications and projects. We also wanted a way to track traffic to the site and in particular, to track who was downloading our publications.

How did you select this vendor?

I searched for web developers in the Boston area with WordPress expertise and created a shortlist of four vendors based on positive reviews and samples from their websites. I contacted each vendor and had a brief phone call or email exchange, after which I sent them an RFP detailing the requirements for the project. The vendors sent proposals and we selected Temper and Forge based on Nate's intuitive understanding of the project and our needs, as well as his reasonable price point.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected this vendor, I had a phone call with him to discuss the project in greater detail and we stayed in regular contact over email so that he could keep me updated on progress and I could answer any questions he had. Although we had some general ideas on how we wanted the site to look, most of the overall design was left to Nate, as well as all of the technical aspects of the site build.

Although there was an existing site, the back end was a bit of a mess and Nate wound up building most of the site from scratch. The draft site was ready within a month and we had a phone call so that he could take me through the site and I could provide feedback on the general look and direction.

He sent the next version within a few weeks, incorporating earlier feedback, and outlined his plan for completing the rest of the project. We provided further feedback and then at the last minute asked him to move up the launch date by a week to coincide with an event our CEO was attending. We were thrilled that he was able to meet the new deadline and still incorporate all of the feedback!

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with Nate, who did all of the design and technical work. I liaised with our CEO to show him drafts of the site and incorporate his feedback, but Nate did not communicate with him directly.

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

We were very pleased that we were able to launch the redesigned site right before an event that our CEO was speaking at. The site is much simpler to navigate and we're able to direct interested parties to our projects and publications more easily.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Nate was very easy to communicate with. He's very responsive to questions, detailed in his requests for information and patient with our lack of technical savvy and kept us regularly updated with his progress and work left to be done. He's also very personable with a great sense of humor! Most of our communication was over email, with phone calls whenever more detailed feedback or clarifications were needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was really impressed with Nate's skill and depth of knowledge, as well as his professionalism. He was easy to work with and we appreciated his patience and good humor throughout the project. They readily understood what we were looking for and delivered a beautiful and functional site.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I had no complaints about working with Temper and Forge. It was a pleasure working with Nate!