Recent Client Projects

TF Metals Report is the premium online destination for discussions on precious metals, commodities, and our economic situation.  The site has been in existence for a very brief amount of time, yet already has traffic ranking it among the top 30,000 websites in the world.  TF Metals was founded by a former licensed securities professional with nearly 20 years of experience who writes under the pseudonym of "Turd Ferguson".

Given our expert knowledge of the socio-economic and global financial landscape and our deep experience in developing technology solutions for entrepreneurial organizations, we were hired by TF Metals to be their system implementation consultants.   The goal of our work was to bring to life Turd's vision of a vibrant, unique online community focused on precious metals and people helping each other during difficult economic times.

Our team worked closely with Turd to develop a design and approach for his new site that would strike a balance between whimsy and focus, humor and seriousness.  The results of our collaboration have been astonishing.  The site has been hailed as the best, most valuable, and most spirited economic blogger community on the Internet, and participation grows by leaps and bounds each day.

Daily blog posts regularly have over 10,000 views and more than 300 comments from Turd's lively and active community.  The TF Metals forum is frequented by a wide range of registered members looking to share information on metals, miners, energy, grains, preparedness, and current economic events.  A creative "hat tip" system was developed to foster positive feedback and recognize community members who add value.  Other site features include online chat, financial charts, donations via PayPal, and an interactive filter for searching through the thousands of comments posted each day.

Given the millions of visitors to TF Metals, we launched the site with a robust system infrastructure to support both near-term and long-term goals.  The TF Metals environment will be able to grow and meet the performance needs of a significant size user community.

The Shimshock Group continues to work with Turd to help expand the awareness of the TF Metals site.  We collaborate regularly with him on new business strategy and technology initiatives, and are excited about the opportunity to help spread his messages via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), advertising, social networking, marketing, and many other avenues.

BetterNetworker.com is the #1 social community for home business owners and network marketers. The site has over 75,000 members, 500 companies, and a site traffic ranking among the top 4,000 websites worldwide. Community members write content, build business relationships, and interact on a lively forum. BetterNetworker also provides an opportunity for visitors to join the Association of Better Networkers (ABN). ABN members receive access to exclusive training seminars, membership badges, and lead capture tools.

The leadership team of BetterNetworker wanted to invigorate the site with new features and attract new ABN members, but needed to ensure the infrastructure and code base could withstand the increased functionality and traffic. The Shimshock Group was hired to serve as system integrator for this revitalization project.

We worked closely with the CEO and CTO to identify key risks, system limitations, and areas for future enhancements. This feedback was then used to prioritize work tasks and ensure we were continuously focused on the most pressing business and user experience issues. The evolution of the BetterNetworker site was rapid and dramatic. Many existing problems were quickly eliminated, allowing us to focus on exciting new opportunities for enhancing user functionality.

Major tasks accomplished during the revitalization project include:

• Implementation of company groups, allowing users to connect, network, and share information with co-workers and interested business parties
• Creation of a streamlined registration and membership process, significantly increasing the number of site registrants and subscribers
• Design and development of a highly flexible lead capture system, allowing users to add tailored lead capture forms to every piece of content they write on the site and companies they represent
• Configuration and implementation of various server tuning techniques to maximize site performance and traffic.
• Creation of numerous informational advertising features to promote the site among community members, including user badges, content blocks, and on-site slideshow presentations.

Our work led to demonstrable increases in BetterNetworker's performance, registration, membership, traffic, and lead generation. During the course of the revitalization project we observed the following results:

• 74% improvement in site traffic rankings
• 123% increase in leads captured
• 72% increase in registered users
• 500% increase in paid subscribers
• Highest site traffic days in over two years
• 51% increase in weekly site visitors
• Developed 10 of the top 20 most visited pages

The significant improvements made to BetterNetworker.com has led to increased interest by visitors, impressive SEO gains, improved revenue, increased site uptime, and a surge in user-generated content. The site is prime for future growth and clearly outshines all other sites in the home business and network marketing industries.

TulaLife Inc. is a leading Chicago-based organizing and redesign company.  Shimshock Group partnered with TulaLife to provide business coaching, develop a corporate website, help with the creation of marketing materials, and offer advice on business operations.  As part of the effort, we also helped TulaLife refine their business mission and objectives.  Our goal was to ensure all of our work accurately represented the brand vision of the company.

ChrisMartenson.com is an online community and information center founded by Chris Martenson, PhD.  Dr. Martenson's mission is to contribute to a tipping point of national awareness, to a readjustment of national priorities, and to a renewed valuation of personal connection and human prosperity.  The centerpiece of Martenson's work is the Crash Course, the world's most concise video seminar on how our economy, energy systems, and environment interact, and how they will impact the future.

ChrisMartenson.com partnered with the Shimshock Group to realize his vision of a vibrant online community with various opportunities for revenue generation and continuous marketing.  Over the course of many major releases, the ChrisMartenson.com infrastructure significantly evolved, and now includes:

• Highly scalable, optimized, and stable technology platform
• Flexible, growth-oriented content management system using Drupal
• Improved subscription offerings and donation capabilities
• Integrated advertising opportunities
• Robust e-commerce functionality leveraging Ubercart
• Customizable seminar marketing
• Private and public online forums
• High-quality video and podcast delivery
• External marketing through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, BitTorrent, DVDs
• Unique functionality based on user roles

Additional functionality is planned for the near future to provide a greater sense of community and more user interaction.  The result of this work is a thriving, active community of supporters, nearly two million views of the Crash Course, solid revenue growth, high search engine optimization, and a website which ranks among the Top 30,000 in the world (Alexa), which places it within the top 0.02%.

Lumigrate develops and delivers video seminars for patients seeking to be proactive managers of their health, and for medical practitioners looking to increase their knowledge of specific medical conditions.  Lumigrate's seminars are conducted by leading medical professionals, and the company's stated goal is to be a trusted, honest and progressive source of information for health-seekers.

The Shimshock Group provided assistance in branding, product positioning, business strategy, and developing an e-commerce Internet presence where video seminars could be purchased and downloaded.  Shimshock Group also provided business coaching and technology advisory services throughout the length of the project.

Mrs. Root's Organics is an innovative food company, developing nutritious, healthy, and delicious organic muffins.  Their products use only the finest ingredients, including fresh organic fruits and vegetables, a variety of organic whole grain and gluten-free flours, rich all-natural sweeteners, and much more.  We partnered with Mrs. Root's to help create their branding, marketing materials, and website presence, and provided coaching throughout the initial planning stages.

Freeople is a portal website dedicated to promoting the global cause of freedom. Freeople's goal is to provide candidates, supporters, and third-party providers with an integrated toolset for pursuing freedom-minded ideals. This is accomplished through content, applications, and services offered to site members and campaigns of those running for public office.

Shimshock Group developed the strategic plan for the site, and guided its implementation from the first design specifications until its public launch.  We also were responsible for the set up of all operational and financial activities to support the business.