Terms

Wonder Jam Wonder Jam is "a family of brands that assist entrepreneurs develop in a manner that's soulful, smart and energetic", in the words immortalized by Daft Punk, harder, better-performing, faster and more durable. One of the businesses, Wonderly, builds websites and also graphic branding software and tools for membership to help clients "set their own stamp". I talked to the its managing Partner Allie Lehman and developer Matt Hart to find out more.

Fine art and free-lance work for freedom

"My background is in the fine arts. I was in elementary school and did an an abundance of drawing as well as oil painting" claims Allie Lehman. "At high school, I was taught by an outstanding art teacher who, surprisingly advised me to be an illustrator or graphic artist, despite knowing little about what these things were! I decided to pursue graphic design and picked to it in college."

Allie was a student during the downturn in 2009 and was employed in Web Hosting Support. "It was a bit stressful nevertheless, I was able to learn a lot about servers, the method of the way WordPress became available, and every aspect of a website's existence," she remembers. "In 2013 I launched The Wonder Jam, now the parent company of the business. I quit my design job and took on full-time work for The Wonder Jam."

She had been collaborating along with Matt Hart for a couple years before that; he would code websites and she'd create websites. After that, they started working together much more often: "We've been working together for over 10 years, both initially as freelancers. It was an easy collaboration. Now we focus on service-based firms that are building WordPress websites," Allie adds.

Matt begins: "I do primarily WordPress development. This is a skill I learned by myself at the beginning of the decade. There were many users who were navigating the WordPress world the first idea was"We have to create CSS so that this theme can have the right colour scheme'. It got very boring very quick!" He laughs. When page builders like Beaver Builder and Elementor came into play, they gained flexibility: "We could do things using a customized approach that was geared towards the particular demands of our clients and truly satisfied us with our creativity."

Since their beginnings of collaboration, Allie and Matt have focused on "going to custom in a way that is affordable" According to Matt says: "We do only what our clients need and not the things that our clients do not. That's something our clients really want to know: they do not want to be awed by this and feel odd. They want to feel empowered. By using these tools we can achieve that."

View this post on Instagram

A blog post that is shared with The Wonder Jam (@thewonderjam)

Allie states: "In 2013, I created The Wonder Jam with my husband. We had started by freelancing on my own as an individual freelancer. We employed Matt as a developer contractor. We had a desire to get work done, we were looking to do the things we wanted to pursue, and were seeking the freedom to do so." It was then that the Wonder Jam was born.

Systems, soils and supports

"We live within Columbus, Ohio and it's a really welcoming open area for small-scale businesses" she says. "Matt was visiting the city in the summer of 2006 from Seattle and we began working with local customers. we would walk down the street downtown and see every business we've worked with." By the year 2020 after 7 seasons of The Wonder Jam and as The Wonder Jam began to grow into the nation, they became the company's parent, and now has three sister brands.

Wonderly is a service-based business which include non-profits, authors as well as chefs, fitness instructors and cooks. They also have the brand Basis that is focused on the business of retail and those selling products, and a third brandcalled Studio Wonder, an events area and photography studio in Columbus.

Read this article on Instagram

A shared post with The Wonder Jam (@thewonderjam)

Three brands give you a great deal of creative flexibility: "It allows our team to focus on what they really desire to accomplish, while having specific processes they follow," Allie says. "Because Matt and I started working together from the beginning, we have a decade of processes that we have developed. I have photos from 2017, where we were drawing whiteboards for every step of the process to make sure that our clients get the best guidance.

"The Wonder Jam operates as the "soil" that provides everything a small-scale business requires to be running in the background. Each sister brand can'sprout' in its own way and take advantage of the opportunities that arise. It allows each of these paths to be clear and free of obstacles that can create difficulties for running a one- or two-person enterprise," Matt continues. "We are a collective of businesses that can collaborate in tandem."

In this case, for instance The Basis brand is focused on Shopify as well as online shopping but sometimes, customers want to start blogging and to offer something stronger than the one Shopify could provide. That's why Wonderly comes in to help the Basis clients with the procedures that are related to WordPress. "We are able to support and collaborate with each other and function as a team however each one can be customized in a manner which is enjoyable for each of us," he smiles.

"The Wonder Jam sits as a supportive foundation; no-one can tell which partners to use or what amount of profit we can make - that's entirely dependent on the company's managing partner," continues Allie. The brands share resources like software and system for managing projects and offer an option for customers. The management partners are able to schedule a project. the team members assume the responsibility of the project as well as handle all administrative backend, including invoicing and contracts.

"It helps people such as Matt as well as myself concentrate on their work." Allie smiles. "I believe that we've created the perfect environment for working in; it comes back to making sure our clients get a good service. When customers contact us via email, they are confident that they will receive timely responses and feel that they're being that they're being guided throughout the whole procedure."

Matt has a similar opinion: "We say we don't design for you, we design things together with you. We're not going on a trip and create something on our own. We meet a lot and let them see the process from start until the very end. It's different from getting into our crafting rooms and making stuff all alone!"

Contexts and clients

Matt and Allie collaborate with lots of different organizations that need their websites to be available in a multitude of ways. "Some of our clients are nonprofit organizations. They tend to be very robust sites. They're most likely too complicated, or they've existed for quite some time. So, we generally consolidate or condensing the sites so they can be simpler," Matt explains.

"We're engaged with individuals who would like membership websites similar to people who work in the industry of food," Allie continues. Wonderly's clients tend to be people who do human-service-oriented work: "They're fighting for equality, they're looking to talk to their audience a little differently. It's not uncommon for us to partner with individuals who've invested a an enormous amount of their own energy, time, and their money into their venture," she adds.

The Wonder Jam brands work in partnership with many different organizations that range from national charities to single-person entrepreneurs that are transitioning to full-time employment from their side business. "We've been trying to design solutions that meet the requirements of each. We're finding out the scale that works best and also what to be considered in a different manner in cases where the scale differs dramatically. It's lots of fun for us to discover!" Matt smiles.

The author adds "With non-profit organizations, they typically already have a structure in place and have already figured out the legal hoops they had to cross. This is often possible, because we're not looking to make an entirely new start." The team can reframe the scenario and identify what context might move somebody to make a donation, then smooth out that process.

In the initial phase of the collaboration and each customer that is a part of the partnership regardless of the type of business or the size of their site The Wonder Jam team discusses the concept of customer experience. "A website could be an instrument that's efficient in purchasing, however, it can also be efficient in getting customers to return, or being an resource. It is often asked if this is a resource or can it aid in fostering VIPs?' - which are the most beneficial clients for small-scale companies," Allie explains.

Matt and Allie Both are of the opinion that websites don't have to be all things for everyone, and that it's important to think strategically. "Whenever we're creating one which is a membership-based website, the number one factor we're considering is the desire for people to come back and continue to visit it all the time, and to feel that it's the most valuable experience they've had," Matt adds.

Case studies: Simi and Molly

Allie begins: "One of our clients, Simi Botic, has an exercise club and also a part in Unmeasured and is centered focused on body movement. It's called"the Barre Method. Simi has such a compassionate approach to "Just Move instead of trying to "punish" your body. There's a myriad of alternatives based on your flexibility."

When Simi first began her journey on Wonderly there was only a tiny amount of videos available on the site and were changed every week. "It allows things to feel more organized and allows Simi to make sure that she is able to work with her schedule" Allie confirms. "After approximately two to three years, we expanded the number of members, giving her the opportunity for greater value the people she serves this is amazing. We're thrilled that we're in a position to change our strategy as our customers' needs shift. We're in the process of reassessing our layoutand are making minor changes before implement the changes into our future process of development."

Another client, Molly Baz, wanted to change her platform to one that could be more distinctive and brand-name. "Her style of branding is flexible and unique to her. She wanted her followers to be able to 'live by that aesthetic by sharing recipes, updates and other content along with the type of information they are accustomed to however it was in a way that felt genuine and true to her personality," Allie explains.

Molly's community has become so important to her. "To bring it to the format that's the same style as her style, as well as changing the website from 'Oh yes, there's a pic of Molly and you can get her cookbook' to something more substantial within and beyond the membership. This adds up to an immense quantity of worth" Allie muses.

"Something we've tried to accomplish with each of our clients is think about what life will be like for them when they're not in contact with us daily. We try to ensure they've got the proper equipment to use our tool we've created for them - and Molly's was a great instance of this." Matt agrees.

Additional information along with the future plan

Matt and Allie are working on websites and companies that need "a substantial quantity of accessibility" for people with disabilities. "We're working with truly amazing groups who are working to create these sites and prototypes, which are approved by the various groups of people."

The majority of them agree that they've experienced a great deal of luck with their relationship with their customers "It's an absolute pleasure to continue to work with really amazing people. The clients we work with are very thoughtful people and we always feel very respected," Allie concludes. "We enjoy the privilege of working with fascinating people who have values that drive their job. It's an honor to make things that are for their benefit," Matt smiles.

You can learn more on Allie Lehman and Matt Hart along with their team, as well as you might consider working with them, at thewonderjam.com and withwonderly.com.

Article was posted on here