Make it Active, LLC
Company History:
From California
To
New Hampshire
How It All Began...
1994
When it All Began...
After a few years of working for other companies, one of Make it Active's current owners started a web development company in Los Angeles in 1994, with a focus on marketing and website design. While websites are now often controlled by the marketing department, back in 1994, most companies did not even have a website; and the few that did, were run by IT departments. Even in our early days, it was always been our message to businesses and clients, that websites are part of online marketing endeavors, and should be run by Marketing professionals; not the IT or graphic design department.
1994
1995
Changes...
As time progressed, the company went through a re-branding in 1995, and the name was changed to Webtrify. The idea was simple... "Don't just create a website... ELECTRIFY your website with WEBTRIFY!" The company grew and rellocated to the San Fransisco Bay Area, in an office in Downtown Oakland, CA.
After considerable growth, the company expanded, and starting working with not only local clients, but national and international clients as well. One area that the company focused on the most was online marketing. The owner believed that online marketing was not just about getting a customer's website done, but also about finding channels to promote that business online, and using search engines to help drive traffic to that business. While the internet and search engines grew, so did the opportunity to utilize this to help market businesses.
After considerable growth, the company expanded, and starting working with not only local clients, but national and international clients as well. One area that the company focused on the most was online marketing. The owner believed that online marketing was not just about getting a customer's website done, but also about finding channels to promote that business online, and using search engines to help drive traffic to that business. While the internet and search engines grew, so did the opportunity to utilize this to help market businesses.
1999
Push it Along...
The company grew, and relocated back to Los Angeles in 1999. At that, the company was sold to a third party, along with a portfolio of other businesses, in order for the owner to dedicate more time towards traditional marketing with large companies, rather than primarily being a website development and graphic design company, which is unfortunately what we were pigeonholed as.
A home automation company was created at this time, as a side project. The concept revolved around security and lighting automation. Specifically, using computer technology, including devices or voice control, to turn lights on and off, and display video remotely when motion was detected at the home. The name of this endeavour? Make it Active, of course!
It revolved around active lighting and having an "active home," controlled by using modern smart technology. Unfortunately, it was a niche market at the time, and marketing consulting was growing at a faster pace, making this side project more of a distraction. As we all know now, this technology is extremely common today due to devices such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Philips Hue, RING and other smart security doorbells and automation products. At the time thoguh, it was just too much of a niche market. I'm sure many of us can remember looking down at the idea of investing in Amazon stock not long after this point... who knew?
Anyway, despite dropping the home automation project, the name was too good to let go to waste. So, this eventually led to the re-branding of the marketing company to Make it Active.
A home automation company was created at this time, as a side project. The concept revolved around security and lighting automation. Specifically, using computer technology, including devices or voice control, to turn lights on and off, and display video remotely when motion was detected at the home. The name of this endeavour? Make it Active, of course!
It revolved around active lighting and having an "active home," controlled by using modern smart technology. Unfortunately, it was a niche market at the time, and marketing consulting was growing at a faster pace, making this side project more of a distraction. As we all know now, this technology is extremely common today due to devices such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Philips Hue, RING and other smart security doorbells and automation products. At the time thoguh, it was just too much of a niche market. I'm sure many of us can remember looking down at the idea of investing in Amazon stock not long after this point... who knew?
Anyway, despite dropping the home automation project, the name was too good to let go to waste. So, this eventually led to the re-branding of the marketing company to Make it Active.
1999
2003
Time to Rebuild...
At this point, time was spent learning newer technologies, and building a solid foundation with content management systems. This turned out to be a good decision, as these systems (Drupal, Joomla, WordPress), would end up becoming some of the main systems used for modern websites.
By 2004, a partnership was created with someone that brought over a decade of additional corporate and business experience to the company. We continued to grow, and soon became well known for our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services, which offered results to our clients, while also avoiding the common unscrupulous techniques often used by online marketers. At a time when everyone was using phony links pages, and focusing on improper techniques, we continued staying above the fray. Instead, we focused on learning the complete methodology of long term effective SEO strategies and adhering to all the rules set forth by search engines such as Google.
By 2004, a partnership was created with someone that brought over a decade of additional corporate and business experience to the company. We continued to grow, and soon became well known for our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services, which offered results to our clients, while also avoiding the common unscrupulous techniques often used by online marketers. At a time when everyone was using phony links pages, and focusing on improper techniques, we continued staying above the fray. Instead, we focused on learning the complete methodology of long term effective SEO strategies and adhering to all the rules set forth by search engines such as Google.
2004
Working for the Clampdown...
The company continued growing due to SEO, though the owner ended up doing it more as a side consulting job due to short term contracts being turned into long term employment over the next few years. Turning 5 million dollar companies into 20 million dollar companies, as a salaried employee, wasn't exactly our cup of tea (earl grey, hot). Working as a Marketing Director or V.P. of Marketing for large companies had some perks, but we especially enjoyed spending time working with our clients who owned small businesses, and helping them turn around their companies and become more profitable with SEO and online marketing services.
2004
2008
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
We continued growing and dedicated much more of our time to running Make it Active. Over the next 7 years, we had a variety of short term and long term contracts. We also spent some of our time consulting and running marketing departments for a few companies.
We had an office in Pomona, CA, and despite being on the outskirts of Los Angeles county, our success grew due to our rank on Google in Los Angeles.
One of issues of living in Southern California, is that it is difficult to dedicate time to small businesses because so much time is spent on traffic, that it makes smaller projects less appealing to take on. Even larger projets would sometimes be a burden for our small, growing company. For example, we once met with a client who owned a very popular shop in Beverly Hills. The client needed lots of attention, and after a few trips back and forth (2-4 hours each way in traffic), for simple discussions or canceled meetings, we felt overwhelmed. The project itself wasn’t that overwhelming, but since we were ranking so high in search engines, whenever a high profile client contact us, we would go through the motions, often driving in L.A. traffic until the point of exhaustion. In fact, we often turned down more business than we took because of the amount of driving required in traffic.
Despite our growing success, we often felt unsatisfied due to the lifestyle out west. There was enough business to go around, but as a family owned business, we often felt overworked due to the amount of time that we spent in traffic. In fact, it often made more sense to take longer, lower paying contracts, than it did to take on more profitable short term projects.
We had an office in Pomona, CA, and despite being on the outskirts of Los Angeles county, our success grew due to our rank on Google in Los Angeles.
One of issues of living in Southern California, is that it is difficult to dedicate time to small businesses because so much time is spent on traffic, that it makes smaller projects less appealing to take on. Even larger projets would sometimes be a burden for our small, growing company. For example, we once met with a client who owned a very popular shop in Beverly Hills. The client needed lots of attention, and after a few trips back and forth (2-4 hours each way in traffic), for simple discussions or canceled meetings, we felt overwhelmed. The project itself wasn’t that overwhelming, but since we were ranking so high in search engines, whenever a high profile client contact us, we would go through the motions, often driving in L.A. traffic until the point of exhaustion. In fact, we often turned down more business than we took because of the amount of driving required in traffic.
Despite our growing success, we often felt unsatisfied due to the lifestyle out west. There was enough business to go around, but as a family owned business, we often felt overworked due to the amount of time that we spent in traffic. In fact, it often made more sense to take longer, lower paying contracts, than it did to take on more profitable short term projects.
2015
Go Our Own Way...
Make it Active continued working with a variety of clients, thanks in part to comping up so high in search engines. Unfortunatley, it was often more practical to continue working long term contracts due to time on the road. Plus, the owners (also husband and wife) decided to have children, and so the next few years were mainly focused on being a growing family, with less emphasis placed on a growing business.
By 2013, the owners started researching places around the country to eventually relocate. They waited until the time was right, and by 2015, decided to relocate to New Hampshire; a state with an entrepreneurial spirit, and much more diverse weather than Southern California. Prior to moving, the company turned over clients to a local Los Angeles competitor, and started the business over from scratch on the opposite side of the country… Well, not necessarily from scratch. As a business with a long history, Make it Active had the literature, the website, and the business plan in place, but started in a new, unfamiliar part of the country. The company also registered with the state as an LLC and had a new customer on the same day the registration took place. The company became more about Google Street View Virtual Tours, website design, and SEO. Due to expertise in those areas, the owners had no concern that they could grow the business to be as it once was.
In no time, the company started gaining recognition throughout New England for its online marketing skills. The owners would drive (and walk) for hours, speaking with business owners, and passing out fliers. As a business that was in a new place, with new people, they found it easy to grow as there were not many companies in the region offering the same services. The owners were excited to be able to focus their time growing the business, and getting to call a new place home.
By 2013, the owners started researching places around the country to eventually relocate. They waited until the time was right, and by 2015, decided to relocate to New Hampshire; a state with an entrepreneurial spirit, and much more diverse weather than Southern California. Prior to moving, the company turned over clients to a local Los Angeles competitor, and started the business over from scratch on the opposite side of the country… Well, not necessarily from scratch. As a business with a long history, Make it Active had the literature, the website, and the business plan in place, but started in a new, unfamiliar part of the country. The company also registered with the state as an LLC and had a new customer on the same day the registration took place. The company became more about Google Street View Virtual Tours, website design, and SEO. Due to expertise in those areas, the owners had no concern that they could grow the business to be as it once was.
In no time, the company started gaining recognition throughout New England for its online marketing skills. The owners would drive (and walk) for hours, speaking with business owners, and passing out fliers. As a business that was in a new place, with new people, they found it easy to grow as there were not many companies in the region offering the same services. The owners were excited to be able to focus their time growing the business, and getting to call a new place home.
2015
2018
Movin' On Up...
Since relocating, Make it Active, LLC has gained clients throughout New Hampshire and the New England region (as well as nationally too). The company has built partnerships, worked with clients on everything from website design, SEO, to Google Street View Virtual Tours, and have received some local and national recognition.
As the company has continued growing, and while most of the services have stayed relatively unchanged since 2003, they decided to add a few new services, including full color printing, and promotional product sales. In October of 2018, the owner's entrepreneurial spirit helped the company gain some national media exposure. FOX Business did a story about the company, capturing the essence of what is contained here on the company history page, and showcasing it for the world to see!
Make it Active built its business based on relationships with its clients. The company has consistently demonstrated to clients that the concern for the compamy is always to focus on the client's best interests, and do whatever possible to help their businesses grow. This is why the majority of new clients come from referrals, and why the company has, and will, continue growing.
As the company has continued growing, and while most of the services have stayed relatively unchanged since 2003, they decided to add a few new services, including full color printing, and promotional product sales. In October of 2018, the owner's entrepreneurial spirit helped the company gain some national media exposure. FOX Business did a story about the company, capturing the essence of what is contained here on the company history page, and showcasing it for the world to see!
Make it Active built its business based on relationships with its clients. The company has consistently demonstrated to clients that the concern for the compamy is always to focus on the client's best interests, and do whatever possible to help their businesses grow. This is why the majority of new clients come from referrals, and why the company has, and will, continue growing.
2019
Keep Moving
The new year started out great. In January, Make it Active rellocated to a new larger office space in Dover, just minutes from Portsmouth, NH. As the company grows, it continues to strive to help its customers also continue growing through SEO, and helping them get a strong return on investment. The new location gives Make it Active a chance to also put more effort into printing, promotions, and creating signs and other print products.
2019
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