Business: Forge Digital Marketing
Phone/website: 630-200-0886, www.forgedigitalmarketing.com
Owner: Erin Schnittker
Years in business? 3
What does your business do? “We do digital marketing, which would be anything like e-mail marketing, social media marketing. We do Google ads … we also do search engine optimization, and that helps people’s websites. … What we do is we look at your website, we do an analysis of where your search terms are in your website. If you want to rank locally, we want to make sure Naperville is there. … We help companies be more visible online,” Schnittker. 26, said.
How’s business going? “It’s booming right now. I try to say that as humbly as possible. Referrals are a huge part of it, but we also get inbound leads because we rank very well locally for people looking for a website designer or a branding designer in Naperville.”
Is it all online? “We still do print. If someone wants us to help design a magazine ad or needs brochures for the front of their store … we’ve redesigned storefronts. It is a digital marketing company, but when we have a client looking to re-do their branding form the ground up, sometimes that involves print marketing or events.”
How did you get started? “I’ve been doing this for six years. I started in college,” said Schnittker, who commuted from Naperville to Loyola University in Chicago. She worked at a couple companies as an intern, and “got tired of working for other people,” she said.
Is it just you? “I now have a team to help me, but it was just me at the start. My brother Ricky helped me start the company. He has since passed away. … Ricky did all the sales in the beginning because I was not as outgoing. He was the guy who could talk to anybody. People naturally loved him. He helped get some of the clients we still work with today. … Over the past year and a half, I’ve pulled it together and hired a bunch of contractors. … We have copywriters, graphic designers, animators, a director of photography who does all our video work. … Anything you want to market your business, we can handle it.”
Was this always your plan? “I went to Loyola for advertising, public relations and film production. I originally wanted to direct movies. So, through that, I stumbled into the world of ‘what else can you do to make money in college?’ I quickly learned that website design was a good place to start.”
Does social media help? “I do a lot of networking using Facebook groups. … I’ve actually found lucrative leads for our company. … I try to bring value to the community. That comes back around and people end up wanting me to help them work on things.”
What’s the goal? “I want us to become an actual agency, which would have an office, a full-time staff (in addition to those working remotely). The goal is to have a Naperville location. My folks are moving to Florida so I think my long-term goal is to also have a Florida office.”
What’s the best part of having a business in Naperville? “It’s cool to meet other business owners and give them an opportunity, that they didn’t even know existed, to help them expand their business. … There’s a reason why people come here. It’s one of the nicest, friendliest places to live. … In the coffee shops, you find all these people who have their own companies and work remotely. It’s very ‘networky’ in Naperville.”
What challenges do you face? “Digital marketing is always changing. There’s always a new social media platform coming out. Google changes their algorithm every quarter or every year, and you need to understand what the implications are if you’ve been building something for a client and something changes with Google, which runs the world at this point.”
What’s the best part of this business? “Being able to help other people grow and do what they are passionate about makes me very happy.”
What misconceptions do people have about your business? “Smaller companies may go to a bigger web design agency and get quoted some outrageous price, so they think it’s the only way to go or they can’t afford it. … We have no overhead … we can charge drastically lower rates and we offer a product as good as these bigger agencies. … We can provide things from the $2,000 to $10,000 range as opposed to $60,000, $80,000 or $500,000.”
What advice would you give someone starting a business? “Don’t raise capital and take investment unless you really need to. … Don’t underestimate the power of branding. … If you look like you’re stuck in the ’80s, people don’t want to work with you in 2019.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.