Derek Schmidt, started DesignLoud as a freelancer in 2011. He spent the first two years growing the business and providing white-label services for other businesses, making products for companies they could rebrand as their own.

After assembling a team in 2014, including project and operations manager Kelly Haviland, the business began to thrive, and his original goals for DesignLoud changed.

“At the time of founding the company I just wanted to offer honest services for a fair price,” Schmidt said in an email. “While that still holds true to this day, we have evolved from just doing graphic design or just doing websites to helping our clients understand the mechanics of everything and how your website, SEO, marketing materials and social media all serve a purpose and are interconnected in the digital world.”

Recently, he’s rebranded the company. 

“Once I started talking to clients, especially ones that may come from other agencies, I really found out what it was that made my company so different,” Schmidt said. “The time we take to educate and develop trust with out clients without them feeling like they were getting nickeled and dimed as they say. So this is what DesignLoud evolved to, and what began to set us apart.”

As part of the rebranding, the company relocated to tekMountain.

“Being located in such a vibrant location allows us to tap in to the eco-system they have created for themselves. This also allows us to develop relationships with other professionals in tekMountain so we are able to accommodate almost any need our client may have if we do not offer those services ‘in house,’” Schmidt said.

During the change, Schmidt also took a look at the company’s direction.

“The goals of the rebranding had been to trim away the fat and provide a clear focus on the website,” he said. “We also wanted to make sure that all of our digital marketing efforts were consistent and followed the strategy we set out with in the beginning. Just like what we tell our clients, every business needs to have goals and be able to measure those goals through time.”

Currently, the company consists of a team of six people.

“We believe in keeping such a small staff allows for less communication errors and a more personal relationship with our clients,” Schmidt said. “We also utilize an agency structure, which allows us to ramp up or down depending on client needs which helps us to provide value and cost savings to our clients.”

DesignLoud has worked with many businesses – both local and national – directly and as a white-label service.

“Internally, we are excited to have the opportunity to work with Cortech Solutions, which provides products, support and solutions to R&D departments and the scientific sector. We also just signed on Furniture Fair, which has 10 locations throughout North Carolina,” Schmidt said.

Other clients have included the Atlanta Falcons, Hampton Inn & Suites, Bar-B-Cutie corporate, Window Gang corporate and eyecarecenter.