Motion.io Development Update

Episode Transcript:

[Designing Growth introduction plays]

[00:00:00] Happy Thursday, everybody. And welcome back to designing growth. It is a very snowy day here in Denver, Colorado looking out the window, got a couple inches on the ground and.

[00:00:20] Things are moving and grooving [email protected]. This episode is going to be a little bit different than our traditional episode.

[00:00:30] Last week, we put out part two of our master class on how to get web design clients. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you go back and listen to those two episodes. A lot of good tips in there. If you have a business that does web design for clients. And you are looking to bring in more revenue and bring in more business.

[00:00:53] Those two episodes also have a. Also have accompanying videos up on our YouTube channel. So go check those out as well for all of that information, head to our blog and just click on our. On our latest and just click on our latest blog post it’s titled how to get more web design clients, both episodes in both parts of the video are in there.

[00:01:16] Hey.

[00:01:21] This week, I’m going to be switching gears just a little bit. This is going to be another solo episode. Where I just want to talk about what’s going on [email protected], because it’s been a little while since we’ve given sort of any kind of development update about the motion.io product itself. And I wanted to take some time to explain how things have evolved and where we are now.

[00:01:53] So.

[00:02:25] If you’re newer to this podcast and not familiar. With the journey that has led up to myself and my other two, co-founders wanting to create motion.io.

[00:02:38] I wanted to give some background, but you can also go back and listen to episodes. One and three of this podcast, we’re go into a lot more detail.

[00:02:48] Basically, we set out to make motion.io. At this point.

[00:03:22] The long story short is that we set out to.

[00:03:26] The long story short is that we set out to create motion.io nearly 10 months ago at this point was when we kind of had our first conversation.

[00:03:37] If you are new to this podcast, I was hired as employee number three at Perry Rosa at the. Agency Perry Rosenblum. My now co-founder, uh, started. And we were building websites for therapists. My other co-founder had a business where they were. Had he business, where they were building websites for funeral homes and that industry.

[00:04:03] Along the way we encountered some problems that there were no good tools to manage projects and collaborate with clients in an effective way. So our initial goal of motion was to improve that collaboration process.

[00:04:24] Fast forward a couple months, we started to get into developing motion.io after speaking with a bunch of agencies and identifying the problems that they had faced.

[00:04:34] motion.io at this point now has been in development for nearly four months. And it’s really exciting for us because it is now fully operational. And we’re just about ready to start bringing on our first users to motion dot I out. What this means right now is. Getting access to motion.io is invite only. You have to be a part of our launch list and schedule a demo with us. But if you do, and you like what you see with emotion.io, what we’re doing is we are building a onboarding plan for the, from the ground up for folks who want to use it. This means taking your existing process, taking the ways that you work with clients, how your project management tool is set

[00:05:20] And converting that to a project within motion.io. So that the first time. So the first time you go in and use motion.io, you have a project template and a process that matches up with the way that you work currently, but you’re able to leverage all of these great features of motion.io that make it such an effective tool for collaboration.

[00:05:42] With clients.

[00:05:48] That aside, I did want to talk about some of the new findings and some of the new things that we’ve added since we began this process of developing Dot IO because as we’ve been creating and as we’ve Because as we’ve been developing and Zack on our team has done just such an amazing job. But. As he’s.

[00:06:08] As Zach on our team has been doing such an amazing job, developing motion.io. What Perry and myself have been doing is showing folks how motion.io works and getting their feedback as at every step of the way so that we can be sure that we’re building the right things and we’re building in. The right functionality.

[00:06:33] Within these demo, conversations that with, Within these demos that we’ve been having with motion.io and showing folks who work at agencies who are creative breath professionals, whether it be brand design, web design. Uh, even a peril. We’ve been learning a lot of things as we go.

[00:06:55] And I kind of wanted to talk about them because it’s pretty profound how a small shift in the way that we’re thinking about motion.io has led to some really game changing updates.

[00:07:18] So what we’ve learned in the last four months.

[00:07:27] As I had mentioned briefly when we set out to build motion dot. Uh, we thought that the single biggest problem, the thing that we needed to solve for was client collaboration, which meant getting the things that you need from clients to complete a project, whether it be content, whether it be brand assets, whether it be feedback or approvals, as well as show clients what was going on and making

[00:07:50] Easy for them to have a clear roadmap of the project that you were working on.

[00:07:57] The more we showed motion.io to folks. The more, it became clear that there was another problem buried within this problem of client collaboration. It was true. Folks. Didn’t have a good client portal and a good client interface. Many of the, many of the people we spoke with had tried to use client portal and had a bad experience. They tried to use honey books, client portal. It was just too simple and couldn’t be customized.

[00:08:28] Or they were using a sauna, but they were creating. A project.

[00:08:36] So that client portal piece, we identified pretty quickly, but as we spoke with even more folks, we identified a, another issue. That was.

[00:08:49] That was really a cross between project management and client collaboration. And.

[00:08:58] The 10.

[00:09:00] The high level overview of what this looks like is people. Is creative professionals. Who were working with clients who had an agency. Did not have any one tool that enabled them to operate.

[00:09:22] So the problem that we discovered within this. So the problem that we just. The problem that we discovered that is this sort of next layer down of wanting to improve client collaboration. Is that.

[00:09:44] Is that there was no one tool that could be utilized to manage a project. And also have a client can facing component.

[00:09:56] So even if a agency was able to create a nice looking client portal, It meant that they were oftentimes doing all of the work that they did in that client portal to update status is to.

[00:10:12] Create tasks for a client that was duplicated somewhere else. What this looked like a lot of times is people would be, is.

[00:10:22] A few of the creative agencies we talked at talk. A few of the creations. What this looked like sometimes for a sort of functional example is one of the creative agencies we talked to was using a sauna to manage their projects. They were happy with it. It was working great.

[00:10:39] They had all of their tasks in a sauna. They had a timeline for the project in a sauna, but the problem was. Is that they also wanted the client to be able to have a view of the project.

[00:10:53] Where they ran into trouble is when they wanted the client to also have a view of that same project that they were managing in a sauna.

[00:11:03] Because of sauna, isn’t really set out a set up out of the box for client collaboration. This agency was creating a entire duplicate version of that project with a simplified timeline that the client could easily understand.

[00:11:21] As well as using this second project, they created within a sauna to hide all of the internal communication from clients.

[00:11:35] Probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but what the date, but probably doesn’t sound like a big deal at first, but what this means and what having these two sort of separate views where there’s one for you and then one for your client and they don’t speak with each The problem is that you have to go in and every time that you update or do something in your internal agency view, you also have to go to the client view and update that as well.

[00:12:05] That can add up quickly, especially if you’re working with a lot of clients at one

[00:12:11] And we found that it was a huge pain point for people.

[00:12:17] A couple of other issues that were prevalent across the board is that.

[00:12:33] So, whether it’s a sauna and you have to create two separate views. Or you’re using something like dub Sato, maybe for your client management and Trello for your. Internal project tracking the issue is that these systems. Don’t speak with each other. And there’s no way if you update something in one place that it automatically gets updated in the next, and you can create this sort of separate view for a client.

[00:13:05] And agencies aren’t able to have These two components of the project where there’s a client view. And then there’s your internal agency view.

[00:13:22] In addition, another big problem is that all of these project management tools, whether it’s Trello, whether it’s a sauna. They are super customizable, but with that customizability becomes a L.

[00:13:36] But with that customizability oftentimes. Adds a lot of complexity.

[00:13:48] Because the way that one agency has there, a sauna set up, for example, might contain a lot of internal language and processes that are completely different from another agencies. Uh, sauna instance.

[00:14:05] Well, that customizability can be great. If you want to use a sauna with a client, that means that the client has to learn that language and learn that internal process as well.

[00:14:23] So what we’re trying to do with motion.io. So this led to us. Re picturing some big parts of motion dot I out. Namely, what we decided is, Hey, there needs to be a. Agency or an internal aspect of the project that is super customizable. Allows you to create a motion project that is unique to your process and does all of the things that you need to do. But on the other side, on the client side, have that be a standardized view for the client. So that then, so when a client logs in to.

[00:15:03] So that when a client gets invited to emotion project for the first time, they immediately know what’s going on, they don’t have to try and Decipher your internal language or process, or be walked through motion.io. It’s super straightforward for them to see, Hey, this is where to see. Where their project stands, what

[00:15:25] To see number one, where their project stands with a clear tracker that shows what stage of the project that they are in as well as quickly highlights. Hey. As well as.

[00:15:39] And a view for clients that. And within this. And with this progress tracker view, it also highlights the things that. Your agency is working on, but also the things that they need to do that are required in order for that project to move to the next stage. So it’s a really simplified view. It is nice and clean. The client only has three tabs to choose from. They don’t even have to log in. They are able to get pooled straight to a motion.io.

[00:16:09] A motion project and just quickly complete that task.

[00:16:16] Which was something else we heard was super important.

[00:16:21] I would say nearly 90%. It was amazing how strong. It was amazing how many different businesses we spoke with that said. If I am going to use a client portal, it has to be logged in less clients, get very frustrated and very easily put off. By having to log into a new software. Would that people also shared that their clients don’t want emails for everything that happens in a project.

[00:16:51] That was one of the big things that.

[00:16:54] A couple of the agencies that we spoke with thought was problematic about Trello that updated you about everything. So we’re going to, so we’ve simplified that within motion.io, where a client just gets one daily digest update each day. That’s very simple. That shows recent comments and shows the recent tasks.

[00:17:13] And over time, we’re going to be building in a number of other automations to personalize that experience more. And only send emails when you want to.

[00:17:30] So with these two views in mind.

[00:17:37] So with these two. So with these two views, these sort of two components to emotion.io in mind, where there is a client view that is really easy for clients to understand, they know what’s going on. They can clearly see the progress being made and the client view, which is more customizable and has a list of the tasks.

[00:17:57] And it’s super flexible where you can do anything you want in there. You can hide certain communications, you can change the status of things. You can delay. Certain. Steps in certain tasks within a project and automatically delay the rest of

[00:18:17] I want to talk about. So with these two views in mind, the internal client view. So with these. So with these two components in mind,

[00:18:30] So what these two views in, so what these two views, the client facing view, as well as your internal view and the way that you work with that project internally with those two things in mind.

[00:18:44] I want to talk a little

[00:18:48] So what these, so. After really dialing in our vision that the product needed two separate views. It needed a client view that was super streamlined, super simplified, easy for clients to go in, to get pulled right into a motion project and provide what they need. And then.

[00:19:09] And provide what they need. And then that internal view where you have a lot more flexibility of structuring your project and customizing things and setting up tasks, delaying things, changing status is.

[00:19:28] What these two views are gonna make it so that you are able to do. Is manage your project effectively, internally, as well as provide your client a.

[00:19:41] Manage the project internally, where you can assign things to other team members, you can delay things, you can customize the process. And that client view where clients see a very simple. Where clients have a easy to understand.

[00:19:56] Simple to use Homebase for the project. What you’ll be able to do is effectively manage your project internally.

[00:20:07] Well, communicating with your client and collaborating with your client. Well, communicating and collaborating with your client.

[00:20:20] Externally.

[00:20:23] And the big thing about this is it doesn’t require you to create two separate views or use two separate tools when you do something in. When you do something within your agency view of the project. Update a due date or change the status of a task or update a task that automatically updates for your client.

[00:20:46] This required us to build out quite a bit more of the project management functionality, but what you’ll find within motion.io now is that. It has.

[00:20:59] All of the same functionality you might be used to with something like a Trello or a sauna. And none of what you don’t need. So this is a project management tool that is customized to creative agencies, where you have the ability to upload files. And have clients comment on those or leave comments for them to respond to.

[00:21:20] You have the ability to sync with your Google drive as well as. You have the ability to sync with your Google drive?

[00:21:30] You also have the ability and one thing we just added is. One thing we just added in addition to being able to. You know, add files and give them and use them for visual feedback, either from your computer, a link. Or Google drive. We’ve also added a screengrab feature where you can simply enter a URL.

[00:21:52] And that, and by entering that URL, it will capture a screen grab of a project. That you can then have your clients give feedback on right in the platform. And they can use that same functionality of motion.io as feedback tool, where they can tag you in things, or you can tag them in things. And you can comment directly on that image.

[00:22:17] Another great thing. That we’ve since added. Another great thing we’ve added since dialing in this project management side of motion.io a little bit more is the ability to turn client comments. Into tasks that you can.

[00:22:35] That you can track and make sure they get done. I’m sure everybody’s been there before, where you have a email that a client sent you, or there’s a long thread of exchanges about a project. And the client mentioned something that is unrelated to that thread, but is important. And you want to circle back

[00:22:53] With motion.io. What you can do is you can mark that type of comment.

[00:22:59] Is, you can simply click a button within your view of the project that turns that task into a comment. So if your, so if during onboarding. Your client says, by the way, I hate the color green.

[00:23:17] That comment. It’s totally unrelated to what they might be doing in onboarding, but it’s important. And you N You know, you want to know that, Hey, I shouldn’t include any green on their brand strategy guide. Great. You click, you create that task out of that comment and simply drag it to your design phase and your client.

[00:23:38] And you’re able to make sure that that gets taken care Uh, yourself, or you could assign it out to another team member who might be responsible within that phase.

[00:23:49] Something else within this project management side, we’ve really built. We’ve really focused on is.

[00:23:57] The ability to hide certain things from clients where you and your team are chatting, you’re using all of your internal lingo and you don’t necessarily want or need the client to see all of that communication.

[00:24:13] So these internal tasks are things that you can create. As Steph as so. These internal tasks are really helpful for showing clients where, what work is being done. So when you create an internal task, for example, that says, Hey, I’m designing the website wireframe right now.

[00:24:36] You can create that internal task you and your team members can collaborate on it. Your client can see that, Hey, you are currently working on designing this wire frame. It’s going to take. For example one week, but they can’t see any of the communication that’s happening. They just know that you’re working on it. You’re taking care of

[00:24:55] And you’re providing the services that they paid But.

[00:25:03] They’re not able to see that sort of internal dialogue that’s happening around the project.

[00:25:10] Another cool thing that we added is our welcome dashboard for clients, where you have a rich text editor, where you can upload videos. You can link to contracts or other important files, maybe a Google drive folder. You can include a calendar link for example, or embed a loom video. This welcome area was something that people quickly highlighted as being really important and could even potentially replace some of the welcome guides that they are currently sending.

[00:26:04] To sum it all up. What motion.io has turned into and where it stands now. And it’s fully functional version. Is it is your home base? Is it, is the. It is the project management and client collaboration software. That bridges, the gap between your internal process and that client collaboration and communication that is so vital to improving client experiences.

[00:26:33] And resulting and results in repeat business and referrals. One thing I forgot to add is that we also recently added for clients the ability to leave their feedback with emojis about each stage of the project. So for example, if a client project contains an onboarding phase, a design phase and a launch space,

[00:26:57] After all after each of those phases are complete. So for example, once they get done uploading their onboarding, once they get done filling out their questionnaires and providing their brand assets in that onboarding phase, they can leave feedback for you. So they are able to do a frowny face, a neutral face, or a smiley face and tell you how that stage went, what this is going to be able to do.

[00:27:22] What this is going to allow you to do is to assess what parts of your project of your process could be improved. And what parts you might be doing well already. That you shouldn’t change.

[00:27:36] So clients will have that feedback and you’re able to provide that premium client experience that is so important to helping your business grow.

[00:27:48] So to sum it all up where motion.io stands currently is we have doubled down. On this idea that it needs to be your one place to communicate and collaborate with clients, but also has. Well, having all of the features that you need to manage a project internally to work with contractors or other team members.

[00:28:14] And that you don’t have to operate out of two separate views that you can do once. That you can do things in your behind the scenes view and it automatically updates for the client while you can hide certain things for them.

[00:28:30] So these new features we, we are. So these new features and where motion dyo has evolved to. In the last four months of development is super, super exciting for I had mentioned at the beginning of this episode, but we would love to have you test it out. All you need to do is schedule a demo with us. We’ll show you around.

[00:28:51] And then after that we will. Actually create your first project workflow for you where we’ll set it up from point a from a to Z and map it to your current process so that everything is. Automated efficient and ultimately helps you. Create happier clients and generate more repeat business and referrals.

[00:29:17] If you’re interested in seeing a demo of motion. Dot IO. And potentially trying it out, head to our [email protected], send us a contact form or better yet sign up for our launch list. Within our launch list, we send out opportunities for demos to everybody who signs So. Go ahead. Sign up for the launch list. Schedule a demo with us. We’d love to show you.

[00:29:41] How it works and we couldn’t be more excited. To have people start using this tool.

[00:29:58] With that. I also wanted to mention something pretty cool. So motion dot. So.

[00:30:07] Well, there is still a lot more that we’re going to add. We are going well. There’s still a ton more that we have yet to add to motion.io. It’s in a really good place. And we’re finally To show you. To publicly show a kind of behind the scenes view of what it looks like now. The way that I’m going to do that.

[00:30:30] The way that I’m going to do that is going to be pretty interesting.

[00:30:36] So it’ll be live by the time this episode releases, but on our YouTube channel, what I’m going to do is I’ll be designing a.

[00:30:47] What I’m going to do is. I have created a fictional brand.

[00:30:54] I’ve created a fictional rebrand project for my.

[00:31:01] What I went ahead and done in motion.io is created a project for my dogs, fictional dog hotel, where I am rebranding. Well, where I am rebranding his dog hotel business, and I am creating a new landing page for. It’s going to be pretty funny. I’ve already built it out and I have this total like brand strategy.

[00:31:24] Guide. For my dog Scully who hired me to.

[00:31:29] For my dog Scully who hired me for this rebrand project, I designed him a website and it’s going to be pretty cool. So check that

[00:31:38] Really interested to show you around and have you see that and get a kind of behind the scenes. Look at. Where we are with motion.io currently, and the features and functionality that is within there.

[00:31:52] So, thank you so much, everybody for tuning in this has been another. Great. So thank you so much, everybody for tuning in and hanging out with me. As I share a development update about motion.io and what we’re doing with the project and where it stands currently.

[00:32:10] We’ll be back to our regular regular, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week, talking about business tips, talking about marketing sales, how you can develop these processes that are going to help you scale and grow your business. As I had mentioned if you haven’t done so already.

[00:32:29] Had to our [email protected] and sign up for a launch list as well as be on the lookout for that YouTube video, that’s going to be coming out. Where I’ll give you an insider. [email protected].

[00:32:43] Take care of everybody.