Q1 2021

61 | Q1 2021 Dec20210 Award Winning Marketing Agency Provides Businesses Free Support Throughout The Pandemic We speak to Amen Sharma, Founder and Director of HeartCMS, a company awarded ‘Most Creative Web Design Agency’, to find out how he built his business into the well-known brand it is today, and how he embraced the turbulence of the pandemic to support new businesses free-of-charge. HeartCMS is an agency made up of over 15 highly creative people - from developers to designers, writers, project managers and more - who really strive to ensure that a client’s brand comes to life. For Amen, marketing encompasses so much more than running ADs, “We make it our job to deliver creative web design, state of the art video, PPC campaigns, SEO strategy and project consulting that is bespoke to you and your business,” he explains at HeartCMS “We believe that the key to getting you everything you need is to really listen and understand the very things you want and need as a business. Whether you’re after a single AD, a brand new bespoke website or even a complete SEO strategy, our team is here to create you just that. You tell us what you’re after and we’ll provide the solutions.” Launching a business from the ground up is something Amen is no stranger to, during his final year of Secondary Education he conceived the idea for the business as it is today. Alongside his GCSE studies Amen began freelancing, he offered to do free websites in order to help build his portfolio, resulting in client referrals and more work. Assisting local businesses is how Amen’s career began, so it is fitting now that his company is again working free-of-charge, but this time it is from the Heart and not for the portfolio (which has grown exponentially since his school boy beginnings). Amen explains, “With the rise in people moving into the digital space and setting up new websites, mainly due to the pandemic, HeartCMS has offered its services free-of- charge to new businesses, largely based in the Midlands, in order to help out companies who are trying to start out and adapt in such a turbulent environment”. Over the years, HeartCMS has expanded into a network, The iHeart Group, currently comprising of a marketing agency (HeartCMS), a print company (TheOnlinePrinter), bespoke shelving (Handcrafted Shelves) and an influencer marketing brand (Hashtag Blogger), with hopes “to get several more businesses under [the] group in 2021, while continuing to serve up a great customer experience with clients.” Though many businesses have greatly suffered as a result of the lockdowns, Amen admits HeartCMS and his remote working team is not one of them; “It’s nice for us to be able to have face-to-face meetings with our clients that are local to us. However, because we operate all over, 90% of our meetings (prior to lockdown) were all online anyway. More than 50% of our clients have never actually met us in person!”. In 2016 Amen authored, ‘The Google Checklist’, which became the bestselling marketing book of the year. In the book, Amen reveals industry secrets and shares how-to guides for business owners to create and run their own websites. As a result, the book has generated many leads from business owners requesting the agency’s help to improve their websites and marketing. Amen may have begun his career and business solo, but he expresses ardently that “Everything we have done and won has been a big thanks to the entire team. Not one person alone can claim the success of HeartCMS. The business was set up by myself to help individuals grow as the business grows, and everyone is rewarded as a family.” Company: HeartCMS Contact: Amen Sharma Website: www.heartcms.com