The Storm Breaks Loose

Stormfront is a one-stop shop for an organization’s online needs. International clients include Queen Elizabeth and the Canadian government, while the local ties include Purdue University. The company has done projects with the aviation club, the Purdue Research Foundation, the Purdue Cancer Center and others. Other Clients include Big Brothers Big Sisters, Willowbrook West, Motorolla, State Farm Insurance, IBM, Telesight, and JD Byrider.

Theodorow graduated from Purdue in 2001 with a degree in computer graphics technology and a minor in business. In fact, all Stormfront employees are Purdue alumni.

Theodorow describes his relationship with Purdue as extremely beneficial. He says the talent pool from Purdue is one of the reasons that the company is based in Lafayette. They have support contracts with Purdue, and Theodorow has even taught a course on campus. This year Stormfront started an internship program with Purdue and chose one intern from more than 100 applicants.

After interning at Nationwide Insurance, Theodorow landed his first client and project in 2002. He did a flash e-mail campaign for a company in Atlanta. From there, Stormfront spread out and built the business slowly. The company concentrated on a web site that now receives hundreds of hits a day. In fact, Stormfront does virtually no advertising except through its web site. Their other marketing ace is one of the oldest (and still best) methods: word of mouth.

The main process in which their web site is successful – and one of the main services they provide for their clients – is called Search Engine Optimization. It’s also his biggest tip for people starting an online company or who are interested in expanding onto the Internet.

“It’s basically getting your site to the top of Google, Yahoo or MSN,” explains Theodorow. “Using keywords which you think your customers might be searching for. To use our company as an example, it could be ‘Indiana web design company.’ That’s a key term we would go after.”