About Us
Active Lightning History
Founder Sally Seaver opened Active Lightning in March of 2001 with a vision for integrating software development know-how with marketing savvy. Her past experience, skills, and insight—with help from her first Programming Specialists—enabled Active Lightning to not only meet the needs of our first clients, but to deliver low-cost solutions that hit the specified target.
Active Lightning’s First Success
A company could not have a better first client than Virgil Cox of Cox Hardware and Lumber. Besides paying the bills on time, he is polite, friendly, curious, computer-savvy, appreciative, and enthusiastically shares his projects with his network of business contacts.
Virgil Cox engaged Active Lightning to deliver catalog automation for his company. Before working with us, he had done a similar variable-data publishing project while on the board of Handy Coop which cost upwards of $100,000. Active Lightning services for the project cost considerably less. Our services came to $9,000 while the supporting software including FrameMaker and a run-time version of PatternStream cost an additional $6,230. (A later decision to feature prices in the catalog added $1,100 to the cost). The automation we designed delivered a pdf file to send to the print vendor. Within this pricing, Cox Hardware also received 2-3 other versions of the automation to run for various purposes: new products, products by manufacturer for coop advertising rebates, and a CD, low-res version. Virgil Cox was pleased. We were pleased, too.
Years of Growth
After our success with Cox Hardware and Lumber, we tackled another cutting-edge variable data project for Outdoor Interactive; each 24-page catalog was custom-produced based on the individual customer's profile. Then, in October of 2004 A-1 Appliance Parts engaged Active Lightning to produce a website integrating their in-store Activant Eagle System with an online shopping cart. Since that time, we continued to help companies integrate shopping carts on Amazon.com, Ebay.com, and elsewhere with websites and in-store software.
Expanded Capabilities, eCommerce Focus
Realizing the growing demand for e-commerce solutions, we expanded our capabilities and refocused our attention on supporting the e-commerce efforts of our clients. To this end, Sally even runs her own e-commerce business at Egyptian Cotton T-Shirts, putting into practice the systems and principles she passes on to Active Lightning’s clients.
Active Lightning provides the power you need to grow your sales via our solutions. Just take a look at our ever-growing list of satisfied clients and read what they say about Active Lightning.
eCommerce Businesses
Active Lightning is in the process of incubating these companies:
- “We have now worked with Sally and Active Lighting for several years. The relationship, while still based on the effective and innovative use of technology in our business, has moved to a higher level now. I find that whenever we discuss how to solve a particular issue, we inevitably end up discussing each issue from a total marketing perspective, versus a straight technology solution. I don’t know if every development company works that way, but I’ve come to depend on it from A/L. They have become a virtual marketing department for our company.”
- Virgil Cox
Owner,
Cox Hardware & Lumber