You may have noticed some ads floating around the website as of late, and you may occasionally hear me plug a company or website on the podcast. In the interest of being transparent with my audience, I thought you guys might want to know what’s going on with the site.

First let me say that I don’t take advertising lightly. Part of what I call “brand integrity” is conducting every business transaction with the best possible interest of our customers in mind. That said, I know I don’t have to tell you that things are getting tight financially. So in an effort to avoid raising product prices, I’m looking at alternative revenue streams. The most obvious one is advertising.

But brand Integrity also implies that we conduct our business transparently and in a trustworthy manner. So when we advertise something, you can safely assume that we have done business with the company, actually used the product(s), and feel comfortable making a personal endorsement. And we believe that putting an ad on the site or in the podcast should be nothing less than a personal endorsement.

We’ve been approached by a myriad of marketing companies wanting to advertise on the show and website, but none of them could tell us what products or companies would be displayed in the ad. They go about it backwards, first securing the advertising space (an agreement to host ads on our site) and then sell that space to their clients. Our business model is based on building relationships, and such a practice runs counter to what we believe customer service should be.

How does it work? Well it’s simple. When you click on one of the ads and then buy something from that company, I get a small percentage. At the time of this writing the only company we’re advertising for is Safecastle Royal – which pays 5% on each sale.

Just thought you might want to know.

Hey Folks –

Brian just checking in here. As always, I want to thank everyone for all the support you’ve given us. Everything from Christmas cards, to Facebook posts, to product orders. BubbaTanicals has become more than we ever thought it would. The core of our business is you, the customer – and we never for a moment let that slip from the front of our minds. Pinky swear.

And we’re not slowing down – We’ve got a few new soap recipes in the mix as well as a new product launch that I think is just freakin cool. Look for Lilac, Orange Patchouli, and Dragon’s Blood soap to be added to the website over the next few weeks. We’re also going to start doing printed soaps. That’s right. Printed soaps. How cool is that? We’re taking on a technology that will allow us to print whatever we want on a bar of soap! Lots of possibilities there. I’m really excited to say the least.

Also, the pricing structure is going to be changing on the website as well. The cost of the ingredients is going up, and that has to be reflected in the cost of the product. Sorry folks – thank our fractional reserve banking system for that. But we’re trying to do it so that we don’t screw you guys. So when the soap cost goes up, the shipping cost will go to a flat rate. What does that actually mean to you? Well, it obviously puts the onesie – twosie purchases out of the picture . But you make out pretty well on the larger buys where you make up the spread in the lower shipping cost. I’m hoping it will all average out and everyone stays happy.

Brick and mortar? Yep. You can now buy our soaps at the Cosmic ConeXion store in Kennesaw, GA (no website yet). We’re slowly looking to expand our offerings to retailers, so if you’re a retailer and want to sell good soap and no crap, give us a holler. We won’t take on more than we can handle (that darn customer service thing again), so there’s only a few slots depending on anticipated volume

Thanks again for stopping by and don’t be a stranger!

-Brian

Greetings folks!

This has been a phenomenal year here at the old homestead. With your help, we’ve taken what was a small farmers market booth and turned it into what some might even call a legitimate business.

Thanks to you, our customer, we have made and sold literally hundreds of jars of jellies, jams, pickles (some of which were a little soggy it seems.. Sorry!!), and fruit butters! We blew straight through all our honey, and sold through a number of soap batches several times over. We’ve seen the podcast explode in popularity – receiving over 2200 downloads a week on average – for reasons I still can’t fathom in all honesty.

It has been a busy year, and we could not be more grateful for your support in 2009. I hope that our service and our products have lived up to your expectations and we look forward to serving you in 2010.

So what do we have planned for 2010??

More products with better consistency – we’ve partnered with a processing operation in north GA that has agreed to handle the processing and packaging of our harvests using our own recipes. They have a state certified and inspected commercial kitchen and a sterling reputation among other growers for being on the up and up. This also allows us to partner with other local growers to offer you a wider range of products. For example, If farmer Bob is processing 600 lbs of vidalia onions (which I can’t grow), but didn’t get a good apple harvest, we can trade on the raw goods and the facility can process them for both of us. I think it’s a good strategic move for us right now that will allow us to serve you better in the long run – and avoid being shut down by the State Dept of Agriculture.. which is always a nice perk.

Going Official LLC – we’ll be moving BubbaTanicals and all associated operations into an LLC. This is probably something we should have done some time ago, but with volume picking up and money actually flowing through it, it’s become clear that this is a viable effort and is worth investing in.

Podcast improvements – My wife has expressed an interest in being on the podcast so if I can make that happen, it will greatly add to the quality of the content. Not only because she is way more knowledgeable on what we would probably be talking about, but you won’t just have me prattling on in your ear for an hour. And we all know that my public speaking skills are less than par. I’ve also upgraded the podcast equipment somewhat and will be adding some additional upgrades in the coming months. I’m breaking away from my laptop as the main recording device and now using a Tascam DR-7 (sorry Darcy, it was a third the price of the Ederol, but does everything I need it to). This is a hand-held studio quality recording device that will allow us more freedom in how we conduct the podcast. Recording it outside, with the animals, or even at a bee yard are only a few examples.

Website Improvements – We’re always looking for ways to add value to the website. In the coming months look for better integration with the blog, newsletters, and even a live chat feature where you can talk to us directly right from your browser!

And much more.. so stay tuned!

Now go have a happy new year!

-Brian and Laura
BubbaTanicals.com

Weather is calling for snow this weekend up in the mountains. Time to break out the camping gear!

Some pics from my last snow camping trip on the AT. Good stuff!