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