Welcome to our weekly update of the "Founder's Log" a blog dedicated to the progression of American Butchers JERKi, highlighting the things we've accomplished thus far in the past week, paths we are currently working towards right now, and unchartered paths we hope to accomplish in the upcoming week! Starting a business can be a tough decision so I've added this so you can stay up to date with things I've learned along the way! Have a question, don't hesitate to leave a comment below!
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A look into the past week
This past week definitely doesn't highlight towards the knowledge that last weeks blog provides. Most of this week consisted of a few administration responsibilities and order production but we are continuing to progress. In the past week, i've taken a look into the performance of our store gaging how we've done in sales, marketing, and customer relationship. It is safe to say that comparing the month of June to May, we are up in all areas. Progression is crucial and I want to make sure we are continuing to better ourselves every month.
In line with making ourselves better, the best week we decided to put a larger attention on running ads through Google. The direction was to provide a boost in Google search and key terms that would generate a larger attraction towards our mission. Giving you a little numbers - since we launched the Google Ads campaign we've spent a total of $73 dollars. Of those dollars spent, we saw a return on 1 order. Is this the results that I was expecting? Certainly not, however, I think we will continue running Google Ads as it gives us a greater front on Google. Will continue to update on the status of ad dollars spent and the Return on Investment (ROI).
Finally, I have highlighted this on past blogs but I will reintroduce it here as we are continuing to push towards a contract. I am currently working with a marketing company that reached out to us. The goal with this collaboration is to allow experts in the marketing field provide us with areas that we should be focusing on and strategies to reach a more unique audience. How this will work is we've put together a plan to focus on ads, graphics, and marketing campaigns to help promote our mission. Why am i utilizing a marketing company? Well as both Joe and myself have a pretty active lifestyle now that we've started our full-time job, we want to give American Butchers JERKi the continued attention it deserves to move forward. As neither of us studied marketing, we are continuing to learn and teach ourselves but we can continue to use some help. Not only does this benefit ourselves but it also helps out a smaller marketing company get started and provide them with portfolio content. It sounds like a win win for us both.
As of now this contract runs for about 3 months and I will continue to provide all the valuable information towards my experience and things i've learned across the way in further blogs. For now that is a pretty good look into the past week.
Today
Hard to believe this is week 10. When I first started this log it was as an audio caption that I had recorded on my phone to tell the story and progression of American Butchers JERKi but as the business evolves and things transition, we decided to incorporate this into a written form. The audio isn't completely lost as we've attached an updated podcast to the works of the Founder's Log that continues to highlight these same stories but provide more of a convenience for our audio listeners. 10 weeks really makes me begin to think about how far we've come in such a short time frame while also demonstrating the power to continue moving forward.
In today's news we are currently working with the marketing company highlighted above to continue moving the business forward. As the time in my day begins to dwindle, I want to continue to give American Butchers JERKi the attention it deserves and rather put it in the hands of professions to guide and direct us in our best practices. Today the contract should be signed and we should be continuing to increase our showmanship in the jerky industry! *Fingers crossed*
Cheers to the Future
Moving forward is the name of the game here! I've talked about a marketing team in all three sections of this blog so i'll include it here too. In the upcoming week my goal is to hash out the rest of the contract and kick off the start with Back30. From there we should be able to figure out the logistics of a social media campaign and the direction we hope to head moving forward.
While that is continuing to run, I want to also focus on the this coming weekend (July 4). My goal is to offer 2 big sales a year. The first being Black Friday and the second being 4th of July. This is a day of National Independence and a pretty important day in our opinion so I want this first opportunity to kick off a sale. I realize that we did not do any proper planning for this 4th of July sale but we will launch some day posts and just see how it goes!
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The Founder's Log is designed to be a behind the scenes of American Butchers JERKi. With that, I encourage you to ask any questions you might have regarding our product or about the business! Hope to catch you next week, Same time?
-Calvin