Ep. 427 - The Online Store is OPEN!

To celebrate the Grand Opening of the Online Store at York Meadow Farm, Rob shares his experiences that led up to the launch of the online store TODAY!  Tune in for some dialogue on the platform we are currently using, the platform we are moving to, the pros and cons of each, the successes we’ve experienced along the way AND the challenges we’ve experienced – so hold on tight, because there’s going to be a lot in this episode...

...and catch a funny (yet hopeful!) story that occurred immediately after we launched!

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• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/yorkmeadowfarm
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• Flote - https://flote.app/user/yorkmeadowfarm
• Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1315009008651464
  • It's small...but it's there!

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• How To Leave a Rating & Review in Apple Podcast App
  • This really *does* affect the algorithm...
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Discussion Links:

Media - Food Forest Farms - Enterprises
@Scramblin University is an evolving conversation on living a 6Sigma Life ... ​

Website Builder — Create a Website in Minutes — Squarespace
Create a customizable website or online store with an all-in-one solution from Squarespace. Choose a website template and start your free trial today.

WordPress.org: Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS
Open source software which you can use to easily create a beautiful website, blog, or app.

York Meadow Farm: Lacto-Fermented Foods
Rich in probiotics, our fermented foods are also paleo and keto friendly. Eat a proper human diet.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:12

Well hi there and welcome back to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. Today is Thursday, September 22nd, 2022. It is the first day of autumn, and welcome back to the show. This is a show where we co-create life together, a show where you join me with my family on our small farm and homestead as we grow all around. That's right. This is another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. And a big part of our growth here on the homestead recently has been scaling the family business. Right? Increased sales and increased demand for our product encourage me to leave my full-time job in May of this year in order to help the family business grow and thrive. Accordingly, this has been our best year in sales at local farmers markets. And due to the request of some of our customers and many of you guys out there in the audience, the product is now available online. And that brings us to the topic of today's show, which is the online store is open. That's right, we're going to dive into the platform that we are currently using, the platform that we are moving to, the pros and cons of each, the successes we've experienced along the way, and the challenges we've experienced. So hold on tight because there's going to be a lot in this episode. And in a sense, this episode is going to be somewhat cathartic for lack of a better term. The online store has been in the works for a while, a couple of years back, actually, but the acceleration of it resulting in the launch of it today has been largely inspired by many of you guys in the audience. Especially those of you guys in the Telegram group. And Scrambling, I'm definitely talking to you, brother. You've perhaps been the biggest voice and the biggest supporter from anywhere, anyone across the country, encouraging us to take these steps and level up our crowd game. You've commented on our blog posts, you've live streamed our website on your show, and you've been a tremendous supporter of me, this show, and our family. So thank you. Thank you very much. And to Josick or Larry, you made a personal appearance at the farmer's market. You know, you helped me with test orders. You gave us a tremendous amount of feedback as well. And to everyone out there, thank you. You know, as I as I record this show today, I'm I'm filled with gratitude after officially launching the store this morning. Now, before I actually get into the guts of the show, uh, I I'd like to share something interesting that happened. Okay, now I took a break from assembling the show notes this morning to grab a little snack, and uh basically it was some quinoa and an egg. And um while I thought I had turned off notifications and everything on uh on my desktop PC here so I could efficiently complete the office work on the computer before getting into the kitchen, it turns out that I did not do this. You see, I've recently started using Thunderbird as my email client, and I'm trying to transition into using that to manage my my email, my calendar, and and tasks and so on, and and I'm getting used to it. While I closed it, the notifications apparently were still enabled. I guess it maybe I minimized it. I don't really know. And I saw an email, so you know, instinctively I looked in my inbox and because the notification was actually a notification of a new order. So I looked in my inbox, and at that time we had received three new orders just over the course of 30 minutes. And this was completely unexpected, and I'm hopeful that this is a sign of what's in store for the future, but it was by desire to not look at this until later in order to avoid creating this or or some kind of false set of expectations upon the launch of the store. But I digress. That that, nevertheless, that was a funny story and something that I wanted to share with you. So, without further ado, let's get into what we're talking about, and that is the platform that we are currently using. The platform that we are moving to, the pros and cons of each, at least as far as I can tell, at this time of this recording in September, specifically September 22nd, the first day of autumn 2022. The pros and cons of each of those platforms, the successes we've experienced along the way, and the challenges we have experienced as well. And for the purposes of time, what I'm going to do is simply wing it and go off the cuff completely on these bullet points so I can get this uploaded and get into the kitchen so I can finish labeling a batch of traditional kraut that dad packed this morning before class, bang out a batch of lemon dough kraut, and then pack another batch of the jalapeno cilantro if time allows, and hopefully have most of this done by the time dad returns from class, so we can simply print labels, pack that up, and clean up and call it a day. Because what I'd like to do tonight is relax a little bit and celebrate by playing some tunes and having a beer. So let's get into it, shall we? The platform that we are currently using is Squarespace. Right. Why Squarespace? You might be asking. Okay, I'm going to tell you. My first experience with websites is with WordPress. And we will talk about that in a second. The WordPress or the uh website that I had built for my own business back in 2015, 20 late 2014, 2015 was built on WordPress. It remains on WordPress, and it is uh just sort of in this state of disrepair. Right. Um, I let it get out of hand. I did not efficiently learn how to use it. I had the site built for me, and then the person that I had built it for me decided to stop using WordPress and start using Squarespace. Okay. And at this time, uh I decided that I was also going to, or shortly thereafter, I decided that it was a good idea for the company I was working for at the time to rebuild our website, and I took it upon myself to do so one winter during the slow season and uh do exactly that. And I did so on Squarespace because this individual who had helped me build my own website on WordPress was offering like a coaching course on how to effectively navigate and build sites on Squarespace, which was relevant at that time five years ago, and I took that and ran with it and learned from it, and then um that became the platform of choice. I didn't build a you know a tremendous number of websites, but I built one for the business and basically, you know, got paid to learn how to navigate the platform, got paid to learn how to navigate email uh clients, email lists. Um, and that was those were good experiences. And in the meantime, um ended up building a website for the volunteer organization that I work with, and I got very accustomed, I built a website for another uh friend, acquaintance that um was starting a small business and just did a number of other projects with Squarespace. And we are still using it, and we launched the online store through it. We are using the Advanced Commerce Plan, and there it's packed full of features, many of which I have yet to fully explore, but uh I'm excited to do so. The decision to go with the Advanced Commerce Plan, excuse me, was dad's decision. I didn't think we needed all of the the bells and whistles that go along with it, but dad decided that if we're going to do this online, let's let's take full advantage of what they have to offer. And uh I said, wow, okay, let's do that. So, you know, we pulled the trigger on that just a few weeks ago and got over the over the past few weeks have really kind of explored the all of that and gotten but but really focused on the shipping and what it would take to make sure that the on the orders when placed were able to effectively go out and we were able to meet the demands of the customer, right? So that's where we're at. We're currently using Squarespace, it seems to be working, orders are coming in. The test orders that I performed earlier this week were successful, test orders that were performed by others were successful, uh and it seems to be working. Excuse me. Now, the platform that we are moving to is WordPress. Okay, and there are a myriad number of reasons why I think that it's better. Um at the end of the day, WordPress is a free and open source software program. Um there it it it in my opinion, you have far more control over the content that is contained within. However, and that that that's basically it. That's where we're moving to. Um, where are we in that progress? Well, we we've we've got the domain name secured. Dad bought that domain name way back when, or maybe I bought it, and I I don't I don't know how that happened, but uh the domain name was purchased. But my brother is now actively creating the farm page on WordPress. The first little welcome post was created yesterday, and he logged into the admin portal for the first time yesterday. So we have begun. What is the time frame on this? I don't know. It's not something that we've actually discussed in depth yet. He just knows that that's where we all want to be, and uh and and he's he's also taken it upon himself to build a site for himself, and what will be supremely nice is that he will be managing this on the back end, and I will be effectively a content creator for the farm. So we are going to have everyone involved in the business, and even my sister will be because, in large part, she's done all of the signboards, all of the had a had a big input on the aesthetics and the design and many things here. So, um, you know, this is a a whole family endeavor, and uh very excited to be moving forward in that direction. My expectation is like 12 to 24 months before we can fully transition into that platform because the reality is, you know, he's got a job and a family and other obligations, and there's just a lot going on, life on life's terms, right? But ultimately, that is where we're moving to. I touched on some of the pros of WordPress and the fact that it's free and open source is where it ends for me. I want that complete control and ownership of our content, and I do not want it being run by a third party and managed by a third party. Now that brings us to the pros of Squarespace. Squarespace is exceptionally easy to use, it's very easy to interface with. I will likely continue to use it for side projects that I am working on until I can get the assistance that I need to build it out on WordPress. But uh for now, I think it's sufficient. I think that you get what you pay for, and what you pay for is basically that you're you're paying for the price of convenience. Now, with that, you know, you can have integrated mailing lists and integrated all of the things, but again, you pay for that. That's not to say that the plugins and everything that works with WordPress does not come at a cost, because I'm sure there are costs associated with that, just like everything in life, not everything is free. But that is my experience with Squarespace. It just is that I am not as proficient and I haven't made that a priority in my life to become proficient in WordPress, and apparently now it is all coming together as to why, because I can't do everything, and I'm realizing that if I open up and allow others to help, others will help, and if I can allow myself to delegate that out and be done in a way that may be different than I was expecting, it's also highly likely that I may be pleased with the results due to the fact that my expectation, my expectations may likely be exceeded by the work that is done due to the fact just just by being open and receptive to something different. Okay, so the successes we've experienced along the way, right? The successes I've experienced are in large part due to my familiarity with the platform we are currently using, which is Squarespace. Like I said, my experience with this platform dates back five years. I built out a website through the day job. We are using MailChimp as an email list uh platform or you know, campaigns or whatever. Um I think we're gonna transition from that as well, but we're gonna stick with talking about the online store for now. Uh still using so we use MailChimp and Squarespace. Um the successes are due in large part because of the fact I've been using it for so long. I'm familiar with it, I know how to navigate it, and it's relatively easy for me. Okay, so that just allows things to and because Squarespace is what it is, it allows for smooth operational processes on the user end, and at this point in time, that's what I want. We're getting started. I'm not interested in monkeying around with a website that's janky, that doesn't interface properly. I want something where my new customers come, they show up, it's smooth, everything works like it should, everything looks clean and professional because, quite frankly, guys, here on the homestead, you know, it's uh it's a work in progress. That's not the impression that I want to give people when they come into the online store. I want that experience to be rapid, just I want it to be everything that it can be. And so far it seems to be. So those are some of the successes that we've experienced along the way. Now, in terms of the challenges, the challenges also kind of go back to this whole platform thing, trying to do a lot myself, trying to do this, trying to do that. Uh challenges dating back to 2020 trying to push online sales to my parents while I was not actively involved in making the product. Yeah, I was helping out and stuff, and I was doing certain things around here, and you know, but but I was interested in growing the business and interested in growing the business. Except I'm I'm really not actively working to grow the business, right? So one of the challenges that I've had is uh, you know learning to shut up and let my actions speak for themselves. You know, when I was in high school, my uncle, Uncle Tom, Uncle Tom who still comes out here uh to hunt, Uncle Tom, who, you know, probably probably shot a state record bird, uh, but didn't realize it until he got it home and gutted it and whatever, um, or gutted it here. However, it went down. I think he gutted it here, took it home, and then weighed it out and measured it and everything, and thought, geez, this is probably a state record bird. And you know, like nothing can be verified because of the fact that he'd processed it, but yeah, that's that's hey, right here. Uh so yeah, Uncle Tom back in high school told me what you do speak so loud, I can't hear what you say. And that's you know, that's not something I've always adhered to over the years, but it's something that's stuck with me over the years, and it's something that I try to remember when, especially when I don't behave in a manner consistent with that. That's really one of the big uh the big challenges that I can think of. Other other challenges are, you know, one one one funny challenge that I'll uh share is just you know doing things and redoing things and and and uh like on the website doing work and then returning to it and trying to remember where I left off and you know changing product listings and being inconsistent with things, and the same applies to the emails. Like, for example, I I I assembled and sent this email with some links, but then forgot that I had actually created a separate store on the website housing the bath and body products, and uh because someone had mentioned that it was confusing just to have a shop that they'd have to scroll all the way through and see all this stuff. So there's a shop for the fermented foods and there's a shop for bath and body products, right? Makes sense. And um when I sent out an email today or this morning to our email subscriber list saying, hey, the online store's open, highlighting, of course, the the items that we are most heavy on in stock, hoping that that moves fastest. Uh it was brought to my attention that the link to the lavender bar soap in the email went to the online store that housed the fermented foods. Okay, so inconsistencies with data inputs, processes, um things like that have been challenges. So inconsistency, I would say, inconsistency with communication, inconsistency across the board is another big challenge. Now, one thing to kind of remedy this, for example, when I did this little photo shoot after I got everything set up, I created a simple spreadsheet where I could just list out the products and then list out, you know, the different photos I was going to take front, side one, side two, back, sample one, sample two, sample three, or whatever. I did that, I was efficiently able to document what photos and where and the progress that I made. So, you know, I'm learning. This is all this is all um, you know, uh just a how we figure things out, you know. But if we don't learn from the mistakes that we make when we experience the challenges that we do, then I guess we're doing it wrong. So anyways, guys, that's that's uh that kind of brings us to an end of the show for today. I would really again like to express gratitude to everyone out there for the support over the years with the show, the support over the past few months as we've really accelerated the the work of the online store resulting in the launch today. Thank you all very much. And check out the show notes for links to everything that was discussed today, links of the work that Brian Norton, old Scramblin, is doing over there at Scramblin University. Be sure to check out York Meadow Farm on social media as well, and like I said, everything will be linked to in the show notes, as I already have, so I can get a quick upload and then get into the kitchen. Well, everyone, that's it for today's show. As always, this is Rob Kaiser, and thank you.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

In the world of pain, what can I do? The needs are many, the answers are due. If I can help somebody that I wanna try, people may think that it's all that I believe in friendship and love. Truth is always the best way to the world that you may start. I'm an odd fellow. I'm an odd fellow. I'm an odd fellow. If we stand together, we'll never fall. We can make the difference and answer the call to winst it.