One of the great joys in life... MUSIC.
In less than 20 hours I am going to be headed back to my favorite city in all of America… the one and only New Orleans! Last time I was there was in 2010 during the holidays to work with Habitat for Humanity, this time it is for less altruistic reasons… JAZZ FEST! It got me thinking about my love for music and how much it has played a role in my life.
.
Wherever I travel it seems to be the universal language. My tastes change from time to time, but mainstays like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Steely Dan have been with me for a long, long time. Heck… we even play music in our kombucha space so that the kombucha cultures can truly be “cultured” in music. So don’t be alarmed when you go to purchase a Kombcuha Brewing Kit from us, and out of nowhere your SCOBY starts singing “Love Me Do”.*
.
Heads (and body/arms/legs/torso) Up! — this is a pretty long newsletter, because.. well there is A LOT going on! I thought it would be good to share both our successes and failures with the kombucha nation to let them know what is going on with us. if you just came to the site to pick up some tea and/or learn a wee bit more about kombucha feel free to just look at the pretty pictures and move on. However, if you do get excited by a small sized company (and an above medium sized human) – taking the time to share with you how we spend our day, grab a glass of water (or k tea) and read on..
.
Charity (i.e. My Personal Favorite)
thank you to all our kombucha customers!!!
.
It is amazing that our site is called Get-Kombucha, but the best part of it is that we are the ones that get to GIVE! I swear this is one of the parts that makes me feel like I have the coolest gig ever.. As you may or may not know, this is the THIRD year in a row we have sponsored ARC. Also, OUR is YOU, as whether you like it or not a percentage of all sales that come in goes to support these groups… I know I know, I was going to use that portion to get a really cool Solid Gold Chain, but it turns out you can get a plastic kind for much less and looks just as cool!
.
To learn more about ARC you can check out their site here
.
What Charity/Cause Should We Support Next Time?
If you have an organization that you believe in, than I want to help. Here’s what I want you to do:
1. Write a comment in this post saying what organization, why it is important, and what you have been doing to help
.
We will select one to be featured in our next newsletter along with a donation based on the percentage of sales for the month!
.
National Kombuchaholic Month
.
It seems like now a days every person, place and thing has a holiday (don’t believe me). So I am officially claiming this May (as in right now) National Kombuchaholic Month. It makes sense since May 8th is Mother’s Day!! (get it?).
.
The idea is really help spread the word about the wonders of kombucha. So start bringing the funky tea on the subway and start passing it out (or just share this blog or the kombucha website with your friends).. oh yeah you can also click the facebook like button on the bottom or join our fanpage on facebook by clicking on my smiling mug in the upper right hand corner of this site.
.
As for as orders go in the month of May, be prepared for CRAZY AWESOME SURPRISES WITHIN RANDOM ORDERS! (love letters, never released tinctures, even samples of our sold out Magic Vine Tea… all free!).
.
We’re also working on new TEA-shirt and mug designs that read Certified Kombuchaholic in the near future. This might take some time to get off the ground but in a few years from now, when the post office is closed and you get the entire month off from work due to the National observance of Kombucha Month, remember who started it all baby!
Customer Communication
.
As our company grew – so did our way we communicate. In the good ole days when I first started – I would chat with each and every customer for about a half hour (my longest conversation was over 2 HOURS!) – in fact the first couple of months I would personally hand deliver our kits AND personally set up the first batch right along with them… keep in mind back then we had 12 sales a month!!
.
Though our sales have grown since then, making it impossible for me to show up at your house (then again you never know!) – we do try to continue that personal touch with our customers. To ensure that you get treated above and beyond I thought this would be a good place to review the best way to contact us for a given situation.
.
1. CUSTOMER SUPPORT: support@getkombucha.zendesk.com
This is the ONLY place that will ensure you will receive a personal response. The reason for this is simple organization, you see we partnered up with zendesk’s “support ticket” system to ensure that we never lose or misplace an email or blog comment ever again. So- if you are checking up on your order, if you want to order, if you want to get a hold of me, if you have a question that you want us to answer, this is THE place to do it!
.
2. BUILDING A COMMUNITY: this blog
I have already said it a bunch of times but it is worth saying again. THIS BLOG IS NOT MEANT FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT. IT IS MEANT FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT. From time to time I may jump in and respond to a comment, but mainly I will just be posting articles like this one. The only way we can build a strong community, is to have everyone participate.. so by all means, please continue posting a question if you have one on this blog AND do expect it to get answered.. only not by me 🙂 — I would much rather have someone else who has been brewing for a bit to share their experience.. this is how we grow together.
.
I also agree that it is extremely unorganized. The problem is that it has been built on the wordpress.com platform and not the wordpress.org platform (remember I put this up a long long time ago when my computer skillz were actually less than they are now.. which is really, really bad!) – the wordpress.com platform is very limited into what you can do — any techies out there that want to help out making this site look great… without losing its awesome organic search rankings, hit me up (and remember the best way to hit me up is at support@getkombucha.zendesk.com). I would much prefer to work with someone within our community, but if no one heads the call I will make sure that this blog gets a face lift very soon. I kind of have a love hate relationship with it, because it is one of the reasons we have been so popular online (we are the number one ranked kombucha blog online according to google) – but I dread the design and functionality as much as you. Even typing these posts take 4 times as long as compared to the What The Friday Blog.
.
3. LEAVE A MSG AFTER THE BEEP: our phone number
Yes. We do have a phone number… we LOVE hearing your beautiful voices and it is a nice resource for those who wish to place an order directly over the phone or feel like they need to speak instead of type. However, if you do decide to call, please make every effort to also send us a support ticket as well, to ensure a faster response time.
.
I wish I can say there is a better reason, but we simply do not have the man/woman/robot power to handle our recent call volume. If it is a time sensitive manner (changing your order, etc) please send in that support ticket. If you were calling to just sing to me.. please continue doing so as I will soon compile all of them to make a mix tape! – I particularly love anything from the 80’s.
.
Also keep in mind that it is a msg service, so be sure to tell us what time zone you are in so when we call you back it isn’t 3am where you are.
.
4. FREE RESOURCES: we have a lot!
You may be able to find the answer to you question, by simply checking out our free resources. This blog is packed full of them.. HINT: use the search feature to the right to speed up your findings. Go back to our free 7 day mini course and re-read it.. not for the spelling errors, as I already know there is a ton there. Our main site has a bunch of articles on kombucha, sign up to be our twitter fan or be my getkombucha facebook friend, we also have a bunch of free youtube videos!
.
5. PAID RESOURCES: awesome 2 dvd set!
We have 2 hours worth of awesome paid videos that come nicely packaged either as a 2 DVD Set or via an access link. Take your brewing to the next level baby! I used to do private paid consultations, but due to time constraints, this service is currently unavailable.
.
This Pretty Much Sums It Up!
I. Am. An. Idiot. (but a very optimistic idiot)
So for those that have been with us for awhile, you may have noticed a major thing missing from our site… it is one of the things that had made me most proud and I have no one to blame but myself.
.
I LOST 5 YEARS WORTH OF CUSTOMER TESTIMONIES IN 34 SECONDS
I told you the Homer Simpson pic was appropriate.
.
Here’s What Happened. I was playing around with the getkombucha.com website with a friend of mine only a few weeks ago. I just finished the 7 Day Kombucha Mini Course AUDIO Program which will be a nice compliment to the online course for the peeps that prefer to listen to their information rather then learn visually (plus ever since I moved to Los Angeles I know first hand how many people are stuck on the road during rush hour.. so why not learn a bit more about kombucha during the commute).
.
Long Story Short. So while we were going to ask our web guy to install the database on the website to deliver the audio part to the course I decided to take matters into my own hands and set it up myself. That turned into completely deleting the customer testimony database on our kombucha continuous brewing systems!!!
.
Seeing The Kombucha Glass Half Full. Losing these testimonies was like loosing a bit of my life for the past 5 years. From time to time I would got to my website and read the reviews and testimonies whenever I needed a little inspiration or boost to reconfirm what I have been placing my focus on. Knowing that there are real people out there that have gained benefit form my passion is such an incredible feeling, and to have it vanish in a moment felt like getting a rug pulled out from under me (and the fact that it was my stupidity that did it felt like a huge rug getting pulled out.. like wall to wall carpet or something). But as the saying goes… “When one door closes another one opens.”
.
I have been wanting to take our reviews to the next level for a very long time now, but I kept putting it off. The way we were doing reviews and testimonies were pretty much ancient via text. The problem with this is that how does someone really know for sure who is typing this review?
.
I know when I go to other sites, and see just typed testimonies, there is sometimes a little birdie (or penguin), that is suspicious on who actually typed that testimony. For those that do not know, I consult for other online businesses, and for years I have been telling them that they need to make the effort to get as many pictures, audio and best of all video of their actual customers, because that is how you connect to with someone (aside from having people knock on your door to show that you are a real person). I am ashamed to say that I have not been practicing what I preach.
.
Quality vs Quantity. Last I checked we had OVER SIX HUNDRED TESTIMONIES (ahem, until I deleted them all). But you know what? I believe that simply a few select customers who are willing rise to the occasion and share their experiences of our site and products with the world on video will is going to make a much bigger impact in helping someone decide if this is the right choice.
.
Here’s What I Want You To Do Next If you have enjoyed our Free 7 Day Mini Course and Newsletter or have seen the first hand benefits of one of our Kombucha Continuous Brewing Systems AND want to make a difference, I am asking you to personally email me at Dave [at] Getkombucha.com (obviously change the [at] to @ — I just had to do it that way so the spammers of the world don’t start emailing me about how there is 20 million dollars that is my money lost in Nigeria).
.
Include your phone number and I will personally call you on the phone to discuss. Please only email me if you are serious in helping others and making a difference.
.
To the hundreds of people who have sent testimonies over the last 5 years… THANK YOU. Though the database has been deleted, I can assure you the love and support you have given will never die.
.
What Up With Jiaogulan?
.
As many of you know, we have started another itty bitty website called Benefits ofJioagulan, which also documents my trip to Thailand and from time to time have the Magic Vine Tea Formula Kits.
.
We ended up (again) selling out within the first 24 hours BUT we have put up a “Cut The Line” sign up form which will give you first dibs as soon as we receive a fresh crop from Thailand. I think next time I will only offer these kits to those on the list before even announcing it to the web b/c I know it can be disappointing to really want something only to find out that someone has already taken the last one.
.
We will have more kits available for you sometime in May/June.
.
What Up With What The Friday
.
I am still sticking to my 30 Day Challenge turned into my 6 month experiment of the Egoscue Postural Alignment Method. If you missed any of the episodes or my last 2 months of pictures you can get caught up here.
.
I have a few ideas up my sleeve on next season, but I am going to let YOU decide. So be on a look out for a survey, and I will gladly Ginnie pig myself for your viewing pleasure. 🙂
.
Customer of the Month
.
Customer of the Month - Nina Joy
.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, one of my favorite things that I don’t get to do as much as I used to, is to personally connect with our readers and customers. Nina Joy is an example of WHY I love it so much!
.
A Delightful Coincidence. I connected with Nina right around the time my sister Amy was pregnant with my now one year old awesome niece Juniper. Now, personally my perspective on intuition and things happening for a reason changes from time to time, but whatever your thoughts are on that let’s just call it a “Delightful Coincidence”, as I soon found out that Nina, in addition to being an outstanding customer and fellow kombuchaholic, also is an expert, coach, and author on fearless and pain free child birthing.
.
Wide Awake and On The Go. In addition to helping people experience pain free child birth, Nina has also produced several guided mediation programs and courses (which is great for me and the rest of the peeps that are not child birthing any time soon!).
.
A few months ago Nina sent me one of her guided meditations as a personal gift. What I loved most about it was that it was short enough that I could listen to it whenever I needed a little pep AND unlike other guided meditations that sometime relax you to the point of falling asleep, this one got me feeling alert and happy!
.
Share Your Gift. I loved it so much, that when I told Nina that she was gonna be the customer of the month she offered the guided meditation to all of our readers! I thought this was so cool, because it allows me to place the spot light on other people in our community.
.
Get Your Gift. To get your free copy of the Wide Awake and On The Go guided meditation click here.
.
Just so you know, I am not getting compensated in any way from this (well not financially anyway… but the idea that after visiting her site and listening to the guided meditation some of you guys are gonna feel really, really good and alert, does make me feel happy.. so I guess I cam getting compensated after all).
.
Thank you Nina for spreadin’ the love, now if we can only work on a guided meditation for more fizzy kombucha. 🙂
.
So You Want To Know About Other Uses For Kombucha Do You?
.
I will leave you with this incredible video I found on YouTube. Pretty amazing stuff huh?
.
.
Happy Brewin’,
Dave
.
PS – If you have enjoyed our Free 7 Day Mini Course and Newsletter or have seen the first hand benefits of one of our Kombucha Continuous Brewing Systems AND want to make a difference, I am asking you to personally email me at Dave [at] Getkombucha.com (obviously change the [at] to @ — I just had to do it that way so the spammers of the world don’t start emailing me about how there is 20 million dollars that is my money lost in Nigeria). Include your phone number and I will personally call you on the phone to discuss. Please only email me if you are serious in helping others and making a difference.
.
PPS – What’s YOUR favorite song, band, artist? share it in the comment section below.
Organic Kombucha 
Kombucha Culture!