Georgia Grown
(I was a Georgia Grown Business in 2021.)
As a Georgia Grown Business, I love helping growers and businesses in the Georgia Grown community tell their stories. Using video, photography, social media content creation and management, email marketing and Squarespace website building and maintenance, I help businesses reach their audience through compelling ways that are all their own. From capturing the first moments of planting Sweet Vidalia Onion seeds and taking the crop all the way to the customers’ hands, to helping establish and grow local, family operated businesses reconnecting consumers with the abundance of wealth that comes from our soil, I delight in the personalities and passions of the people who make up the backbone of the health and wellbeing of Georgia. Below, you will learn about two of my favorite Georgia Grown Businesses that I’ve had the pleasure of working with for years.
Big Boy Cookies, Statesboro, Georgia
I began working with Jonny, a.k.a. Big Boy, and Hannah back in 2016 when they decided to take their hobby on the road in the form of a Cookie Truck, and the following year when they opened their brick and mortar store on Main Street in Statesboro. We’ve done it all together. I’ve shot and produced monthly product photos featuring new and seasonal cookies as well as their signature classics. I rebuilt their Squarespace site form scratch to better serve their needs. We’ve used video to create fun and exciting ads as well as a monthly video newsletter to accompany their monthly email newsletter I wrote and managed. We’ve collaborated on tee-shirt designs, flyers, banners, face masks and all sorts of other Big Boy Cookies branded merchandise. I also designed the artwork on their cookie truck! The point is, if you have a need, I’ll help you find a solution.
“Eric is very personable, creative, easy to work with, funny and full of many, many great ideas. We have gotten so many compliments on our social media since working with Eric. We couldn’t ask for a better marketing manager.””
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PHOTOS, GRAPHIC DESIGN, SQUARESPACE SITES AND MORE
There is nothing better than a picture to instantly demonstrate who you are and what you do. This is very true with Big Boy Cookies. Whether we are introducing brand new flavors, welcoming the return of seasonal flavors, or simply celebrating the classics, the goal of a good product photo at Big Boy Cookies is to make mouths water.
And because Big Boy Cookies is big on community, they often host events to promote other Georgia Grown businesses as well as fellow food truck vendors. We’ve produced flyers to promote events, created one sheets to give a quick overview of their services, and even created a host of fun t-shirt designs to keep the Big Boy Cookie fans swagged out. And because a first impression matters, it was an honor to design the artwork for the cookie truck!
Having a great presence on social media or at food truck festivals can only reach so many people with cookies. That’s why we designed their website to make it easy for customers to find exactly what they want when they want it. From pick-up and delivery orders, to shipping cookies anywhere in the US or overseas to the military, cookie fiends can get the great cookie taste they’ve come to expect from Big Boy Cookies. Whether it’s a gift package for Mother’s Day, a Care Package for the son or daughter who is away at college, a monthly cookie subscription or just a box of self-love, you can find it all at BigBoyCookies.com.
Click above to visit the site and explore. But first, why do I use Squarescpace to build a website for my clients? Because Squarespace is designed for easy use at any level of experience, but there is a learning curve to get it started. What I offer is more than just building the site. Once I get it just the way they want, I train my clients to manage the site themselves if they choose. That’s one less thing they have to pay someone like me to take care of.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND EMAIL MARKETING
This is a post featuring their Molasses Cookie, which was a new, seasonal cookie that became an instant favorite. It is only available during winter and therefore kind of a big deal.
Big Boy Cookies makes delicious, one-of-a-kind cookies. In order to make Big Boy Cookies' social media, monthly email and website content work, it had to reflect Jonny, the company's owner and baker. He is Big Boy, and he is a fun loving and slightly irreverent fellow who wanted his company to "feel" like him. So that's what we set out to do. Once a month, I meet with Jonny and his team to discuss content for their upcoming newsletters and social media campaign (we try to plan 6 weeks to 2 months in advance). Generally, I try to visit the store once a month to shoot photos and video for their content. I then take the information they give me and go back to my office and create. That includes writing copy for their email newsletter and social media posts, all graphic design and video editing as well as making updates to their website*. Before their email drops each month (using Mailchimp), they are given the opportunity to review it and make edits. It's a match made in heaven. (*As I mentioned before, I do not build websites, but I can create or maintain a website using Squarespace. In 2017, we totally overhauled their website in order to better reflect the company.)
Social Media Posts
In the first seven months of working together on Big Boy's social media, we increased their Facebook following from around 2000 to just over 3000. In addition to straight forward posts about specials and fun events, we like to get creative with some crazy photo series at Big Boy Cookies. Above is an example series I shot using old Star Wars themed Monopoly pieces and Big Boy Cookies. For Valentine's Day, I created a series of fake Tinder profiles for some of Big Boy's favorite flavors, and included dating suggestions. I've even created wanted posters for some of their more notorious flavors. We shoot for three to five posts every week and it's all about being fun, spontaneous and a little unpredictable. Even posts that aren't part of a series often have elaborate and fun stories attached. And it works! They get rave reviews from their fan base on their social media content. Below is the text that accompanied the first of the Cookie Wars series above. (To view all their posts, follow Big Boy Cookies on Instagram @bigboycookies, Facebook @Bigboycookies or visit them online at bigboycookies.com)
Episode One: The Muffin Menace
Turmoil has engulfed the Cookie Republic. The taxation of baked routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Muffin Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Crumbles. While the congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and deliciousness in the galaxy, to settle the conflict….
#bigboycookies #starwars #georgiagrown
Monthly Email Newsletter
Big Boy Cookies has a once-a-month email newsletter that let's their customers know what's going on with all things Big Boy. To encourage email subscribers, they often offer perks that only email subscribers get, such as early access to promotions and news, email-only discounts, and even secret opportunities for after-hours taste testing of new flavors. As with their entire online presence, the emails have a fun and lighthearted attitude with just a hint of sarcasm, just like the real Big Boy.
One feature several subscribers say they look for each month is the "Bad Joke of the Month," hidden almost in the small print at the bottom of each email. It is exactly what the name suggests: a bad joke. For example, in our Valentine's email, the joke was "Do you have a date for Valentine's Day? Yes, February 14th."
Occasionally, Big Boy Cookies will also have special promotional emails that are geared around events or holidays, such as Christmas and will be sent in addition to their monthly newsletter.
Want more?
Want to see what a typical month of social media posts, featuring original photography, looks like (without a theme, such as the Star Wars theme above)? Click the link below.
BACK TO THE BASICS 101, COCHRAN, GEORGIA
Ginger started Back to the Basics 101 several years ago after learning how a poor diet had hurt her body. Click the image to visit her website and hear her story.
Everyone’s story is unique, and Ginger’s is no exception. I first collaborated with her in 2019 to rebuild her website to better suit her ever changing needs. This redesign, featuring a Squarespace site of course, included a full product photo shoot as well as a mini-documentary recounting her journey to find and offer “nutrition from the source.” As a bonus, I was able to create a suite of additional videos from all the footage that didn’t make it into the main documentary. Watch her story below. To see all the additional videos, visit the Vimeo channel here. Because my background is working in the nonprofit world, I hate letting anything go to waste.
“Eric with LOG.IC has exceeded my expectations in creating my website and with the photos and videos he’s been doing. He’s so creative with the videos! I LOVE the bloopers and how he doesn’t “waste” a thing! I highly recommend him!”
PRODUCT VIDEOS, TUTORIALS AND ONLINE MEMBERSHIP
Online Membership with tutorials and resource archive
As the needs of my clients change, so does our contract. In creating a flexible contract, I am able to adapt and grow as my client’s business grows. Ginger and I now do monthly photo and video shoots, and I occasionally do maintenance on her site (which she and her team now manage on their own!). But coming later this year (2021), Ginger and I will launch her brand new online community where every subscriber will have access to a library of resources, tutorials (that otherwise would have to be purchased), recipes and so much more. The video on the right is a promo for her very first tutorials we will launch later this year. In addition to setting up the online membership, I have also created an easy archival system where she and her retail customers (those who buy her products to sell in their own stores) can access monthly and themed photos, product videos and more. I have also created an archive just for Ginger, where she has a bird’s eye view of all her community content as well as her recipe videos, product photos and videos and more… all using her Squarespace site to host. The value in this is that she has everything she needs all in one place.