Muertos Coffee

BIG NEWS! For all of my rabid readers...all 3 of you (I know who you are)...You have seen over the last few months that I have been working on re-branding. Well, the time has come.

I recently had a revelation about my brand. I recently finished Gary Vee's book Crushing It!  and posed a question on how to interact with people and not sound spamy. The guys over at Orange Cactus Coffee replied and then did one a short podcast to better explain their approach. I listened to and the MC referenced El Cantante from Muertos Coffee and it caught me off gaurd. I had actually forgotten that I themed all my socail media.

I've officially decided to start the process of re-branding. What does that mean? Well, to me...that means I'm kind of starting over.

I've been thinking lately that that I just don't know what I'm doing. I'm kind of just doing what I think is good, then mess up and adjust. I know there is a better way to do it, but I'm not going to know it. I still have a long time left to find partners, but for now, I need some help with starting a business. There are 3 people that I know of and am considering approaching for help. They are:

This last farmer's market was a much better experience then last month. I learned a couple of key elements and have started thinking of things I need to start working on for upcoming months. Lastly, an update on the restaurants I've been trying to to get to sell my coffee.

I know I haven't written in a while, it's been pretty busy for me lately. My blogging is directly correlated to how busy my day job is. We just went through a "restructuring" so my manager is constantly pushing to do more with less. Pretty corporate, I know. There have been a few positive though. A co-worker took my coffee home with her to Tx and her family loved it so much they ordered 6 bags. Also, my website is up and running!

I served my first farmer's market on 1/6. There is a random little restaurant in the middle of our neighborhoods that hosts this market on the first Saturday of every month. It was a bit of a mixed experience.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I posted a couple of weeks ago on my 2018 goals. I think I'm good with those and will lock them in. But looking back on 2017, there is a lot I have learned and a lot more I still need to learn.

I have been pretty much a die hard v60 user since I started brewing manually. I love that brewer. I love the idea of the spiral and that it requires more skill to use than others. I'm going to start serving at an outdoor farmer's market and had to reconsider my choice of brewer.

Its been a little over a month since I have posted a blog. I know I don't have a rabid audience, but still, I want to be consistent. This is where I work out most of my business. I will say that I have one pretty good excuse for not posting...I had a baby. My second girl arrived on 11/8. I have worked on coffee stuff, but just haven't had enough time or brain capacity to post. With the end of the year approaching fast, I figure I should start working on what I want to accomplish in 2018.

I've been thinking about my work lately. I don't think I realized how lonely it would get starting a business. Its not just that I do everything by myself, but that every decision, every move, every effort is just me...I'm a social person, so this is hard for me. I want to change this, but I'm not sure how to go about it...

I ran a social media discount at the gym this last weekend. I offered 20% to anyone who would post a picture and tag Muertos Coffee. Overall, it went really well...I did not get the results I expected, but I might have ended up with more.

It's late tonight and I know I'm not going to get to write at all tomorrow, so I want to get this blog down. Sorry, there aren't any pictures, mainly just working through how important customer service is. Here's why this is on my mind...

I know I missed my blog post last week, I apologize for that. To be honest, I was in the throws of a panic attack. Seriously...my chest was all constricted, I couldn't sleep, felt like I couldn't breath at times...sucked a lot. Why was I freaking out, you ask? Because I was about to cross the threshold and put myself out there. May sound silly, but that is the fear that stops 99.9999999999999999999999999% of people from taking their life from one place, to a better place. Looking back on it, that fear helped prepare, but there was no need for a panic attack.

The time has finally come. Time for me to get of my cave and interact with people in real life. hopefully we stay away from those tricksy hobbitses, precious.

I subscribe to a company called Deathwish Coffee. I reviewed them a long time ago. The coffee was not to my style, but I like the company. I like what they have been able to achieve and how they approach it. I was reading through one of their emails and actually stopped to notice their blog is called "Fueled By Death." I was like, "well, crap." There goes my hashtag and all my ideas around "life fueled by Muertos." So, I needed to come up with a new line and I think I have a good one (if it's not, that sucks because I just put it on 500 business cards).

I had someone laugh about my "black death" coffee a couple days ago and it confused me. I was like, "what are you talking about?" He said, "yeah, you have skulls and stuff." I knew what he meant and I knew I wasn't going to change his view of my logo right then and there. All I could do (and can do) is love those people and share with them. So, that's what I'm doing here.

Sitting here trying to think of something to write about, I realize I am kind of in limbo. I haven't had a lot of new coffee experiences because of the craziness of the holidays and I don't have any grand plans for the future....wait a second...that's terrible. How can a business not have plans for the future? I need some goals.

In the early stages of starting a business it is just as much about the people invested in its success as it is about the business. I don't have stock holders, but (hopefully) I do have a few people that want to see me succeed. So, until I do have stock holders, I figured I would share how my company did in 2016.

*Before I start discussing how my first venture into coffee sales went, and go on and on about something that most people take for granted, I want to point out that I am able to pursue my dreams because of great men and women who fought and died to make America free. One thing I want to keep perspective of while I work towards my goal is that this was all made possible by our Veteran's sacrifice. Thank you all for your service. I opened the figurative doors and started selling coffee to deliver on Dia de los Muertos. This is how it went...