Weekly Call w/ Karly — 2025-12-05

Attendees: Karly Oykhman, Mark Hope
Source: Fathom Recording

Overview

Weekly sync between Karly and Mark. Primary focus was on Doudlah Farms operations following Mark's in-person visit, a proposed Popcorn Project to capture a ~$250k state grant, and Q1 OKR planning. Secondary topics covered payment follow-up for ^[1], growth strategy for ^[2], retainer conversion for ^[3], and a QR code retargeting opportunity for ^[4].

Doudlah Farms — Operations

Inventory & Packing

Mark visited the farm the day prior. Jason handles both packing and crop combining, creating a bottleneck when harvest is active.

• Decision: Request smaller, more frequent shipments (e.g., 2 pallets at a time) with 1–2 weeks' notice to prevent stockouts.
• Risk: Running out of stock hurts Amazon organic rankings, not just immediate sales. The blue cornmeal ran out recently due to fast sales velocity.

Website Issues

• A bug hid the price for blue cornmeal until the item was added to cart. Ishak fixed it.
• Karly noted at least one other similar issue and will conduct a full site audit.
• Mark redirected all website/order notification emails to Jason to reduce overload on Lucy.

Old World Popcorn — Packaging Fix

• Frequent bag failures (zipper-top bags) have been generating negative Amazon reviews.
• Decision: Doudlah will self-pack using longer, heat-sealed bags without zippers. More airspace at the top allows customers to reseal with a twist-tie.
• Decision: No Amazon imagery update needed — the change is close enough to existing photos.

Old World Email Setup

• Lucy wants a branded Old World email address so she isn't responding to customer inquiries from her Doodla address.
• Plan: Set up a Google Workspace account ($7/mo, 30 GB) for the Old World domain. Forward mail to Lucy's existing Outlook inbox and configure send-as so she doesn't need to manage two inboxes.
• Blocker: Need Lucy's approval before charging her card.

Doudlah Farms — Popcorn Project Proposal

Opportunity

Doudlah has a ~$250k state grant earmarked for popcorn-related initiatives. The grant funds are reimbursable, meaning clean, itemized invoices are essential.

Proposal

A separate "Popcorn Project" engagement at a flat $4,000/month.

• This is structured as a separate project from the existing ~$10k/month retainer.
• Karly will present the proposal to Doudlah. Confidence is high given the track record and the fact that it's grant money.
• Third-party creative (e.g., Jen's bag design work) can also be invoiced against the grant separately.

Doudlah Farms — Q1 OKRs

Objective 1: Accelerate Website Sales

Context: November website sales were $8k vs. $126k on Amazon. Month-over-month growth has been ~$500–$600/mo — far too slow.

Goal: Achieve 10% monthly growth on the website.

Key Results:
1. Build high-quality, conversion-focused landing pages (currently drafted but unfinished)
2. Optimize Google Ads campaigns for conversions against those landing pages
3. Launch additional campaign types: Shopping Ads, Retargeting

Objective 2: Continue Amazon Growth

Goal: Maintain ~10% monthly growth (current pace). At this rate, Amazon revenue could reach ~$250k/month by end of 2026.

Objective 3: Expand B2B & Retail

Goal: Drive wholesale/retail orders and increase channel presence (e.g., Walmart, trade shows, physical retail shelves).

Note: The warehouse project is out of scope for Q1. Asymmetric will step in only if asked.

Cora Italia

• Payment issue: Frederica was supposed to send bank details explaining a failed payment. She never did.
• Action (Karly): Follow up with Lincoln on Monday.
• Salesforce unsubscribe footer: The Salesforce unsubscribe variable ({{unsubscribe_link}}) is now correctly wired into the email template. The link resolves to go.arkot.com/unsubscribe and is functional.
• Action (Karly): Brief Raphael — he can now proceed with building Salesforce automations.
• Future task: Have Ishak build a branded HTML unsubscribe page to replace the default Salesforce one (low priority; required for legal compliance but not user-facing urgency).

Flynn

• Karly's first meeting with Flynn since taking over the account is Monday.
• Goal: Shift Flynn from maintenance mode to growth mode.
• Discussed opportunities: hiring a second technician, professional development for existing staff, job posting support, potential expansion.
• Mark sent Flynn a lunch invite; no reply yet (Flynn was reportedly in the hospital for a planned surgery).
• Action (Karly): Raise growth initiatives in Monday's meeting and remind Flynn that Mark wants to schedule lunch.

Avant

• Currently a project-based client. Goal is to convert to a retainer.
• Tim is happy with work delivered so far.
• Strategy: Propose a 12-month marketing plan framed around seasonal opportunity (winter → spring transition). Elements to include:
• Local awareness: yard signs for active job sites, billboard scraps, transit advertising
• Google My Business optimization
• Website support (snow plowing services aren't even listed on the current site)
• Email strategy (already drafted as a 12-month plan — use as the anchor)
• Action (Karly): Raise the 12-month retainer conversation on the next call with Tim.

Crazy Lenny's

QR Code Project

A friend's bike shop uses QR codes on in-store bike displays linking to product info. Crazy Lenny's wants something similar.

Options discussed:
- Individual landing pages per bike (built on Crazy Lenny's website)
- Links to existing shop/product pages
- Links to manufacturer sites

Crazy Lenny's hasn't decided on scope yet.

Retargeting Opportunity

If QR codes link to landing pages hosted on Crazy Lenny's website, a retargeting pixel can be dropped on every visitor. This enables follow-up ad campaigns targeting people who scanned in-store — a meaningful conversion funnel from physical browsing to digital re-engagement.

• Action (Karly): Await Crazy Lenny's decision on QR code scope before scoping the build.

SMS

Early-stage SMS setup is underway for Crazy Lenny's. Karly is optimistic about the channel.

Bookly (Sam)

Bookly integration (online scheduling + deposits) is nearly complete.

Action Items