Case study · Ecommerce · Email marketing · Product photography
From bad product photos to 1 million emails.
A 160-year corn cob pipe manufacturer in Washington, MO. I started with a cold email about photography. The relationship grew into wholesale ecommerce, site maintenance, and email to a 70K retail customer list.
Client
Missouri Meerschaum
industry
Results
1M+
Emails sent to retail and wholesale audiences
70K
Client overview
Missouri Meerschaum is the only corn cob pipe manufacturer in the world. They've been in business for more than 160 years. They employ around 30 people, with a large share of revenue coming from retail online sales and wholesale distribution.
They understand digital marketing. They know they need it. They just don't have the in-house staff to handle it all.
The problem
When I first reached out, it was about photography. Their product images weren't selling the product. Customers couldn't see what they were buying clearly enough to feel confident clicking add to cart.
Wholesale was a separate challenge. Orders came in by phone. There was no online wholesale channel for dealers who wanted to order on their own schedule.
They had the same constraints I hear from most business owners: not enough time, and not enough technical capacity in-house to build and maintain the online side themselves.
How we started
I sent a cold email offering product photography. The images needed work, and I knew I could help.
That first shoot proved competence. Over time, as Missouri Meerschaum saw the quality of the photography and understood I could handle more than a camera, the projects stacked: site work, ecommerce, email, ongoing maintenance.
This is the model I see most often. One project opens the door. Trust builds. The scope grows naturally.
At a glance
What I did
Product photography
Professional on-white and catalog photography so customers know exactly what they're buying. Large, clean, accurate images across their product lines.
Wholesale ecommerce website
Built a wholesale ecommerce site from scratch on WordPress/WooCommerce. Dealers who used to call in orders can now order online.
Site maintenance
Ongoing updates: products in and out of stock, page changes, fixes, and the day-to-day work of keeping a live store running. Missouri Meerschaum emails when something needs to change. I handle it.
Email marketing
Email campaigns for the wholesale site, then expanded to their retail site with a customer list of 70,000 subscribers. Strategy, copy, sends, and reporting.
Before & After
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What this means for similar businesses
If you're a manufacturer or ecommerce business in Missouri (or beyond) with a product catalog, a wholesale channel, or a retail email list you aren't using, this is the kind of work I do.
You don't need to hire an agency with handoffs. You need one person who can start with photography, build the store, and stay for the maintenance and email.
Missouri Meerschaum didn't hire me for all of this on day one. They hired me for photos. The rest followed because the work earned trust.
Tell me what your business needs
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