Bee careful! Click to watch the video.

I suppose the bee that rammed itself repeatedly into my hat just above my ear was warning me that she and her 15,000 other buddies inside the hive were trying to get some shut eye and were not to be bothered. It was a cold day in November, and bees just clump up and sort of go dormant during the winter months. And whereas I think everybody knows not to wake up a sleeping bear, I’ve never been told not to disturb a beehive in the winter. But like bears, and me for that matter, bees can get quite cranky and short tempered if bothered during their sleepy time.

“Do you want to put on the bee suit?” Roger asked as we got to the gate that separated us from about 20-odd hives which sat quietly amongst the trees in the woods. “Are you?” I answered. He said he wasn’t, so I thought aloud, “Well if you aren’t, I’m not gonna.” I figured I would trust the man who does this year round, and if I just stuck to the rules (move slowly, remain quiet, and no panicking) I would be ok. Everything went well, and when I finally got buzzed I did manage to control my urge to do the Invisible Insect Panic Dance. After a careful check in the folds of my hat, I figured my time was up, so we packed the gear and left.

The Paynes family and staff.

Roger Payne is a tall, gentle fellow who spends his days with bees. Hundreds of thousands of them. He is a third generation beekeeper, and along with his family runs Paynes Southdown Bee Farms. Located in the tranquil Sussex countryside in the south of England, Roger and the rest of the family and staff tend to countless hives scattered around the area and harvest the honey and beeswax that the bees produce. They turn that bounty into a range of products that are both edible delicacies, such as raw honey, jams, and candies, as well as functional accessories for the home and tools and equipment for the practicing beekeeper.

As is typical of the region this time of year, it was grey and a bit drizzly the week I spent there. It was also a bit odd that I was shooting a documentary on a beekeeper during the winter months. Maybe it fits MailChimp’s commitment to being unconventional. Regardless, there was ample activity at Paynes facility to make up for the lack of busy bees flying around practicing their pollen collecting activities that mark the warmer seasons.

Tucked into a cluster of small buildings which used to make up the stables of a larger estate next door, Roger and family are utilizing every square inch of space for the different aspects of running a thriving bee-based business. From small workshops in which they pour beeswax molds or build hives, to a jarring and labeling room, a storefront, a shipping and packaging area, there was not a square inch left unused. There were computers and desks tucked under staircases and squeezed into storage rooms between shelves stacked with cases upon cases of honey products. Yet I felt as though nobody seemed to mind the cramped quarters, perhaps because they spent so much of their time outdoors, year round, tending to their bees.

I spent a lot of time walking while there, mostly between the B&B, the bee farm, and the local pub (best sticky toffee pudding EVER), so I felt as though I got to feel the land a bit. And regardless of the weather being cold or the season grey, I could see how working with nature in such lovely surroundings could be a satisfying choice for three generations of Paynes. And to think that that little operation provides such a vast (and delicious!) collection of products to an entire region of the world really adds meaning to the phrase “busy as a bee.” As far as beekeeping goes, I think the word “keeping” refers more to “keeping-up-with” than any other meaning one might infer. And as Roger put it, with a smile, “they’re in control of us… definitely.”

Watch the customer story.

Even if you weren’t able to make it this time, hopefully these animated gifs will help you feel like you’re right in the mix.

View from the 5 Seasons Brewing roof deck

The King of Pops helped folks cool off with his delicious, handmade popsicles

Ben chatting

Plenty of monkey hats to go around and swag galore!

The Mystery Men shared stellar surf rock tunes that were totally weather appropriate.

Our beloved Freddie appeared to share hugs and fist bumps with all

Admittedly, it’s not very original, but people go nuts over these shirts, so we figured we shouldn’t mess with a good thing. We’ve mailed 30,000 shirts to customers in more than 80 countries so far this month, and we still have lots of orders left to fill.

If your shirt hasn’t arrived or you had an issue ordering the shirt, hang tight! We’re working as fast as we can. We’d make a joke about Christmas elves, but you get the idea. Happy holidays!

First, they’ve started with a pretty basic form.
Rather than using a single header image for each step, they’ve kept the form plain and customized every page with a different photo in the body.

Here’s the Thank You page:

Look at those adorable kids!  It gets better from there.

When I check my email for the confirmation link, there’s another fantastic shot:

Clicking the link takes me to the confirmation page and, yep, another photo:

This is a great way for you to showcase your work while getting new subscribers to your list.   This could be a great option for designers, photographers and artists who want to engage subscribers right away and provide them with a more interesting signup process.

You might also want to check out:

Tracking Signup Locations via the MailChimp Embedded Forms
Better Embedded Signup Forms
How Adding Product Photos Bumped Click Rate Almost 50%

Pretty nice, eh?  Notice the social sharing icons right under it, too, so people can encourage others to join the fold. I was curious about the rest of their signup process, and wanted to get their cool daily emails, so I went ahead and signed myself up.

The form leads me to this pop-up confirmation message, which also provides an opportunity for them to learn a little more about me as a subscriber.  I also have the option to leave this page totally blank if I feel like it, but I gave them my info so they can send me more targeted messages.

And we’re done!  Notice how they’ve included another social sharing bar — a great way to spread the word about your newsletter and grow your list naturally.

Have you tried social sharing in your subscribe process yet?

You might also be interested in:

Better Embedded Signup Forms

MailChimp’s Facebook Signup App

Tracking Signup Location via MailChimp Forms

From there, Brian began building for a local gallery and designing custom portraits for families and businesses. In 2006, Brickworkz LLC was formed. Brian spent the next two years taking the show on the road to various LEGO-related events, capturing his completed works online. By 2007, online visitors from countries like Israel, Hong Kong, Ireland, Canada and England were requesting Brickworkz art.

In late 2007, Brian received a call from a collector in Ohio who commissioned him to design the World’s Largest LEGO Image, breaking the Guinness World Record.  After months of planning and building, they achieved their goal: a full-scale 18-wheel tractor trailer spanning more than 44 feet and made with over 1.2 million LEGO bricks.

Today, Brian uses Brickworkz not just as a creative outlet, but as a way to reach the community and share his story (and artwork) with children in schools, teaching children about the importance of creativity. LEGO mosaics by Brickworkz can be seen in the offices of Fortune 500 companies as well as private residences in the U.S. and abroad.

Why MailChimp?

“My list started growing beyond what was appropriate (or possible) to BCC, and I wanted an easy way for visitors to subscribe and unsubscribe. I was wasting a lot of time managing my email list, and wanted something easy, yet full of options. MailChimp had everything right from the start, so it was easy for me to build what I wanted and get what I wanted quickly.”

Sign up for Brickworkz’ News From the Studio or view past issues from the archive.

Kudos to Federica Cavallaro Therapeutic Massage and her agency, Rubic Design, for this beautifully designed email.

Check out this really nice, customized newsletter signup form for Brown’s Brain, “Websites can be easy” newsletter.  All you need to do to customize your own signup form is click on the “Lists” tab in the MailChimp dashboard. Then select the list for which you want to edit/customize your forms, and click “design signup forms & response emails”.

Zip

When you place an order online, Zip asks you to set up an account. At the start of this process, when you set up your email address and user password, there is a check box where users can opt-in to receive emails with special promotions and information.

On the right frame of every page, Zip has a “Subscribe to e-newsletter” icon, which serves as a constant reminder to their customers and casual browsers to sign up.

When you click the “Subscribe to e-newsletter” icon, you are taken to Zip Parts’ sign up form which they created using MailChimp.  They are using segmentation in an interesting way as well, by asking subscribers to give the generation of their Corvette (or you can select “all years”). This allows Zip to send out more relevant promotional emails to their newsletter subscribers.

Zip Parts also has a blog that they update multiple times a week.  This constantly updated content stream works beautifully with MailChimp’s RSS-to-Email feature, which Zip is also taking advantage of.  Note to all you business owners and entrepreneurs out there: a blog is one of the easiest and best ways to begin building a repository of content and information that you will be able to draw on down the road! Whether or not you’re looking to start an email newsletter, a blog is an essential element of both personal and professional branding. Don’t overlook it!

Finally, Zip is using MailChimp’s Mini Signup Box in the right-hand column of their blog to help further boost newsletter subscriptions. (The above link will take you to a short video tutorial on how easy it is to create your own Mini Signup Box, for your blog or website, using MailChimp.)