My Digital Farmer Podcast

What farm marketing metrics are you tracking in your business? When I first took the reins of sales/marketing in my business, I didn't know I SHOULD be tracking metrics, much less which ones! Peter Drucker (wise, business man) once said: "You can't improve what you don't measure." SO TRUE. Please trust me: if you haven't starting measuring data, you're leaving money on the table. The data is there, waiting to show you something. Don't be afraid of it. Let it guide you. In today's podcast, I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing a list of data points you can track in your farm business that affect your sales and marketing. What levers do you have to pull in your business? What do the numbers actually tell you? What are the most important metrics that push the needle in your business? You won't know until you start tracking them. When you see the numbers, it alerts you to what's working and what's not working. You'll be able to adjust your sales strategy. You'll know where you need to allocate resources to make you more money. You might even realize you can stop doing something altogether. So get a pen and paper out. Take some notes. Then use this information and go set up a tracking system on a Google Sheet where you can store these numbers. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Hit play and let's get started! Listen to this episode on Stitcher. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts Listen to this episode on Google Play Listen to this episode on Spotify. Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Episode 21: The 100 True Fans - I reference this in today's podcast. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- learn more about how to get into my 20-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. I'm opening the doors for a 3-month cohort for a limited time. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

How much does it matter that a customer "like" you -- before they buy your product? Turns out, it helps a ton. In today's episode, I let you peek into one of my private Book Studies I'm doing with my Accelerator Group Coaching cohort this summer on the best-selling book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini, PhD. In this study, we discuss two key psychological "trigger points" that will set off automatic behaviors in our clients. What are they?... "liking" and "social proof." You'll hear specific ideas for how we can leverage social proof to show our clients that "lots of people like our product." And we discuss ways to do marketing to increase the odds that customers will like you (like showing your face more often). It's a fascinating book, and the discussion brought up a lot of practical examples. I hope you walk away with a couple of specific things you can try in your marketing that will get these psychology triggers to work for you. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini - This is the book we're discussing in today's episode. Grab the Amazon link. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- learn more about how to get into my 20-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. I'm opening the doors for a 3-month cohort for a limited time. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

A few weeks ago, I broke a personal weekly record with my online pre-sales for this time of year. My store sales revenue jumped by 35% in my Local Line store. I accidentally did something different that week, and I think that's the reason it happened... In today's episode, I share the story and why I think it worked. If you have an online store that you're driving customers to each week -- this tip will totally work for you. And it took about 15 minutes to implement. I'm all about KEEPING IT SIMPLE. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! (We use Local Line at our farm, and WE LOVE IT!!) Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course" in farm marketing that I drip out to you over email each week, that covers the fundamentals of sales. Get loads of suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- The doors open for the next 3-month cohort of 20 farmers in September. Learn more about the program AND get on the wait list for group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

Sometimes you just need to have a few key elements in place in your marketing system to get the sales going. In today's episode, I interview a guest who spends most of her time on two things -- social media and an email marketing process (called a "nurture email automated sequence"). These two elements are enough to drive new clients into her world and get them to feel ready to buy her bulk beef. If you're looking for ideas for content marketing for a bulk buy business, this episode will resonate with you! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Who is Sarah Lovenuk? My guest today is Sarah Lovenuk from Black Barn Farms in Oxdrift, Ontario. Black Barn Farms was started in 2017 when Sarah and her husband Phil bought their property together. After converting a pole barn into a house the first year, they started their farm adventure in 2018 with 6 pigs, selling mostly to family and friends. Sarah wanted nothing to do with Phil's farming dreams at first, but was slowly convinced of the beauty of being able to farm regeneratively in order to improve the environment they live in and work with the ecosystems already occurring in nature! The goal at Black Barn Farms is to provide healthy pork and beef locally, with a dedicated focus on ethical livestock treatment, regenerative agriculture practices, and a sustainable source of quality food! Both enterprises are marketed as bulk sales every year as well as retail sales straight from the farm! They are the only farm in their area that has implemented the use of hydroponically grown fodder in order to reduce hay and grain consumption year round! Sarah recently retired from a 10 year career as a dental hygienist to take over farm sales, marketing, and farm education. Through early promotion of their farm ideals through social media, their farm has gained a reputation and a decent following in their small town. They have recently joined a local food co-op to enhance their sales reach outside of their community and created an online store in order to make selling their meats more convenient for local folks! It has been a huge success! Website: www.blackbarnfarms.ca Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Episode 27 Case Study: Objections of a Beef CSA Buyer - Sarah referenced this episode as being helpful as she developed her bulk-buying nurture email sequence. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

If you want to be in business for a long time, then you MUST become a master at making "offers." An offer is not your product. An offer is how you position and pitch your product in such a way that makes a person want to buy it. There are LOTS of different ways you can pitch your product, and in this episode, I'm sharing 10 of the most popular ones you see around many industries (that also work for farming). (Plus I share how you can get my Ultimate list of marketing offer Ideas in the show.) This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Hit play and let's get started! Listen to this episode on Stitcher. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts Listen to this episode on Google Play Listen to this episode on Spotify. Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. The Ultimate List of Offer Ideas -- want a list of offer strategies to pull out of your toolkit? I list 30 different ideas for offers in this PDF, and I add to it as I come up with more! Grab it here. Episode 67 Use the 34Limiteds. How to Get Someone to Buy Now. Episode 143 The 5 Elements of an Amazing Offer (Shutterfly Case Study) Episode 50 - Three Ways to increase Your Revenue Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

August 2, 2023 by Corinna For many farms, COVID-19 forced many of us to re-imagine how we could sell our products to our customers, and inadvertently created an opportunity to sell more product with less work. Today's guest is Sarah Bakker from Field Sparrow Farms, and she shares how moving to an online pre-sale process made everything easier. We'll learn how she drives the marketing engine in her business -- you'll be surprised to find out how simple it is. Sometimes, you don't need a lot of bells and whistles. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

What if you only needed 100 "true fans" to hit $100K in revenue? I remember in my early years of farming, I was just grasping for new clients -- whatever I could get! I wasn't looking at numbers, or data, or patterns. I didn't think about a "strategy" for how to hit revenue goals. Today, I share the "Principle of the 100 True Fans," (well, actually it's called the Principle of the 1000 True Fans, but 100 is way more accessible for farmers). The idea is that if each of our 100 "true fans" bought $1000 worth of product every year from us, we'd make $100K. Using this concept, you can quickly identify a few milestones to reach for to help you create a repeatable annual revenue. So just how possible is that formula?... Today we look at some scenarios and consider a realistic, hopeful path forward. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

How important are consistency and persistence in sales? Turns out, pretty important for Red Handle Farm. In today's episode, I interview Bridget McMillion, who shares her story of how she cultivated new florist clients for her cut flower product line by showing up EVERY week all summer long at the florists' shop with her product. After months of no sales, she finally got them to convert. And now they are regular clients. Bridget has a ton of wisdom to share -- even though she's only been doing this for a year. She brings her background in sales to the table and we talk shop. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Hit play and let's get started! Listen to this episode on Stitcher. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts Listen to this episode on Google Play Listen to this episode on Spotify. Who is Bridget McMillion? Bridget McMillion is the owner of Red Handle Farm. She was raised by her grandparents on a farm in Amelia County Virginia and lives in sight of the home where her grandfather was born in 1928. She is a board certified health coach who understands the importance of eating fresh food, getting daily exercise and the mental health benefits of being in nature. Bridget stepped back from her coaching position in 2022 to focus her energies on revitalizing the family farm with the help of her 2 adult children & grandson, who also live, work & play on the land with her. She & her family strive to continue the legacy of this multi-generational farm by producing flowers, field grown fruits & veggies, and forest products. Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Ready Farmer One - This marketing book was written for farmers, and it's AWESOME. It is referenced in today's episode. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. CSA Tips & Strategies Canva Template -- this ready-to-go resource is perfect to give to your CSA members -- it helps them identify the key lessons they must learn early on to "master" their CSA membership quickly. It includes all the "beginner's guide to CSA" tips and hacks in a beautiful, easy-to-skim guide. Your clients will LOVE it. Use it for onboarding, as a sign-on bonus, or as a paid product. The Canva template allows you to customize it yourself. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

Do certain enterprises in your business feel a little stale? It's easy for that to happen, when you put things on auto-pilot and just do stuff the same way over and over again. The downside is that your clients can get bored, and YOU can get bored. That lack of energy translates to your customers. In 2017, I stumbled accidentally onto a path where I began creating "new" projects and content with my clients. I saw an immediate increase in excitement and attention to my brand. I now make it a practice to bring in "new" things to our CSA every year to jazz it up and keep my customers guessing. In today's podcast, I share my specific "inner-marketing" plan for my CSA season -- what mechanisms I'm using to create hype, momentum, and a spirit of fun. Perhaps you can use some of the ideas I'm sharing in your own farm business somewhere -- even if you don't have a CSA. So get out a legal pad and pen, and take some notes! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 66 Using Contests to Build Excitement in your CSA - follow up this podcast with episode 66 for more details on how to use contests well. Episode 119 How My "CSA Giveaway Challenge" Experiment Built Some Major Brand Identity Episode 150 Creating a Punch List for your Customer -- Learn how the Bingo Board idea started! Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. CSA Tips & Strategies Canva Template -- this ready-to-go resource is perfect to give to your CSA members -- it helps them identify the key lessons they must learn early on to "master" their CSA membership quickly. It includes all the "beginner's guide to CSA" tips and hacks in a beautiful, easy-to-skim guide. Your clients will LOVE it. Use it for onboarding, as a sign-on bonus, or as a paid product. The Canva template allows you to customize it yourself. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

Over the years, I've had a lot of people come up to me and ask me, "What's this box of veggies all about?..." I used to take 5-10 minutes with EVERY person and dive deep into how a CSA worked, how to sign up, etc. I could tell some of them were interested, and some weren't, but it would take me a little longer to figure out if they'd be successful. Years later, I now know how to shorten that process immensely. I've learned how to ask the right questions first, read body language, and determine who is really a serious lead, and who isn't. This screening process is something called "qualifying your leads" in the marketing space. Qualifying leads is important because it allows you to focus your precious time and resources on prospects who are more likely to convert into paying customers. If you can find a way to identify and then target the qualified leads, you'll not only see higher conversions, but it will happen a whole lot faster. So what are the questions and elements we need to be looking for to help us "screen" our leads? In today's episode, I share an acronym used by IBM sales executives called B.A.N.T. B - Budget A - Authority N - Need T - Timeline This acronym becomes the starting point for a lively discussion on what information we're trying to glean from our prospect, to help guide the sales conversation. At the end of the day, I want my client to LOVE my product and experience satisfaction. I feel responsible for making sure I don't sell it to someone who isn't a good fit. Use this podcast to help you develop your own qualifying questions for sales conversations, and consider how you might set these up into a "system" in your customer interactions. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: My List of Great Market Research Survey Questions -- I send a survey out to my clients every year at the end of the season. Want some ideas for great questions to use? Grab this list here. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts!

June 28, 2023 by Corinna I'm often asked by farmers who are strapped for time: "Help! If I only have a few hours a week to devote to marketing, what should I be doing?" Last week, I talked about the top repetitive weekly tasks that drive results in my farm business. So be sure to check that one out too here. In today's podcast, I share the monthly and annual marketing tasks that repeat every year, to keep the flywheel spinning. Creating a system for your marketing strategy is the key. When you know the tasks that drive results in your business, and you create a container/system to make sure they happen over and over again -- that's when you see the needle start to move in your business. I hope you find this list helpful. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 216 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast -- I share the repetitive weekly marketing tasks that move the needle in my business. Definitely listen to that one! My List of Great Market Research Survey Questions -- I send a survey out to my clients every year at the end of the season. Want some ideas for great questions to use? Grab this list here. My CSA Renewal Promotion Campaign Course -- learn how to build a promotional campaign to get more of your CSA members to renew their membership when you want. I teach the "launch" style promo, for CSAs. Step by step. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

I'm often asked by farmers who are strapped for time: "Help! If I only have a few hours a week to devote to marketing, what should I be doing?" Today's podcast answers that question. I share the top 5 tasks that I repeat every week in my main season to keep the flywheel spinning in my farm business, and to keep the revenue coming in. Creating a system for your marketing strategy is the key. When you know the tasks that drive results in your business, and you create a container/system to make sure they happen over and over again -- that's when you see the needle start to move in your business. I hope you find this list helpful. Next week, I'll do a follow-up episode and talk about the top repetitive monthly/annual tasks that drive results in my business. So be sure to check that one out too! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Social Media Templates Guide: Get my guide of the "categories" of social media posts. Feel like you're falling into a rut and not sure what to post about anymore? This will show all kinds of examples. Email Writing Prompts -- one of my most popular downloads! Not sure what to talk about in that all-important weekly email? I share over 20 different starting points to help you find the central focus of your weekly email to connect with your clients and build trust. Want to practice Instagram Stories? Take my Instagram Stories Challenge -- it's a free 7-day challenge that will teach you the mechanics of how to do IG Stories. Come play in the sandbox with me and grow your confidence! Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

In today's episode, meet my special guest Elizabeth Hopkins from Honeymoon Farm - the mushroom capital of the world. Since 2017, she's been marketing her gourmet mushrooms at a farmer's market, trying to educate a consumer who's only familiar with the cremini mushrooms you might buy at the store. How do you create interest, pique curiosity, and overcome the "outlier" factor that might keep a person from trying it? This episode is full of practical wisdom based on trial and error of being in the trenches week after week, peddling her wares. We talk website messaging, customer onboarding, rebranding, recipe cards, gateway products, signage, SEO, lead magnets, juggling farm and mom life, and email marketing. You'll find an idea in here for sure to apply to your farm business! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Learn how to use AI for your marketing with my 5 Day ChatGPT Challenge -Want to see how this easy-to-use AI tool can simplify your marketing tasks? Each day via email, I share a phrase to drop into the ChatGPT query box. Then see what happens. That's it. 5 minutes a day. And I promise... you'll see the implications right away. It's going to blow your mind. Subscribe to the 5-Day challenge below and receive your first query to put into the ChatGPT interface, starting tomorrow! Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

What if I told you that the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69%? OMG, yes. It's a big deal. This week, I was placing an online order for poly bags for our farm's pack shed. But as I was reading the product description, I couldn't tell if this was the "right bag." I went to look at the actual box in my pack shed to read the label. I copied down the product number, and all the specs like 1.5 mil and 1.8 gallon -- just so I could make sure it was the same bag. But the product description didn't have those details. I actually found myself squinting at the poorly lit, fuzzy product photo -- trying to decide if I wanted to take a chance and just order them. In the end, I had to call the company and ask clarifying questions. I felt friction. I was annoyed. I almost gave up -- especially when I realized I'd have to call someone. How many times does a similar type experience happen for your new clients? Are you inadvertently creating friction in the actual buying process because you have some kinks in your ordering process? In today's episode, I provide you with a checklist of essential elements to evaluate in your checkout process, ensuring a seamless checkout, so that your customers aren't experiencing any confusion or speed bumps when they try to "BUY NOW." After you listen to the show, I want you to do a detailed audit of your new buyer's journey, and uncover some of the places that are confusing your new clients and making them abandon ship. I bet you'll find something you didn't realize was there. Remember: the goal is NO FRICTION. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: I share this list of "optimized CTA button text" in today's episode: Proceed" instead of "Continue to Checkout" or "Complete Purchase" "Submit" instead of "Place Order" or "Finalize Purchase" "Next" instead of "Review Order" or "Confirm Details" "Click Here" without specifying the action, such as "Click Here to Proceed with Payment" "Continue" without indicating the next step, like "Continue to Payment" or "Continue to Shipping Options" "Finalize" without clarifying what is being finalized, such as "Finalize Your Order" "Register" instead of "Create an Account" or "Sign Up" "Upgrade" without indicating what is being upgraded, like "Upgrade Shipping" or "Upgrade to Premium" Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Episode 151 Creative Badges for Your Product Descriptions Episode 213 How to Tell Customers What to Do in 3 Easy Steps Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. CSA Tips and Tricks E-Book Canva template -- this Canva template is customizable! It's the playbook to share with all your new CSA members, that teaches them the ropes for how to become a CSA master member faster. Use it as a lead magnet for your CSA product line, as an onboarding gift to new members, or as a bonus in your CSA offer! Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

May 31, 2023 by Corinna Wondering why more people aren't buying your product?... Well, it could be many things. But maybe your customers are confused about how to start doing business with you. Imagine a brand new potential client finds about your brand. They're curious enough to go check out your website or store. They might even scan the website all the way to the bottom! But they don't take action because they can't figure out what exactly is going to happen when they click the BUY NOW button. This is a problem I see time and again on company websites and messaging. (I am guilty of it too!) As business owners, we aren't making the whole process clear. We are so close to our product that we assume everyone knows how it works! But what if they don't?... For example, a prospect sees your "SHOP ONLINE" button, but they don't understand how pickup works. Where or when are they picking up the product? Or do you deliver it? When do they select that option? So they don't click the button. People will not enter into a state of confusion. Our job as marketers is to eliminate confusion, and part of that means we need to proactively map out the journey for them BEFORE they even step into the call-to-action-button -- to help them see the critical milestones in the ENTIRE process from purchase to fulfillment. What does this look like? One popular method for communicating this information is to use something known as the "3-Step Plan." In today's podcast, I discuss what this plan can look like for a farm business, and I share some questions you can use to help you figure out your 3 steps. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Resources Mentioned In This Episode: I reference several examples of how the 3-Step Plan looks on actual websites. Check them out: SharedLegacyFarms.com/csa-membership WillowhavenFarm DallasOasis.com Seven Sons Farm Chamberlain Law Group Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Ten Common Farm Website Mistakes -- Use this PDF guide as a checklist to identify and troubleshoot common website messaging mistakes! Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

May 24, 2023 by Corinna In today's podcast, I interview Camilla Lombard, co-owner of SeaForager -- a community supported fishery located in the San Francisco Bay area. Camilla is doing a lot of things intrinsically right with her marketing. Her location is ideal for her product. As the author of a renowned seaforager's guide, her husband has authority in the fishing space which helps them attract new clients. And with a "fun" brand that includes singing sea shantys and leading seashore foraging tours, her weekly seafood membership is an obvious next step for her ideal clients. In this interview, we talk through her marketing funnel, what she's learned about her ideal customer, and how she nails her website messaging. No matter what kind of business you are, you'll see the classic marketing principles at play that you can apply to your own farm business! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Who is Camilla Lombard? Camilla Lombard is the co-founder and executive Fishwife of Sea Forager, the community supported fishery (CSF) and coastal foraging tour business that she runs with her husband Kirk Lombard in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are sustainable fishmongers, educators, and champions of sustainable fisheries, and they partner with small-scale hook and line fishermen to provide sustainable and delicious seafood to passionate home cooks. Kirk is the author of The Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast (Heyday Press), and also leads coastal fishing and foraging walking tours in San Francisco and Half Moon Bay, helping people enjoy and conserve their local bounty. Camilla manages the operations, website, marketing, promotions, events, customer service, recipes, morale, and plays the accordion and hollers with their sea shanty band, The Fishwives. The seafood operation is based in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, and they live and raise their two kids in Half Moon Bay, California. Visit the Seaforager website here Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Join the wait list for Accelerator -- my 3-month mastermind and small group coaching program for farm business owners, who are ready to build the marketing systems required for a strong farm business. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts!

Last month, I booked a massage with a new LMT that I found via Google. Thirty minutes before my appointment, I realized that she wasn't located in Oak Harbor, Ohio. She was located in Oak Harbor, WASHINGTON. Yeah. How did this happen? I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong. Did I type something wrong into Google? Why would Google give me a search result for somewhere on the west coast? The experience DID give me a lot to think about when it comes to marketing, though. There were several moments along this journey where I "should have" noticed this LMT's location -- and that information was not easy to find. In today's episode, I share the funny story of my massage-appointment-gone-horribly-wrong. And I share a few tips for how YOU as a business can make sure you do everything in YOUR power to communicate your farm's location BEFORE they try to buy. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts! Now if you're feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on Apple Podcast, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they're also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you! My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at [email protected].

Are customers experiencing success with your product? Or are they overwhelmed and confused once they get it in their kitchen? (Maybe they're not even using the product because they've given up on it!?) Yikes! As a marketer, our job is not just to get our customers to buy. We ALSO need to make sure they experience a "win" with the product! We want them to LOVE it, know how to use it, and feel like a winner! This "customer win" may not happen on its own, especially for things like bulk beef buys or CSA, which are confusing to understand and hard to do well at first. If you don't have a process for product "fulfillment" in your business -- aka helping your client achieve success with the product -- then it's quite possible that your customer is hitting a wall somewhere along the way and feeling like a failure. And if they are... your clients won't come back and buy again. Customer retention is the result of a strong system for product fulfillment. Have you built a system for this in your business? In today's podcast, I share what this system can look like for your farm business. I go through 4 key pieces of a fulfillment strategy, and I give LOTS of examples (and tools) for how this can look in various farm enterprises. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. CSA Tips and Tricks for Success Ebook Canva Template - You and I know that the first year of CSA can be hard for rookies. This guide is a resource I created to help my new CSA members learn the ropes for how to succeed with CSA faster. It quickly summarizes the most important hacks and tips a new member should learn, and it's based on my research of my own CSA master members. You not only get the unbranded PDF version of this resource that you can download as-is, but you also get the Canva file, so you can customize the text and images to fit your farm. You can share this resource as part of your onboarding process through an email, use it as a lead magnet on your website, or as a bonus in your CSA offer. Either way, this template is a major shortcut to creating a very useful resource that will help your CSA members feel successful faster. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. A to Z Vegetable Storage Guide Canva Template -- one of the first problems your veggie clients needs to solve is how to STORE their veggies properly (so they last longer!). Help them learn this skill by giving them my A to Z Veggie Storage Guide. This 40 page guide includes a picture of every veggies, storage tips, and how to cook it. It's a great way to empower your members and make them feel like you have their backs! Make a great impression and look uber-generous. Grab the Canva template and customize the front page with your own branding. Use it as a lead magnet too! My Digital Farmer Podcast Episode 45 What My Air Fryer Can Teach You About Marketing- In this episode, I share an example of a "surprise and delight" moment. My Digital Farmer Podcast Episode 150 - Get my Bingo Board example that I mentioned in today's podcast Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

How important is it to inspire your customers with your business? In today's podcast, I dig into that question with flower farmer Lyndsay Biehl of Wildroot Flower Company. Over the last 6 years, she has slowly built an organic following of super-fans. And after our conversation, I have my suspicions that it's not just because her flowers are beautiful.... Listen to Lyndsay's messaging, and you'll hear phrases like: "I believe in you... you deserve it... slow down... admire the beauty around you... be present... connect with those you love." Lyndsay inspires people to believe transformation is possible. She is the "attractive character" everyone yearns to become. She speaks a word of hope into their existence. In today's episode, you'll not only hear tactical strategies Lyndsay is using to manage "all the marketing things" in her business. You'll be reminded to invite your customers into your deeper why and show them what's possible. What could your inspiring message be?... This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Who is Lyndsay Biehl? Lyndsay Biehl is the owner of Wildroot Flower Co in Marietta, OH, and a co-host of The Dirt on Flowers podcast. She has over 20 years of commercial growing experience and is a Landscape Horticulture graduate from The Ohio State University. Lyndsay caught the flower bug at a young age and created Wildroot Flower Co as a way to connect her community with flowers and themselves. Wildroot is in its seventh year of business and grows seasonal cut flowers from March-October. Their customers enjoy their flowers through a seasonal CSA, on-farm workshops, and a flower U-pick. Agritourism is the heart of her farm, and she loves sharing her infectious energy about flowers with her loyal flower community. Website: www.wildrootflowerco.com Instagram: @wildroot_flowerco Lyndsay's Podcast:The Dirt on Flowers Podcast Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

How are you leveraging word of mouth? It is still by far the #1 way that people hear about your product. So are you building any mechanisms to encourage this to happen more? And what if I told you that around 60% of word of mouth marketing for your brand is happening in offline conversations? When specifically is your product or brand coming to mind for your customer, so that they think to talk about it with someone. In today's podcast, I'm sharing a recording of a Book Study I led with y Accelerator members on the book "Contagious" by Jonah Berger. This is a fascinating idea-sharing discussion of farmers trying to brainstorm specific actions they can take to get people to talk more about their brand. I hope you get some ideas from this mastermind! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Contagious by Jonah Berger - this is the book we discuss in today's recording Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1.

Do you have a product that isn't selling well in your online store? In today's episode, I share a strategy you can try that may change your low-seller to a best-seller. And it only takes 5 minutes. This idea was inspired by the breakfast buffet table at my women's Bible study last week.... Aren't you curious?... This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Chat GPT Challenge - subscribe to my 5 day challenge, delivered over email, which will teach you the many ways you can use ChatGPT to help you in your marketing. Each day, you'll get a different query to put into the tool. That's all you have to do! Read the response, and keep interacting if you want. My hope is that it will help you overcome your fear of trying something new, and show you the HUGE possibilities for improving your marketing. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. We open enrollment again in the fall. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

A BONUS episode?! That's right. I don't do these very often. But recently, Local Line released some big news for their platform, which have some exciting possibilities for farmers using their platform. This news was so big, that I wanted to make sure farmers heard about it NOW before the season gets intense -- in case they want to jump on board. So I invited Local Line's founder, Cole Jones, to come onto the show to release the news in this bonus episode. So much of marketing is about removing friction at various stages of the customer journey and fulfillment process. With this announcement from Local Line, I see huge potential for farmers to be able to increase their sales, create valuable new relationships, and build profits. If you're a Local Line user, or if you're in the market for a new ecommerce solution, this is definitely a show you want to have in your ear buds... This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list to get farm marketing tips! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. We open enrollment twice a year. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for CSA Marketing for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

April 12, 2023 by Corinna What makes a person decide to buy themselves a bouquet of flowers? Knowing the answer to this question may be the key to selling more of them. In today's podcast, I interview flower farmer Kendra Kennedy of Dogwood Flower Farm in Wisconsin. Her goal is to build her entire farm business around the love of flowers. We talk at length about the kind of person she is attracting to her business. What makes a person decide to buy this product? Are you really selling just the flowers themselves?... or is it something else? And if it IS something else, how can we lean into THAT message more in our marketing? It's a great discussion, and I hope it gets you thinking about YOUR product -- and the real WHY behind the buy. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Who is Kendra Kennedy? Kendra is the owner of Dogwood Farms -- a Wisconsin flower farmette. The farm is on its fourth season and is currently growing on 1/4 acre. Dogwood sells fresh flowers directly to customers and is looking to push more agritourism and community pop ups this season. Website: www.dogwoodfarmswi.com Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller -- Kendra mentioned this book several times, as a key resource that helped her understand the concept of making her customer the hero of her brand story. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. We open enrollment again in the fall. Why They Buy -- Want to the learn the psychological triggers that make a person ready to buy? Take my free class that will teach you the sales secrets many marketers rely on to move their products. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

AI has now hit the marketing space. And if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, I'm about to make a case that you should. In today's episode, I introduce you to "ChatGPT" -- a machine learning tool that is a cross between Google Search, Siri, and your own personal copywriter. I'm sharing how it works and walking through 10+ use cases where this tool can make the process of writing your marketing assets SO MUCH EASIER and faster. I also had a moment of inspiration while I was recording the show. I've created a 5-Day ChatGPT Challenge, delivered over email. This challenge will be a fun way to learn how to play in the sandbox of ChatGPT. Here's how it will work: Subscribe to the Challenge here. www.mydigitalfarmer.com/AI That will trigger a daily email for 5 days in a row. (The first email will also include a DEMO VIDEO of me using the tool.) Subscribe to ChatGPT here. (It's free!) Each day, I'll give you a specific question to put into the ChatGPT query box. You'll see what it generates. That's it. That's all you have to do. After 5 days, you'll have a pretty good idea of different prompts you can use. I PROMISE you... you'll immediately see the implications for how this can help you in your marketing. My daily email will also include a short paragraph highlighting the implications of how to use the response you see from ChatGPT in your marketing assets moving forward. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Chat GPT Challenge - subscribe to my 5 day challenge, delivered over email, which will teach you the many ways you can use ChatGPT to help you in your marketing. Each day, you'll get a different query to put into the tool. That's all you have to do! Read the response, and keep interacting if you want. My hope is that it will help you overcome your fear of trying something new, and show you the HUGE possibilities for improving your marketing. Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. We open enrollment again in the fall. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

What if someone could give you a roadmap of "what to do" in your first 2 years to build your CSA business? In today's episode, I interview Farmer Glen Young -- a 2-year farmer who is hell-bent on building his new farm business to be profitable by year 5. Glen has made all of the mistakes possible in his first two seasons of organic market gardening as he has built up to a 40 member CSA and a once-per-week Farmer's Market operation. He has "bet the farm" on making Cold Springs Organics environmentally and financially sustainable and he has a deep-rooted interest in seeing other new farmers do the same. Join him and Corinna as they discuss all the sales and marketing things that have worked and what he would do differently if he were to have a do-over for the first two years on the farm. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller -- Glen mentioned this book several times, as a key resource that helped him identify the framework for his farm's "brand script." Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience. A to Z Vegetable Storage Guide -- join the dozens of farmers who have purchased this Canva template to use as a lead-generating tool Glen offered his farm's business plan to our listeners. You can find it on his website here. ChatGPT -- an AI powered bot that will blow your mind with its creative writing potential. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. CSA Early Bird Launch Course -- Learn how to get your CSA members to renew their shares when you want them to, using the "launch" promotion technique in this online course CSA Quickstart -- Glen enrolled in this comprehensive course that teaches you how to start a CSA from scratch -- all the systems and production stuff -- in 60 days.

Glamping on the farm? Is it for you? Today on the show, I'm inviting Kasey Marshall of 350 Farms in Alberta, Canada. In 2022, they branched out and began a glamping in canvas tents along a private trails system on their farm. It's now turned into the leading enterprise of their business! If you've ever wanted to get the 411 on how glamping works as a farm enterprise, THIS IS THE PODCAST TO LISTEN TO! Kasey offers a deep-drive training -- from infrastructure needs, booking software, the ideal customer type for this enterprise, upkeep, onboarding procedures, the farm listing, and more. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Resources mentioned in this episode: Kasey's website: www.350farms.ca The website for her Glamping retreat: www.350farms.ca/glamping Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

March 15, 2023 by Corinna How are you collecting new email subscribers? It's SO important as a business to grow your email list -- all year long. In today's episode, we're talking about one powerful strategy for doing this, called a "lead magnet." A lead magnet is some kind of value in advance that you offer for free in exchange for an email address. It could be "How to Fill Out a Cut List in 5 Easy Steps" or "6 Questions to Ask Before Joining a CSA." People trade their email (on a subscribe form), and your email provider sends this "lead magnet" content automatically. Once the person confirms their subscription, the lead magnet delivers to them. I've invited an expert in copywriting who has TONS of experience creating lead magnets for her clients. She shares best practices for coming up with topics, what to put in place on the other side of the lead magnet, and how to market them. I want you to listen to this episode and COMMIT to creating your first lead magnet this month! I've got some great resources down below to help you get started, including my 20+ Lead Magnet Ideas for Farms guide! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline My Guest Today: Lynn Smargis Lynn Smargis is the owner of WriteforYou.com. As an author, ghostwriter, podcaster, and content marketing specialist, her passion is working with clients who want to be seen on the web. Whether that's through a refresh on website content, writing sales emails or blogs, or helping clients to build an engaging lead magnet, she prides herself on delivering high-quality content that speaks in her customer's voice. She understands that the business owner's narrative is an essential piece of the brand and should be written in their unique voice, with a style that represents you, your passion, and your company. She provides her clients with well-organized, timely, and inviting content that engages your demographic and converts lookers into buyers. Lynn also has a podcast called The Marketeers Mastermind. Resources Mentioned In This Episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Free Webinar: How to Write Better Weekly Emails on March 20, from noon to 1:15 PM EST. Sign up here to get the Zoom link! ConvertKit - Both Lynne and I recommend Convertkit as an email service provider! Check out my affiliate link here to see what you think. Sign up for my free ConvertKit demo webinar, on March 27th at noon EST. One hour on Zoom, where I'll be sharing my screen and taking you behind the scenes to look inside my account and show you how to do some of the basics. Recording will be provided. Click here to sign up for the Zoom Link. Need ideas for Lead Magnets for your farm? I've got an amazing resource!! It's called "20+ Lead Magnet Ideas for Farms. You can download it here. Episode 174: What is a Redirect Link -- use this free tool to help you "redirect" people to your lead magnet subscribe link Need help designing a lead magnet so it's beautiful? Have you heard about the free graphic design tool called Canva? I created a free tutorial that will show you behind the scenes in my Canva account. I walk you through the process of designing PDFs, social images, or whatever you need!. Click here to watch my free Canva demo class. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

What if you were just starting out your pastured meat business in a small town where there's no current market for it? How do you convince a new community to accept you, believe in you, and support you? Today, I interview my guest Kayla Gibbons from Sugar Butte Farms, who decided in 2019 to start their farm in the small town of Lowell, Ohio. Kayla harnessed the power of social media and some popular farm swag to get the word out about her farm. As you'll hear, she had to do a LOT of pre-education in the early years. Kayla shares what the strategy looks like to move through this early start-up phase of your farm business. You'll hear how she uses monthly "themes" to guide her promotions in her email copy, her social, and her Facebook community. Kayla is also a member of my Accelerator small group coaching community! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Visit Kayla's farm website: www.sugarbuttefarms.com Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1.

This winter, I decided I wanted to learn how to speak Spanish. I subscribed to the language app called Duolingo, and every day, I get a new lesson that builds on the last. They started with the basics like "how to say hello." Then I learned how to introduce myself to someone and tell them where I was from. Now I'm learning how to order coffee, ask for directions, or buy clothes from the store. The only way to master a language is to focus on the fundamentals first, then build on that. Today, in honor of my 200th episode, I thought it would be fitting to review the "fundamentals" of marketing and sales. These are my top 10 principles and lessons that I've taught since the start of this podcast. I know I've shared a lot of "shiny" strategies and ideas on this show over the years. But if we had to go back to the fundamentals, what are the elements we need to "master" that truly drive results? Here is a quick list of marketing fundamentals I discuss in this episode: Every product has an ideal customer. Figure out what yours is. Tell people where and how to start working with you. Start building an email list, and learn how to write a great weekly email (so you can eventually pitch offers) The goal of social media is to attract your ideal customer and get them onto your email list. Create posts that cause this to happen. Keep your eye on the ultimate target: the Lifetime Customer Value $$. Your customers want to buy more things from you. So make more products so you can pitch them. Focus more time and money on helping your customers experience success with your product. This has a huge ROI, and solves the retention problem. You are selling a transformation. Your product is just a catalyst for this greater transformation. Yes lives in the land of no. You must not be afraid of getting "no's" when you pitch your offer. It is just part of the gig. Learn different ways to build an offer. There are lots of ways to pitch and package your products to get people to want them. Learn this skill. Study it. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Episode 37 How to Research Your Ideal Customer Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller -- GET THIS BOOK! Episode 18 Top Tips for Writing Better Emails ConvertKit -- I recommend this email service provider over Mailchimp by far. This is my affiliate link, so if you sign up with this link, I will get a small commission. Zapier.com -- this is a tool that automates workflows between different software apps Episode 50: Three Ways to Increase Revenue Sign up for my CSA Academy -- try out your first month for only $1 -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. (After that, it's $19/month) CSA Tips and Tricks Success Guide -- grab my Canva template for this beautiful onboarding resource for your new CSA members. It teaches the most important skills they need to know to be successful as a new CSA member. Easy to skim in 10 minutes. Covers the "secrets" of my CSA masters. It's ready to use as-is -- but you can go in and customize it for how your CSA is set up.

I love interviewing other farms to see how they're finding new customers and cultivating them into super-fans. This week, I interview Katie Farrar from Farrar Family Farms. Katie shares some of her marketing mojo that's moving major product in her business -- including (my favorite) email marketing as well as some creative use of "category names" in her online store that help funnel her clients to the right products. I hope you get some fun tips from Katie that you can apply to your marketing strategy! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1 Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better.

Do you struggle with asking people to buy your product because you're afraid of coming off as too sales-y? If so, you are not alone. I used to have it really bad. I worried about getting the "no." I would make it mean something really negative about ME in my head. "I'm not good enough. No one will buy this. You're an amateur. You don't belong here." Over time (and with some experience and coaching), I've learned that this is all made up in my head. However, I still feel it every now and then -- like when I need to release a new, untested product, when I'm exhausted or stretchd thin and balls start dropping, and I begin to feel unconfident in my product fulfillment. Or when I hear a negative comment from a client. I immediately jump back to all those negative beliefs that make me shrink and sell from a place of fear. Here's the thing: when it comes to the fear of being sales-y, you really have to constantly work on it.... because your ability to create revenue in your business depends on your willingness and ability to make offers. So how do we get over this fear? (Is it even possible?) What do the great sales-people know about tackling the fear of rejection and not taking it so personally? In today's episode, I share my own journey into the Land of "No" and what I've learned along the way to help me push past my insecurities. It's all in your mind. I'm hoping this conversation will give you some new thoughts to run through your mind when you start to feel the scarcity mindset creeping in, and remember your value. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Episode 196 (My Digital Farmer Podcast) How to Create A Compelling CSA Membership Offer & Product Description Join my email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1. CSA Innovation Network - Learn how to download your free CSA Week Promo Packet and participate in National CSA Week Feb. 20-25, 2023.

Have you ever wanted to build your own butcher shop in your local area -- to vertically integrate your business and stop the meat processing bottlenecks? Liz Brownlee of Nightfall Farm did. But she wasn't sure if it was financially viable. So what did she do? She wrote a SARE grant for a feasibility study, got the funding, and then paid herself to research the idea. In the process, she found the information she needed to make her decision. I first met Liz at a CSA conference in Indiana, where she presented her SARE project findings. I thought it was so good, I asked her to come onto my podcast to talk about SARE and how you can use it to fund innovative ideas for your business. Plus I KNOW there are other farmers out there who could use her SARE project to help them take the next step in their DIY Butcher Shop. In this episode, Liz shares what she learned, what SARE is, how you can use her SARE resource for your business, how to apply for a SARE grant (so you get funded), and how she's making her meat CSA profitable. Check out her SARE project results and resources in my show notes at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/197 Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1 This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

Take my 5-Day CSA Startup Challenge - Are you looking for help setting up your first season of CSA? Then join my CSA Starter Challenge. Over the course of 5 days, I walk you through the first 5 key decisions you need to make as you set up the groundwork of your CSA. Each day you receive an email with a teaching video and a small bite-size homework assignment that gets you started on your CSA creation journey! A few months ago, I booked a room on AirBnB for a vacation home in Washington D.C. I was struck by how powerful the product listing was in helping me make my decision on which home to book. It occurred to me that these home owners created an "offer" in their listing, and I was looking for certain information over others to help me make my choice. We can learn a lot about how to create compelling offers from AirBnB... If you're a CSA farmer having trouble selling your CSA shares to new customers, perhaps the issue is that you haven't created a compelling enough offer. Building a clear and irresistible CSA membership package is tough at first! What do you talk about? What features do you bring up? In today's episode, I share a recording of one of my workshops from the 5-Day CSA Startup Challenge I ran in January, 2023. This training taught what elements to include in your CSA package, and what to talk about in your CSA's product description of your store. It was so good and densely packed with value, that I decided to repurpose it on this podcast. If you're a brand-new CSA farmer, use this training to help you write out your CSA description and map out what's included in the CSA membership package. If you're NOT a CSA farmer, you can use this content to help you optimize your product listing for your other products. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Register for my webinar called "The 3 Mistakes CSA Rookie Farmers Make (And How to Avoid Them)." You can register at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/rmasterclass — and select from the time options available each week. This is a free webinar, designed to help "new" CSA farmers learn the framework for a profitable and resilient CSA.

Need help starting a vegetable CSA? Register for my free CSA webinar "The Three Mistakes Rookie CSA Farmers Make (And How to Avoid Them)" at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/masterclass When you're a brand-new farm business, it's hard to break into the market. You can't just throw your product onto a website and hope people will buy it. First, you have to make people aware you exist, get them to take a second look, build a relationship so they trust you, get them on your email list, and finally serve them up an initial offer that's compelling enough. So how do you make people aware you exist? Today's guest is a long-time farmer who is making the switch from wholesale to direct-to-consumer markets, and he is working through ALL the things a "new" business goes through trying to establish brand awareness. This podcast is part interview/ part consulting call, where you get to listen behind the scenes as we talk around this question: How do you get the word out to the world that you exist? This podcast brings up so many good marketing points -- especially if you're a new business. My guest also shares a couple of gems that I've never explored that could be REALLY effective in your marketing. Tyler mentions a tool called Bonjoro, which allows you embed video testimonials into your website. (VERY COOL IDEA!) Check out all the show notes at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/195

A website header is the first thing that visitors see when they visit a site, and it appears on every page of the site. How does yours look? I liken the header to the front page of a newspaper. Customers will make split-second decisions about whether to keep researching your business, based on the information in your header. Clients are often looking for key information in your header. We want to make it easy for them to find this stuff so they don't abandon your site (and you lose the sale). In today's episode, I share the 8 key elements that help website headers convert. Many of these are simple tweaks. I want you to tune in, and do a quick audit of your own website, to see how you score. Then, later today, go to your website and make ONE change based on what you heard today. Join my free 5-Day CSA Startup Challenge. Running live January 16-22, 2023, I'm sharing a different CSA startup concept each day, coaching you through what key decisions you need to make on the front end, to set you up for success. Use this challenge to get you unlocked, and start your first CSA the right way! This challenge will be something you can join ANYTIME -- not just during the live launch. When you subscribe, you'll get an email every day for 5 days, to drip out the recording of the training and homework challenge assignment. Join my CSA Academy membership - For $19 a month, you get access to all the digital resources, cheatsheets, and tools I share with my CSA members to help them become "masters" fast. You can download the guides and use them as your own for as long as you're a paying member. Try out your first month for $1 using the coupon code TRIAL.

Fresh cut flowers and meat? It's an interesting product mix for a farm business! In today's episode, I introduce you to Farmer Anna Hankins of Over the Moon Flowers, who shares how she targets these two distinct buyers into her sales funnel, and gets them to buy. We cover what marketing channel gives her the most punch, how she uses Shopify to sell her products, as well as her excellent website messaging. She's got LOADS of marketing ideas you can apply to your own farm business -- whether you're doing flowers, meat, or veggies.

With all the ideas you hear from this podcast and other marketing gurus, you may be feeling overwhelmed as you try to find time to build your own marketing system. You might be thinking: "There's no way I can do that!" If you're not careful, you can easily start to feel like a failure when your strategy seems insufficient or imperfect compared to what you hear "other people" doing. But what if imperfect and incomplete is "good enough?" I share with you the concept of "minimal viable marketing." Is there such a thing? How can you stop the comparison trap and find your "good enough"? Are you a rookie CSA farmer looking for wisdom to set up your first CSA the right way? Register for my free webinar "The 3 Mistakes Rookie CSA Farms Make And How to Avoid Them" this week! There are time options every day, and a replay if you miss it! Register here.

This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline It's the end of the year, and that means it's time for the end of year evaluation and goal setting retreat! Crickets. Wait... you don't DO an end-of-year evaluation or goal setting?.... LOL. If not, I SO get it. Don't beat yourself up. But today, I'm going to inspire you to give it another try. I used to avoid this process too -- partly because I didn't have a good process that worked for me. That all changed when I found these evaluation questions. And in today's podcast, I'm going to share them with you. I basically use a series of 12 questions. (I share 9 of them with you today). I spend two separate days journaling on them for about two hours each time. That's a total of 4 hours. (Don't worry... if journaling isn't your thing, I suggest another way to do it in the show). In this episode, I walk you through 9 questions and flesh out examples of what kinds of answers you're looking for. By the time you've really worked through these, I PROMISE YOU that the answers to question #7 "What are your goals for next year" will be pretty clear to you. I love how these questions bring up so many discoveries, limiting beliefs, desires, direction, and clarity for me. I hope it works for you too. I encourage you to listen to my episode in its entirety. Then book some time this week to work through the questions -- make the process your own. See what comes up for you. Then tell me what you came up with! I'd love to hear one idea... email me or shoot me a DM @mydigitalfarmer on Instagram. Here are the questions I journal through: PART 1 - do these on day one (2 hours) List everything that has happened to you in the last 12 months related to your business? What are the lessons from those experiences that you can take into next year? What do you want to do more of? What do you want to do less of? What are you still holding onto from last year that is taking up space? And what will there be room for when you let that go? (Think physically, relationally, feelings, possessions, time sucks, mindsets and limiting beliefs) What are your 5% revenue generating activities? PART 2 -- do these on day two (2 hours) What do you want? (Think outside your business. What else do you want for your life?) What are your goals for next year? What results do you want to produce? (This could include elements of your personal life too). What specific measure will you use to know that your objective has been realized? What new habits will you have to adopt to win your game? (Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly?) Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Register for my webinar called "The 3 Mistakes CSA Rookie Farmers Make (And How to Avoid Them)." You can register at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/rookie — and select from the time options available each week. This is a free webinar, designed to help "new" CSA farmers learn the framework for a profitable and resilient CSA. My Accelerator Coaching program -- join my small group of farmers and entrepreneurs as we build one marketing asset for your business each month together, and coach each other to greatness! Includes a group coaching and mastermind element! I mention some podcasts that I like to listen to. Here they are: GrazeCast Mind Your Business Podcast with James Wedmore Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield The Life Coach School with Brooke Castillo Find my Facebook group for farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts! Now if you're feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on Apple Podcast, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they're also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you! My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at [email protected].

Ever wonder how to incorporate text messaging into your farm business? This question comes up a LOT from farmers who are trying to find a way to attract new clients AND get them to buy from their store on a regular basis. With open rates of text messages being so high, an SMS app can be a great investment for your marketing budget. In today's episode, I interview Aubrey Seiler from BetterTogetherFarm.com. She shares exactly how she attracts new customers to her business using an SMS texting app called Community. You'll hear examples of the kinds of messages she sends to connect with her clients and get them to buy within an hour each week. She also breaks down her website messaging, as well as her e-commerce platform features that matter most. Who is Aubrey Seiler? Aubrey helps run the family farm business started by her younger brother 10 years ago. BetterTogetherFarm.com is located in south-central Oklahoma. They grow around 30 vegetable varieties on 3 acres using intensive growing practices, and are certified organic. Their farm provides produce for families in their local communities and wholesale accounts in Oklahoma City. Community Texting App -- Aubrey uses this SMS texting app to manage her customers. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

In this week's episode, I wanted to share a very cool Thanksgiving project we did last year called "Feed the Need" bags. It served as a way for us to donate our produce to people in need, but USE OUR CUSTOMERS as the vehicle to do so. We found that this initiative created so much momentum and positive goodwill in our community. We were going to give the food away anyway.... but to invite our customers to be the ones who personally gave it away, and to see them get energized and generous -- that was powerful! It actually ended up creating a lot of revenue for us too -- although that was not the goal. It drove people to the store to claim a bag. Then while they were there, they ended up buying other things. I was reminded of the principle that when you are generous, the blessing comes back to you ten-fold. This was definitely the case. Take a listen to hear how it works, and I challenge you to find a way to use this idea in our own business. Multiply your generosity by channeling the power of your customers! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline This podcast was sponsored by my free CSA webinar called "The 3 Mistakes CSA Rookie Farmers Make (And How to Avoid Them)."You can register at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/rookie — and select from multiple time options available each week. This is a free webinar, designed to help "new" CSA farmers learn the framework for a profitable and resilient CSA.

So many farms fail to be profitable simply because they don't have a good handle on their finances. To be a profitable business, you need to know how to build a budget, keep track of your numbers, and be able to pivot your business to meet your revenue goals. But what numbers matter? Oftentimes, a new farmer has no idea how to make sense of a financial report. What benchmarks should we be aiming for when it comes to expenses? What percentages are industry standards? How do I know if I'm way off "the norm"? Today's podcast guest is Taylor Bridges from Bridging the Gap Financial Services. She helps farmers with the overwhelming task of book-keeping. I ask her the powerful money questions we're all wanting to know -- like how to read financial reports, what data to be measuring, and how to make the numbers show a profit. She answers questions like, "What percent of your farm budget should be going towards rent/mortgage?" What common mistakes are farmers making when setting up their books and financials? How can we get rid of the financial anxiety of "not knowing our numbers" that leads to bad business decision? This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

How do you get someone to buy your product? Well, it all starts with a "good offer." What does that mean? "Crafting the offer" gets its own module in marketing school, because it's THAT important. There are strategies for what goes into an offer that makes people convert. And in today's episode, we dissect those elements in details. My guest is Michael Kilpatrick, host of the Thriving Farmer podcast, and he is a MASTER at creating offers. He's interviewed hundreds of farmers and consulted with dozens of farms in his lifetime -- he's seen so many examples of irresistible offers at work. He's also in the process of building out his own micro-enterprises on his own new-ish farm, Farm on Central. I ask him to break down his marketing strategy, and you'll learn a lot of cutting-edge ideas he's using right now to grow his own new farm business to $1 million in revenue. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Join me December 1-4, for Thriving Farmer's FREE annual Online Farm Summit. Every year, Michael Kilpatrick's team at GrowingFarmers.com puts together an awesome lineup of guests for a 3-day summit. This year's topic focus is all about "Adding Income to your Farm" -- creative ways to bring in more revenue -- including a focus on Value-Added products. You'll learn from 37+ different speakers innovative ways of working less and profiting more from your farm enterprise! This virtual conference is free, as long as you watch it live. (You'll be given a chance to pre-purchase an all-access pass which gives you "forever access" to the recording of the whole event for a low price!) Reserve your free pass to this virtual event here: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/summit

Every year, I run an "early renewal" promotion to my CSA members, to try and get as many of them as possible to sign up for next summer's CSA season. Getting them locked in early gives me a sense of security and peace of mind -- not to mention enough cash flow for the spring. But how do I do it? In this week's podcast, I perform an audit of this year's CSA Early Renewal Campaign that I launched this fall. It ran for 8 days from October 15-22, 2022, and got 85% of my members to renew (and pay) for 2023. I'm sharing the marketing principles that were at play in making this one of my most successful promotions to date. You'll learn why I'm now so confident that I can generate these sales -- even with an $80 price increase! Whether you're a CSA farmer or not, there are some gems hiding inside this episode, that can help you get your customer to buy when you want them to. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

A few months ago, I made a HUGE leap and decided to invest in a leadership coach. I had gotten to a point in my business where I felt like what was holding me back most was my mindset. I kept hearing my mentors say things like, "Mindset is everything." But how do you find a life coach who will actually get results, when I'm not even sure what results I want? Enter Rebekah Zimmerman. Rebekah is the coach at TrailBlazersgrowth.com. I got on a discovery call with her, and 2 days later, I hired her. In the last 4 months since I started working with her, I have manifested so many impossible goals. I'm now a big believer in "mindset coaching." In this episode today, you get to be a fly on the wall and listen in on one of my coaching sessions with Rebekah. If you've ever wondered what goes on in a coaching call, this is your chance to see one in action. You'll see what fears I struggle with in a real-life scenario I am working on in my business. Afterwards, I also interview Rebekah, and we talk through what coaching is, how it's structured, and how the coach-client relationship works to get results. Learn more about Rebekah or book a discovery call at www.trailblazersgrowth.com Listen to Rebekah's podcast: Trailblazing Growth This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

Here's a powerful marketing principle: The more you say something, the more likely your customer will remember it (and believe it). For example: What is GEICO known for?... If you've ever seen one of their commercials, you know the answer: it's car insurance. But interestingly, GEICO also sells all kinds of other insurance too. But it only promotes the car insurance messaging. It keeps things simple and clear. And it beats that drum so we associate them with car insurance. The next time I'm shopping for car insurance, I'll think of GEICO... and that's the goal. Repetition is a very popular (and powerful) marketing technique. Brands use it all the time because it's based on psychology and brain science, and because it works. In today's episode, we're going to talk about how to use repetitive messages to guide your customer to where you want them to go and what you want them to believe. What if it's just as simple as being a broken record for a few key messages?... What would yours be?

Does your website need a makeover? Or maybe you don't have one at all?! Then this episode is for you! If you own a farm business, you need a website. But many farmers feel overwhelmed when it comes to building one from scratch. What do you need to think about before you start the process of writing, rewriting or restructuring the messaging and look? Where do you start? My guest today is Tricia Phelps from Taste the Local Difference. She is the CEO of a marketing agency for farmers, and her staff builds websites all the time. She is sharing her 3 best tips for building a better website. How do you choose the platform? Should you do it yourself? How much does it cost if you outsource it? What elements should be on your website? How do you write the words on the page? What do you say? How do you make it beautiful? And how do you keep the tech from overwhelming you? We cover these questions in more! Take a listen!

I love interviewing other CSA farmers and learning their sales secrets. Today I introduce you to Karin Velez from Wolf Creek Family Farm. Karin has been farming for 15 years as a CSA farm, and she somehow manages to keep her members coming back over and over -- so much so that she doesn't even offer open enrollment anymore. You can only get in if you're on a wait list. What are her secrets to finding these kinds of loyal clients and making them superfans? Her story is inspiring, and you'll hear tried-and-true principles that you can use for your own business. What if we're making our marketing more complicated than it needs to be? Tune in for her wisdom!

In this episode, I announce the release of my new Small Group Coaching program for farmers called Acclerator. Think of it like "marketing school meets group coaching." I'm taking 5-15 growth-mindset farmers who are ready to build their marketing assets one by one, one month at a time. This experience will last for 3 months this winter (Nov, Jan, Feb). It's made up of virtual teaching workshops, group coaching hot seats, resource drops, incredible farmers, and mastermind sessions... I made this podcast to explain how it works, so I can send future interested parties here. If you want to join this incredible group of farmers and work closely with me this winter to upgrade your marketing assets, listen to this episode. I walk through it ALL. Enroll now at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/coaching -- while there's still room. Enrollment closes October 15.

I get this question a lot from farmers... "What should I focus on first in my marketing strategy?" After 15 years of running a farm business (and learning this stuff the hard way), I feel like I can offer a pretty solid "list" of the marketing "assets" that pack the biggest punch. In this episode, I share what they are. It's not a short list. The goal of this episode is not to intimidate you or overwhelm you. (I didn't make all these in one year either!) But having the checklist will give you clarity and direction! You'll know what things to start working on. Remember: Slow and steady wins the race. Build these a few at a time, and one day you'll wake up and notice that your sales system is humming like a well-oiled machine. I share a LOT of links to past episodes in this podcast too, so you can follow up on the marketing asset of your choice and go dive in deep. Get your checklist and marching order in this episode! Ready?... Let's go!

What if there were a Farm Marketing "Bible" that spelled out all the best practices to help market to your customers online? Farmers are expected to know everything about how to run a business - including sales and marketing. But knowing where to start can be overwhelming -- especially if you're not trained in this skill set. Enter Nina Galle from Local Line. In her role as the Content Creator at the leading e-commerce platform for farmers, she began to see common themes among the 'successful' farm accounts using their software system. She began to ask the question, "What if I could take the lessons from these successful farms and put them into a marketing handbook?" The result was an amazing new book called Ready Farmer One -- a comprehensive A to Z guide on how farmers should market to their customers. I call it the Farm Marketing Bible. In this podcast, I interview the co-author of Ready Farmer One: The Farmer's Guide to create, Design, and Market an Online Farm Store. This is a resource that farmers can pick up any time to learn the different key marketing elements that need to be optimized in your farm marketing machine. Rather than reading it from front to back, it's actually designed to be more of a "pick and choose" guide. Need help on how to master email marketing?... find the chapter about how to do email marketing the right way. The best part of the book are the transcripts of actual interviews with the farmers that were interviewed during the research phase. These stories will inspire you to see how you can take the principles of the book and put them into practice in a real-world business. I HIGHLY recommend this book for every farmer doing direct marketing. Grab it here!