My Digital Farmer Podcast

Need some help with Instagram reels? Search no more. Today's podcast guest and farmer is an Instagram guru. Laura Patterson has mastered the art of engagement and lead generation through the use of Instagram reels, creating compelling content every day that attracts her ideal customer. In this podcast, Laura shares how she marketed and grew her micro-greens business, and how she now uses those same strategies to grow her online business, teaching farmers.

Have you taken the time this season to identify your core marketing message(s)? Is your message consistent and clear? What are you trying to get your customers to know or do? And do you have a PLAN to get there? In this episode, I share how to find this message, and best practices to make sure your controlling idea is communicated.

Grab my Tips & Secrets for CSA Success Canva Template to Onboard Your CSA Members. How are you onboarding your CSA members into your CSA's first weeks? (Are you?) In this episode, I walk through the 4 categories of content/information you should consider putting into your onboarding strategy. You'll walk away with a plan for mapping out your strategy, what it should include, and how long it should take. I even share my CSA's handbook template.

In today's episode, I interview a farmer from Louisiana, Kate Estrade, who is a curator of locally-produced farm goods -- from her own pasture-based farm, as well as from over 25 other local farms and producers. She sells through an onsite "grocery" store as well as several neighborhood hubs. Customers have been "trained" to pre-order online each week and then come pickup their order at their location of choice. In this episode, we talk about how this business model evolved over time, how Kate helps customers support many local producers in one stop, what marketing looks like for this kind of business, and how she decides what vendors to work with. Could this "local distributor" model be the ticket for your farm?...

Need content ideas for your CSA members? Enroll in my CSA Membership Academy and get your first month for $1 when you use my coupon code TRIAL at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy Do you spend more time than you'd like in your farm delivery truck? Do you dream of giving this up and having more time for revenue-generating activities on the farm? What if you could outsource delivery to someone else? In this episode, I interview Andrew Miller from Farmstead Logistics -- a third party logistics provider who helps deliver farm products from Point A to Point B. Andrew talks through what services like his provide, what a farmer should ask to decide whether this service is "worth it," what potential hiccups you need to watch out for. My hope is that after listening to this podcast, you'll have a better idea of some of the issues you need to address before you contract with a courier service.

Download my Guide: 19 Social Media Post Templates to Unlock Your Content Marketing Strategy. Do you ever have a brain freeze when it comes to social media? What the heck should I be posting about? Or when it's time to "write your weekly email," do you ever find yourself staring at a blank screen with no clue what to say? You're in good company. As content marketers, our job is to create a steady stream of quality content that will help attract our ideal customers into our brand, and then ultimately convert them into paying customers. But what kind of content should you be creating? Well, in this episode, I'm sharing a "formula" that I learned from my own digital marketing mentors: E-I-E-I-O-O Yes, it's even a farming song! (LOVE!!) Each letter stands for a word that will remind you of a category of content. In this episode, I dive deep into what these are and give tons of examples.

Subscribe to my farm's CSA Resource Library for $1 using the coupon code TRIAL at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy Have you ever thought about creating a passive form of revenue through a digital workshop? Today's podcast guest, Heather Carter of Nature Hills Farm, did just that! Her cheese-making online class is purchased by people all over the country. In this episode, she shares how she built the course, what obstacles she had to overcome, and how she plans to grow this revenue stream for her farm.

QR Codes. They are everywhere. But are you using them in your farm marketing? In this episode, I share LOTS of ideas for where your QR codes could link on the internet to help develop your leads into buyers, and turn your buyers into lifelong fans. Subscribe to my CSA Academy to get access to lots of resources to help your veggie lovers! Get your first month for $1 using coupon code TRIAL at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy

Imagine CSA customers coming to your farm every week to harvest their own share from your vegetable beds. Yes. That's the concept behind a U-Pick CSA model. In this episode, I interview Kristen Muehlhauser of Raindance Organic Farm, who has built a profitable farm business off this CSA operation. She shares the pro's and con's of getting this kind of program off the ground. Sign up for my seminar "The Beginner's Guide to CSA Add-On Shares" at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/addonshares

Ugh. Does your email open rate stink? Are your emails getting lost in the spam folder? In today's episode, I share one strategy you can use to try and get your new subscribers to add your email address to their contact list -- this is something called "white listing," and it has an effect of making sure you never show up in the spam folder again. How does it work? After hearing this episode, you'll be able to take about 10 minutes to adjust a few words of text in your welcome emails, and it just might do the trick! Lots of good stuff in today's show notes too! Tons of templates and examples, so go check it out.

Last season, our CSA trialed a partnership with a CSF (Community Supported Fishery) called Citizen Salmon Alaska. In this episode, I have fisherman Aaron Sechler back on the show to talk through how it went. We audit our experience and take-aways, and share some tips for how to do this well. PS: If you're thinking of adding on "add-on shares" to your CSA, but need some help getting started, check out my paid seminar "The Beginner's Guide to CSA Add-On Shares" at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/addonshares

Have you ever pre-sold spring transplants as a type of product line? Our farm is predominantly a CSA farm, and so we didn't offer this as a product until just a few years ago. At first glance, it didn't seem to "fit" our customer profile. Boy, was I wrong! Three years ago, we started offering transplants as a product line, and our CSA clients bought like crazy! It's created a whole new revenue stream for us, AND it's given us a new way to attract potential CSA clients. It's also a form of "guaranteed" income, because it's a pre-sale. In other words, we sell it first... THEN start seeding in the greenhouse. In this episode, I walk you through how we organize our Plant Sale from start to finish. Download my Product Price List Canva Template from the Show Notes!

In this episode, I interview CSA farmer Tessa DeMaster from Willowhaven Farm. I've been watching Tessa for the last 3 years, as she's slowly built her marketing strategy layer by layer. Today, she shares her story of how she's learned to simplify her marketing -- everything from the flagship product to her messaging. We even talk through what she's found to be the 2 most valuable pieces of her marketing strategy each week. I also want you to check out her website. It's a great template to work from, if you're trying to build your messaging elements for a Choice CSA farm. www.WillowHavenFarmPA.com We talk through her sales funnel, her two awesome lead magnets, her Foster a Chick program, Pizza Nigths, and her top marketing a-ha moments. So many gems in this podcast!

Grab my list of product badges in the show notes at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/151 What's a product "badge"? You know those little symbols or labels you can put on your product listing like "Best Seller" or "Award-Winner"?... Turns out simply adding a product badge to your listing can help you sell more of that product! So why not learn what they are and experiment! In this episode, I share some examples of product badge labels, best practices, and some categories to help inspire you how to use them. If your e-commerce platform doesn't make this easy to do, I also share some ideas for work-arounds in the episode. I want you to head over to your online store, and audit your product descriptions this week! Decide which ones could use a special "badge" and see if it makes a difference in the sales.

Have you ever thought of giving your customers a "consumption goal" for your product? What if you customer is feeling confused about where to begin? or how to use your product? In this episode, I walk you through my CSA farm's new customer "Punch List." I'm helping my customers see the target to hit this season! And I think it's going to be awesome! Listen to the episode and be inspired how a punch list might work for your business. Check out my CSA Member Academy -- a library of resources to help shortcut my CSA customers to mastery fast at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy

In this week's episode, I interview livestock farmer Jamie Pritchard from WIT Farms in Ohio. Jamie shares how she has cultivated a loyal fan base for her pastured-raised meats over the last 5 years. I ask her to break down her marketing funnel for me, and you'll see a simple, yet elegant, process that intentionally pulls clients into her brand.

Get my CSA Tips and Strategies Canva Template to help onboard your rookies to CSA mastery faster. Get it at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/csasuccess What keeps my CSA members coming back year after year? I'm telling you now... it isn't just the vegetables. In this episode, I interview one of my CSA's strongest members, Esther Hertzfeld. Esther and her husband have been with our CSA for 9 years. She shares her journey from rookie member to CSA Facebook group influencer to CSA site host to ultimate brand ambassador for Shared Legacy Farms! What drove Esther to sign up with us in the first place? But more importantly... what keeps her coming back? Use this episode to help you peek inside the motivation of a quintessential CSA client. What makes them tick? What do people like her look like? How can you find more of them? And what do you have to do to keep them coming back?

Eugene Schwartz, author of the copywriting Bible "Breakthrough Advertising," was the first to identify the 5 stages of Customer Awareness in marketing. The principle is simple: you need to know where a customer is in the spectrum of awareness, and then craft different messages to them, based on where they are. The five stages are: Unaware Problem Aware Solution Aware Product Aware Most Aware In this episode, I break down details of each of the 5 stages, and I give examples for what type of marketing content works best in each of these stages in your ag business. Every marketer should be exposed to this concept, which is why I dedicated an entire episode to it in my podcast archives!

Sign up for my free Book Study of "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek this February at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/bookstudy Have you been trying to get people to buy your products, and you're getting no where? Are you posting your offer on social media and wondering why it's not getting traction? What am I doing wrong, Corinna? In today's episode, I tell a fun story about my dog Harley that might just clear things up for you....

Sign up for my CSA Quickstart course and coaching program through Feb. 4th: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/csaquickstart What if you were given an opportunity to acquire a loyal customer base from another CSA farmer who was retiring? Would you take it? In this week's episode, I interview a CSA farmer who did just that! Aeros Lillstrom of Who Cooks for You Farm shares her story of how she grew her CSA to 800 members through this form of acquisition. She also shares some of the unique issues that needed to be addressed as part of that transition. If you've ever thought of this form of scaling, this will be a helpful primer for you!

In this week's episode I talk with CSA farmer Kate Edwards from Wild Woods Farm in Solon, IA. Kate's farm boasts an 80% retention, and she's learned how to build systems to make running her CSA easier than the early years. Kate shares some of the milestones she passed through as a CSA farmer. We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of having a mentor, as well as learning how to communicate the "why" behind your business. If you're looking for a CSA farmer to inspire you, this is a great episode!

What are the elements of a great "offer" that compels someone to buy your product? Last November, I received a mail order catalog from Shutterfly, the online photo printing company. On the cover was a small coupon code with the following words: 50% off all cards, photobooks, and calendars. 40% off everything else plus free shipping. BOOM. I ran to my computer that night to set up my order, and an hour later, I had dropped $350. WHY did I do that? How did Shutterfly pull that off? What were the elements of that offer that made me buy? Using my Shutterfly case study, I'll help you see how you too can build an offer that makes your ideal customer take notice. We'll cover: why targeting the right person is so important how to get the timing right why you must lead with the correct product how to position the price so the person feels good about it why a little bit of urgency and scarcity will seal the deal Need help building a CSA farm from scratch this year? Sign up for my free webinar "The 3 Mistakes Rookie CSA Farmers Make (And How to Avoid Them)" on January 28, at 12 PM EST. Registration is free at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/webinar

Grab my free resource: Choosing the Best CSA E-commerce Platform for Your Farm: the Complete List of Questions to Ask Before You Buy When is it time to get a CSA Management software? And how do you decide which one is best for you? There are SO many options to choose from nowadays, and the it can feel overwhelming! Do you go with a CSA Customer Management System? Or do you just stick with an e-commerce platform? I've noticed this is a roadblock for SO many farmers, and it keeps many of you from scaling your business. In this episode, we cover the big questions you should mull over as you navigate this territory. I give you advice from many years of experience, AND I share some awesome resources to help you figure it out once and for all!

In 2021, our farm decided to walk away from farmer's markets altogether. It was a calculated move, but it still felt scary. In this episode, I share the report. How'd we do? Did we survive? What were the results and impact on our business and livelihood? And if you're thinking about making this decision too, what should you be thinking about? I share some advice and encouragement.

Get on the CSA Quickstart Course Waitlist: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/waitlist Have you ever wondered if you should add a CSA to your farm business? If so, then you definitely want to listen to this episode. I interview my husband and business partner, Kurt Bench, from Shared Legacy Farms, and together we discuss the 10 questions to think about before you jump into the CSA arena.

Do you ever find yourself comparing your social media account to another farm? (Me, too). In today's episode, I talk about why this is a dangerous mind game that we must avoid, and I talk about what we should think about instead. This episode will get your mindset back on track, and remind you what to focus on with your social media marketing!

If you had to put all your customers into a giant continuum, who are the ones that stand out in a good way? Who rises to the top? In today's episode, I'm sharing the 4 qualities I value the most in my customers. When I see a client manifesting one of these behaviors, I TREASURE them. Knowing the marks of your best clients can help you build systems to notice, appreciate and multiply them.

What's a swipe file? Only the best way to become a better marketer! Here's a little secret: great marketers learn everything they know from other people! And the swipe file is one of our tools that helps us find our inspiration. In this podcast, I share how a swipe file works and where to find one that will BLOW YOUR MIND.

Get my list of email writing prompts: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/emailtopics Ever experience writer's block when it comes time to write your weekly email? You're not alone. This is cited as one of the main reasons farmers don't write a weekly email in the first place. In today's episode, I share my method for finding the great story content that makes my emails so engaging and drives my high open rates.

So what is it that makes a CSA member stick? Is it having a high quality product? Or is there something more? In today's episode, I let you peek in on an interview I have with one of my "ideal" CSA customers. I try to understand what drives him to be so loyal to my CSA. We unpack the meaning of community and belonging, and why managing this in a membership is so vital for success. Are you cultivating a feeling of belonging in your CSA?...

How do you increase your profit as a business? Hint: it's NOT getting more customers. In this podcast, I share the breakthrough principle that helped our business turn the corner a few years ago and start prioritizing our profits.

In mid-October, my family and I took a weekend vacation in Hocking Hills, where we participated in a zipline canopy tour. This entire customer experience was so impressive, that I wanted to document my experience from start to finish. I share 6 different elements of their sales funnel that made an impression on me. My hope is that you can pull out some marketing insights from this story to see what a great sales funnel can look like for your farm business.

As a farmer, are you prioritizing profits? Or something else? I've been wanting to talk about MONEY on my podcast for a LONG time. So I invited a fellow farmer and "book-keeping expert" Shelly Oswald onto the show to talk about the unique financial issues farmers deal with as entrepreneurs. We also talk about the topic of "money mindset" and how our thoughts about money are holding us back.

Check out my course: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/earlybird I did it. My farm sold out next year's CSA memberships in 5 days. What makes this amazing is that we didn't even get to offer it to our wait list or the public. It was all through early renewals. In this episode, I walk you through the play-by-play of our promotional launch -- the offer, the results, and some of the key take-aways that drove our success. If you're a CSA farmer who uses "early signups" you will find at least one small nugget you can apply to this year's campaign.

Get my Free Worksheet of My Favorite Survey Questions: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/surveyquestions It's that time of year again... time to write your end of year customer surveys. What kinds of questions can you put in this survey that will actually be HELPFUL?.... This episode is a rebroadcast of episode 32, and its principles are just as timeless as ever. This episodes will help you make short work of this project, and get you some valuable intel about your clients.

Are you trying to update your website, and running into confusing terminology? Like, what's a landing page versus a regular page on your website? And how is it different than a sales page? Are they the same? In today's episode, I crack the code and explain the nuance. I also explain why you might want to have a sales page for every signature product in your product suite...

Are you asking your customers to leave you a Google Review? Why not? It's the fastest way to rank higher in Google's search results. In this episode, I continue to explore the GMB (Google My Business) listing strategy, and how collecting Google reviews should look for your SEO plan.

Did you know you should be creating regular posts in your GMB (Google My Business) listing? In this podcast, we talk about what the 5 types of posts are, and how they can help Google better understand WHO you are and how to share the right information with those who are searching for you.

Have you claimed your GMB Google My Business Listing yet? If you want to show up in the top 3 Google searches, it's important that you optimize the "business description" of your listing. In this episode, I break down what topics you should include as well as some best practices to make sure you're getting seen by Google for the right things.

Is Google helping you find new customers? If not, why not? In today's episode, we talk about how to get your farm to rank higher in Google's search engine, specifically by getting your farm to list in something known as the "Google Map Pack." This top-three results listing is the gold standard of SEO, but how do you get in there?

How do you get MORE of your current CSA members to pre-register for your CSA share next year? For the last 5 years, our farm has consistently gotten between 70 and 89% of our membership to renew early before Thanksgiving. In this episode, I talk through how we do it -- what are the secrets that underpin our success story and strategy?

What do you want your website to accomplish for you? (Do you actually know?) Although a website can have many different goals for a business, in THIS episode, I'm going to make an argument for what I think the PRIMARY purpose of a website SHOULD be. And in my experience, MOST farm websites are NOT making it a priority. Ready to hear what it is?...

Remember that commercial with the Owl and Tootsie Roll Pops? He would ask, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"... Then he would start to count until he lost patience and just swallowed it whole. What if I asked YOU, "How many customer touch points does it take to get a person to turn into a customer?..." Do you know the answer to this question? And more importantly: do you have a strategy to keep those touch points happening? In this episode, we talk about the concept of customer touch points and how to get your customers to the center of your Tootsie Roll Pop!

How often do you screw up a customer order? For us, it's about 2 times per week. I used to dread these moments. I felt like I was a failure, and it always seemed like I lost ground with my client. The reality is that mistakes are going to happen. How we respond though can make a huge difference. In this podcast, I talk about how I've been experimenting with a new damage control response that is turning those "moments of misery" into "moments of magic." Maybe making mistakes isn't so bad after all?...

Have you thought about starting a CSA, but you're not sure if you're up to it? What does it take to become a great CSA farm? Before you take the leap, what if you could get some advice from seasoned CSA farmers, to tell you what you need to commit to if you want to be successful?... In this podcast, we interview Lauren Rudersdorf and Cat Becker, collaborators of the recent North Central SARES video series called: CSA Starts Here. We talk about how this video can help future CSA farmers decide if they should venture into the CSA world. We share the 10 questions and skill sets they must master before moving forward.

A few weeks ago, I launched a challenge inside my CSA's private Facebook group that was meant to create some fun and excitement. I had no idea it would end up propelling my brand identity forward so profoundly. In this episode, I audit this Challenge Experiment and show you how to indoctrinate your CSA members into your brand's "why."

Are you looking for a way to build momentum in your CSA community? Tricia Borneman from Blooming Glen Farm shares how her new CSA Facebook group has reenergized her CSA members AND her business: "One of the top 5 best things I've ever done in my business." We talk all about how to set up your group for success and get your members learning from each other.

What is your customer REALLY buying from you? What if it's more than the product itself? People don't buy the "what" -- they buy the WHY behind your business. In fact, it's the "why" that bonds them to your brand for life. In this episode, we discuss the power of the "why" in your messaging, how to find it, and what it looks like to lead with it in your marketing.

What if you could create an offer that would attract people into your CSA leads pipeline, who would convert to full time members the following year? In today's episode, I interview Victoria Rogowski who has developed a "Surplus Subscription" membership that does just that.

Are you looking to raise your email open rates? In this podcast I share the simple process of how "cleaning your email list" will vastly improve your email sender reputation (and increase your open rates).