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191 Evaluating Your Year & Setting New Goals for Your Business (My Process)

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

Release Date: 12/21/2022

360 What to Do with Your Farm's Greatest Hits show art 360 What to Do with Your Farm's Greatest Hits

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

I own every single album by the Indigo Girls. I’m a true fan. I know the deep cuts. The obscure songs. The ones most people have never heard of. But the album I reach for the most?...Their greatest hits. The one with all the favorites. The songs I already know I love. And it got me thinking… What if your farm had a “greatest hits album”? Most farmers are sitting on their most powerful sales tool… and not using it. Your best sellers—the products your customers already love—are doing more work than you think. But if you’re not intentionally leveraging them? You’re leaving...

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359 Are You Tracking This Number in Your Farm Business? show art 359 Are You Tracking This Number in Your Farm Business?

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

What if the growth you’ve been chasing… isn’t actually about getting more customers? In this episode, I’m introducing a simple (but incredibly powerful) metric called Customer Value. And once you understand it, it will completely change how you think about your farm’s revenue, your marketing, and your growth strategy. Most farmers are focused on the wrong lever. They’re trying to bring in more people… when the real opportunity might already be sitting inside their current customer base. Inside this episode, I’m going to show you: What Customer Value actually is (and how to...

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358 Timing is Everything: The Best Time to Sell Your Farm Products show art 358 Timing is Everything: The Best Time to Sell Your Farm Products

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

I walked into the grocery store this week… and it felt like Easter punched me in the face. Everywhere I turned, there were Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, pastel packaging, even M&M’s rebranded as “eggs.” It wasn’t just a reminder that Easter was coming—it was a full-on invitation to buy like it was Easter. And here’s the weird part… I found myself wanting things I didn’t even plan to buy. If your farm products aren’t selling, it might not be your pricing… your offer… or even your marketing. It might be your timing. In this episode, I’m breaking down the 5...

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357 How I Built a Spring Plant Sale Launch That Sold Out in 48 Hours show art 357 How I Built a Spring Plant Sale Launch That Sold Out in 48 Hours

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

We just sold out our entire Spring Plant Sale in 48 hours… and I had to shut the store down five days early. I don't think it was luck. This year, I approached the plant sale differently. I built it like a launch. And in the process, I uncovered a few new strategies (and a few surprising insights) that I haven’t shared before. If you’ve ever run a promotion and thought, “Why didn’t this sell as well as I hoped?”... this episode is your behind-the-scenes look at what actually moves the needle. I’m walking you through the anatomy of this year’s Spring Plant Sale launch -- what I...

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356 Inside a Farm Marketing School Coaching Call with MacKenzie Wright from Jones Brothers Farms show art 356 Inside a Farm Marketing School Coaching Call with MacKenzie Wright from Jones Brothers Farms

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

What actually happens inside a Farm Marketing School coaching call? In this episode, you’re getting a rare, behind-the-scenes listen to a real 1:1 strategy session with MacKenzie Wright from , serving the Louisville and Northern Kentucky area with home-grown tomatoes, produce, and beef. In this conversation, we dig into social media strategy, what’s actually working, and how to think about content in a way that builds your email list—not just your follower count. We also explore what it looks like to step more fully into your role as the “face” of your brand… even when that feels a...

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355 The 3 Mindset Blocks Behind Selling Your Farm Products show art 355 The 3 Mindset Blocks Behind Selling Your Farm Products

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

You don’t have a marketing problem. You have a hesitation problem. I see it all the time. Farmers build the offer. They may even grow the list. They do the marketing prep work. And when it’s time to promote?... They pull back. The question is why? This episode aims to uncover those beliefs quietly running your marketing. If you’ve ever thought: “I don’t want to be annoying.” “If they didn’t buy, maybe it’s me.” “Good products should just sell themselves.” You’re not alone. We dig into the three mindset blocks that keep farmers from selling confidently. We...

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354 Stop Selling the Product & Start Building the Offer show art 354 Stop Selling the Product & Start Building the Offer

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

 (formerly ConvertKit.com) -- it is easy to use, powerful, and getting better every year. It also integrates with most e-commerce providers and tools.  Ep 236 – How to Raise Your Prices (and Make More $) Using Price Anchoring Ep 334 – The Anatomy of a Great Email Offer — An Audit -- this is the monthly health membership I joined that allows me to get 2 sets of comprehensive blood tests per year (the ones that most doctors don't check for, but are really significant! It's been an empowering step for me!) The cost is $399/year, and covers the tests! Use this affiliate link...

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353 Turn FAQs Into Farm Sales: Answer the Questions That Stop Customers From Buying show art 353 Turn FAQs Into Farm Sales: Answer the Questions That Stop Customers From Buying

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

The other day I found the perfect desk on Facebook Marketplace. Great photos. Fair price. Only ten minutes away from my house. But I didn’t buy it. Why? Because one simple piece of information was missing — the dimensions. Without that one detail, I couldn’t tell if it would fit our space… so I moved on. And it made me realize something. Farm customers do this all the time. They want to buy… but a small unanswered question stops them from moving forward. If customers are interested in your farm but not actually buying, the problem might not be your product -- it might be the...

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352 The Hidden Goal of Every Farm Promotion show art 352 The Hidden Goal of Every Farm Promotion

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

I thought the goal of my recent promotion was simple: sell 40 prepaid online store credit memberships. That was it. 40 spots. Hit the revenue goal. Move on. But as I was building the emails, teasing it on social media, and checking my stats inside (my email service provider), I noticed something unexpected… My email list had jumped a LOT. And it wasn’t random. It was happening because of how I positioned the promotion before it ever opened. That’s when it clicked! Every promotion has a second goal. And most farmers completely miss it. Yes, promotions are meant to...

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351 How to Find Weekly Email Topic Ideas When You Don't Know What to Say show art 351 How to Find Weekly Email Topic Ideas When You Don't Know What to Say

My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers

Ever sit down to write your weekly email… Cursor blinking. Brain dead. And you’re thinking: “I KNOW I should email my list… but what on earth do I say this week?” In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on how I actually find ideas when I feel stuck! Most great emails don’t start with “content ideas” at all! They start with stories hiding in plain sight. If writing your weekly email feels harder than it should, chances are you’re looking in the wrong place for ideas. In this episode, I walk you through how to identify the central story of an email, and why...

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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)

  1. List everything that has happened to you in the last 12 months related to your business?
  2. What are the lessons from those experiences that you can take into next year?
  3. What do you want to do more of? What do you want to do less of?
  4. 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)
  5. What are your 5% revenue generating activities?

PART 2 -- do these on day two (2 hours)

  1. What do you want? (Think outside your business. What else do you want for your life?)
  2. What are your goals for next year? What results do you want to produce? (This could include elements of your personal life too).
  3. What specific measure will you use to know that your objective has been realized?
  4. 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:

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 mydigitalfarmers@gmail.com.