191 Evaluating Your Year & Setting New Goals for Your Business (My Process)
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 12/21/2022
318 How Farmers Can Use July 14 to Create Buzz and Sales
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Have you every wished for a fun excuse to surprise your customers, build some goodwill, and boost mid-season sales? Well, what if I told you that July 14th is National Give Something Away Day—and it might just be the perfect opportunity to try something new, spark some joy, and get people buzzing about your farm? In this episode, I show you how to use this quirky, under-the-radar holiday to your advantage—with a list of 8 creative giveaway ideas you can steal, tweak, or flat-out copy. Whether you want to build customer loyalty, generate excitement on social, or increase traffic to...
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317 The Farm Stop Model: How This Ann Arbor Store Sells Local Food 7 Days a Week
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What would happen if you merged a grocery store and a farmers market—and gave small farms a seven-day-a-week sales channel that actually pays them what they’re worth? In today’s episode, I interview Alex Blume, Marketing Manager for , a mission-driven retail concept based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that’s redefining how local food gets sold. Their innovative “farm stop” model helps small and mid-sized farms grow by giving them access to retail space 7 days a week—without the staffing or wholesale markups. Alex shares how the consignment model works, how they support over 250...
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316 Why Your Middle-Priced Product Sells Best: The Compromise Effect Explained
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Local Line is my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy-to-use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise. 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: MDF2025. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: Marketing doesn’t have to feel...
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315 What's a Thank You Page in Farm Marketing?
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Back in high school, I was that kid—the one who planned elaborate treasure hunt parties for my friends. I loved the thrill of creating a roadmap and leading them from clue to clue, always pointing to the next step. And honestly? That’s what a great thank you page does, too. A wise mentor once told me, "You're always taking your people somewhere..." In this episode, we’re talking about the most underutilized page in farm marketing—your thank you page. Whether it appears after someone signs up for your email list or buys your product, your thank you page isn’t just a...
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314 The Power of a Beta Test in Marketing
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Have you ever had a big idea for your farm business—but you didn’t act on it because it felt too overwhelming or risky? That was me. Until my coach said five simple words that completely shifted my thinking: “Just put a container around it.” In this episode, I share how we beta tested our new Chef’s Line of prepared foods—and how using the concept of a beta test gave us the freedom to move forward without fear or perfectionism. If you’ve been sitting on an idea because it feels “too big,” this episode will show you how to test it, refine it, and build momentum with less...
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313 Building Systems and Automations into Your Farm Business Using Zapier
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What if you could reclaim hours of your time each week—just by documenting and automating the simple tasks you’re already doing? In this episode, I sit down with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics, a Farm Marketing School member and automation-building wizard, to talk about how he’s using Zapier + AI to automate processes in his farm business—from order management to email marketing, lead tagging, customer onboarding, and even abandoned cart follow-ups. Glen shares how he went from juggling everything manually to building smart, scalable workflows that save him time and create a...
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312 How a Homesteader Turned Her Side Hustle into a Growing Farm Business
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What happens when a total city girl decides to go all-in on the homesteading life… and ends up building a full-blown farm business from scratch? Here's the link to her homesteading membership: Podcast Sponsors: Local Line is my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy-to-use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise. Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid...
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311 How Stacie Edwards Became a Confident, Profitable Meat Marketer (and You Can Too!)
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
May 7, 2025 Ever wonder what it really takes to sell premium farm products with confidence—and actually make money doing it? This week, I sit down with Stacie Edwards, a Farm Marketing School member who once felt nervous about charging “too much” for her meats. Today? She knows her numbers, prices for profit, and runs her business with the mindset of a CEO. But that transformation didn’t happen overnight. Stacie’s journey is full of hard-won lessons: from hiring her first coach, to outsourcing hog production, to finally letting go of the fear that held her back from charging what her...
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310 Selling Flowers to Florists with Abundant Blooms Flower Farm
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
When Ruth Ann Majauskas first launched her flower farm in 2020, she tried a little bit of everything—farmers markets, retail, subscriptions. But the magic happened when she shifted her focus entirely to wholesale… selling flowers directly to florists. What started as trial and error quickly evolved into a streamlined system with loyal buyers, consistent orders, and a workflow she could count on. Now, Ruth Ann runs a thriving wholesale flower farm business—and she’s helping other flower farmers learn how to do the same. In today’s episode, she shares how she built her...
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309 Starting a UPick from Scratch Inside a FMS Coaching Call with David Heeks
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Imagine launching a brand-new U-Pick strawberry business... with only a few months to get everything in place. No website. No email list. No customer base. That’s exactly the challenge David Heeks faced this spring—and in this episode, you’ll hear how we mapped out his entire sales funnel during a live Farm Marketing School coaching call. David had just completed the Farm Marketing School (FMS) project on "Auditing Your Sales Funnel," and came prepared to share his homework. We walked through every stage of the customer value journey, from building awareness and engagement all the way to...
info_outlineThis 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!
Find my Facebook group for farmers!
Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer
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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!
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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].