204 A Two-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 03/29/2023
377 Practical Ways to Get More Referrals From Your Farm Customers
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Most farmers will tell you that word-of-mouth is one of their best sources of new customers. But there's a big difference between being grateful for referrals, and intentionally creating more of them. In this episode, we're talking about how to put an engine behind word-of-mouth. I'll share a whole bunch of practical ways farms can make referrals easier, more natural, and more likely to happen—without needing complicated software or some fancy loyalty program. More importantly, I'll show you how to think strategically about who you ask, when you ask, what you give customers to share, and...
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376 What Should I Call This? How to Name Farm Products (So That They Sell)
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Could changing one word on a sign or product listing make a product sell better? Last week at our Farmer's Bag Toledo pickup, I noticed something strange happening with two kinds of onions sitting right next to each other. Customers kept choosing one—and passing over the other. Then one of our volunteers made an observation: “I wonder if it's the name.” That comment made me think, "Oh I've got to do a podcast about this!" Because as farmers, we often name our products based on what we call them -- i.e. the variety in the seed catalog, the technical name of the cut, or whatever makes...
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375 The Five Transformations Farmers Really Sell
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What if your customers aren't actually buying your vegetables? In this episode, Corinna shares a personal story from her son's Air Force Basic Training that reinforced a key marketing principle, and it has nothing to do with farming. If you've ever struggled to know what to say in your emails, on your website, or in your social media posts, this episode will help you uncover the deeper reason people choose to buy from your farm. Eventually all business owners realize that customers don't buy products... they buy the life those products help create. You'll learn how to identify the...
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374 Behind the Launch: How Farmer's Bag Toledo Went From Idea to Sold Out
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
How do you go from a random idea... to selling out a brand-new food access program in just a few days? In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on the complete behind-the-scenes story of launching The Farmer's Bag Toledo. You'll hear how one unexpected meeting planted the seed, how the right partnership changed everything, why we chose to beta test instead of trying to make it perfect, and all the practical work that happened behind the scenes -- from pricing and logistics to technology, funding, naming, messaging, and launch strategy. If you've ever had an idea sitting in your notebook...
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373: The 7 Essential Offers Every Farm Business Needs
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Imagine asking the first runner in a relay race to carry the baton from the starting line all the way to the finish. No winning team would do that. Yet many farm businesses unknowingly expect one offer to do exactly that. In this episode, I introduce a simple framework that completely changed the way I think about marketing: The Offer Portfolio. Instead of relying on one offer to attract new customers, create first-time buyers, build loyalty, increase order value, and generate referrals, you'll discover the 7 essential offers every farm business should consider -- and the unique role each one...
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372 Dealing with Dread: The Hidden Marketing Obstacle That's Keeping Farmers Stuck
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Have you ever found yourself putting off the very marketing task that could help your farm grow? Writing the email. Launching the promotion. Recording the video. Raising your prices. Building the sales page. You know it needs to get done... but every time you think about it, you feel that heavy sense of dread. In this episode, I share a personal discovery that is challenging the the way I think about procrastination, marketing, and business growth. After catching myself avoiding two important projects this month, I realized something surprising: I wasn't avoiding the work. I was avoiding the...
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371 Re-Broadcast: Use This Weekly Checklist to Sell More at the Farmer's Market
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
This podcast is for all of you who go to farmer's markets!! This episode is a rebroadcast! I first recorded it two years ago, and I decided to share it again, because it needs repeating! Do you want to walk away from the market feeling like you did everything you could to maximize sales that day? Here's a fact: You're going to sell more at the farmer's market if you do a little bit of preparation in the sales strategy department. In this episode, I'm sharing my checklist of "things to make sure you do" before you hop into the truck and head to market. Things like: create a weekly special...
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370 Finding the Friction That's Costing You Sales
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Every farm has friction. The question is… can you see it? Friction is anything that makes buying from your farm harder than it needs to be. It shows up in every business—often in places we've become blind to because we know our own systems so well. The good news? You don't have to eliminate every point of friction to see results. Sometimes removing just one obstacle can make a meaningful difference. In this episode, I'll introduce you to the concept of becoming a Friction Detective. Together, we'll explore the most common places friction hides in a farm business, the questions you...
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369 The One Metric That Tells You if Your Farm Leads Are Actually Worth Anything
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What is a lead actually worth to your farm business? Most farmers know how many email subscribers they have. Far fewer know what those subscribers are actually worth. And that can lead to some very bad marketing decisions. In this episode, I introduce a simple metric called Earnings Per Lead (EPL) that helps you measure the value of the people entering your world -- i.e. whether they came from a Facebook ad, a farmers market, a farm tour, a referral, or a lead magnet. You'll learn how to calculate EPL, why it's different from Cost Per Lead, and how it can help you decide which marketing...
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368: How to Prioritize Your Farm Marketing When Time Is Tight
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
One of the questions I hear all the time from farmers is: "What marketing channel should I focus on?" Or: "If I only have a few hours a week, what's the minimum marketing I need to do?" But I think that's the wrong question. The real question is: Where should I invest my limited marketing time so it creates the biggest impact? In this episode, I share a simple framework to help you decide where your marketing time should go based on the three metrics that actually drive farm revenue: customer count, average order value, and order frequency. We'll talk about the four places marketing time...
info_outlineWhat 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.