240 Selling High End Berkshire Pork - Interview with Cobblestone Farm
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 12/06/2023
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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350 Lessons from a Handmade Goat Soap Business - Interview with Hooves and Feathers
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
A few months ago, I opened my mailbox to find a beautifully packaged starter box of goat milk soap from Allan Laird of Hooves and Feathers. Allan is a Farm Marketing School student… and he was proudly showing me his homework. 😊 Inside the box were thoughtfully chosen products, a clear “try-this-first” experience, and a sense that this wasn’t just soap — it was a brand with intention. I remember thinking, This is what happens when someone applies simple marketing frameworks with consistency. So I called Allan and said, “You need to come on the podcast and walk us through what...
info_outlineHow do you sell a rare breed pig in a community who's never heard of it? This was a problem faced by today's podcast guest. Joanna Shepherd from Cobblestone Farm had moved from the UK on a mission to save the Berkshire pig breed!
The problem: not many people in Saskatchewan, Canada knew what they were, or why they deserved her luxury-level price point.
How do you market a product no one has heard of and create desire for it? Joanna has spent the last 5 years trying to figure it out. In today's episode, we'll hear some of the issues she has had to work through to help her find her way. Now she's guiding other Berkshire pork farmers and helping them learn how to market this rare breed of pig. You'll hear her rather simple strategy which is a mix of email marketing funnels, social media, and SEO that is slowly building an audience of super-fans who become repeat buyers. She's building a marketing machine "slow and steady" that will serve as a strong foundation as she scales her production.
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
This podcast was sponsored by: The Thriving Farmer Podcast. In this top-rated farm podcast, you'll learn the latest tricks and strategies of successful farmers, strategize with in-depth interviews with leaders in the industry, and connect with stories of farmers just like you. In our interviews, we focus on building farms that last, on setting up systems, knowing your customers, building your team, and creating a work/family/life balance. With over 15 years of farming background, your host Michael Kilpatrick has the experience and authority to bring you practical advice, ask the hard questions, tease out the gold nuggets, and help share what it’s really like to build a profitable, sustainable farm.
Subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts or visit: https://www.thrivingfarmerpodcast.com/
Meet Our Guest ~ Who is Joanna Shepherd:
Joanna Shepherd is the co-owner of Cobblestone Farm in Saskaketchewan, Canada, that specializes in raising Berkshire pigs. She and her husband Carl are a couple of Brits from the North Of England, and you’ll definitely hear her fun accent!
Joanna was raised in UK on mixed livestock farm, meaning beef, sheep, and pigs. She met her husband at an abattoir they both worked at and decided to move to Canada to see where the adventure would take them. They started out working in abattoirs and ended up buying acreage and raising registered Berkshire pigs.
Joanna’s mission is the save the rare Berkshire breed, selling her "genetics" to breeders, as well as weanlings and processed pork to local buyers. Her small herd of Berkshire pigs free ranges on 27 acres of pasture year round. She’s committed to allowing her pigs live a stress-free life -- one that allows them to breathe fresh air, wallow, root, sunbathe and play. Blunt, bold, a risk taker, she says what she thinks and goes after what she wants.
Learn more about CobbleStone Farm at www.berkshirepigs.net
Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" 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.
Take My 5-Day FREE CSA Startup Challenge - Looking to start your first veggie CSA, but not sure how to get started? Subscribe to my 5 day challenge. Each day, I'll walk you through one of the 5 key steps to getting your CSA framework in place. You'll do the homework assignment each day, and by the end, you'll have your basic roadmap!
Sign up for Farm Marketing School - my monthly online membership. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in you business like: auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, creating a promo calendar, practicing different types of offers. And new content is being added every month. As the DIY version of my Accelerator Group Coaching program, you get to chose what you want to study each month. I’ve taken the recordings of just the teaching sessions of each project inside of my high-end coaching program (Accelerator) and made them available to everyone. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work.Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside, watch my new Email Marketing Course, or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms Cancel your membership anytime.
Find my Facebook group for farmers!
Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer