285 Boost Your Farm's Revenue with Value-Added Products: Insights from Kendall Ballantine
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 10/30/2024
364 CSA Buy Down Offers: Marketing Case Study with Thirsty Fruit Farm
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
In this episode, I sit down with Krista Barzen-Hansen of Thirsty Fruit Farm (one of my students from Farm Marketing School!) to break down how her farm marketing has evolved and strengthened over the past year. In this farm marketing case study, we unpack: how customers discover her farm, how she nurtures leads, how she's constantly optimizing her "gateway" product what content she creates, how she thinks about onboarding, the systems she’s building, and how she’s learning to approach marketing with confidence and experimentation instead of overwhelm. Krista’s primary sales model...
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363 Find Your Farm’s Proof Sentence (That Helps Customers Say Yes Faster)
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What if one sentence could help your customers trust you faster? In this episode, I’m introducing a powerful marketing tool called a proof sentence — a simple line that helps your customer think, “Yeah… this is probably going to work for me, too.” A proof sentence doesn’t just describe your product. It shows what happens after someone buys it. We’ll talk about why promises are so powerful in marketing, how to identify the transformation your farm product creates, and how to build your own proof sentence using a simple formula. Because your customers aren’t just buying...
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362 How to Groom Your Farm Website During the Season
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Is your farm website reflecting what’s happening on your farm RIGHT NOW… or is it stuck in last season? A few weeks ago, our farm was featured in the Toledo Blade newspaper during asparagus season, and suddenly we had a wave of new people discovering our business online. There was just one problem… Our website wasn’t ready for them. The homepage wasn’t talking about asparagus. There was no mention of the newspaper feature. And there wasn’t a clear next step for new visitors trying to figure out how to buy from us. That experience sparked a huge realization for me: Farm websites are...
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361 The Missing Piece in Your Farm Business: The Success Path
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
May 13, 2026 There’s a missing piece in most farm marketing funnels, and it lives after the sale. If your customers feel overwhelmed, unsure what to do, or like they’re “failing” with your product… they don’t come back. In this episode, I’m breaking down the concept of a Success Path -- the intentional roadmap you build to guide your customer from confusion → confidence → transformation. When you build this well, you don’t just create repeat buyers… you create loyal fans who trust you, stick with you, and tell others. What You’ll Learn: What a Success Path actually...
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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?
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...
info_outlineAre you creating value-added products and selling them in your farm business? After hearing this episode, you may decide to get started!
"Value-added" refers to any agricultural products that have been processed or enhanced in a way that increases their market value. This could involve transforming raw farm products into something more convenient, shelf-stable, or unique, thus making them more appealing to customers. For example, turning fresh vegetables into pickles, making jams from fruit, or creating bone broth from animal by-products are all considered value-added because they offer more convenience, flavor, or functionality compared to their raw form. These products often allow farmers to increase their profit margins and diversify their income streams.
In this episode, Kendall Ballantine from Central Park Farms dives into the world of value-added products and how they transformed her direct-to-consumer farm business into a thriving operation. Discover how these simple innovations can create new revenue streams, support business growth, and help farms stay afloat during the off-season.
Tune in to learn:
- How Kendall turned chicken bones into bone broth, chicken pot pie, and over 40 other freezer meals for her online store.
- Where to start with value-added products.
- How to come up with value added product ideas.
- Creative marketing tips to entice buyers to buy your value added products.
- Common mistakes farmers make when they first start out with value-added.
- How to price your value added so you remain profitable.
This conversation is packed with actionable insights to inspire your own farm business!
Today's Guest: Meet Kendall Ballantine.
Follow Kendall's marketing tips at www.instagram.com/
Her website: www.onlinemarketingforfarmers.com
Workshop: Increasing Revenue with Value Added Products
Workhorse Collective, Kendall's Coaching Program
Podcast Sponsor:
This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, 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 should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch. 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: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline
Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
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