309 Starting a UPick from Scratch Inside a FMS Coaching Call with David Heeks
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 04/23/2025
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_outlineImagine 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 repeat buying—and we identified the key gaps he needed to fill fast.
🎧 Whether you’re just starting your farm biz or revamping an existing one, this episode is packed with practical ideas and “aha” moments about how to think through your customer’s journey—plus a cool little demo of how I used ChatGPT live to help David implement part of his plan on the call!
Podcast Sponsors:
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Farm Marketing School:
Marketing doesn’t have to feel overwhelming! Farm Marketing School is my step-by-step system for building a profitable farm marketing plan. Inside, you'll get access to bite-sized marketing projects like:
- 📆 Creating a promotion calendar that drives consistent sales
- 🛠️ Setting up & optimizing your Google Business Profile
- 📧 Writing high-converting emails (nurture, promotions, onboarding)
- 🗣️ Collecting & using customer testimonials effectively
- 🔍 Auditing & improving your sales funnel
- 💬 Monthly live coaching calls for answers to your burning questions
Each project includes a workshop and step-by-step plan so you can take action and see results without the overwhelm. Join here:
👉 www.mydigitalfarmer.com/fms (Cancel anytime!)
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
- Want to check out ChatGPT? Go to https://chatgpt.com/
- Want help building better offers for your own customer journey? Download my free guide: 35 Ways to Build an Offer
- What email provider do I use? I recommend Kit.com (formerly ConvertKit.com) -- it is easy to use, powerful, and getting better every year. It also integrates with most e-commerce providers and tools. Use my affiliate link!
- 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @mydigitalfarmer
- 📬 Join My Email List: Get weekly farm marketing tips delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe.
- 🌱 Want more farm marketing strategies? Visit my full resource library at www.mydigitalfarmer.com.
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