Podcasting is becoming hugely popular as a method of entertainment and education. Marketing professionals and non-marketing professionals around the world are getting into podcasting as another way to reach their audience. A very in-depth article from Social Media Examiner outlines how and why podcasting is a "must" for marketing professionals and business owners. I could go over the statistics and examples here, but my site focuses on farming. What can a podcast do for your farm?

The answer is, it can do a lot for your farm.

Farmer & customer interaction is crucial to building valuable relationships to increase customer retention and repeat business. You don't want a customer to buy just once, you want them to buy over and over, year after year. At some point a tomato is a tomato and a chicken is a chicken. What sets you apart in business are the relationships that you forge along the way.

I brought a guest on the show today to talk about those relationships and what they have done for his farm. Ethan Book of Crooked Gap Farm created "The Beginning Farmer Show", a podcast about his journey into agriculture. On his show he is honest, down to earth, and it feels like you are sitting down for a drink talking about how the farm is doing.

My favorite story that he shared on the episode is from one of his customers at the farmers' market. His customer had a friend in from out of town, over 12 hours out of town. The out of town friend insisted that they go to the farmers' market because he knew Ethan would be there, and wanted to meet him. How cool is that?

Now, podcasting isn't going to be for everyone. It takes a lot of time and effort. I spent about 5 hours per episode, which is a lot. But, it is part of my business plan, and quite frankly I love it. One late night every two weeks spent doing something I get a lot of joy and fulfillment out of is not bad.

If you want to know more about the technical side of podcasting check out the links that I have below as well as the Powerpoint and video that I embedded in the notes below. If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments section and I will get back to you.

Something to consider:

Podcasting doesn't have to be expensive and doesn't have to take a long time. You can do a weekly podcast that is 15 minutes long without a musical intro or anything and just do a quick update on your farm. It might even be a good thing to start very simple to get the hang of it. You can always choose to grow it later.

Farm marketing is important to set you apart, increase value, and build a community. Podcasting can be a powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal.

Right click to download the MP3

In this farm podcast you will learn:

• What a farm podcast can do for your business
• Some motivations for starting a podcast
• What exactly podcasting is
• The story behind two popular farm podcasts (you're listening to one)

Interview with Ethan Book of The Beginning Farmer Show:

Ethan Book grew up on a quaint little street in Cedar Falls, Iowa playing with toy tractors on his bedroom floor and pretending to farm with his John Deere pedal tractor in the driveway.

Weekends were often spent on his dad's farm or the farms of his uncles and extended family. As Ethan grew up his dreams of being a farmer faded a little bit, but never truly went away.

Ethan has pursued that dream of becoming a farmer and has done a great job of documenting his journey through his blog and podcast over at The Beginning Farmer. I am honored to call him a friend. Though we have never met in person I feel like I know so much about him through the stories he shares on his podcast, through his writing, and in conversations I have had with him "off air".

Items mentioned in this farm podcast include:

• The Beginning Farmer
• Crooked Gap Farm
• Camps Road Farm CSA Sales Page
• Smart Passive Income Podcast Tutorial
• Podcast Answer Man Podcasting Tutorial
• Trello Task Management
• Farm Marketing Solutions Podcast Page

Take aways:

Is podcasting something that you could start to build value for your customers?

Are you the most popular guy or gal at the farmers' market? Have people told you that "you should get into radio". Well, here's your chance!

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Thanks for taking the time to listen in, and let me know what you think. You can leave a comment below, send me an e-mail, reach me on Facebook or Twitter, or leave a 5 star rating in iTunes if you liked the show.

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