As the year winds down, it’s the perfect time to take stock and set yourself up for success in the year ahead. In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the 10 essential housekeeping tasks I tackle every December to keep my farm marketing game strong. These aren’t just mundane chores—they’re strategic moves that help me reflect, refine, and refresh my business for the new season. Curious?

I’ll walk you through each of these tasks step by step. From evaluating my marketing efforts with a critical eye to organizing the chaos of my digital workspace, I’ve got a checklist designed to make January feel a whole lot less overwhelming. Wondering what’s on my list? Here’s a hint: it’s all about laying a rock-solid foundation for next year’s success—and a few of these tasks might just surprise you.

I’ll also share the mindset shifts that make these tasks more than just “to-dos” and turn them into opportunities to identify what’s working, what needs tweaking, and where my energy should flow next. Whether it’s about cleaning house or connecting with key people in my network, these tasks are my secret weapon for staying focused and intentional.

Here’s what you’ll take away from this episode:

• Why carving out time to reflect on your marketing data is not optional.
• How to build a marketing calendar that works with your energy, not against it.
• The power of saying thank you—and how it can grow your network in unexpected ways.

Don’t let January catch you off guard. Instead, join me as I share my end-of-year process so you can start 2025 with clarity and confidence.

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Episode 191 Evaluating Your Year and Setting Goals: My Journaling Structure

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership for beginning and intermediate farmer entrepreneurs who need help building out their marketing systems. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will show you how to build some of the most important parts of your marketing system. There are classes on building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

 

What does it take to run a wildly successful CSA renewal promotion? In this episode, I’m breaking down the results of my recent early bird campaign and sharing my biggest takeaways. With 80% of my members renewing and nearly $300,000 in revenue generated, this campaign was one for the books! But what made it work so well?

Tune in as I reveal the strategies, insights, and lessons learned during this promotion, so you can apply them to your own CSA renewal campaigns. Whether you're looking for ways to spark excitement or wondering how to handle your own post-promotion debrief, this episode is packed with inspiration.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The irresistible offer that drove 80% of my CSA members to renew.
• How I created a sense of urgency that made this promotion impossible to ignore.
• The “event-like” energy I built around the campaign using contests, giveaways, and prizes.
• The surprising ways I kept members engaged and active in my Facebook group.
• Key principles for running a strong CSA renewal promotion—and what patterns to watch for.

This episode is a follow-up to my earlier episode where I walked through the step-by-step process of creating an early bird campaign. If you missed that one, go back and listen for the full strategy breakdown! Listen here ==> Episode 283 CSA Early Renewal Promotions: My Process

Whether you’re planning your own CSA renewal promotion or looking to refine your existing strategy, this episode is packed with practical tips and inspiration to help you take it to the next level.

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Enroll in my course: Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- my online course that teaches you the step-by-step process for how to get your own CSA Early Bird Promo ready to launch! I include a swipe file of my exact emails I used, as well as my social media posts/copy, and my daily checklist planner to keep me organized.

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime. NOTE: FMS will  include my course Early Bird Campaigns that Convert, beginning January 5, 2025.

Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast

I’d love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don’t want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts!

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on Apple Podcast, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at [email protected].

 

Ever feel like you don’t have enough time to create a great marketing campaign? What if I told you it’s possible to throw together a full week’s worth of promo content in just ONE hour? That’s exactly what happened to me yesterday.

In this episode, I’m sharing how I turned a simple promo post for my Fish Holiday Sampler Boxes into a full-blown 7-day marketing campaign. All it took was a little inspiration, some quick thinking, and leveraging the content I already had in my back pocket.

You’ll hear the behind-the-scenes of how I pulled from existing resources like customer photos, testimonials, and even a PDF guide I created last year. I’ll also walk you through the key elements of my process—from targeting the right audience to scheduling posts efficiently—and show you how you can rinse and repeat this strategy for your own farm promotions.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• How to repurpose your old marketing assets to save time
• What makes a marketing promo truly engaging
• Or how to document your process so you can repeat it next year...

...this episode is for you.

Plus, I’ll share some quick tips for turning last-minute inspiration into a content machine that works for you. Whether you’re selling fish boxes, CSA shares, or holiday bundles, this framework will help you simplify and scale your efforts.

Ready to create smarter, faster marketing promos? Tune in now!

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

Are you struggling to identify and prioritize your best customers? Ever felt like you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping for a sale to stick? What if there were a proven framework that could help you qualify leads more effectively, saving you time and energy?

In this episode, we’re diving into the B.A.N.T. formula—Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline—a powerful tool that top sales professionals use to zero in on their ideal customers. But how does this framework apply to selling directly to consumers, especially when they’re deciding whether to commit to a CSA membership or buy bulk meat from a local farm? And what practical steps can you take to use B.A.N.T. in your day-to-day sales conversations?

Tune in to discover:

• Why "Budget" isn’t just about numbers: How do you uncover what a customer is really willing to spend without making things awkward?
• The art of finding the true decision-maker: Who holds the purchasing power in a family or household, and why does it matter for your pitch?
• How to uncover your customer’s "Need" without sounding pushy: What key questions reveal if your product truly solves their problem?
• Why "Timeline" can make or break the sale: What’s the best way to gauge when your prospect is ready to buy, and what should you do if they’re not?

Through real-world examples—like working with a customer who’s considering buying a side of beef or thinking about a CSA membership—this episode will help you see how B.A.N.T. can be applied practically to your farm’s sales. Whether you’re a seasoned seller or just getting started, you’ll walk away with strategies you can implement right away.

Curious about how to use B.A.N.T. to qualify leads more effectively? Listen in, and let’s start turning your prospects into committed customers with a smart, targeted approach.

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

 

Ever feel like your farm business goals are taking too long to materialize? In this episode, we explore the often-overlooked value of "waiting" in business and why those seemingly stagnant moments are vital for growth. Drawing from my own journey through a long waiting period, I unpack the hidden benefits that emerge when we embrace the "in-between" times. Whether you're waiting to go full-time, reach a new revenue milestone, or snag that big wholesale gig, there's a lot happening beneath the surface—and it's all happening for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why waiting is a universal part of life—and business
• How to find progress even when it feels like nothing is moving
• What lessons might be waiting for you in this season
• Ways to harness this time to rest, innovate, and build resilience
• The art of letting go of "how" and "when" your goals should happen

✨ Call to Action: Take a moment to journal through these reflection questions, and discover what you can learn from your current season of waiting.

FIND THE JOURNALING QUESTION PDF HERE (link on Canva)

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

I mention giving you some journaling prompts to help you work through this episode. You can grab those here. You'll need a Canva account to access it.

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, building your website home page, writing your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, composing great weekly email promotions, onboarding emails, and building compelling offers. 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. Start with my marketing crash course or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

Have you filed your CTA report yet? (Do you even know what that means?) This is a fairly "new" (and unknown) legal requirement and I'm discovering that a lot of farm business owners have no idea about it.  As a business, you may have to file a report, and you have until December 31, 2024, to do so (or face some big fines).

In this episode, I break down the Corporate Transparency Act and its implications for business owners, especially small farms. With insights from my lawyer Richard Chamberlain, we dive into the federal reporting requirements designed to identify your beneficial owners and prevent money laundering and fraud. Learn what your business needs to do to comply and avoid hefty penalties.

• What critical information must you report to the government by the fast-approaching deadline?
• Who exactly qualifies as a "beneficial owner," and why does it matter?
• The surprising exemptions to the Corporate Transparency Act—could your business be off the hook?
• How you could face daily fines or even jail time for missing a simple filing.
• Can you file on your own, or is a lawyer necessary to navigate this new law?

Tune in to find out how this law impacts your business and the steps you need to take before December 31, 2024! Your homework is to TAKE CARE OF THIS by the end of the year! It only takes 10 minutes. Do it this week!

Meet my Lawyer: Richard Chamberlain. Richard Chamberlain is the founder and managing attorney of Legacy Law Group in Perrysburg, Ohio. He is admitted to practice law in both Ohio and Michigan. He earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA in 1989 and his law degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL in 1992. After working at different law firms in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, Richard founded the Legacy Law Group in 2007 and focuses primarily on serving clients in estate planning, legacy planning, asset protection and estate administration matters. Richard’s first book, Protecting your Family’s Future – All about Wills, Trusts & Probate, was published in September of 2020. Richard also hosts a podcast, Protecting Your Family’s Future, which is available on all major podcast platforms. Richard and his wife Kelly have been married for 30 years and they have 4 daughters and 1 granddaughter. They enjoy spending time together going to the lake, boating, hanging out with their dogs, watching movies, and traveling.   To learn more about Richard Chamberlain's law firm:  www.PlansThatWork.net   To get Richard's free ebook PDF about estate planning, wills, and probate to help you navigate this topic for your farm: https://plansthatwork.net/ep-book   Richard’s podcast, Protecting Your Family’s Future, is available on all major podcast platforms.   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:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): www.Fincen.gov/boi

FAQs on Beneficial Owners - https://fincen.gov/boi-faqs

The Small Entity Compliance Guide: https://fincen.gov/boi/small-entity-compliance-guide

Create a FinCEN ID - https://fincenid.fincen.gov/landing

Where to file your BOI report - https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

November 6, 2024 by Corinna

Do you know how much each lead is worth to your farm business? In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of Earnings Per Lead (EPL) and how it can transform the way you approach marketing for your farm. I’ll explain exactly what EPL is, how to calculate it for both paid and organic campaigns, and why this metric is critical to understanding the value of each lead. By tracking EPL, you'll learn how to make data-driven decisions to boost your farm’s revenue, whether you’re running a CSA, selling farm products, or hosting events. 

Listen in to discover:

• Why EPL is more than just a number—it’s a window into the value of your marketing efforts.
• How to calculate EPL even if you're not spending a penny on ads.
• The key difference between EPL and CPL (Cost Per Lead) and why both metrics matter for profitability.
• What to do with this EPL statistic once you have it

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. Projects include: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. For the month of November, we are doing a 4-week live book study of "Building a Storybrand" by Donald Miller to help you write your farm's brandscript! And in January, I'll be releasing my "Farm Business Metrics" project to help you track the 5 most important farm metrics for your marketing and sales.

Each project is 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 in each project to help you jumpstart your work. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

 

Are 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. Kendall is a proud farmer and the business owner behind Central Park Farms in Langley, BC Canada. She grew the annual revenue of her small scale farm-to-table business well into the six figures, all through the power of digital marketing and without spending a dime on ads. After many failures, lots of learning, and a heck of a lot of successes, she is excited to share what she knows to help other farmers reach their ideal customers and grow their businesses online.

Follow Kendall's marketing tips at www.instagram.com/marketingforfarmers 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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast

I’d love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don’t want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts!

With the holidays coming, are you preparing any farm promotions to finish Q4 strong?

If not, this episode is for you. I've invited my friend Christina Marbury (the marketing director of Taste the Local Difference -- a marketing agency for farmers) to share her expertise in building holiday promotions that sell. Christina has the advantage of working with hundreds of farms across the Midwest on their marketing strategy, and she has seen the types of offers that work well for the Thanksgiving/Christmas seasons.

Your consumer is "trained" to buy this time of year. Between gift giving and the big three holiday feasts (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years), there is ample opportunity for farms to pitch their products. In this episode, Christina will share what types of products and offers work well for this time of year. She also gives tips on how to set up your online store so that more people will buy those offers. AND, we talk through some marketing pointers so that your customers find out about those great offers living on your e-commerce platform.

My challenge for you is to listen to the episode with your key decision makers and then brainstorm a holiday offer (or two!) that you will pitch this season. Let us know how it goes!

Who is Christina Marbury? Marketing Director at Taste the Local Difference At Taste the Local Difference, Christina and her team support farms and other local food businesses to reach their goals with specialized marketing services designed just for those businesses. From website design and e-commerce system setup to graphic design to strategies and implementation for social media, email marketing and search engine optimization, TLD aims to make marketing work efficiently and effectively. Christina fell in love with local food while attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and has since spent her career working with and supporting local food businesses of all types. From farm work to bakeries, retail, and food service - she's been in the thick of it, which brings an understanding of these businesses to her work in marketing. When Christina isn’t working, you can find her in her garden, boiling maple syrup, baking up a storm, and soaking in the incredible waters and landscapes near her home in Leelanau County, Michigan.   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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Download the Guide we mention in this episode: E-Commerce Optimization for Farms here. It's an overview of the key elements of this episode, put together by Christina for you!

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important parts of your marketing system: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, writing great weekly email promotions, nurture emails, onboarding emails, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

Early Bird Campaigns that Convert --  In this week's episode, I mentioned that I am currently in my final week of the CSA this season. In fact, I'm in the middle of my "early renewal promotion" to get my CSA members to sign up again. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch.

Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers!You'll find my video trainings for the Early Bird Challenge inside here for a few more days.

Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

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Are you a CSA farmer that has to get their members to "renew" every year and it always feels like a STRUGGLE? I've got you, my friend, because in this episode, I share my process for setting up my CSA early sign "renewal" promotion every fall in the final week of my CSA. I give them only 7 days to make up their minds. I've used the same sales system for the last 7 years, and I consistently get 75-85% of them to renew. 

Here is an overview of the steps that I walk through in more detail in the episode. Use this as your checklist for running your own campaign:

1. Set the three key dates.
2. Review any changes you might want to make to next year's products/sites/fulfillment. Confirm with vendors and site hosts.
3. Build your irresistible offer.
4. Set up your online store/POS -- the tech!
5. Build the content strategy map. Map out the key messaging points on a calendar, day by day.
6. Write the email onboarding sequence.
7. Build social media post graphics.
8. Write the email marketing sequence.
9. Schedule the emails and social posts.
10. Build the "master checklist".
11. Test the funnel on 1-2 customers who are let in early to find any bugs.

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:

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. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe

Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. 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 your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. 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 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  Start and cancel your membership anytime.

Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members.

Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- In this episode, I mentioned how I would be building my CSA Early Bird Renewal Promo campaign this month. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch.

Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! You'll find my video trainings for the Early Bird Challenge inside here for a few more days.

Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer