Now that I’m finally moved and (almost) all the boxes are unpacked, it’s time for me to get writing again. I’ve been thinking about how to apply marketing precepts and processes to small farms without them having to spend too much money. The perfect opportunity to do this as a series just came up.
I volunteered with the Aspire Foundation to mentor a woman who owns a small farm in an area that does not have any real support structures in place. It doesn’t take much of my time, about 6-7 hours over 6 months, but the responsibility of being a mentor can be quite serious. I want her to succeed.
To that end, I’m starting a series about marketing small farms (or other small, rural businesses) without incurring too much cost. Yes, that means free or extremely low cost tools that you can find online. They are out there, but how do you use them?
Here’s the framework I’m going to follow to help you create your marketing plan:
- Who are you?
- Who are your customers?
- How can you reach them?
- What do you want say?
- How do you know that what you’ve said is working?
It sounds rather simple, but it really isn’t. How you view yourself and how you approach your potential customers is a tricky proposition at best. (Billions of dollars are spent on advertising every year trying to crack this.) It can be done, but it must be thought about first.
So, to kick this off, I suggest watching Simon Sinek’s brilliant TED talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action. It will get you thinking about your business and why you do it.
(Seriously, go to the Aspire Foundation site and see what an amazing program it is. Their goal is to mentor a billion women and the work they’ve already done has changed the lives of women all over the world.)