@atlantarobin

I did a presentation in the fall of 2011 to a group of farmers.

Many of them already had a blog. In fact, one of my favorite blogs is from my CSA (community supported agriculture): http://broadturnfarm.com/

Many more had Facebook pages, and I follow a number of local farmers on Twitter.

Hi: (from Emma’s Family Farm) and You’re right: many small farmers need help with their marketing because they either don’t know how or can’t find the time to do it.

It has become an essential function of farming but most farmers do a great job growing things and a mediocre job of selling them.

There are a number of web sites out here that cater to farmers and maybe you could take a look at those. One company, Small Farm Central helps farmers develop web sites of their own using various templates and software packages for functionality.

Local Harvest has an excellent site where farmers can post their information and be found by consumers using an excellent search function. They also offer forums, blogs and a great area for listing CSA information (Community Supported Agriculture).

Rich Brooks did a great job presenting and at that very same forum there were a few other marketing and software professionals who were creating various kinds of sites, including online farmers markets, for farmers and consumers to use.

On our Farm, we use FaceBook and Twitter and many of the other free listing sites that are available. In our situation we must turn labor into capital so many things that should be farmed out (ha ha) to a pro end up being done in house because, really, farming on a start up farm isn’t really very lucrative — I like to say that it is debt management because of the capital necessary to keep functioning. You see, corporations have brought the price of food down so low with their economies of scale, industrialized methods and use of government subsidies that those of us who want to raise quality products face an uphill battle; our products are more expensive and, in a world where cheaper is perceived to be better we must figure out a marketing strategy that emphasizes quality, personal relationship and trust to sell a more expensive product. It works, we’re doing it — but that’s because I’ve had an advertising and marketing background in another life.

And, by the way, thanks for asking!

@mainefun40

Steve, it is ever so clear to me that dear sweet sow in heat is just ticked off at you because she has no dear swarthy sire in heat to distract her wrath from you! Too funny! But now I’m a-thinking I can’t even remember the proper name for a Daddy pig. I do remember what MY Daddy called them sometimes, but I’m a lady and can’t repeat that, lol! And I’m pretty sure sow in heat has gone off camping by this time. What’s the rest of her story? (You’ll have to visit his blog to see who the heckledoodles sow in heat is).

I enjoyed your newsletter, taking a peek at life on the farm, and especially liked learning about the heritage turkeys (is that their name?. I noticed that was last March’s edition. You should really keep blogging. Just a little snippet at a time, with subheadings and 3-500 words at a time, makes it more doable long-term.

Kristy, you’ve really put that Ag work ethic and background to work for you! So glad you both  joined us here.

Can yall tell whether farmers are using and optimizing their Google Places Pages? I’d think that would be one of the cheapest best way to get found if done right.
@kc_kreative

Robin

It’s the Reference Section from page 42-49 that I think is the most helpful. I like the outline on the back page, too. Good reference material. Perfect outline, handout, and online references for presentations.

Hi, @atlantarobin  Thought I would stop by your thead and say “hi”  We are related through the agriculture world. So happy to see you are helping the people in farming and agriculture.  They really do need you.  As you know, I am in the horse world, it is the same there.  People are looking for more effective ways to market their business.

 I wanted to thank you for what you are doing. 

Hi Robin – As an Extension Educator for the University of Nebraska, I work with a team of people to help folks in agriculture and small business to utilize the tools of social media to market their products. Recently, we have completed a curriculum called Direct Marketing Food Specialty Products Online and published it in a zmags format. Check it out at this link: http://go.unl.edu/directmarketingfood. Another great resource is a paper.li feed for direct food marketing:  http://paper.li/UNLeShip/1319999929 Another resource is a similar Scoop.it feed at this link:  http://www.scoop.it/t/direct-marketing-for-specialty-food-products  These links are specific to foods but also have lots of common sense info for online marketing in general. 

We in Extension (in most states) are working hard to research and teach in this subject area. We teach in many venues from face to face to online webinars. Check out your local University County Extension office for more information.

Kristy, I combed through some examples that might fit your situation. Check these people out: The Nebraska Corn Board and corresponding blog:  http://www.nebraskacorn.org/, Michele Payn-Knoper works hard at agvocacy:  http://www.causematters.com/. Articles with examples:  http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2011-09-03/Social-media-connects-farmers-with-local-customers/50243472/1,  http://www.good.is/post/why-farmers-are-embracing-social-media-the-agchat-story/, http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/smallbusiness/story/2011/10/14/f-twitter-farmers-agriculture-social-media.html 

@unexted Thank you for all the links. I have some reading to do over the weekend