Field Fresh Marketing

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gardening

Perfection Not Required

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By August, my garden is a mess. You’ll find pigweed amongst the leeks and purslane in the tomatoes. I used to feel embarrassed by this—apologetic even —until a CSA farmer mentioned an interesting observation. Behind every perfect garden, she said, is a large roster of volunteers or many gallons of Roundup. In other words, a perfect garden isn’t real. 

How often do we demand perfection in our business? We can’t take that first daring leap because we don’t have our startup ducks all in a row? We can’t put up a website because we don’t have our content just right? We can’t do social media marketing because our pictures aren’t Pinterest Perfect?  

Perfection Holds Us Back

Since football is upon us, here are words of wisdom from Vince Lombardi. “There’s no such thing as perfection,” said this highly disciplined man, “but in striving for perfection, we can achieve excellence.” 

Yeah, that’s pretty good.

But perhaps Harriet Braiker said it even better: “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.”

(Seriously, I needed to make excuses for my garden?)

When it comes to your marketing your business, perfection is not required. Have the confidence to be your natural you. Get out there and go for the gusto! 

LET’S WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

I’m super proud to serve on the board of directors for the Women, Food & Ag Network. We’ve started our membership appeal and will be sending out these postcards. Do join us!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Why Perfectionism Isn’t Nature’s Way: Nature has many lessons to teach us about life, leadership and creating environements.
  2. Elderberries Don’t Boost Your Immune System, and Other Coronavirus Myths Debunked: Sadly, a year later, this is worth revisiting. “Preprint or peer-reviewed journal?” and other ways to determine legitimacy of claims.
  3. Big Difference for Small Business Owners: Ten insights into a rock-solid belief in yourself.  
  4. Brené Brown Summer Sister Series on The Gifts of Imperfection: Wrapping up my summer listening, a 6-episode series with lots of sisterly love.
First Step In Marketing Plans: Branding Your Business!

Pickles, Pumpkins, and the Pandemic Pivot

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This year, for whatever reason (let’s just blame COVID), we had a horrible cucumber crop. But we had green beans galore, so we pickled dillies instead. We lost all our pumpkins to beetles. But we had a glorious peach crop, so I’ll buy a pie pumpkin for Thanksgiving and serve cobblers the following months.

Our summer gardening mimics the change in direction many businesses have recently taken. Call it the Pandemic Pivot, if you will, it’s the dance businesses large and small have done in order to survive these past seven months. It’s the steps they may have to continue for the next seven months. 

How’s business been for you? What might you need to do differently next year? Now’s a good time to take a reality check.

What I’m Working On This Month

Ever wonder why some businesses get all the media attention? I’m putting together a workshop that answers just that. Check out the Women’s Farm & Ag Network Annual Conference and sign up for “Create a Media Kit that Brings Publicity to Your Farm.”

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. The Land Remembers, by Ben Logan.This month would have been his centennial birthday. A great memoir of growing up on the farm in the 1920-30s in Driftless Wisconsin.
  2. Young Blood Beer Co. Their business plan was to open a taproom, then COVID hit. In their words, they “revised,” “adjusted,” and accepted “it is what it is.”
  3. Octoberfest Brewery Tour. Every year we take an annual “celebration of sipping and scenery.” This year we’re social distancing on the North Shores.
  4. Revisiting Carole Cadwalladr’s still-relevant TED Talk. “It’s not about left or right…it’s about whether it’s actually possible to have a free and fair election ever again.” 

Winter’s Hope Brings Summer’s Bounty

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It’s called the seed catalog effect. It’s when outside the January winds blow and inside we cozy up with seed catalogs, and it’s then that our green thumbs become their most ambitious. There’s something about those glorious displays of bounty that brings hope to the new year. They’re a promise that spring will most certainly come and, yes, this will be the best gardening year ever. 

Inevitably though, reality sets in—like six months later when we’re trellising those 15 varieties of tomatoes and we wonder what we were thinking when we started all those seeds.

Just Like Our Online Marketing Plans

Our January gardening plans are often like our marketing plans. How many of you made New Year resolutions for marketing your business and already have fallen behind? Rather than getting down on yourself, think in terms of the seed catalog effect and realize that maybe you were simply overly ambitious.

With all the online marketing options available today, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Website, eNewsletters, social media, blogging, podcasts, videos—goodness, how does one keep up? 

You can’t keep up. You can’t do them all. Instead, consider these three tips for establishing a marketing plan.

  1. Identify Your Target Audience (Profitable Consumer)
    What social media platforms are they using? When are they using these platforms and for what? For example, if you have a farmers market stand in a business district, chances are your customers are white collar professionals using LinkedIn. On the other hand, if most of your customers are retirees, you certainly don’t need to bother with LinkedIn. Study your customers and go online where they go. 
  2. Define Your Objectives
    What are your goals for online marketing? To educate? Write a blog or shoot videos. To establish relationships? Do Facebook and Instagram. To make announcements? Shoot an eNewsletter or a Facebook post. Research which social media platforms match your objectives and align your marketing to them. 
  3. Recognize Your Time, Resources, and Skills
    Yes, online marketing is free—you likely already have a computer, smart phone, and use social media. But it also takes time, resources, and skills. Shooting a video on YouTube takes more than posting a picture on Instagram. Writing a blog takes more than posting on Facebook. Limit your social media to 1-2 platforms you know you can handle. When you’ve mastered them and feel ready for more, add another platform using the same discerning practices. 

Looking to ramp up your marketing in 2020? Adunate can help grow your business through a unique brand and successful marketing practices.

LET’S WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

It’s that website time of year and this month’s feature is Hymns in My Heart, a greeting card business filled with the rich, spiritual language of hymns. We’ll be going live in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Edible Potluck: Joy Manning’s podcast for food lovers. Here she features Wisconsin heritage wheat farmer Charlie Tennessen of Anarchy Acres. Also what gadget will be the next Instant Pot? 
  2. Immigrant Wheat: Charlie’s article in Edible Milwaukee magazine.
  3. She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement: Powerful people should not silence the voice of others. A interesting read on the importance of free press and investigative journalism. 
  4. 90-Day Gospel Reading Plan: Part of the Bystander series by Hope Lake Country. I’m perpetually 2-3 days behind but sticking with it nonetheless. Paired with the sermon series, it makes for good discussion.

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