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Wrapping Up Summer With Homemade Muffins (and Affinity Marketing)

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Did you know there’s a method to the madness of a tasty muffin? You betcha. The muffin mixing method combines dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, and then folds the two together for a light and fluffy treat. Easy peasy!

Interestingly, the muffin method can be paralleled to affinity marketing. They both bring together multiple ingredients (businesses) and form a partnership of mutual benefit. Simply put, you grease my pan and I’ll grease yours.

If you’re like me, you wonder how your small business can practice affinity marketing. Voilà! Circle M Market Farm BnB recently popped in to my social media feed and it’s a perfect example of businesses working together. Notice how owner Kriss Marion not only uses products from her neighboring farmers, she also promotes them. She’s a smart cookie, because their success contributes to her success. And—perhaps most importantly— encouraging others is a simple and caring thing to do.

Don’t these muffins look delish? Owner Kriss Marion shares the recipe in the comments of her Facebook post. Check out Circle M here, and many more farm stays here in beautiful Wisconsin.

What I’m Working On This Month

Looking for an outdoor festival for celebrating October? Mark your calendar for Fermentation Fest in the rolling countryside of Driftless Wisconsin. What seems weeks away, means work and planning now. This month I’ve been hard at it with the creative team of Wormfarm Institute.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

Speaking of Hiking…

Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail Alliance has come out with its 2023 atlas and guidebook, which means I’ll soon come out with my updated map. Added trails, new trail communities— they’re all here and ready for press!

In the meantime, check out Adunate’s super sale on 2022 maps. Get these for the cost of shipping and handling only—a great way to get started on your Ice Age Trail adventure. Hurry, only a few left!

Shop Here
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Love Yourself, Love Your Business

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Ever wonder why marketing yourself is so hard? True confession—I can promote my clients much easier than I can myself. When it comes to my own business, I have to really push.

If you’re like me, you may feel awkward and self-conscious about marketing. You feel talking about yourself is a form of vanity. You worry what other people think, especially those you know. Here’s the thing, if this mindset overtakes you, you’re actually cheating your business from the positive exposure it deserves. Even worse, you’re cheating your customers from the valuable product you have to offer.

Here’s a pep talk for marketing yourself with confidence!

10 Self-Loves to Motivate Your Marketing

  1. If you don’t market your business, you’ll have no business.
    —Successful entrepreneurs everywhere
  2. Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life (business), not theirs.
    ―Roy T. Bennett, author, nonpolitician 
  3. Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.
    —Brené Brown, professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host
  4. Criticism is the tool of envy and jealousy.
    —Joe Cervantes, attorney and member of the New Mexico Senate
  5. Your work has value and should be compensated accordingly.
    —paraphrased from Ilise Benum, marketing expert for creative professionals
  6. Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.
    —Michael Hyatt, NY Times Best Selling Author
  7. Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.
    —Coco Chanel, fashion designer and businesswoman
  8. There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.
    —Jason Fried, founder & CEO of Basecamp
  9. Don’t let yourself off the hook by deciding that something is out of your reach, instead, ask yourself, ‘What would I do if I weren’t afraid?‘
    —Sheryl Sandburg, business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist
  10. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
    —Neale Donald Walsch, author, actor, screenwriter, and speaker

What I’m Working On This Month

January has been a month of maintenance. It’s all part of wintering, as they say. It’s also necessary for small business ownership. Hopefully all will soon be ready for launch!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  • RAW DEAL: A dirty underbelly that affects not only small farm producers but we consumers as well.
  • REST MANIFESTO: Winter’s a good time for resting. This article helps us feel less guilty when we do.
  • DEMON COPPERHEAD: Author Barbara Kingsolver says in life she is not a risk-taker but as a writer she chooses the fast car. She really did with this one.
  • IS EVERYONE DOING THE BEST THEY CAN? With what they’ve been given? Dr. Brené Brown makes us think in this podcast.

Let’s Work Together

Think Adunate might be a good fit for your next project? Give me a holler and we’ll discuss ideas.

CONTACT ME

Valentines in the Shop

For the Outdoor Lover in All of You!

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Equinox and Moons: Reaping What We Sow

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Wrapping up September is always a transition. Last week we celebrated the autumn equinox and this week we’re waxing in a new moon. It’s the time we reap what we’ve sown, as the Good Book says, and we plan for the winter months ahead. 

Speaking of transitions, Mother Fools Coffeehouse in Madison, WI, recently unveiled its new mural “Dissolve,” by Audifax. Since 2001, this arts-focused cafe has hosted a rotating graffiti wall. Isn’t this piece beautiful?!

Our Marketing Harvest: 3 Months Out

In the same way we’re now harvesting abundance from the garden seeds we planted in spring, so goes our marketing. Studies show the average time to see results from marketing efforts is 3-6 months (depending on the industry, that timeframe can extend up to nine months). This means the marketing we do now determines our outcome for the holidays and upcoming months. 

Need help sowing your marketing seeds? 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Adunate is wrapping up a web design project for HUB Waukesha, a group of non-profit organizations working together to reduce health barriers and promote the well-being of the Hispanic community in Waukesha Co, WI.

I’m privileged to work with such caring people! Check out their website here.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Sauerkraut! This was a good year for cabbage and fermentation guru Sandor Katz shares a recipe.
  2. Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating? Everyone needs to read this, everyone needs to do their part.
  3. 3,000-Year-Old Canoe Found, Wisconsin’s second ancient dugout.
  4. Farm/Art DTour starts this weekend in Driftless Wisconsin!October 1-10. Rolling farmland, art installations, cows, puppets, music, fall colors, poetry and food, food, food! A must-do for autumn.

Gathering Has More Payoffs Than Solo

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Aren’t birds fascinating this time of year? Every August, barn swallows gather on our electric wires and chatter, chatter, chatter. People in the know call this staging, but I like to think of it as networking for the migration ahead. We’ll soon start to see turkey vultures, sandhill cranes and Canada geese staging by the thousands in nearby woods and wetlands.

Birds don’t fly solo. They fly farther and more efficiently when they gather.

Adobe Stock

Entrepreneurs Need to Gather As Well

This past weekend a board on which I serve gathered for its annual retreat. We had the option of attending in person or via Zoom. I chose Zoom. I claimed it was because of my schedule, but if I’m honest it’s also because more and more I find myself reclusing.  

In bird talk, COVID, technology and working from home have enabled us to fly solo. But is this always the best? Are we missing opportunities to fly farther and more efficiently? Zoom worked well enough for my board retreat, but it didn’t pick up the in-person discussions. It didn’t cover gathering for dinner and social hours. It didn’t allow me to fully get to know my peers and interact with them. 

Opportunities for Gathering

As summer comes to an end, we find ourselves hunkering down for winter. Hunkering is fine, reclusing is not. Here are three easy ways to gather:

  1. Conferences, perfect for networking
    Depending on your industry, August-October and January-March are considered conference seasons. Now is a good time to get online and find one that relates to you. 
  2. On-site meetings, how quaint and old-fashioned
    I’m wrapping up a web design project and will soon tutor my customer for managing the site. We could do this via Zoom but meeting in person will be more efficient and productive. 
  3. Coffee, nothing more personal
    When is the last time you’ve simply gone out for a chat with a business peer or customer? What’s new with them? How have the past two years affected their life? 
LET’s WORK TOGETHER
Cover by Tracy Harris, Cricket Design

What I’m Working On This Month

August was a big wrap-up of the Farm/Art DTour event guide by Wormfarm Institute. Want a preview? Check it out page by page!

A big kudos to Tracy Harris of Cricket Design Works for the stunningly gorgeous front and back covers. If this doesn’t bring you to your senses, gee, I don’t know what will. I love collaborating with talented professionals!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Please, not our TP. Sadly yes, PFAS have even been detected in our toilet paper.
  2. Selling in festivals or markets is an art and a science. Here, here and here is a 3-part series of good advice.
  3. Intimate portraits through 60 years of marriage, photography and artistic devotion. 
  4. Should you do a newsletter? Yes, newsletters and social media marketing have long-range returns, but here’s why they pay. P.S. I can help you with both!

Applying the Easiness of Amazon to Your Own Business

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We recently bought garden mulch and the business we ordered from made it as easy as shopping on Amazon. Here’s how it went.

While sautéing dinner and listening (maybe) to his yackity wife, my husband decided we needed mulch. Not wanting to buy from a box store, he googled “local mulch Watertown WI.” Immediately Bags and Bulk Landscape Supply Yard popped up and right there, front and center, was “Free Delivery, Order Now.” Within five minutes he ordered his mulch and it was delivered the next day. 

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

An Easiness Self-Exam

Two years ago, I wrote about helping our customers BE our customers during COVID. These ideas are still relevant, not because of pandemics but because that’s just how it is. Competing with Amazon is a fact of life—when it comes to making things easy for your customer, how do you compare?

  1. How easy is it to shop from you? Can customers order online? Do you deliver? Do you accept returns?
  2. Do you take credit cards? It’s 2022 and we don’t carry cash. Even farmers market and art show customers ask to use credit cards.
  3. Does your business take reservations? If so, how? Must customers call only when you’re open or can they reserve online anytime? 
  4. How easy is to contact you? Is your contact information easy to find? How soon do you reply? 
  5. What about your website? Does the opening page provide the information your customers need most? Hint: Each industry is different. Restaurant or store customers need hours and location. Customers of a service industry, such as mine, need contact information.
  6. Lastly, most importantly, how do your customers FEEL when they’re your customers? Are you making it a pleasant experience? Do they come away feeling happy?
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Food, Faith and Farming Network is a caring, generous and humanitarian organization that gives voice to the sacred connections between land and people. I’m so honored to work with them. 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, by Ingrid Fetell Lee: I read this book for design purposes, but really it applies to everyday life.
  2. How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother: Basil is coming into full season and pesto is a must.
  3. Always Home, by Fanny Singer: I’m obsessed with anything Alice Waters and want to read her daughter’s  book.
  4. Kayaking in Wisconsin: Love it, go whenever/wherever I can. Here’s a helpful podcast for Wisconsin’s best.