Profitable Mindset

Download your FREE Instagram Guide to a Profitable Farm at https://www.3cowmarketing.com/instagram2019 NEXT follow along as I share the strategies there, too: https://www.instagram.com/charlottesmith3cow/   What’s an Instagram category? Why do you need categories on Instagram? What makes your reach drop? What’s an algorithm?   On today’s podcast, I’m going to teach you how to choose categories so that you'll know exactly what to post.   Choosing 6-8 categories will help you find and attract more customers to your farm so that you can build deeper connections and sell out faster.   Customers will be happy to pay your prices and will love seeing your social media feed day after day.

Ever want someone to tell you exactly what you need to be doing on Instagram and nothing more?   Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could cut through the clutter of what’s working and what’s not and give it to you — plain and simple.   With so much advice out there, it’s hard to determine what you really need and what is a “bell or whistle.”   Today on the Profitable Mindset Podcast, I cut to the chase and give you the 7 Steps to Finding Customers on Instagram.   Plus, I have a FREE guide you can use to get started here >> https://www.3cowmarketing.com/instagram2019    And - come say “hi” on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlottesmith3cow/ @charlottesmith3Cow

Is your social media “reach” down? Is no one buying on Facebook like they used to?   Do you really need to be blogging? Is it necessary to have a website in this day and age?   The social landscape of Facebook and Instagram have drastically changed in the past several years and “things aren’t what they used to be.”   On today’s episode of Profitable Mindset, we’ll talk about what you can do and where you should be focusing your time when it comes to marketing.   Yes, social media has its place in marketing, but when it comes to selling and making money, Facebook and IG are the last places you want to go. Get the free download at https://www.3cowmarketing.com/blogging And learn to create your website free: https://3cowmarketing.mykajabi.com/tech-library

Download the FREE worksheet on How to Market Your Farm in 1 Hour a Day HERE! 3CowMarketing.com/marketingplan   The #1 complaint I hear from farmers about marketing is “I’m too busy and can’t add one more thing to my plate. I just don’t have time for marketing.”   Trust me, no one has time to fit in “one more thing” but I’m here to tell you marketing your farm is a must if you want to be profitable.   And I’m going to show you how I market my farm in only 1 hour a day on today’s Profitable Mindset Podcast.   You’ll learn: How to overcome the most common obstacles of marketing your farm How exactly I spend my 1 hour a day marketing Which tasks I do on each day for best results How to find the time in a way that honors you and doesn’t lead to burnout Plus so much more...

Welcome to Q&A Day on the Profitable Mindset Podcast! When you’re new to farming and don’t know where to start,. the questions are endless. When first starting, what are the best cash-flowing products I should sell to hit the ground running and keep expanding? What's the best way to draw in customers? Can you share your work/personal schedule? What is your week set up like? How much time do you spend marketing vs. farming? What are the essential components of setting up a farm store? I feel overwhelmed and would love a step-by-step process on how to get started. How do you juggle growing a farm when your spouse is not 100% on board? If you had to start over what would you do differently? How do I know if it's time to hire help or scale back? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could pick the brain of a farming veteran to get the help you need? Well, now you can. You have questions, I have answers.  In this episode of the Profitable Mindset podcast, you’ll find the answers to the most common questions I get weekly.

If you’re nervous to raise your farm product prices because you think you’ll lose customers in the process, this episode is for you.   To get the free training and worksheet that goes along with this series go to    https://www.3cowmarketing.com/priceforprofit   What you’ll learn: Why it’s important to communicate with ideal customers consistently How to get people to open your emails and become high-quality customers Why consistent communication is an essential aspect of raising your prices Why you need to stop selling and start communicating with ideal customers Why you don’t need to explain your high prices to customers   Additional links mentioned in this episode:   https://3cowmarketing.mykajabi.com/tech-library

If you know your product prices are too low and you need to be charging more, this episode is for you.   To get the free training and worksheet that goes along with this series go to https://www.3cowmarketing.com/freetraining/   You’re a business. You need to cover your farm costs so you can stay in business.   Providing your community with eggs, meat, fresh flowers, produce requires you to make money.   Now I know this seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many farmers treat their farm as a hobby and are scared to charge what they need to.   It doesn’t have to be this way.   On today’s episode of Profitable Mindset, we’ll talk about the strategy and mindset you need to find the right people willing to pay your prices.

If you’re brand new to farming and thinking you need to lower your prices so that you can stay competitive with Walmart, Amazon or your local grocery store, this episode is for you.   If you’re thinking you need to be the cheapest so you can sell the most — listen up!   After marketing direct to consumer for over 10 years, I’ve found that the farmers that do market their products as the “cheapest” are often broke, completely stressed out and are ready to call it quits.   But that isn’t going to be you — You’re different.   You’re different because you’re HERE. You want to serve your community in a way that feels good. You love the farm life and want to keep doing what you’re doing.   You deserve to pass your heritage onto your children.   And you will — when you price your farm products for profit. Download the free spreadsheets to determine your pricing here: https://www.3cowmarketing.com/priceforprofit     On today’s podcast episode, you’ll hear all the details on how to do this from my years of experience.   I learned what to do and what NOT to do very quickly and I want to share the lessons with you today.   Specifically, the parts where I talk about:   Hiring help and why you should budget for this even if you don’t think you need to... Calculating expenses and what exactly should be included The mindset you need to adopt as a successful business owner Why your actions stem from your beliefs and how to improve both Plus so much more

“I don’t know what to post or say on social media.” “My life (farm life) really isn’t that interesting.” “I try to get motivated to create my posts.” Sound familiar? I’m sure it does. Wanna know why? Because I hear farmers like you say this all the time. What if I told you that your life IS interesting to your customers… The question isn’t IF you should be sharing but WHAT should you be sharing on social media to attract ideal customers. And how to figure out what will connect with potential customers the most! Social media is NOT for selling. It’s designed to connect and build relationships. I see a lot of farmers making this mistake and on today’s Profitable Mindset Podcast episode I’ll show you what you should be posting to build a relationship with your social media followers. And it’s not as hard as you think… Tune in to listen now.

Get the full event checklist here: Farm Event Checklist Here Food in our society is a commodity. In other words, the cheaper the better. That’s what the average shoppers expect. As a farmer, it is impossible to compete with the low prices and convenience of any industrially priced food. Unfortunately, many farmers do try to compete on price and convenience, and they find they can’t keep it up and they’re out of business within a year or two. Or, they continue pumping money into their business from their off-farm job or savings. Again, completely unsustainable. As farmers, though, we do have an opportunity to level the playing field, a way that can help us rise to the top in the competitive game, to the point where there is no longer any competition. And that opportunity is the experience, the connection, and the feeling we can give a customer or potential customer when they come across us on the internet or in person. Perhaps you’ve heard me say it or read it in my book, “when you practice marketing from the heart, there is no competition.” And our marketing students experience this daily. Many farmers overlook this great opportunity. When you can connect with your customers (from the heart) they will be loyal and price is no longer a concern. How can you meet customers and gain exposure to your farm? PLAN EVENTS Give people a reason to drive to your farm and see what you’re doing and interact with you. The event itself is not as important as the opportunity to interact with the potential customers. You can plan and schedule a paid farm tour for a Saturday morning (I always charge $20 minimum, so people show up.) You’ll have people coming for the tour, bringing their family, experiencing farm-life and you’ll make a little money, too. Plus, they’ll be hooked and want to come back again and again. The connection they make with you (their farmer) and the experience they have will be worth driving miles to buy from you. Most of our customers drive 30-60+ minutes one-way to pick up their order at our farm. Many of them would never drive out of their way for a dozen eggs. The reason they do is because I’ve made a connection with them. Not only do they go home with eggs, they’ll now drive an hour one way for their eggs, milk and chicken because they now have an emotional connection to us and our farm. All from a simple farm tour! And they don’t concern themselves with price, because they aren’t shopping with us for the price. They’re now shopping with us for the experience and the emotional connection we intentionally created with them. Here are all the events I’ve hosted through the years to build a strong, loyal (and profitable) customer base from the start: Cheese/home dairying classes Bread baking classes Farm tours Kids camps Teen camps Farm to table dinner Milk the cow class Yoga (without goats, or with if you prefer) Book club Wine tastings Nutrition classes Lard making classes And I didn’t need any special training to host any of these events! Being a dairy woman, I already knew how to make butter, yogurt and several cheeses. So I started inviting people over to make it with me and it soon morphed into classes at $150/person. Then, I invited my girlfriend over to teach bread baking. Boy, did we have fun baking, eating our way through class, and every one of those women couldn’t wait to come back again and again and shop with us. Plus, they told all their friends. Do you know how many people have “cow milking” on their bucket list? That was one of our most popular events! And again, they are customers for life after milking a cow. Pet a kitten, feed the horse a carrot, get snotted on by a cow — when these things happen to people they are connected to you for life. And cost is no object to experience these things you can’t find on Google or Amazon! They are happy to pay the sustainable price you need to charge, even if it’s double what the local farm stand or store is charging. And here are things I’ve learned over the years to research or plan for when scheduling your next event on the farm: Insurance Rules/boundaries for guests Supplies Parking Accommodations Bathroom facility Bottled water for hot days Extra help - parking, socializing, showing to the toilet, answering Q's while you teach/lead and clean up help If you’re looking to grow your customer base and build a profit, plan and host an event where you give customers an experience of a lifetime.