Free training at smallfarmnation.com When you search for rural land you’ll find all sorts of places that look promising. But how do you know if you’ve found your dream property? Today, I’ll share what we’ve learned and cover the 23 questions you should answer before buying that rural property. Welcome to Episode 27! So, Liz and I have bought rural property twice now. It’s both an exciting and exhausting time, but before you plunk down that deposit on the first rural property that...

smallfarmnation.com Whether you're selling market vegetables, pastured meats or raw milk and farmstead cheese, one thing's for certain. You gotta keep your products cool to preserve shelf life. In this episode, we learn how farmers use Coolbots to do just that.

smallfarmnation.com You’ve probably heard how important it is to define and communicate with your ideal customer. So is it? In this episode, I’ll tell you why it’s a waste of time focusing on mythical ideal customers and walk you through what you should be doing, instead!

smallfarmnation.com This week I’ll answer a listener’s question on whether it’s best to start a Facebook page or a Facebook group for her farm. I cover the pros and cons of each and describe what you can do with a Facebook page that you can't do in a group, and vice versa.

smallfarmnation.com Today I want to discuss a crisis in small business. A crisis in most businesses, actually, but particularly in farm businesses. It’s a problem that creates undue stress, panic and results in farmers not building their brands, getting enough customers and growing their farm business. I’m talking about Random Acts of Farm Marketing.

smallfarmnation.com If you’re planning to start a farm—or any small business—when should you start marketing it? In this episode I explain why you should start marketing your farm BEFORE you even open for business.

smallfarmnation.com Big businesses spend a fortune building their brands. But is branding important for your farm business? Today, I’m here to tell you that it absolutely is critical to build your farm brand, and I’ll explain why.

smallfarmnation.com This week I’ve got three questions to tackle. One is about the tricky issue of selling meat by product weight online. A related question is about managing inventory of meat when selling both online and at a farm store. And the third question is about managing the reservation and payment process for farm tours.

smallfarmnation.com This week I'm joined by Robert Brady of Righteous Marketing. Robert has a very unique background of great interest to Small Farm Nation. He grew up on a farm and his father still runs a successful pasture-based beef farm. Yet, Robert has become an online marketing expert and has a particular expertise in Google Ads, formerly Google Adwords.  In this enlightening discussion, Robert gives concrete examples of how he markets his father's grassfed beef farm using Google...

smallfarmnation.com This week I address listener questions on: When to buy farm equipment, whether to buy new or used equipment, and how to set wholesale prices for farm products.

smallfarmnation.com Lots of farmers struggle with how to share their story. In this week's farm podcast, I share the advice I gave to a farmer about how to share her story and create a great about page for your website.

smallfarmnation.com In this farm podcast, I discuss why you may not want to use automated sales funnels and marketing gimmicks in marketing your farm business. I describe the Jeff Walker Product Launch Formula, what it's designed to do and why I recommend that farmers exercise caution with this strategy.

smallfarmnation.com This week Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms and I have a provocative discussion about how to quit an unfulfilling job and start a farm business. Joel offers some real gems in this episode, as he outlines his seven rules for starting a profitable farm. We talk at length about his latest book, Your Successful Farm Business, which can be thought of as a graduate course to the book that got so many people started in farming, You Can Farm! You’ve heard Joel and you’ve seen...

smallfarmnation.com Joining me today is Niki Irving the flower farmer and florist behind flourish flower farm in Asheville. Niki's farm grows specialty an heirloom cut flowers using sustainable and natural practices and Nikki also creates seasonally inspired floral designs for weddings and special events. In this episode, you'll learn... - How Niki started Flourish Flower Farm with no farming background. - The capital and equipment needed to start a flower farm. - "Surprise"...

smallfarmnation.com As sustainable livestock farmers, we want to honor the whole animal. But what about when it comes to using the animals hides? Joining me today is Sarah Scully founder of Vermont Natural Sheepskins. Sarah and her husband, Rick, started the first commercial organic tannery in America.

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smallfarmnation.com This week I talk about the sometimes long and steady process of setting up a new farm. My guest is Jenn Colby of Howling Wolf Farm in Vermont. We also tackle the touchy issue of why it's sometimes more challenging for women farmers than men. Listen in to see what you think.

smallfarmnation.com I’ve got a fascinating episode this week as we examine one of the biggest problems consumers face when wanting to buy directly from farmers. And that problem is, it’s inconvenient. Today I’m speaking with Joe Heitzeberg, co-founder and CEO of Crowd Cow. Joe’s not a farmer—far from it. He’s something of a serial entrepreneur having started a number of tech companies. But a few years ago he became enamored with the whole idea of buying meat directly from a farmer....

smallfarmnation.com Today I’m speaking with Callene and Eric Rapp of Rare Hare Barn in Kansas. They raise a few types of heritage breed rabbits, including the American Chinchialla, which I’ve also raised quite a bit of. Now, I love this topic of raising rabbits for meat because our society has become very disconnected from our food—and what food is, right? Nowhere in the meat world is that more evidenced than with rabbits. Because, when I raised and sold them, we’d often get skittish...

smallfarmnation.com In this episode I’m joined by Sarah Hoffman of Green Dirt Farm in Missouri, where she raises sheep on pasture, milks them and turns their milk into award-winning cheese. We discuss Sarah’s journey to farm life and how her desire to raise children in that setting led her and her husband to make some courageous career choices. Sarah ditched a medical career to become a first-time farmer. She’s learned a lot about selecting farmland and maximizing its potential,...

smallfarmnation.com It’s nice to kick off the year by hearing from Greg Judy. If you’re not familiar with Greg, he’s well-known for two things. The first reason he’s well known is that he has created a sizable farming operation by first custom grazing other people’s cattle before leasing many different farms. So Greg and I recap how he got started, mistakes he’s made and what he looks for in therms of farm properties. He shares his best tips on negotiating leases, what fencing tools to use...

smallfarmnation.com Today I want to cover a critical mistake—a huge mistake that almost everyone makes with their email list. Not just farmers, but I’d say over 90% of ALL businesses. And I don’t want you to continue making that mistake, so we’re gonna set you on the right path today. Because, as you no doubt know why now, building a thriving, engaged list of email subscribers is hugely important to the success of your business.

smallfarmnation.com So it’s branding week here on the Small Farm Nation podcast. And we’re going to talk about not just branding, but how many farm brands you should have. So this isn't a super long episode but it is super important. Because farming lends itself to multiple enterprises and multiple products more than any industry I know of. I mean, imagine you raise cows and only cows. Sounds like you have one product, right? Well...

smallfarmnation.com What can you do if you have a business but you’re not a natural entrepreneur? Today, I’m gonna show you how to stop working ON your business rather than being a slave to it so you can avoid burnout and realize your entrepreneurial dreams. And I've got a special, awesome download to help you do just that.

smallfarmnation.com So it’s marketing week here on the Small Farm Nation podcast. And one of the challenges I hear most often expressed from small farmers (really any small business, actually), is how difficult it is to create an email list of potential customers. In this episode we'll discuss three keys to putting your list-building efforts on autopilot so you can grow your email list.