309 Starting a UPick from Scratch Inside a FMS Coaching Call with David Heeks

Summary

Episode 309: Starting a U-Pick from Scratch Inside a Farm Marketing School Coaching Call with David Heeks

Released on April 23, 2025, the My Digital Farmer Podcast, hosted by Corinna Bench, offers an exclusive glimpse into the strategic planning behind launching a successful U-Pick strawberry farm. In this episode, Corinna shares a detailed one-to-one coaching session with David Heeks, a dedicated member of the Farm Marketing School (FMS), who is embarking on creating his first U-Pick operation from the ground up.

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Overview

In this episode, Corinna Bench delves into the intricate process of guiding a farmer—David Heeks—through the foundational steps of establishing a U-Pick strawberry farm. By dissecting their coaching call, listeners gain valuable insights into effective marketing strategies tailored for retail farm businesses.

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Introducing David Heeks

David Heeks is a strawberry farmer at Heeks Farm in Rougemont, North Carolina. Having joined the Farm Marketing School five months prior, David is preparing to launch his inaugural U-Pick strawberry farm in May. With no prior marketing experience, David sought Corinna's expertise to craft a robust marketing strategy that would ensure a successful launch and sustainable growth.

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Inside the Coaching Call

1. Building Awareness ([15:31])

Objective: Establishing visibility in local search results to attract potential customers.

David expressed challenges with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), noting, "I need to really nail down people searching. You know, you pick strawberries near me... I'm not showing up like at all. I'm not even on the map." ([15:47])

Strategies Discussed:

• Website Enhancement: Developing a comprehensive website with additional content, including a blog, to improve search rankings.
• SEO Optimization: Implementing SEO best practices to ensure the farm appears in relevant local searches.
• Online Advertising: Launching targeted ad campaigns on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram to increase visibility.

2. Engaging Potential Customers ([20:16])

Objective: Moving from mere awareness to active engagement to build a relationship with potential customers.

David shared his initial efforts on social media: "I've created the Facebook and Instagram things I've done like one, I think two posts on Instagram just to kind of get my feet wet." ([20:16])

Strategies Discussed:

• Consistent Social Media Posting: Regularly updating platforms with engagement-driven content, such as interactive posts and community polls.
• Email Subscriptions: Encouraging visitors to subscribe to an email list through website forms connected to ticket purchases.
• Content Diversification: Creating varied content, including recipes and farm updates, to maintain audience interest.

3. Converting Interest into Sales ([23:14])

Objective: Turning engaged audiences into paying customers by facilitating easy ticket purchases and addressing objections.

David emphasized the importance of handling customer concerns: "The convert stage is basically driving all traffic to the website so they buy a ticket and then just making sure we're handling the objections." ([23:14])

Strategies Discussed:

• FAQ Development: Building a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions page to address common inquiries.
• Content Repetition: Cycling through FAQ content in social media posts to repeatedly address potential customer concerns.
• Testimonials: Encouraging satisfied customers to share their positive experiences to build trust.

4. Exciting Customers and Ensuring Satisfaction ([26:00])

Objective: Creating memorable experiences that encourage repeat visits and positive word-of-mouth.

David proposed interactive elements at the farm: "Creating some kind of selfie station at the market, encouraging them to take a photo and post a selfie." ([26:29])

Strategies Discussed:

• Selfie Stations: Setting up dedicated areas for customers to take photos, enhancing their visit experience and encouraging social sharing.
• Follow-Up Emails: Sending post-visit emails with tips, recipes, and incentives to keep customers engaged.
• Incentivized Sharing: Implementing contests or rewards for customers who share their experiences on social media using specific hashtags.

5. Advocating for the Farm ([38:48])

Objective: Transforming satisfied customers into advocates who provide testimonials and reviews.

David considered methods to gather reviews: "I want to embed a call to review button in those emails." ([29:16])

Strategies Discussed:

• Automated Review Requests: Incorporating prompts in follow-up emails encouraging customers to leave reviews.
• Incentivized Sharing: Offering incentives, such as discounts or freebies, for customers who share their reviews and photos online.
• Engagement Contests: Running weekly or monthly contests for the best customer posts to stimulate ongoing engagement and testimonial generation.

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Leveraging ChatGPT for Marketing Strategy ([43:30])

Corinna showcased the power of AI in streamlining marketing efforts by demonstrating how she utilized ChatGPT during her coaching session with David. She highlighted how ChatGPT assisted in:

• Developing a Marketing Plan: Crafting a five-step marketing plan with actionable timelines.
• Creating Ad Copy: Generating sample advertisements tailored to David's farm.
• Social Media Content Generation: Producing a variety of social media post ideas to maintain consistent audience engagement.
• Designing Lead Magnets: Developing enticing lead magnets like "Strawberry Snack Hacks" to grow the email subscriber list.

Corinna remarked, "It took me 30 minutes and now she goes and just posts it. So it is a really cool tool." ([48:28])

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Key Insights and Conclusions

• Structured Sales Funnels: A well-defined sales funnel is pivotal in converting leads into steadfast customers and advocates.

• Digital Tools Empowerment: Integrating AI tools like ChatGPT can significantly enhance marketing efficiency, allowing farmers to focus more on their core operations.

• Customer-Centric Engagement: Building genuine relationships through consistent and meaningful engagement drives customer loyalty and repeat business.

• Adaptability and Learning: Embracing a learning mindset and staying adaptable ensures long-term success in the ever-evolving marketing landscape.

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Notable Quotes

• Corinna Bench on David's Progress: "He was way further than I thought he was." ([58:18])

• David Heeks on Overcoming Challenges: "I was really starting to get back in the, like, okay, here's how it needs to go." ([57:53])

• Corinna Bench Encouraging David: "Your first launch might be a little more subdued and that if that happens, that isn't a bad thing." ([57:53])

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Final Thoughts

Corinna concludes the episode by emphasizing the importance of structured marketing education and invites listeners to join the Farm Marketing School. She underscores that even if a farmer doesn't have ample time during the summer, engaging with the school's resources can pave the way for successful marketing implementations in the future.

Listeners are encouraged to visit mydigitalfarmer.com/309 for episode links and additional resources.

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Connect with Corinna:

• Website: mydigitalfarmer.com
• Instagram: @ydigitalfarmer

Join Farm Marketing School: mydigitalfarmer.com/fms

Have questions or need personalized marketing strategies? Join the community and start building a thriving farm business today!

Transcript

[Corinna Bench]

Today you're going to get to peek inside a one to one coaching call with one of my members of Farm Marketing School. This farmer is starting a business from scratch and he needed some help in figuring out what should I work on first. So you get to hear the whole strategy plus a work session with ChatGPT at the end which is going to blow your mind. Let's get started. Hey there, this is Corey. Hi Rinna Bench, and welcome to the My Digital Farmer Podcast. In today's market, it's not enough to just grow your product, you've got to know how to sell it too. Welcome to the My Digital Farmer Podcast where we reveal online marketing strategies and tips to help farmers like you get better and more confident at marketing, learn how to find more customers, increase your sales and build a strong brand for your farm. Let's start the show. Well, welcome to episode 309 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast. I'm your host Corinna Bench, one of the farmers at Shared Legacy Farms out in Elmore, Ohio. I'm also the founder of mydigitalfarmer.com, which is all about trying to help other farmers like you get more confident in your marketing and sales strategy so that you can grow a profitable business over time. How's everyone doing today? Welcome back to the show. Big shout out to all of my regular listeners. Glad you're here and if you're new to the podcast, I'm really glad you're checking it out today. I hope you get a lot out of the show. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast and if you are a little bit green when it comes to marketing lingo and you need a little help learning the framework, I encourage you to go back and listen to the first 10 episodes because I designed them long ago to be an onboarding ramp into the marketing space. Of course, you can also get onto my email list that will probably be even faster. To help you learn the ropes. You can do so by Getting going to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe when you do, I'm going to send you an email for about three months every four days, four to five days. And I'm going to be sharing with you the most important principles you need to know. First, the people you should be following to learn some resources, free resources that I'll send you. I'll point to podcast episodes that I think are really valuable to kind of give you a custom experience and some tools you should have in your tool belt. Really good stuff. So go to my digitalfarmer.com forward slash, subscribe. Subscribe and I will hook you up. Today's episode is sponsored by my friends at Local Line. If you're like me, winter is your downtime to plan and prep for the upcoming growing season. Set yourself up for success with localline, the best sales platform built for farms. Local Line is the most comprehensive software for farmers and food hubs that's out there, selling direct to restaurants, schools, wholesale buyers running a CSA and more. With features like e commerce, automated inventory management, they have subscriptions, a box builder, point of sale, and more. Localline helps you grow sales. It saves you time and streamlines your operations. In fact, on average, this is cool. Farms that use localline grow sales by 23% and they increase their average order size by 9.5% annually. So, ready to switch to sales software that does it all. Localline has no setup fees, no sales percentages, and your onboarding manager will migrate your storefront for free so you'll be up and running in no time. As a podcast listener, localline is also offering a free premium feature for one year with your subscription when you use my coupon code MDF2025. So to claim it, go to mydigitalfarmer.com localline and then enter that coupon code MDF2025. Don't wait. Start your season strong with Local Line today. And now back to the show. Today's gonna be fun. I am letting you peek behind the curtain of a farm marketing school. One to one coaching call. I offer these periodically to the members of my monthly membership farm marketing school. And you have to be in farm marketing school a certain number of months before you are given this opportunity because I want you to actually get in there, learn the framework, play around a little bit, show me that you're going to stick with it and actually do some work and be invested. And then you have a chance to meet with me if you want and talk about anything that you want. And this particular call was with David Heeks. Shout out to you David. And I just thought after it was over I, you know, I record these because I give them the chance to listen to the recording later. Sometimes it's helpful to hear it again and you hear things the second time that you didn't hear when you were live in the Zoom call. So I had this recording and after it was over I'm like, man, that was really good. Like I felt like he had a solid strategy. We talked stuff out that he has a great game plan. He looked like he seemed Empowered. And I wanted to show the rest of you, like, the kinds of really great conversations and insights and learnings that are happening with members of our marketing school. And that's why I asked David, hey, can I use this recording? Are you comfortable with me just putting it on the podcast and letting other people see what's possible? So let me give you a little bit of background of David, and I don't actually have his bio in front of me, so I am kind of doing this off the cuff. But he is a strawberry farmer, a berry grower for Heeks Farm in Rougemont, North Carolina. And he's been inside of Farm Marketing School, I want to say, like five months now. And when he first came in, he came in with a mission. He's like, I am starting a U pick strawberry farm for the first time in May. I. I need the launch to go well, and I have no marketing experience whatsoever. I have nothing set up. I don't even have a website up. Like, he was really starting at the beginning. And so over the last few months, he's been inside Farm Marketing school learning the principles of marketing and slowly putting these key elements in place. And so we had a strategic call here to make sure that he was getting all of his ducks in a row. Because when we had this call, I think he had two and a half or three months before the launch. So there was a lot that had to happen if he wanted to have any chance of, you know, getting interest and getting people out to see the place and start doing this U pick. So he has primarily a strawberry UPIC operation. This is its first year that it's operating, but he does grow other kinds of product. So he has the plan of offering muscadines, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, carrots, sugar snap peas, arugula, kale, basil, tomatoes, green beans. I'm reading from his website right now. So most of those crops will be you pick, but sometimes he'll have things that are pre picked. But that's sort of his vision is to create a U pick experience for the community in his area. And so he wanted my help to build out basically a promotion plan. Like, what do I need to be working on in the next few months so that my sales funnel is ready to go? What are the different pieces I need to have in place that will, given the circumstances, that I have, to throw this together in a few months? And that is a challenging, a challenging task. You know, how can I do this the best that I can? And so he had been working on that for several Months had put some things in place, and then he set up this call with me and we met and talked out. What does he still have to do? What are some things he needs to make sure he thinks about? And I have to tell you, you're going to pick up on this in the call. But I was not expecting him to be as well prepared as he was. And I had come to the call with basically, like an outline, like, here's what you're gonna do, step one, step two, step three. I was ready to give him a plan, and he basically started listing the things that he was working on that he had planned to do, that he was going to be doing in the next few weeks, what his priorities were. And I sort of like, found myself with my jaw dropping open. I'm like, wow. Like, a lot of the things that he was bringing up, Most of the things he was bringing up on his to do list that he came up with were things that were on my list that I was about to tell him. And so I just. That's why I love this call, because I. I saw such growth in David. I'm like, man, he didn't know anything five months ago. He was very green. And now look at him. Like, he understands the model, he understands the framework, he understands the why. And maybe he still hasn't put in place all the pieces of the machine yet, but he can see what he has to do. And that was really exciting for me. It was very validating for me as his teacher and his coach. And I just thought, man, he's going to totally get this. He's going to totally get this. So I wanted you to hear the thought process of a person in his shoes and actually witness. What does a coaching call look like? This is kind of a typical standard call with me. I would say it was a little more tactical than some of them. Sometimes I just end up doing a little bit of mindset cheerleading, which is what a lot of people just need to hear. But sometimes we're really getting in the weeds and we're thinking through, here's the priorities, given where you're at in your business. Okay? So I want you to look at this, I guess, through the lens of, hey, if you were a startup business, if you're kind of in the early stages of starting a farm business, here's some of the things you need to be thinking about. You have a different focus than a person who has been in business for a long time. And so look at it through that lens. But also pay attention to some of the tactical strategies that are coming up as part of the sales funnel. See if you can hear the different stages of the sales funnel process and how he is trying to address them. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to play the episode or play the recording of our call and periodically I'm going to hop in, interject and offer some commentary here after the fact. Okay, so you're going to hear from me a few more times to try and help connect the dots here because you weren't like actually in the call, you didn't have all the context. So I may have to weave some of that together. But I think this is going to be really fun for you. This is also going to show you what, what's possible inside of our marketing school. So if you've ever thought about joining that membership, maybe this summer you're feeling a little bit like, ah, I'm, I don't know what to do and I gotta make some money. This might be the time when you need to come inside for a few months while you're actually trying to run your marketing machine and get some quick tips and some quick pointers to help make it work better. And this will give you a chance to see some of the, some of the cool things that go on inside of our membership. I love our members. So you can learn more about how to join Farm marketing [e-mail] FMS it's a monthly fee. You go in at a month at a time. Once you sign up, you kind of are subscribed and so when you want to cancel, you just cancel and then you weren't charged again. So it really can just be like I'm hopping in for a couple months, then I'm hopping back in and out. A lot of people do that. Okay, cool. So let's jump right into this interview and let's see what you take away from it. Here we go.

[David Heeks]

Hello.

[Corinna Bench]

Hey, David.

[ChatGPT]

How are you?

[David Heeks]

Good.

[ChatGPT]

Awesome.

[David Heeks]

So funny to hear your voice at normal speed. Mostly I watch your videos at like time and a half anyway.

[ChatGPT]

I forgot you can even do that. You're right.

[David Heeks]

I get twice the work done. I guess. I don't know.

[ChatGPT]

So we've got about 30 to 45 minutes. 45 minutes. We have 45 minutes. And what I just shared with you was a kind of a promotion plan outline that I just threw together on Google Docs with the help of Chat GPT. Be very honest and let. But let's just talk out what you've done so far. And then we can. That I wanted to have something that I could give you after this call. You can go back there because I feel like at the very least that will give you a little bit of an outline of. We don't get it all out in this conversation, like things that you could be talking about. So. But first let's spend like five minutes and just connect. So where, where are you at right now with your process?

[David Heeks]

Yeah. Okay. So, well, first of all, everything that you have done, like your website, the school has been just amazing for me. I've learned so much. So I'm glad you had me go back and look at the sales funnel and the customer journey, because while I had done that in the beginning, I. I was so new to it all. I don't think it really sort of settled in.

[ChatGPT]

Okay.

[David Heeks]

Okay. So I kind of went. So here's where I'm sort of at. So basically. And I think I know where I'd need to like, focus.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay, so here is my first interjection. David is about to start walking through his sales funnel audit. And I asked him before the call to take the sales funnel framework, the sales funnel audit workshop inside of our marketing school. And this is where he watches the video that teaches the eight stages of the sales funnel. And then he has to kind of identify what is the mechanism that he has in place for each of those sections to move the customer along the journey from being completely unaware he exists to a promoter. And he's gonna walk through those different steps with me over the course of this call. The very first one that he's gonna talk about is the aware phase. So you're gonna hear him use the word aware in just a second. And so we're gonna talk through like, what do you do at the top of the funnel to build awareness, to move someone from being unaware you exist to aware that you exist. That's the very first step. They're not going to buy yet, they're just going to become aware. And we have to have a mechanism in our business that does this.

[David Heeks]

So let's listen to what he says for the aware. All right. Basically, I need to really nail down people searching. You know, you pick strawberries near me, I want to pick strawberries. Like, I have got to show up.

[ChatGPT]

When that is a high priority. Yes, that's something you need to do in week one. Like if we have an eight week timeline here, week one, you've got to get that done. Whether you go do it yourself, which you could if you did the. The class, it's pretty step by step. I did it like a year and a half ago. So maybe there's a little bit of tweaks or how they've changed it, but either do that.

[David Heeks]

I don't know. I, I did your. I thought maybe I didn't finish it, but I don't know. I, I tried to do some changes, but I am still not showing up. Anytime I search like Strawberries, like I'm not getting a single. I'm just not showing up like at all. I'm not even on the map. Like okay, so something's not right there. Okay so, so yeah, getting the, the SEO like figured out and along with that is really expensive building out the website, continuing to. I've got to add more content. I need to have like people like a blog. I just, I need more information on there.

[ChatGPT]

What is on there right now? Just high level.

[David Heeks]

Very little. Like just like we grow. You pick.

[ChatGPT]

I mean that might not be a bad thing. Like I don't want you to get too down in all the words but so in general you've got.

[David Heeks]

I need to. So I def. I've. I've. I'm like probably 90 completed my ticket tailor page. So I need to get that linked up so that there's like a clear place on the website that you click here to pick strawberries. You see the ticket tailor page?

[ChatGPT]

Yep.

[David Heeks]

I need to do the frequently asked questions page. So why are you doing these tickets? I don't want to have to reserve. Are you organic? I need the. I need. That all needs to be clearly spelled out and then I just think I need. Yeah, I think between the, the ticket tailor and the frequently asked questions and like a blog, I think that will do a lot to like just get help My website show up more when people search for me on Strawberries. Okay. I kind of lost my train of thought on what I was we're supposed to be talking about. Do you want me to go through.

[ChatGPT]

I wanted to kind of have you catch like catch me up with where, where you're at. Then you kind of started telling me what you. You sort of have a plan. Sounds really empowered. Sounds really great.

[David Heeks]

Yeah. So okay, so I'm thinking aware, you know, people are searching. I think I need to have an, an ad campaign for Google. Like when people search strawberries. I think I need to maybe have a similar promotion on Facebook and Instagram. I have some other ways to possibly, you know some, maybe freeways I could email some neighborhood lists announcing the farm, you know that are geographically relevant. Trying to figure out how to take advantage of two farms in the area that I know about that aren't growing strawberries this year. So somehow showing up if somebody goes to their like Facebook page, somehow being like, well, here's Hicks farm, because Waller Family farm isn't. I don't know how to do that, but that's an option.

[Corinna Bench]

Are you going to be doing any.

[ChatGPT]

Picking four people or is it all you pick? Because one option would be that you have some product that you pick and then you bring it to those places and sell it.

[David Heeks]

Possible. I'm going to be short on labor. So any pre picked stuff, if we do have any, will be hopefully selling at the store.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah. Got a higher margin there for sure. Yep.

[David Heeks]

Yeah. So I think the to do for Aware is basically building out the website, fixing the SEO and then maybe designing, just figuring out the ad campaign, like the budget, maybe how we would go about it. I don't know really a whole lot about that stuff.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

All right. The next stage in the customer value journey is the stage called engage. And you're going to hear him say that word in just a second. And I want to make sure you know what he's talking about. This is the phase where you're moving someone from being generally aware of you to wanting to interact with you a little bit more. They start to read your blogs, they start to pay attention to your social media posts, they show a little bit more interest. They're getting a little bit closer to you now. They haven't gotten onto your email list yet. That's what you're trying to coach them to do next. But they've definitely cast a curious glance in your direction. So what are some of the things he can be doing to make that happen?

[David Heeks]

Engagement, you know, sort of thinking about just I, I, I, I've created the Facebook and the Instagram things I've done like one, I think two posts on Instagram just to kind of get my feet wet. Cause I was like so nervous about starting. But I just think continuing to sort of post on there and doing some engagement posts, like what's your favorite strawberry recipe? Or what's your favorite spring vegetable? You know, it's March Madness. So like who's going to win strawberries or blackberries? I don't know, like, yeah, just a few things. Guess when the first berry will appear. And then of course continuing the weekly email for subscribers. So then subscribe. You know, we've already got the form on the website, so that's where you go to subscribe when people buy the Ticket to pick. They are. There's a subscribe option there. Hang on.

[ChatGPT]

So one second.

[Corinna Bench]

Just a second.

[ChatGPT]

So when they, when they buy the ticket online, they have to enter their email address to buy it, don't they?

[David Heeks]

Right.

[ChatGPT]

Okay. So is there a way to make sure, like if they have given you the email address to buy, you can put them on your email list?

[David Heeks]

You can. Okay.

[ChatGPT]

You're not in Canada, right? No, no. Yeah.

[David Heeks]

So, okay. I believe what I've done through Ticket Taylor is it is an opt in. I've made it. I mean, I guess I'll have their email, but I did do an opt in.

[ChatGPT]

Oh, like to ask them, do you want to continue to receive from the farm? Okay.

[David Heeks]

But so anyway, I can probably also get their email when they pay at market. So that's just to continue to get the subscribe emails to grow that.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah. Do you have the subscribe form on your website? Is it a lead magnet or is it just subscribe to get on our list?

[David Heeks]

It's just subscribe.

[ChatGPT]

They're both. Okay.

[David Heeks]

Yeah. Okay. Okay. And then continue. And then I guess the posts, maybe some specific posts on Instagram and Feedback. I mean and Facebook to drive people to the website to subscribe. Anyway, that's where it all happens. So.

[Corinna Bench]

So Corinna interjecting again here. Notice that David had a process in place for how to go about getting subscribers onto his email list. Realizing that some of them wouldn't be ready to buy right away, he needs to warm them up and just get them on his list and then he'll be able to talk to them about this. You pick option and try to get them to actually pre book and prepay for that experience. The next section he's going to cover now is the convert phase. And this is coaching a person to move from just being on the list to actually spending money with you. So we need to have an offer, we need to have information that removes risk and that makes a person feel comfortable and ready to buy. So let's talk about what that looks like in his sales funnel. Here we go.

[David Heeks]

The convert stage is basically driving all traffic to the website so they buy a ticket and then just making sure we're handling the objections. So we've got the frequently asked questions, like answering all the questions. So we get the convert once they actually are on the website.

[ChatGPT]

And then I think I'm gonna interrupt again. So you could also be creating FAQ posts so that can be a content of, you know, in your weekly rotation.

[David Heeks]

Right, right.

[ChatGPT]

Cycling. If you have five FAQs just keep cycling them for the next eight weeks. Like, don't feel bad. Like I just said this seven days ago.

[Corinna Bench]

Yep.

[ChatGPT]

Do it again. Just because not everybody seeing that while that post you did one time. Right, right.

[David Heeks]

I know Michael Kilpatrick. He actually has like a video that he puts up like explaining why he does the. So like something. Yeah, that's a good idea. So faq.

[Corinna Bench]

Today's podcast is sponsored by Farm Marketing School. All right, farmer, let me ask you something. Is marketing your farm something you actually enjoy or does it feel like a constant struggle? If you are like most farmers that I talk to, you are wearing all the hats and marketing always seems to slip through the cracks. Can I get an amen? That's exactly why I created Farm Marketing School. It's an online membership designed to help farmers like you build a simple, repeatable marketing system that actually works. Inside, you'll get bite sized, step by step projects that make marketing easier. Each month you pick what to work on, like writing better sales emails or improving your website copy or setting up your online store. And I walk you through exactly how you should be doing it. And you're not doing this alone. Every month we have a live zoom meetup where you can ask me questions, meet other members of Farm Marketing School, get coaching, and hear what's working for other farmers. It's like having a farm marketing mentor in your back pocket. This isn't some long, overwhelming course. The projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days. So you're making steady progress without it taking over your life. So if you're ready to stop winging it and finally build a marketing system that brings in steady sales, come join Farm Marketing School today. Sign up for your first month and see what a difference it makes. Go to mydigitalfarmer.com fms to get started. And now back to the show.

[David Heeks]

Okay, and then I think the next thing is the excite. So then that's basically the excite phase.

[Corinna Bench]

Is one of the most important phases in the customer journey. And frankly, it's the one that's often overlooked by many businesses. And this is where you have to create some kind of a trigger or a mechanism that makes sure that the customer experiences success and joy with your product. So this is the fulfillment stage. How are you making sure that they're using your product properly, that they're enjoying it, that they're having success? Do you have a success path? So let's look at what he's thinking about for this.

[David Heeks]

Creating some kind of selfie station at the market, encouraging them to take a photo and post a selfie. So making sure that the email after they bought the ticket but before they arrive is like hyping them up and ensuring the success that they're going to have.

[ChatGPT]

Look at you. Where did you get all this, you know, all this stuff from you? Dang, that's right. So confirmation email. Make sure they know, they feel prepared and they're excited and they know what to bring.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yep, yep. Email after they leave with the. With the storage. You know, here's the best way to store your strawberries. Here's a couple ways to use them with the excite phase. I'm not really clear how to sort of spread these out, but, like, I want to share my roasted strawberries recipe. It's a great way to use a lot of berries and it's super delicious and lasts in the fridge. You can freeze it. It's good on ice cream and pancakes. So I want to share that recipe. And then, you know, three things you could do with strawberry puree. So just like take your berries, cut the ends off, puree them, and then, you know, freeze it. Here's what you could do with them now or later.

[ChatGPT]

Okay, I'm gonna pause you. These are great. So I feel like that little gen just that specific email is better served coming to them before they show up. Because what's it going to make them do? Like, if they don't get that until after they've already picked strawberries and now they're like, darn, I wish I'd picked more.

[David Heeks]

Ah, okay.

[ChatGPT]

I mean, well, maybe it. Maybe actually. So what it could do, if you. If you send it later, it encourages them to maybe come back. I guess that's possible. Which is good. You have a frequency there. Right. But if you put it on the front end, you start giving them all kinds of ideas of all the things they could do with strawberries. So when they show up, they might actually want to get more in the one they do come. So I guess.

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

But either way, I love that you're thinking about, like, I have content that I want to drip out.

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

And it should be. It should be an automation. So once they subscribe to your rsvp, you should find a. That's why I think you shouldn't ask, can I send you information? I feel like you should just. You just should. And maybe, I don't know, like, I just, I. If they don't like it, they'll unsubscribe. Okay. And then you're in the Same place you were when you started. But that way you can be warming them up, you can be getting them ready. You know, some of those emails can be legitimately, like, hey, I want to make sure, you know, coming when you show up. And then here's, here's a great recipe prepare. Like, you're going to want extra strawberries because this is so good. And then when they left and they come back home and they work, you know, five days later, you can time it so that it comes out five days after their appointed time.

[David Heeks]

Right.

[ChatGPT]

You can. That, that might be a little ninja, but there is, there are ways to do that. Okay, going. But I love that you have ideas of things you could talk to them about and keep them excited.

[David Heeks]

I could probably do some of those. Like, you know, here's what you make with strawberry puree. Those could be Facebook or Instagram posts. And they could potentially be developed into a, you know, lead magnet as well. Like where you're talking about it and then there. But, you know, I'm not sure I'm gonna have enough time for that.

[ChatGPT]

But that's a great idea, though, for later.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yeah.

[ChatGPT]

And you don't give the recipe away unless they give you. They can tease it in the form. Right. And then they don't get the recipe till they subscribe.

[David Heeks]

Right. Okay. So then with. I think with the emails that go out after they excite, I guess I want to embed a call to review button in those emails. So I was thinking about doing that.

[Corinna Bench]

What does that mean?

[ChatGPT]

Call to review. Oh, like to leave a review.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yeah. I didn't know how to word that. Yeah, leave a review, please. You know, that kind of thing.

[ChatGPT]

So what about this? Because I don't know if you watched the video in the sales funnel framework about when I went on the zipline, but they, Yeah, I did watch that. They took a picture of us while we were there and then they saved that and then they sent it to us. Kind of like you have the photo. The photo opportunity where they can themselves. But you could also offer, like, maybe they don't even know you're going to do this. You just have someone that makes sure at some point while they're there picking strawberries, they get their photo taken in the field. While they're picking. You have someone walking around.

[David Heeks]

I was, I, I wrote that down.

[ChatGPT]

That. Yeah. And then you send it to them later. And then you. And you've got maybe even your, your somehow your logo on it. I don't know. And then when they share, they're Going to want to share it. And when they share it, your logo's on there. Maybe you could even have, like a contest. I pick one person every week from the people who share, who gets a free, you know, something, you know, encourages them to come back and pick again. Right? So. So that you are you just teaching them, go out and share this picture. And if it's a really cool picture and you have someone that does that, well, they're going to want to share it. So that's a way to get the testimonial too, because they'll essentially post on social, and then you can go later and. Because they'll have a hashtag on it and you'll. And you can just screenshot them all. And now you've got screenshots of testimonials that you can post later, like next year. Like, look at all these happy customers.

[David Heeks]

Okay, so I was. I did actually write that down, but I didn't put it in there because I wasn't sure about the legality of taking a picture of somebody or I thought. I didn't know if it would be weird, but.

[ChatGPT]

Well, if you just tell them, I'm. I'm sending this to you.

[David Heeks]

Like, okay, so, yeah, like. Like, we took a photo of you. We're gonna. We're gonna email it to you.

[ChatGPT]

And then the whole, I'm not doing anything with it. I'm not gonna use it for my own testimonial. You shouldn't do that. But, like, I'm gonna send it to you. And then that becomes a reason to email them again, right? To be like, hey, tell them about. In that email, you can be like, it would be great if you posted this picture, you know, and you give them the decision to do it. And if you do use this hashtag, give them the. You know, how to enter the contest for the raffle. And say, every. Every weekend I pick one person. Or every two weeks, whatever. Every month you probably have a short season, so it might be a smaller thing. But then you. You have to think about, how am I going to fire this mechanism? Does that mean I have one person, a crew person, whose job it is to do this? Or where does that photo happen so that it's memorable that the person's actually excited? Like, you don't want it to happen at the cash register, right? Because it might be easy to be like, hey, every time somebody buys something from you, the cash register, take a picture of them. That could be part of your workflow to your team, but that's not really an Inspiring photo I would want to share. It's more exciting to have it. You know, if I were a mom, I wouldn't want. I would want the photo out in the, in the field or in front of that special photo stand, whatever. So how can you put someone. Is there somebody already out there in the field that's telling them where to start picking, who can do it, then, you know, it's just part of their workflow. Whenever a new family comes out, they say, this is where you can start picking. Hang on one second, let me grab a photo of you. Right, and now that's. That's taken care of. And it's something you can.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yeah. I can actually see maybe having that selfie station actually at the berries, like very close to where the berry rows are. So they're taking a. So the picture happens like.

[ChatGPT]

Yes.

[David Heeks]

Closer to the field and there's more like action kind of in the background versus at the cash register.

[ChatGPT]

Love it. Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay, here's Corinna interjecting again. Notice how David is really thinking strategically about how do I get a person to write me a Google review or leave a testimonial of some sort. And reviews don't just happen. You have to coach them. And so unless you build a strategy in your sales funnel, you won't get a lot of them. And as a new business, it's really important that he collects reviews because this is going to be a huge social proof driver that's going to grow his audience. He needs eyeballs on his brand. He needs people to come to his Google business page or look him up on Google and see that he has a ton of reviews that's going to drop drive him to show up higher in the search engine results anyway, So I love that he's trying to think about what is the best place, the best time for me to ask someone to leave a review or to take a photo so that they'll share it. This is a great, A great strategy. So be thinking about that for your own business.

[David Heeks]

All right, so milestones, I figured, you know, want them to post a picture on Facebook or Instagram of their experience, post a picture of something they made with the strawberries, purchase a ticket to pick again. And then I had a question. Do these things get a reward? Like, should I offer a free ticket to pick or 10 off your next berries or a free item if you, you know, when you book your second picking session or something like, just to encourage the return visits?

[ChatGPT]

Yeah, I think it's realistic for someone. How many times do you Think they would come back in a season?

[David Heeks]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know, but I would hope at least twice.

[ChatGPT]

I think that's a reasonable goal. I don't know if you could. Three seems like a lot.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, but.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah, right.

[David Heeks]

So. So then offering. Probably then the thing to do would be offering a, A, maybe a discount if you come to pick a second time. Or maybe it's encouraging them to come pick a third time. I don't know.

[Corinna Bench]

I mean, I don't know if discount's.

[ChatGPT]

The way to go. I mean, maybe it's just changing the offer. Maybe you're bundling things together. Like, if you come again, I had an idea in the Google Doc I sent. Like, this is a little bit unrelated, but like having birthday parties. Like, one offer could be like, if you have a birthday in May or whenever, like, you could offer birthday party pickings. So, like large groups could come and you. It's a much higher price, but for a group of, you know, 10 kids. But that's just thinking outside the box. Like, maybe it's not just, you know, one person, but what would it look like to create. Yeah, yeah, I think how to give a person a good reason to come back a second time. Because there is such a thing as too many strawberries where you're just like, I'm done.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, well, hopefully it's not after their first time. Hopefully.

[Corinna Bench]

This is the part of the call where David and I are talking about the ascension ladder. And one of the stages in the sales funnel is how do you get your customer after they've been excited by the first purchase to want to come back and buy again. The way that you're going to make more money in your business is by increasing the average customer value, the average amount of money that a customer spends with you in one season. And that means that you need to create more offers for these customers. You need to give them more reasons to come back and buy. You need to create buying habits. You need to create offers they can't refuse. The things that are going to drive your revenue up, you basically have three levers you can pull. Well, maybe four. You can either increase your price, you can increase the number of customers, new customers that come into your funnel, you can increase the amount they spend each time, or you can increase the frequency at which they purchase. These are the four levers you have to pull. And so in this case, we're thinking through, well, how can we get the customer who's already come once to a upic, what can we give them as they Leave that first time to entice them to want to come back a second time. Or maybe it's an email offer that comes to them two days later. Right. And this is just a brainstorming phase. But it's important question to consider, I think.

[David Heeks]

I mean ideally like, you know, as I move them up the product ladder. The moving up the product ladder involves coming back, you know, is our repeat visits. Because you're not just repeating. Maybe you're picking strawberries more than once, but then you're coming back for the additional fruit that's in season. So.

[Corinna Bench]

Right.

[David Heeks]

So I really need to encourage people to be coming back for all the different things that are going to be available after strawberry season or even during strawberry season because we'll have different vegetables coming.

[ChatGPT]

Okay, good. Because I wasn't sure if you had other things in the pipeline besides strawberries. So you do you have other things?

[David Heeks]

Yeah, I do. I just mentally I barely have the real estate to devote anything to them because um, yeah, I, I'm, you know, so focused on the strawberries because ultimately that is most of the sales are gonna.

[ChatGPT]

Okay.

[David Heeks]

Be the strawberries, I think. Okay. So I think I was working on the, I did the milestones that I was think I was working on the, the product ladder basically just they come to the farm to pick berries. Maybe they buy. Then they buy some additional pre picked items that we have. Then they do repeat visits to buy more berries, then they buy more additional pre picked items. Then they come to pick something else after the strawberries. Like whether it's blackberries or green beans or sugar snap peas or. So they're coming to pick it, pick additional items throughout the season. They're coming to pick the blackberries, they're coming to pick the muscadines, then they're buying our value added products and then maybe they're buying the bulk things in bulk. Like they want to buy like a bucket of something because they're going to go hog wild for Christmas presents or something. And then potentially a workshop though that is really in the future.

[ChatGPT]

What about a subscription? Just throwing that into the mix. You don't have to do that this year. But as you get more clear about the types of products and pickings that you have, you could just offer a you pick subscription for the year and that gets, that's a much higher price point. But they can come to all six things and get this much and you will probably have people who sign up for that will probably only come to like 50% of them. And then you've Made, you know, you've made some money, you haven't even had to give them product.

[David Heeks]

So yeah, but I think that's pretty much the product ladder and then I think we're at. So I really don't have a lot for promote but for advocate I think it's just probably, let's see, have a QR code at the market to leave a review the the embedded call to call to action in the email after they pick the berries to leave a review.

[ChatGPT]

That could be part of the contest rules. If you want them to win that they have to post a picture on social and they have to leave a review on your Google business review. Just a thought. That's what they did for me at the zipline.

[David Heeks]

Okay.

[ChatGPT]

And is there something you can upsell them on while they're out there picking berries? Have you thought about that? So in the story of the zipline we were going through the actual zipline experience and at two of the platforms the guide said would you like to add a Superman zip for an extra $10 for per person like while. Even though they had asked me before twice they asked me while I was doing it yet again. So sometimes when you're in the throws, I always say this to my massage therapist and this sounds weird but like as she's giving me a massage I'm like, man, like I would actually like pay for an extra 30 minutes right now. Like I'm emotionally so loving this that I would like here I am on the table and if I had the option to say hey, can you just, can you just go another 30 minutes? I would just pay extra right now. And so I feel like, you know, when you're having this emotional experience out there picking the berries and you're loving it, if there was a well positioned offer given to you as you're out there, you might say yes because you're having this like euphoric high. So I don't know what that would look like but something to think about because it's another opportunity. About 20 to 30% of people take an upsell when you offer it to them. So you can either offer to them at the point, you know, at the checkout before you have in the berries and or the boxes to go out and pick. You could say something there or you got to guess, offer it at the end if it's more of a product to take home. Hey, it's your last chance. Would you like to have a strawberry pie at 10% off or whatever. So yeah, something to think about. This is great. David you're like rocking it.

[David Heeks]

Well, now we're. So that's pretty much what I have. So I think what I now I need to really focus on like getting the prioritizing and getting the things done that are going to lead to success.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah. I have, I have two general categories that you didn't bring up that I want to offer you as part of this overview. Local PR outreach. So can like I have included in your. In your Google Doc that I shared with you a sample press release. I didn't write it. ChatGPT. ChatGPT did. But this is something you can cut and paste and kind of customize. But you could send that to. If you have a local newspaper and just send it to them. Especially if you're in kind of a new enterprise, they might think that's really cool and want to come out. And if you can get into the newspaper, that is going to help a lot, I think.

[David Heeks]

Yep. They do a story every year on strawberry Pick a time. Here's where you can go. So I need to make sure.

[ChatGPT]

Make sure you're in that. Yeah. If you, if you're a new. Like, is this a new, new business or is this like your first time? I couldn't remember. Have you been around?

[David Heeks]

I have been around.

[Corinna Bench]

You could ribbon cutting, like, you could.

[ChatGPT]

Create a ribbon cutting moment. I know that sounds hokey, but like what that does is it brings the people out to film you. You're not lumped in with a bunch of other strawberry farms and there is a moment. You only have to have like five people there. Right. Whatever. They'll just take a picture of the cutting moment. And now you have some. A chance to talk to a reporter and they can just kind of ask you about like, are you growing here? Oh, in a few weeks we're going to be have it already. Right. So it's just a. A thought that you're positioning yourself.

[David Heeks]

Okay.

[ChatGPT]

And then I also had get signage made. Oh, gosh.

[David Heeks]

That's right. Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

I'm thinking of like those. I. Because we got a guy here that does pumpkins and strawberries as well. And he has. They're the ones that are like standing up really tall. They're like vertical signs and they're blowing in the wind. You know what I'm talking about?

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yeah. Other banners.

[ChatGPT]

Is that what they're called? Okay.

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

And so that just kind of draws attention. Like. Oh. And whenever I wait for those signs actually to be the signal to me that it's strawberry season. So think about where, you know, what would the sign look like, where would you put it? Because I think it would. There's a lot of people out there who just want to come get strawberries. They're going to think it's fun and they don't even know it's strawberry season. So that's what the sign does. It sort of says hi, it's time now. And then they'll start thinking about it and then they might go to your, to your website.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, yeah, we have, we have in the budget and the plan to get a, to get some, some strawberry like road signs. It's basically like just a strawberry and, and an arrow. And then at the major intersection near the farm, someone's gonna, well, we have to get permission from the landowner first. So that might not happen, but we're gonna put a sign up there that will direct people to turn onto our road.

[ChatGPT]

Okay, good. So that if they're, look if they found you on Google or they've heard you somewhere else and they're just having trouble locating you. Yeah, there's like.

[David Heeks]

And then, and then we have to deal with them. We have to figure out, oh well, you know, we're actually pre. You actually have to reserve to pick. But you know, we happen to have two slots available right now. We got to kind of figure out what happens when people drive up. Yes, but, and, and maybe then we'll have some pre picked things they can buy and they sign up again. But that will be something we're going to have to deal with.

[ChatGPT]

That's just learning. That's going to be a learning process for the customer. You're going to have some people grumble, but you need to hold your ground on that. And I love that you have, you're going to have a little bit of like we'll have four spots open or whatever to be able to handle some of that. But you just explain to them it actually ends up creating urgency and scarcity for the customer because they're like, oh, I can't just show up. This is like a popular place. I have to like sign up and then you know, you can coach them. Well, we have a spot open in two hours or tomorrow at four. Now they're going to buy something while they're there and then they're going to come back tomorrow and they're going to buy again. Right. And they'll be more prepared because they'll know what all is there too. So that's not necessarily a bad thing. Okay, I'm going to just share my screen with you real quick because I want to show you. The reason I want to show you the document is because I did this all with ChatGPT in 45 minutes. And I. If you're not using ChatGPT yet, I, I think this might like help you think about wanting to try it.

[David Heeks]

I mean I use it for like I use it for, to answer, you know, when I've got specific questions I haven't done.

[ChatGPT]

You're using it like Google kind of.

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah. Okay.

[David Heeks]

I mean it is, it's incredible.

[ChatGPT]

Okay, well, maybe that's what I should show you first, is what I did for this was the prompt. Okay. I went in, I'm going to do some consulting with a farmer in an hour. Da da da, da da. I like laid out. I put in your prompt what you put in the zoom thing right here. I'm starting a. You pick strawberry farm. I've taken Michael Strawberry class, whatever. And then I started giving my first thoughts. I was like, here's some of the things I think if I were going to just shoot from the hip and talk to them, these are the things we, that I would start to say. And then, you know, I, I ask questions. So I want to show you how I prompt because how you prompt, like giving the context of your situation, what you've done so far, giving examples of things like some of your posts or some of your emails so it can learn your voice. You can, you know, you can drop that and be like, hey, I'd like you to write an email in the style of my voice. I'm going to give you drop in some copy and paste samples of stuff I've written before. And I want this email to d. You know, give the, the goal and the objective. Anyway, so I, I wrote this all and then it just, it built a five step marketing plan. That's what I asked it for. I was like, can we build a step by step plan and offer some timelines so that we organize things for him to be done over the next eight to ten weeks? Okay. And it's funny because I was, I was going to like present this to you and then you started talking and I swear like 80% of what you said is this plan. It's so cool you've got this. But what I like about this is that it does. Hold on, let me show you the bottom. This is all copied and pasted here. It has like an overview. So weeks one and two and I updated a little bit on the Google profile.

[Corinna Bench]

I'll show you that in a second.

[ChatGPT]

But here's what we're Going to set up your Google profile, your landing page or your website, get that set and social media optimization. And it's going to go into detail then about what that means in each of these sections. Right, but I'm, I'll review what, what all this says in a second. But I just want to show you, then I'm going to show you the process. Then I asked him, hey, let's, let's start out with some sample ad copy. And so it gave you four different copy ideas. What the headline would be, what the copy of the ad would be, what the call to action button would be. So this is just cool because now you have something to start with, right? You can look at that and be like, does this sound like me? And it'll be a little less overwhelming when because you just told me I need to write an ad. And now it's not going to be as difficult because you'll have at least a starting point of what an ad, an optimized ad looks like. According to ChatGPT, who does this all the time, it even tells you start with five to $10 a day, test for three to five days, and then put more budget into the best performing ad. Okay, Then I'm like, let's help him by giving him seven social media posts he could run starting next week. To build excitement, include this format, day of the week, what kind of topic, the content bucket that it is, and the goal. And then I gave some suggestions like testimonial strawberry facts, lead magnets coming soon, scenes on the farm, pictures of the farmer, question posts. I should have put FAQs, that would be another one. And then include a headline, post copy and call to action. And so then he's done that for you. So again, not saying you have to do this, but it will give you ideas for the kinds of things you could be posting. Because I know it sounded like you were a little overwhelmed, like, oh, I gotta post and you just don't have to think as hard now. You can look at this and be like, I like that idea. I'm gonna take that. Okay, so, and then here's a sample press release and then another sample press release for if you did a ribbon cutting. Again, don't have to use them, but I just wanna show you how you go. And I just asked, hey, let's create a press release now for it. What would you suggest? Yeah, and then he just puts it out. Then I had, let's come up with 10 other lead magnet ideas that could appeal to either canners or moms. With kids. And here it came up with a list. Strawberry Canning Checklist. Five easy small batch canning recipes. It's for the canners. The you pick family fun guide. How to make the most of your farm visit. I like this one. Strawberry snack hacks. 15 quick and healthy strawberry snacks for busy moms. So then I said, would you. Let's take this one. Strawberry Snack Hacks. Write the copy for the lead magnet. I want the PDF to be no more than two pages, right? And here it goes. Look at this gorgeous lead magnet for you. I copied it all in there. Oh, I can't pull it up. Sorry. But it's. It's like it's all there again. Like, I don't want you to literally copy and paste it, but it's a starting point for you to see. And it just. Oh my gosh, it like takes all the away. You could even ask it to write all the social media posts for you for the next 24 days and it will literally do it for you. And then that's what I do for my farm now. And what I've done is I have fed it. I have fed it like samples from my work. I've given it the categories so it knows my voice, it knows the kinds of things and it just shoots it all out into a spreadsheet. I can even say it actually asked me, would you like me to put this into a spreadsheet for you? And I'm like, yes, that would be great. So it put it into a spreadsheet, I copied into a Google sheet and now I've given that to my VA and she goes in and just I update it, I fix it so it sounds more like me, but that took me 30 minutes and now she goes and just posts it. So it is a really cool tool. Then I asked it for seven more social media posts. You could have 14. So these are in the same categories but different copy. And then there's one more thing. Oh, I just asked, what am I missing? What have we not talked about? And it gave me a bunch of other things. There were like three or four we hadn't added to the list. And I added those onto the, the big document and then the subscribe form. So if you do do that Lead magnet that had the strawberry hacks, what would be the copy that goes on the Lead Magnet subscribe form so I don't have to think about how to entice someone to sign up? And it gave me that too.

[David Heeks]

Did it give you the actual hacks for the strawberry? Like snacks? Yeah, like what they like.

[ChatGPT]

Okay. Yes, it did here. So let's go back and look at that. I copied everything for you.

[David Heeks]

Oh, wow. Oh, my gosh.

[ChatGPT]

You can just have this. That, like you have this now. You have access to edit it. I'm not going to touch it again. So just maybe, maybe copy it so that if I delete this file, you don't lose it. Hold on, let me find that. Here we go. Can you read those?

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

Okay, now you could ask it to expand. You could be like, make each one a small pair. Like just. I need, I need each one to be longer or I need the actual recipe for each one and it will give you the recipe. So you could make this a longer lead magnet. I just said keep it small. So it's only a couple pages. Yeah. So if a mom got this before she shows up to your event, now she's really keen on getting a lot of strawberries because she's just been given 15 ways that she could make snacks out of them. So she's really. She's thinking, I need more strawberries than just like one flat. I mean, she might think that.

[David Heeks]

Yeah.

[ChatGPT]

Or you could send this to them after they've already been and they might go, oh, my God, I never thought about puree or whatever. Right. So you could also ask. You could I. I could imagine writing a prompt for him and saying, hey, I'd like to create a follow up email sequence for people who have come to pick strawberries. And the goal is to equip them with things they can do with strawberries and to entice them to want to get more. Can you create five emails that I drip out over the course of two weeks that will do this? Okay. And then boom, let's see what he comes up with. It does show you. Like, this is what works on people, right? That's what he's.

[David Heeks]

Oh, wow, look at that. Don't wash until ready to eat.

[ChatGPT]

And if you want more, just be like, okay, write me five more and it'll write you five more and you'll pick your favorites. Or you could give some suggestions. You could say, hey, I'd like to write an email about this to include in this onboarding sequence. Can you write it for me?

[David Heeks]

Wow. Would you, would you mind sharing?

[ChatGPT]

You're like, hey, add that, no problem. So I don't know. I wanted to show you this because.

[Corinna Bench]

I wasn't sure if at first I.

[ChatGPT]

Was like, I'll just give them the document. But I think it's also helpful to see how to prompt. Wait A minute. I went too far.

[David Heeks]

Yeah, that's right. That's incredible. Yeah, I think. I love that. I'm going to use that. I think what I was. It was really helpful to go through the sales funnel and kind of figure out where all these pieces need to go so I can sort of know where to be focusing.

[ChatGPT]

All right, final questions. I need to wrap this up. Is there anything else?

[David Heeks]

Ah, I think that's good. I mean, that's a lot. So thank you.

[ChatGPT]

What? What? I want to just encourage you because I was like, oh, man, he sounds really discouraged.

[David Heeks]

I was.

[ChatGPT]

Sounds like he's freaking out.

[David Heeks]

I was. I was. All of that.

[ChatGPT]

And then you started talking and I was like, I don't even need to present this to him. He has everything. Like, you literally have everything. You have identified all the things you have to do, so you're on the right track.

[David Heeks]

It was so helpful that you referred me to do the thing that. The sales funnel. It kind of like, got me back in the, like, okay, here's how it needs to go.

[ChatGPT]

Yeah. Each of those steps has multiple ways that it can be hit. Right. So you identified like, oh, awareness stage and engage, frankly, like, that's SEO. So that's why I have an SEO engine and why I need to care about that. Because that's its job. Or, you know, when do I. Where does the lead magnet fit in? Like, and when. Where do I promote that? Why do I promote that? Oh, because I need to get them on my list so that this can then happen. Right. And you just start to see, oh, the influencers, where do they fit into this and why are they there and what's their main job in the funnel? You start to see what you could. What you could do. You don't have to do all of it. And maybe that would be my last word. Counsel. It seems like you're overwhelmed. I would say, look at that Google Doc. Most of it is what you and I just talked about here. Like, there's a few other things Chat came up with, and it gives you templates, but for the most part, you have a good grip of what you need to do. I would say, don't beat yourself up. Don't shame yourself. Right. Watch that. Watch that word in your head of you're not doing enough. You're going to get this all wrong. Catastrophizing the future, because what if this goes great? And I would also say, like, set a goal. Set a goal that you can. And when you hit it, celebrate it. And I don't want to Say, be cautious because I want you to reach for the stars. But your first year, you're not going to have like thousands of people coming. Like, you're not. So, like, what is a realistic number given the fact that you want to run ads and you're going to do X and Y? Like, what do you feel like is a realistic number to expect on your first day and on your second day? And like, just realize that this kind of thing, slow and steady, wins the race. And I wish I could like hand you this plat, this thing on a platter that's going to guarantee thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. But, you know, your first launch might be a little more subdued and that if that happens, that isn't a bad thing. Like, that is quite normal. You're going to learn the ropes. You're going to set some foundational pieces in place. You're going to see what worked, what didn't work so well. You're going to come up with ideas in the moment and you're going to run with them and they may end up being really profitable. So follow your energy and trust that you have what it takes to figure it out. I mean, what you came up with today was amazing. You were way further than I thought you were. So you're going to do good, you're going to trust yourself. You're going to do just fine. Cool. Okay.

[David Heeks]

Awesome.

[Corinna Bench]

Well, there you have it. That was the guts of a hour long coaching call that I had with one of our farm marketing school members. David, thanks for being the guinea pig and being willing to put that onto the show. I'm excited to see how his first year goes and I hope you learned something from this one to one audit. Maybe you were thinking through that sales funnel framework with your business in mind. And if you need some help this summer putting your marketing system into place, like actually building the machine, I want to invite you to come inside of farm marketing school. Even if you just come for the first month and take that sales funnel class, because as David just said, it was so insightful for him and helped him connect the dots and understand why he's doing what he's doing, why things aren't working the way they need to work, that might be a great first step. I invite you to come in and just take that class for the first month. If you don't have time to actually build a machine this summer, I get it, you can come back out in the fall when you have more time. But this is important stuff to learn. All right, my friends, that's all I have today. If you would like to get any links from today's episode, they will be in the show [e-mail] 309 if you liked this episode or you want to share it with a friend, please grab that link, text it to your farmer friends or go leave me a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts because when you do that I actually get recommended to other farmers in their podcast feed as a podcast they should check out so it helps me grow the audience for the show. If you want to get onto my email list I have some free stuff to send you to make your marketing even better. You can go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe and check me out on Instagram. I'm ydigitalfarmer. I show up there in stories for the most part. I love to share marketing tips as they come to me throughout the summer. I'd love to connect with you there. Have a great week. Thanks for joining me today and remember, I believe in you.

[ChatGPT]

Bye bye.