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My Digital Farmer Podcast
310 Selling Flowers to Florists with Abundant Blooms Flower Farm
01:11:16
When Ruth Ann Majauskas first launched her flower farm in 2020, she tried a little bit of everything—farmers markets, retail, subscriptions. But the magic happened when she shifted her focus entirely to wholesale… selling flowers directly to...
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- [00:00]
Corinna Bench
Today, I'm talking with a flower farmer who has mastered the art of selling to a super specific niche. Florists. Now, wait. Even if you're not in the flower business, you'll want to tune in because we're diving into how she has built a marketing framework that works for any niche. And I think it's really powerful for you to see this at work and imagine what it could look like for your business. Let's. Let's get started. Hey there. This is Corinna 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. Let's 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 310 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast. I am 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. Welcome back to the show. How's everyone doing today? Big shout out to all of my regular binge listeners. And if you're new to the podcast, I'm glad you're here today. Make sure you subscribe to the show and go check out my first 10 episodes. I designed them to be an on ramp into the marketing lingo way back when I first designed them. They're still still as good as ever. Or you can just kind of look through the archives and see what jumps out at you. There's a lot of good stuff here. Another great place to go if you're new to the marketing lingo is to get onto my email list because when you subscribe, I'm going to send you a bunch of free stuff for about three months. Every week you'll get an email from me that has a marketing principle, some teaching tips. I'm going to send you off to really keep podcasts that you need to listen to to learn stuff. I'm going to give you some free gifts. I'm going to tell you which influencers you should be following. It's really good. So you can subscribe by going to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe 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. 7 yourself up for success with Localline, the best sales platform built for farms. Localline 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. Well, let's dive right into the episode today. No small talk, because I interviewed my friend Ruth Ann Majauskas, and she is a flower farmer that grows primarily for florists. I had a fantastic conversation with her over zoom as we recorded this episode. It actually went really long. We had a great conversation after the interview was over, but the meat of this interview is so good and I want to get you right into it as soon as possible. It's a little bit on the longer side for an episode for me, but I decided that it was just so good, I didn't want to cut any of that. So if you are a flower farmer and you're thinking about moving into the florist space, supplying for florists, this is definitely an episode you want to listen to. But it's also, I think, really educational for anyone whether you're a flower farmer or not, because she does talk about the marketing principles. Like it's a case study of the marketing sales funnel at work and how it works in her particular style of industry. And so I just want you to listen to it because I think you're going to find yourself thinking, thinking through the lens of your own business and going, huh? How would I apply that principle to What I sell and the way that I run my business. So please listen. It's really good. Ruth Ann is the owner of Abundant Blooms Flower Farm, Indoor Michigan, and she started her farm in 2020. So it hasn't been that long, about six years with her, then three small children. And after dabbling in a few different sales models, which she'll go into in the episode, she began to focus on selling flowers solely to florists. So she now exclusively sells only to them. And she loves this model of working directly with florists. She's going to talk at length about all of it, how that works and how you cultivate that relationship, and what do you even grow for them, and how do you know what to grow for them and how do you stay in touch with them, and how do you find new florists to work for new buyers and create a good product, and what are the struggles you have to overcome itself? So, so good. She started a YouTube channel, actually in December of last year of 2024, and I think she told me in the interview that she's already got 3, 000 subscribers, and that's like three months. So there's obviously something working here. She is teaching on that YouTube channel. She's teaching flower farmers how to sell to florists. And she actually has a new course called Selling Flowers to Florists. She does bring that up in the episode. So if you're interested, definitely tune into that. But she's a wife. She's a homeschooling mom to five children. And when she's not farming, her bio says that she enjoys going to Lake Michigan with her family and reading from her book every night before she falls asleep. She was a delight. And I know you're going to get a ton of value from this episode. She's a great teacher. So without another moment, let's jump in to my interview with Ruthanne. Well, Ruthanne, welcome to the show.
- [07:19]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Thanks so much for having me. Corinna. I'm so excited to be here.
- [07:23]
Corinna Bench
I'm really glad to have you on as well. And I want you to start out just introducing yourself, let our audience know your background, what it is that you do to set the context.
- [07:37]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Sure. Well, the background, it's always interesting to know where people come from. So I'm actually a nurse. Graduated and joined the Air Force immediately upon graduating from college. So spent the next seven years of my life in the Air Force as a nurse. Then I had three babies. I got married and I had three babies pretty close together. And I just kind of wondered like, wow, now what do I do? I had gotten out of the Air Force and wasn't doing any nursing at the time. And we had moved back to Michigan, where I'm from after getting out of the Air Force. And we bought this two acre lot of land out in the country that we were loving and kind of looked around and thought, I think I'm going to plant some flowers. So that's how we got started. Very, very slowly. I had three very small children at the time, like a baby and a two year old and a three year old. And it just grew very slowly from there. So now that was in 2020 I started the farm. It was an interesting year to try anything.
- [08:39]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [08:41]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And now we have almost an acre in planted in production. But there's about a third of that acre that's really young woody shrubs that's not really producing yet. So about 2/3 of an acre that's actually producing flowers right now. I'm a flower farmer and so I sell almost exclusively wholesale to direct to florists at this point. That was a little bit of a journey, but that's where I am at now. And we have one high tunnel that I got through an NRCS grant that was put up in August. So it's a very new part of the farm. And my husband works off farm full time. He has a job with benefits and all those great things, but he does a lot of work behind the scenes or when he comes home and on Saturdays and a lot of the heavy lifting around here.
- [09:31]
Corinna Bench
You said you started kind of in a different place. Can you just briefly give me a timeline of how you actually started the business? Because I think there might be some people listening who heard you say wholesale florist and went, oh, cool. But maybe are curious, well, how did you grow into that? Like, what did you dabble in first?
- [09:49]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Sure. So I always knew there were things I didn't want to do just because of our young family. Like I never wanted to do flower or farmers markets. Just didn't fit well with our family and kids. And so that was kind of out of it. But in 2020, I started with the flowers and there was a vegetable farmer from our church who actually was very established and sold at farmer's markets in some bigger markets a little ways away from us, like 45 minutes in Muskegon. But he had gone there for like 20 years and he offered to bring my flowers there. And so that's how I started just making these bouquets twice a week, giving him a percentage and driving them out to his farm. He's a vegetable farmer, but he had a big walk in cooler so I could put them in his cooler the night before. And he took them to the farmer's market and sold them. And I made $997 my first year of farming. But it was a really great way to start because it really helped me learn how to plant. Like, I'd already tried growing flowers the for the year before that. So I was planting and succession planting and really coming to understand what it meant to farm and cut flowers twice a week, make bouque. And I really wasn't sure where the business would go, but I kind of thought I would be doing some kind of retail with always having thought that I wanted to sell at some level to florist, though, it just seemed like a good way to move a lot of product. At the end of that year, in 2020, that winter, I took a course by Lisa Mason Ziegler called Flower Farming the Basics, I think. And she. That was really what kind of launched me more into flower farming and really understanding and growing in knowledge about flowers and being a farmer. But so then from there, she talks a little bit about selling to florists and different ways to sell. And so I. That kind of gave me the courage to the next season. So 2021, I sold to three florists, very intentionally, did it very small, kept it at 3. I had more flowers I could have tried to sell to more, but I just thought, I want to do this Right. Right.
- [11:58]
Corinna Bench
Well, I'm glad you shared that journey because it does show that there was an evolution process, for sure. You don't just jump into wholesale florist sales without going through a learning curve. And I. I think that maybe is what that first year with your farmer friend was for you in many ways.
- [12:16]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Right.
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Corinna Bench
It was a confidence boosting. It was giving you a chance to test your wings, practice growing different kinds of flowers. What could you be confident in? Even just helping you decide what. What you wanted, like, the light, the lifestyle that you wanted, that's a part of in your situation where your husband's working, like, you have the freedom there to really say no. You know, a lot more than maybe some other entrepreneurs might. And so, okay, so help me. I don't have a lot of knowledge about the flower farmer world. I know I have people who listen to this podcast, like you, who are flower farmers. And I always feel a little nervous. I'm like, I don't know the lingo. Like when someone says, I grow an acre of Flowers. Like I can visualize an acre, but like, I don't know what that translates to in terms of yield or like how you know how much is that coming off. Then if you're a, if you're a flower farmer, you all sort of know what that means, but I don't. So what kind of volume are you selling? Um, how often are you making a trip to a florist to drop off these buckets to that? Like, what does that mean?
- [13:24]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Sure. So I. Well, I don't have a full acre in production.
- [13:29]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [13:29]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
But yeah, so. And some of that is as I've grown, I switched. I've switched from growing only annuals to now growing mostly perennials and, and woodies. I put in 900 woody shrubs last August.
- [13:44]
Corinna Bench
That was that other third of the acre you were talking about. Yeah.
- [13:47]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yep. So that's not producing yet, but last I pulled my numbers and I sold over 30, 000 stems last season in 2024, over about 26 weeks. So the beginning of those weeks are pretty slim pickings, like bulbs and spring stuff because I didn't have my hoop house yet. So that was pretty much like tulips and daffodils. So you start pretty small. But then, you know, so probably a good 20, 22 weeks of some really good samples sales there. So I was selling about two to three thousand dollars worth a week. Like in height of the season, me up to like 30, 30500 per week of the main season. So not in April, but in June, you know, so that is like a thousand to fifteen hundred stems per week off of what? Like probably a good half acre, maybe a little more than a half an acre. So you're succession planting often. So you're planting in the multiple times. So I do a fall planted stuff, then that blooms in June, rip that out, put something else in, sometimes getting a third succession. So in Michigan, where our frost free dates are from mid May till mid October. So just for reference.
- [15:03]
Corinna Bench
Okay. Okay.
- [15:04]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah. So you can grow a lot in a small space because you're growing very close together and getting multiple successions out.
- [15:13]
Corinna Bench
Of sessions off of it. Yeah. Okay, Talk to me a little bit about the workflow in when you're in season, when it relates, as it relates to sales and marketing. So are you like, are you texting with your florist? Are you getting order? Is there a standing order for the whole season? Like, or do you, do you get told this before? You obviously must be. So you can plant it properly, like, and then how often are you touching base how often do you go out and deliver? I'm just trying to see how busy, how busy are you and where are you busy.
- [15:53]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, I have like a schedule. So I deliver twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Tuesday is a much bigger delivery day. I actually hire a babysitter to come because my suburban only fits so many flowers and with the kids in the car and it just was taking so long. And so I hire childcare on Tuesday and I pretty much am delivering. I try and leave by 9 o'clock and often I don't get home till like 2ish and I'm going nowhere further than 30 minutes away. So I'm pretty close to home. But it just takes time to go to all, to, to to deliver to all these places. So that's Tuesday, Thursday. I only usually deliver to two or three places and I usually take my kids with me. So it's a much shorter, you know, delivery. But so I harvest basically Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays. So Monday and Saturday and Monday is kind of like my big harvest for my Tuesday deliveries and then Wednesday I harvest again for the Thursday delivery as well. So they're communicating. So that's like the flower wise. And then how I communicate with them is I use a platform called Rooted Farmers, which is a nationwide e commerce site for flower farmers. It was built by flower farmers to sell specifically to florists. They have some retail capabilities now which I don't use at all. But it was originally started to sell specifically to florists and so it's pretty powerful. And that's how I. So I have a site on there basically, so it's separate from my website. And then I communicate with them via. I do have an email service provider and then I have a list of my florists and then I write an email which is very similar to itself every week. Basically I just say like, here's what's new in blooming. This is almost done blooming. I should have this next week blooming. And then I might put one or two pictures in the email and then it has a link to my Rooted Farmer site which the florists have to have an account with them. It's free for them, but it's basically just like, are they a real business? Do they have a resale certificate so they're not charged tax and just making sure they're a legitimate business. And then I have an account with Rooted Farmers and so then we're all connected prior to selling and then they just click the link to the Rooted farmer site. They Order through rooted farmers. And then it's I think similar to local line in the sense that then I go into rooted farmers. I can see all my orders, I can see all the floors that have ordered and I've set up on the back end like minimums delivery days. And then they can either pay through there or they can pay off platform with check or Venmo or something like that. But so I can pull all their orders. I can make pack lists, I can make harvest lists, which I do in print and then I'm taking that out into the field to make sure I have what they're ordering. That's how I mostly do it. I have a couple of old school florists that have like, I think hardly ever been on there. Like I've literally been at their shop. Like, let me help you. Yeah, your thing here. I have a couple of just older, just older ladies. They're just not really into the.
- [19:13]
Corinna Bench
Yeah, they're so sweet though.
- [19:15]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
I love them.
- [19:15]
Corinna Bench
They are.
- [19:15]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And they're really great customer. Like this one in particular was one of my florist. So she's like my biggest cheerleader. But I pretty much. So I can then use rooted farmer on my phone in the shop and I make a point of sale sale and put a put in her order and I usually actually like pre. I do it ahead of time and then I just change it because I know what she wants, I know what she's pretty much going to order, I know what she'll never buy, I know what she thinks is amazing. And the only time she pre orders via text is like for a wedding or something which she doesn't have. So most of the communication is going through rooted farmers. As far as ordering, I do have some. So I sell like kind of. There's two different groups in my mind. There's brick and mortar florists and there's a wedding and event florist which most of them don't have a shop. Some of my brick and mortar florists do also have some weddings that they do as well. But I sell to now as my business has progressed, I've sold to more and more wedding and event floor florists. And then like they just have some more specific needs. They like to get their orders in much further in ahead of time. For example, I already have orders for the month of June from some of my wedding florists. They'll send me the mood boards of their wedding and I tell them this is what I will have that will match your timeline. I mean they understand that things could happen because of weather. Or sometimes I'll say, for example, I had one for the end of April, and I said, well, I had tulips last year at that time, but we're having a much colder spring, so I'm doubtful that we're going to have tulips this year, but if I do, I'll let you know. Right. And they understand working with local flowers that way. Some. Some florists are really familiar with local flowers and some are not. So sometimes you have to do a lot of education, just, like, because we can grow things that they've never seen at a wholesaler before, uh, because just things don't ship well and so they have no idea. But then you have other. Like, I have one florist that has a degree in horticulture and, like, is probably more knowledgeable than I am in half.
- [21:18]
Corinna Bench
Yeah, I was going to ask about that.
- [21:20]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Do you.
- [21:21]
Corinna Bench
How do you. Because I'm thinking through the lens of, you know, my retail world, where I'm always trying to get my customer to increase their average cart value or, like, increase the frequency of their order. And let me put another type of product in front of you that you might want to become a super fan of. So you buy that too now? Every week. So what does that look like in your space? Do you find that your. Your florists really do just need a certain amount every week and it's probably not going to grow? Or are they open to you introducing them to new blooms? And how would you even do that? Is it just that picture you send in the email, or how do you approach that?
- [22:03]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
That's a great question. So I would just say, like, the first year that I sell to a florist, I feel like they're trying to get to know me, typically.
- [22:14]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [22:16]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So that first year where I had three florists and I delivered to them every week, and I was very consistent in different things, that I'm just, like, gaining trust with them. The next season, almost all of those florists pretty much doubled their orders.
- [22:28]
Corinna Bench
Okay.
- [22:29]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So that doesn't always happen quite doubling, but like, 30 to 50%, they're. They're buying more flowers from me now. I feel like you do hit a cap usually.
- [22:39]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [22:39]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Capped. Right. But sometimes you just have to think, okay, well, what, you know, what could I grow that would better serve them? Or what am I. Because I do think that one of my, like, signatures. Yeah. Like, one of my things I preach about is you don't want to be growing 100 different things. Like that's not very profitable. And so it's better to grow more of, you know, a few things than to grow a hundred different things. Because every flower has a specific harvest time and specific needs and has specific seed starting considerations and the list goes on and on and on. Right. So the more you can kind of simplify, the better. Yeah, but to a point, because you also want to have enough different variety to make it worth it for the florists to order from you. So there's a little bit of a. Trying to figure that out. So part of it is like shifting. So I used to sell only annuals and there are a lot of flower farmers in west Michigan. A lot. Like I'm part of a west Michigan group and has like 350 flower farmers. And I know lots of people not even in that list. Right. So. And this is all within a pretty small area now. They're not all selling to florists, but there's a lot of us. And so I have kind of moved away from a lot of the annuals. Not all of them, but like pretty much. There's zinnias everywhere in Michigan. There's, you know, celosia everywhere. So I've moved away from that. And there's a couple, like specific colors I'll grow or just some specific annuals I just totally cut out because I have limited space. So then I've added in more kind of like, I don't know, advanced crops or crops that people aren't growing as much. Like a bunch of the woodies, like a bunch of perennials, you know, delphinium and different things that a lot of new flower farmers are not growing. And I did that by like assessing the market. And then, then a lot of these crops are higher risk and higher value. So even within the same space, I can be growing delphinium instead of zinnias. And delphinium sells for a lot more than zinnias. It's also kind of a fussier plant. And there's some, you know, there's some trade offs and like, you know, you're kind of advancing as a flower farmer and growing into that like more advanced crops. So that's one way is advanced crops. But I can give you a really specific example of how I introduced a new crop to florist last year. So it's called thornless raspberry and BlackBerry foliage. So I grow. So I've heard flower farmers talk about this. It's so wonderful. It's a perennial, so it's something that I'll have more and More of as time goes on. And I didn't really talk to my florist about it, but they all need foliage. And this is a really great foliage that lasts forever in a vase. So it's really good for retail because they want things that last a long time. It's also a really cool foliage. It has some vining trends to it. You can also use the fruit on it, and designers love that. So it's a flexible crop in my mind to like both designers and brick and mortar florists. So I brought it into a bunch of my florists last year for the first time, because it was the first season I had it, and a bunch of my brick and mortar florists that I've worked with for four years had never seen it, didn't know what it was, And I was like, oh, I really wasn't expecting it to be so unknown to them. So I. What I did was I just gave them a sample bunch. I said, well, just try it and see how you like it. But before I did that, I also had it on my own counter because it was a new crop to me. And I said, you're gonna love it. I had it on my counter for two weeks, and it looked just as good as the day before. I finally threw it out because I was getting a new, you know, bouquet, which. So it's, like, personal. Like, I know that's what Book said, but I'm also putting it on my very own counter with a date. I have all these random flowers on my counter all the time because I'm testing the product because I want to know before my own eyes what it is. So I told them how wonderful it was. One of the florists didn't really like it and never really ordered it. Then another one of the floor. Two of the other florists. The one kind of. I didn't really think she liked it very much, but she would, like, order a bunch and order a bunch. And then at the end of the season, she was like, oh, do you have more of that? And she just wanted more and more of it. And then the other florist was a. She does a lot of funerals because a lot of the brick and mortar florists do a lot of funerals, and funerals is, like, they never stop. They just keep going. So there are a lot of really great, like, consistent business. Like, even around holidays, they still need flowers to have funeral. To have funeral flowers. And she just, like, fell in love with the raspberry and BlackBerry foliage. Then she wanted it for her weddings because she also does some weddings. So then at the end of the season, she's like, you know, goes from like one bunch a week to three bunches a week. And then she has a wedding and she wants seven or seven bunches. And I was like, I okay, I'll see. I don't know how much I have left, you know. So I've converted her into a believer of this flower that or this, this foliage that's a perennial foliage for me. And it's going to get better and better. And now she wants it for her winnings and her funerals. And she moves a lot of product. So you get someone that needs like five to seven bunches of a perennial that goes from June till frost. That's a lot of bunches of a specific flower. So that's just like one how I introduced a new crop to florists. And that's how I do it with, with anything that they're not familiar with. I give them a sample bunch, see how they like it, ask them about it the next week. What did you think of it? And sometimes, like I said, the one florist, she was like, not her thing. But then other ones really love it. So I go about introducing new product because they don't always know and they don't available and they've never seen it.
- [28:27]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. So 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. Let's talk about the. The whole journey of how you find these florist buyers. Like, how do they even become aware that you exist? Because you just described what is called the ascension phase in the customer value journey, where you have a customer, and then once you have a customer make their first purchase, the goal is to, like, get them to buy again and again and, like, ascend through your ascension ladder of products. And you just described an example of how you do that. But, like, what's the. The early stages? How does. How do you even find these buyers? How do you get them to pay attention to you? Can you share some stories there?
- [30:49]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Right, so, yeah, I. On my YouTube channel, I once, I had a comment that said, how are they? How do they find you? And I just said, they don't. I find them. And so that's pretty much the way it goes. So when I initially started, I just looked at a map and said, okay, I live here. Where are the closest florists to me? Because I felt like if I was in the closest, you know, geographical proximity to them, there would be advantages to that. And so we live in Door, which is a pretty small little town. There are no florists in Door. The closest ones are about 15 minutes north of us. And then from there you can go to Grand Rapids. And there's. There's a bunch of options that are like 30 minutes away. So the ones that are 15 minutes from me, there were two that were like five blocks apart. And so I thought, well, I'm just gonna start there. And it's the town where my parents live. Like, I drive by these shops. Like, I knew that they existed. So I went to their website and I just kind of was like, well, I don't know, we're just gonna try it. Like, I'd never been to either of the shops that I. That I started at. So I just went in and I went with, like, samples of flowers. Like, like, like, I would sell them. Like, they looked just. They were bunched 10 stem bunches cut, you know, professionally harvested at the right stage. Just, like, I would sell them. And I just go in and I have a sheet of paper, business card, my contact information. And I just introduced myself. I'm a local flower farmer. I live indoor I'm. I brought you some sample flowers. They never say no. They always take.
- [32:23]
Corinna Bench
Yeah, of course. Brilliant.
- [32:24]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And I try to be, like, pretty. You want to show yourself as being pretty generous, like, you know, six, eight bunches of flowers, which is like. Like $80. Right. Like this sound like, I give them like a zinnia and a sunflower. No, go in. Like you're going to sell it and you give them.
- [32:40]
Corinna Bench
So they can use it. Yeah.
- [32:42]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So they can write and see it and see how they. They last and different things. Right. So that's how I always start, typically, is with. With samples. That would be to, like a brick and mortar florist, not to a wedding and event florist that works out of her garage. But, you know, if they have a shop and have shop hours, that's how I. That's how I initially connect with them. And most of the time, that's gone quite well. So I started with just the two closest to my house. Those were two of the three in my very first season. And those are still two of my very best customers to this day. And so they, you know, we've really. Now we have a really great relationship. They know me, they know my kids. They know, you know, they. We know each other. We're. We're familiar. You know, we know each other's families and different things. Like, so we've come to have this relationship for sure. So that's. But that's how it started. And then from there, I just kind of was like, okay, where do I want to go? And I kind of made a route in my brain of, like, what would be a good delivery route as far as, like, where else would I want to go to deliver flowers? And if you can group, you know, some florists together, that's helpful. So in Grand Rapids, there's, you know, multiple florists, so I was able to kind of just pick some more. And then I mostly did the same thing, like go in with samples, and then I started getting into. And then you give them the way to order, you know?
- [34:01]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. Like, do you follow up with them the next week? Are you back in the shop or are you calling them or what do you. Okay.
- [34:06]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yes. So I'm. I'm calling them, typically calling. So then I get them on my email list. They get an email from me every Tuesday to order for the following Tuesday. I try and send it out. I say it's Tuesday. I try and send it Monday. But, like, it might be at really late, so I say it's Tuesday. Right. So they get the email Tuesday. They can order for the following week. And so they're on my email list. I initially started by calling the florist every week. So, like, in my first year, I would send an email and I would call, like, every Monday afternoon or every Monday morning or something. I can't remember. But, you know, so I was giving. I was making it. You want to make it easy, as easy as possible for them to order from you, because that's one of the barriers with. Locate. With working with local farmers to get local flowers is it's a lot easier to order from a wholesaler. So you're trying to make it as easy as possible for them to order from you. And from a wholesaler, they can go on and order everything and pay a $15 delivery fee and get every flower that they need. I'm not going to be able to supply every flower that they need for every event. First of all, I don't have flowers in the winter, you know, like, just starting there. So I'm just trying to make it as easy as possible for them to get, you know, in contact with me. And I actually just had a meeting with one of my florists, which I meet with usually my highest florist or. Or someone that I think I can have a deeper relationship with and sell more flowers to. I meet with them in the off season, which is typically the off season for them for wedding and event florists. A lot of them take a break in the winter as well or have a slower schedule. And so I was meeting with one of them, and she made a comment to me, and she said, you are hands down the easiest farmer for me to order from. And she is a girl that works for her that also grows flowers. And she said, for whatever reason, it's harder for me to order from the girl that I see and work with on a weekly basis than it is for me to order from you. So it was kind of validation for me, like, process works. And that makes her want to order more flowers for me because it's hard. They're not going to do it, which I. Which is understandable for anybody in any situation.
- [36:12]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. I mean, you've removed the friction. When you think about it, you've built a system, even the ordering system. The fact that you have a software platform. Right. That is. Made it easier. And yes, you have to spend money to have that, but it creates a good experience for the customer, makes it more likely for them to buy again. Right. Um, you can set all that up. Uh, and that's Just one example of the system. But then you have a calling. You have a, you know, an email that goes out every week and you have a calling system and your fulfillment is consistent. And that just builds trust. Yeah, yeah.
- [36:41]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And then if so, sometimes with the wedding and events, they're like, they'll tell me they want, oh, man, what if it's one girl said she wanted like a specific color mocha or something, and I was like, I don't know what color that is. So I'm like, you know, you know, like sometimes you're like, I'm, I want the same language. Because to me, mocha might be, you know, completely different than what she's thinking. So then I'm in the field trying to get pictures as true as possible. Like, is this what you mean by that? So there is that communication too, specifically with maybe not every florist, but florist that I'm working really closely with. I do, I do have their, you know, phone numbers and they will contact me and. Yeah, that kind of stuff too. So that does happen, but as streamlined as possible through the, the online platform.
- [37:29]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. All right. I was also just going to ask you if there are certain flowers that you feel like you have to have. Like, I'm just personally curious about this because in my model over here in the farming world, there's this idea of having a gateway product. And like, this is the thing, like the ground beef, you know, for a meat farmer, like, you've got to have ground beef because everybody buys ground beef first before they dabble in the weird cuts. Like, is there something like that for you where you can walk into a new florist and be like, I got this. I know I have to have this in my, in my inventory, or they're probably not going to take a look at me. Or is that not so much the case with wholesale?
- [38:10]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, no, I think that that can be. I think they're different for a wedding and event florist and for brick and mortar floors. So I built my, my, my system on having sunflowers consistently every week, which is actually not the easiest thing to succession plant and have single stem sunflowers blooming every single week for 18 to 20 weeks. That's a really long time. And so I feel like I've perfected that. So for my shop florist, they know they're going to get sunflowers from me every week, and that's a staple. They need them. They would much rather buy local sunflowers than, you know, shipping them in. So that, that is a important flower to me. And then I feel like that then they'll add on. Oh, and we'll, you know, then they'll take yarrow and all these other flowers. And then for the wedding and event florist, I feel like it's more. More. It's interesting things like yarrow, which is not that crazy of a flower, but that's just like, one of my biggest sellers to them. And then specialty things like delphinium, peonies, stuff like that, and some foliage greenery. And they kind of. The snapdragons are really. Actually, those sell really both in both places. Your wedding and event florists need a bunch of them. And then retail florists use those a lot. So those are some. Some of them.
- [39:26]
Corinna Bench
How did you figure that out? Like, how did you figure out what. What they wanted from you so that you would even know what to start growing? Or was it the first few years just, like, just throw a bunch of seeds in the field? Cause I liked them from the catalog.
- [39:39]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
I try not to do that, but kind of.
- [39:43]
Corinna Bench
I mean, what does that research look like to. To figure out. Yeah, that are profitable too.
- [39:49]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Right. So people ask me, like, oh, like, I don't know, like, I was just born with this knowledge. And I'm like, nope. It's because I've literally spent thousands of dollars on education and hundreds of hours figuring it out.
- [40:02]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [40:03]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So I originally took that course by Lisa Mason Zigler, the. From the gardener's workshop, called Flower Farming Basics. And I'm a member of the association of Specialty Cut Flowers, the afcfg, which is our, you know, cut flower association. And that has a ton of educational resources and a Facebook page that you can be like, hey, what? Do what? You know, you can ask really great questions and seasoned flower farmers that are. Been there for 20 years will answer. Or like, retired gurus are still pretty active in there. So that's a really helpful resource as well. But I. I would say I, like, started with what Lisa said to grow, and I have her books, and so she's just like a tried and true flower farmer. She's also in Virginia, which is a very different climate than. Than mine. So I have had to, you know, adapt certain things, and I can grow certain things longer than her, you know, different cool flowers and grow things differently. So it's not like there's. Without trial and error or without tweaking things or figuring things out. But she's definitely been like a flower farming mentor to me. And, like, I tried to find people that were Tried and true and follow their advice. So I plant sunflowers the way she plants them, like the way she taught. I still plant sunflowers in a very similar way, which is different than how other people do it. But for me it gives me really consistent results. And so I'm. Maybe I'm just afraid to try something different. But this worked, you know, and so I have a really great system and so I don't change it. So that's definitely how I started. And then I started moving into more perennials and so I took another class by Dave Daly and he's like a really great cut flower guru, but more in like perennials and woodies. And so he has a course through them. And I've heard him speak several times. I went down to Chicago.
- [41:56]
Corinna Bench
I've heard of him.
- [41:57]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, I went down to Chicago several years ago and heard him speak at the ball customer days, which is. He's a, he's a rep for them now. He was a flower farmer, but now he's a rep for them. So I heard him speak there. I've heard him speak at an ASCFG regional conference this last summer. I've emailed him questions like, I try and you know, I went into these woodies and first of all, I planted like 200 of them two years ago to kind of test the waters, like, are these good? How are these going to do in my environment? And then continued to research, tried to find like the big woody growers essentially in North America. There's one in Canada is really not that far from me because he's in the, in the Great Lakes region. So I've like listened to everything I can from him through the AFCFG and through different places and I've even contacted him and he was gracious enough to even let us come to their farm. We were driving through there. But I had met him at the conference this summer and so he actually wasn't at the farm when we were there because he was at their northern farm, but like his wife was there and I mean it was just really neat. So I saw his incredible farm. He has like 200 acres of Woody's. Not just him, his family, but you know, he's not the only person that works there, but you know, just like making connections with other tried and true growers to figure out what is going to work. And then I always kind of start small. And that's kind of been a theme of mine from the beginning. So like I said, I didn't start by growing 900 woodies I started by growing 180 of them or something, you know, and then seeing, oh, actually this works. Or like, specifically from year to year with something that's not as, you know, law has as long of jeopardy as, as perennials or woodies, I just look and say, because I have my rooted farmers platform and that keeps track of all the analytics of every stem, I'm going to say, yep, when it sells, who buys it. And so I can look in there, pull my, you know, my best performers, and be like. And I can also know, like, last year I started growing delphinium for the very first time. And so I, I didn't have a ton of it available. First of all, it's a perennial, so it'll get better and better with time. But I also didn't plant, you know, a whole field of it, and I had so much demand for it. So I say, okay, that's a crop that I'm able to grow, so I'm going to grow more of it. What didn't sell or what don't I like or what's not profitable, and I cut that out. So part of, like, just crop planning is, like, I had a lot of demand for this. I'm going to grow more of this. I didn't have as much demand for this. Or like I said, I don't like it, or, you know, like, I'd rather grow this, or I'm going to simplify and I'm going to cut this out and grow more cosmos, because nobody can have enough cosmos. So that's kind of how I do it.
- [44:44]
Corinna Bench
You, you have a lot of knowledge on how to do this flower farming, especially to wholesale. Like, I, I'm just listening to you, and you just have this presence, this confidence radiating out of you. You have done the work. You are continuing to learn and be a student yourself. And I want you to. Now, let's just pivot because I know that you are now actually teaching this to other farmers who want to learn how to do it. And I would love for you to just tell me, how did you even come up with the idea to start sharing what you've learned with other flower farmers?
- [45:26]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So I feel like, I felt like there was a gap in the education. Maybe I don't know everything, but I'm pretty attuned to the cut flower education. I've taken a lot of cut flower courses. Like I said, I'm a member of the ascfg, and I just don't feel like there is specific education for farmers trying to sell direct to Florists. There is components of that. Like I said, there was a component of that in that larger course I took, but it really was quite a small section of it. And I know that there's sections of it in other large courses, but you know, it's like you have to buy a fifteen hundred dollar course to get, you know, maybe a whole bunch of that you're not needing. So. And there's not a lot of very specific information about it from a farmer, from a flower farmer. I didn't feel like, from doing my own market research, like I had questions and I felt like I wasn't able to find the answers. And so that was kind of the spark, like I think that this would actually be something I could teach. The other spark was through another flower farmer who is also a YouTuber who actually lives just a couple miles from me. And I knew I've just run into her multiple times. And then I realized she had a YouTube channel and was watching her and now we're kind of friends. But she was talking about how to make money in the off season and what knowledge do you have that you could leverage to make money in the off season. And so that's kind of. And this was several years ago, like I was trying to figure it out and felt like, boy, I would really like it if there was a roadmap here. And there's not. So maybe someday in a couple years I'll create a roadmap.
- [47:07]
Corinna Bench
I'll be the one.
- [47:07]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
This is kind of like what's sparked it originally. And then I had tried to. I had thought about doing it last winter, but I had a baby in November of 23. So I had a newborn and I just started percolating on it and I, I wrote down some stuff about it and I started creating it a little bit, but I really didn't think I'd be able to get it finished before the season started. And then actually just over a year ago I got mastitis and I was hospitalized for five days. And that was sort of like the end of any trying to do any of that and kind of took a lot out of me. And it was March and so then you're into the season. But I'm really thankful that that happened because I'm really thankful that I didn't sell the course last year or launch the course because then I really was my whole season I was thinking about creating this course. I even like took some video footage this summer specifically to put in the course and just had this mindset of thinking about creating the course the entire season and then this winter put it together. So that's kind of the journey of how it started.
- [48:19]
Corinna Bench
Now you told me that you have a YouTube channel. Yes, but you just started it like a few months ago. December. In December. Okay. So we're recording this in on April 2nd. So three months. Three, four months maybe. And how many people are, are subscribed now? Did you tell me?
- [48:41]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So right now I have like 2, 300 YouTube subscribers in four months.
- [48:46]
Corinna Bench
Three months. That's pretty good. Well done. Yeah. So like, was that part of your. Hey, I'm just going to start sharing what I know. Did you have a strategy? I guess as you were trying to think about this.
- [49:03]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So I listened to this really smart marketing podcast called My Digital Farmer.
- [49:10]
Corinna Bench
Oh, stop it.
- [49:13]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And I've listened to Corinna for years. Years, Literally years. I think I was telling you we started recording. It was like you were in episode 20 something. So I have followed you and been an avid follower of you really for years and taken a lot of your marketing advice. And I just thought, well, I am not going to sell this course if nobody knows about it. I mean, it's pretty basic. Like you're not going to sell. If nobody's aware that you have a course, you're not going to sell it. So where are the flower farmers? And I was all. So personally, I enjoy YouTube and consume YouTube content. And then the idea of YouTube has been percolating in my mind also for years actually from two different podcasts of yours. Uh, I think one of them was an interview with Seven Sons. Something about he was talking about using video, not specifically YouTube, but using video in your farm marketing. And that just kind of thought, wow, I really don't do that at all. That's interesting. Right? So I'm just kind of percolating on that. And that's an episode from a while ago. And then maybe a year ish something ago, you had a specific podcast about using YouTube in your farm and how you were using YouTube. And so I thought, well, maybe, maybe I should try that. Because Instagram honestly feels like a black hole for trying to connect to people and there's so much noise there. And it's honestly not my preference of, you know, social media or platform to connect with people. And I much rather do teaching and education and have longer form videos and be able to have a better or deeper connection and be able to give value in the way that I would do. So that's how YouTube idea even started. And I know some other flower farmers on YouTube and so, and I felt like in the YouTube space itself there is not a lot of flower farmers selling flowers directly to florists and putting out content in that specific niche. Maybe a little bit, but I know way more YouTube flower farmers that are doing like roadside stands and retail and different things. And so their, their, their content is much more focused on that. And also there's not as many northern growers. I don't know why, but there are some, I'm not saying I'm the only one, but I feel like most of the growers are like, I don't know, like in the south, like zone seven and below, and there's a lot of flower farmers in the north that you know with me, that, and I just don't, for some reason I've always kind of felt like that like most of the educators are either on the coasts, like the Pacific Northwest, which is extremely different climate than us, even though it is northern. But so I feel like I kind of fit this niche where I could speak about selling flowers to florists, reach flower farmers and be a northern grower as well, where I felt like there were some gaps in the YouTube platform as well. So that's why I just like December 6th, I posted my first YouTube video and it was a little nerve wracking because you're thinking, is this actually going.
- [52:23]
Corinna Bench
To, I was going to ask what did it feel like the first time you post a video on YouTube? Because I know I was terrified. Good for you. If you're waiting for it to not feel scary, you will never start.
- [52:37]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Oh, it was terrifying. Yeah. And just like trying to figure out all the tech and all the different things. It was a lot and it was, it was not super easy, but I just kind of like started winging it, like building the plane while you're flying. Pretty much that's what we did. And so yeah, it was, it was a little nerve wracking. Plus like the whole idea was essentially a marketing strategy to strategically reach specific flower farmers in order to be able to reach flower farmers that are looking to sell flowers to florist with the goal of launching my course a couple months later. So that like it was a very strategic, thought out thing. Not that you're not welcome to watch the YouTube videos if you're not going to buy my course, that's not, you know, how it is. But like just trying to get the audience that I was looking for. So yeah, it was scary. And, and then I wanted to be consistent because you can't just post a video and expect Anything to happen. So I had very low expectations. And interestingly enough, my first video got, like, I don't know, 37 views or something. You know, nothing. Right. Which. Which was anticipated. And then my next video was. It kind of just got a lot of views. I can't even remember what a lot was, but, like a thousand, maybe, which to me, sound was crazy.
- [53:57]
Corinna Bench
A bigger leap. Yeah, yeah.
- [53:59]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And got me a lot of, like, I don't know, like, a hundred subscribers to my YouTube channel overnight. And I was like, wow, okay, this. This might actually work. So I was really thankful that I got this, like, second video that seemed to really at least do something because it gave me a lot of encouragement to keep going. I tried to post a video every. Every week. And then I got a. And then I was monetized. I got monetized in. Oh, man. I think, like, the very end of January. So within, like, two months, I was monetized on YouTube, which means you just. You have to meet certain criteria. You have to have a thousand subscribers and get so many watch hours.
- [54:36]
Corinna Bench
Watch hours? Yep.
- [54:38]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
I think it's 3,000 or 4,000. I can't remember, but. So I was monetized within two months. And so you're kind of watching this progress and you're like. It kept me motivated because you just start kind of ticking it off. And I created a. A lead magnet to try and get flower farmers that are wanting to sell the florists on my email list. So that list started at zero, like the flower farming list. And now. And now it has almost 500, 470, I think, on it now. And at the time. Yeah, so.
- [55:09]
Corinna Bench
And that's all through YouTube, right?
- [55:11]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
All through YouTube. It's all coming through YouTube. So I have a lead magnet. It's. Yeah. Tips for selling flowers to florist. So I'm trying to. So it's all very strategic. I was trying to really, you know, get the right people on my email list that are interested in that, you know, information. And I try to just put out a lot of really helpful content. So even if you're not, you know, interested in going beyond YouTube, that you're still gaining value.
- [55:38]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. Do you map that content out? Like, did. Is that part of what you was percolating over the summer? Like, here are some of the things I could teach. Or do you just think about it the day before and then you just get in front of a camera and start talking?
- [55:49]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, no, it's not quite that easy. I wouldn't say I was mapping it out over the Summer. But now I have. You have a list, a Google Doc, a list of different YouTube ideas, and then they just, like from the questions that people ask.
- [56:05]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [56:06]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Generated, you know, like, what are. What is essentially my ideal customer interested in learning about.
- [56:11]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [56:12]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And kind of going down that route. Now, there have been a few times I've been like, okay, I just need to make an easy video, because I'm trying to be consistent with doing about a video a week. And then, interestingly, I just kind of deep dove into my woodies that I planted. And that is essentially like a mini education series about growing bees, especially like, if you're in a similar climate to me. And that really, people were very interested in that content. And so that was again, like, essentially what got me monetized was through that. And then I had a lot of people sign up for my email list. And. And so that was an interesting thing. But I just thought, well, I just put in all these woodies. I've done all this research on woody shrubs and. And I have some that are, you know, two years old, so I can speak to how much did they produce the first year and the second year or any. And, you know, growing things. And I just felt like I could share very easily and in depth. And I've done a lot of research. And so people were really interested in.
- [57:11]
Corinna Bench
Right.
- [57:12]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So you had.
- [57:12]
Corinna Bench
You had a lot of confidence. You. You felt like you could speak with authority on that, so it was easy for you to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then you had an offer. Right. So now you've got this email list. You start to get specific around, what does my offer look like? Did you pitch it to your. Well, let's talk about what was your offer that you pitched to your farmers?
- [57:34]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So in the very end of February, I launched my course, which is called Selling Flowers to Florists, which is.
- [57:42]
Corinna Bench
Love it.
- [57:43]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
That's super easy. Which is basically has like six hours of video content and it pretty much holds your hand from before. You ever walk into a florist shop, what crops to grow, what things to consider, delivery considerations, how to make an availability list, how to communicate with your florist, what to do in the off season, how to harvest, when to harvest, cooler considerations. I mean, it's. I've tried to make a roadmap, and now I've actually had students in it. And so I've gotten some feedback. So that's been encouraging as well. I think the biggest thing is, the biggest thing that I hear farmers say is, is this viable? Like, I really want to Sell to florists pretty much exclusively or have that be the bulk of my farm. But it. Is it really possible? Like, is it profitable to profitable?
- [58:34]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [58:35]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
And I mean, it has been for me because that think there's a lot of people that this fits in their lifestyle and in their capacity and. But they feel like it's not possible. And I. It is for me. It has been so, it's been great, like a great fit for our family to do this. So that tried to like, overcome that. Like, yes, this is possible. Now you gotta be smart and there's different things that will help you and you have to understand the, like the difficulties of working, of the florist working with you and set yourself apart. Because I think now it's great that there's like this revolution of flower farmers in the United States. But you've got to know what to do. You don't just want to walk into a wholesaler and not get and, and not have the right tools in place or you're going to fail and they're not going to trust you and they're not going to buy from you. So just trying to set people up for success and so it walks you through like that whole process and selling your flowers.
- [59:42]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. So you basically took the marketing framework that I teach for farmers to use on, you know, their customers, and you applied it, in this case to farmers and you saw it work there too, which is really cool. You had people buy the course, I assume.
- [60:02]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, I did. I had 28 people buy the course, which I thought was pretty good.
- [60:06]
Corinna Bench
That's amazing. How did that feel?
- [60:10]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
It felt really great. Yeah, I mean, it was amazing. You're like, okay, well, it's working, right? Like, I went from YouTube and I got my lead magnet and I got people on my email list. I think I had like 370ish at the time on my email list. So I felt like, okay, I've got, you know, I got people here. And then you're like, is anybody going to actually buy this? And so it was pretty exciting. I really felt like if 10 people bought it, that would be a pretty big win. So the fact that 28 people, you know, there's 28 students in. I was like, overcome. Like, I was like giddy and felt like I had to, I don't know, just like, it was just exciting that it worked. And it felt like, wow, if this, if this is where it's at now, like what's possible and people are really looking for it, I think so it was nice to be Able to feel like I could give back to the flower farming community as well.
- [61:08]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. Now the question becomes how do you continue to support them? Right. Like, how do you. What else do they want from you? Is there another way that you can build another product for them? I'm just thinking on your behalf, I'm thinking of the Ascension ladder. Like, what does that look like for this business now too? Something to think about. I mean, I'm not saying you have to have an answer there, but.
- [61:29]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah. As soon as I finished it and it was like, working, I was talking to my sister and she was like, so what are you going to make next? I was like, I don't know.
- [61:38]
Corinna Bench
I'm just going to celebrate. Enjoy. Yeah.
- [61:43]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Get some sleep.
- [61:44]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [61:45]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Because it was a lot of work. I mean, it was, you know, I'm. I homeschool, I got five kids. Like, I, Yeah, I was like waking up at five in the morning and staying up till 11 o'clock at night working on it.
- [61:55]
Corinna Bench
Yeah.
- [61:56]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
You know, it was a process. It took a lot.
- [61:58]
Corinna Bench
Well, and even having the courage to. And the guts to put something like that out there, that takes a lot. Like, I still, I still struggle with, am I good enough? What will people think if I say this? Which everyone's always shocked when I say that, but it's a, I think it's a human condition. And so the fact that you were able to push past that and say, I'm gonna stand in my power and I'm gonna share what I know. And if people say no, they say no, but I'm gonna put it out there. Like that alone is, Is required to get you to where you want to go. So bravo.
- [62:32]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah, absolutely. It took, it was, yeah, like, and, and like I said, it took me. It was a process, it was a journey to even get to the point where I felt like I could create this course and have the confidence to put it out there.
- [62:49]
Corinna Bench
Yeah. Well, I wanted to. I know we're kind of getting to the end here, but I wanted to ask you, as you look at both of these scenarios, like we just looked at your, I guess, digital business. Now we're selling a course to flowers, to flower farmers, but also your actual flower farmer business too. Like, like, what are the marketing lessons? If you had to prepare one or two principles to share with farmers who are listening right now, flower farmers, like, what. What would be some of those marketing lessons that you feel have been really important for you in this journey and process?
- [63:28]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
So I think there's two things. One is the fortune is in the follow up. And so you have to follow up with, with your customers. And I think that's anywhere. I mean, that's like a business principle, right? That's not necessarily specific to flower farming, but it really is true. I mean, I've heard other flower farmers essentially complain like, well, I went to a florist and gave them samples and they never contacted me. Well, they're probably not going to that it's your job to contact them and to follow up with them and to keep putting yourself out there and to make it easy. And then I'm a big believer in like starting small and growing. And maybe that's just because that's my phase of life and because my husband has a full time job and because I have kids, like there's elements that go into that. But for me, slow and steady really has brought me to where I'm at. And I continued to grow and I continued to get, you know, into more advanced crops and I continued to, to educate myself. Because the fact of the matter is, if I would have tried to buy, you know, 900 woody shrubs, first of all, I didn't have any money, but like, I wouldn't have known how to do that in my first or second year of farming. And so it was a process of educating and really learning and keeping track of where I've been to like, plan out where I'm gonna go. And this isn't exactly what I envisioned when I started my farm six years ago that, oh, this is where I'm gonna be sitting. And I didn't start my farm thinking I'm gonna create a course to sell flower, about selling flowers to florists. Right. Like I, that wasn't in the plan, but it has just the way it's evolved and worked. And so I think that's just like a marketing, a marketing thing in the fact that you're being consistent and you're reevaluating and you're seeing what works and you're continuing in the journey as it unfolds before you and walking through the open doors and there's definitely been things that, that haven't worked. And so being able to say to stop something that's not working, whether it's a sales channel or a crop or a relationship with a florist or a customer. Right. Like being able to say no and move in the direction of what, what is easier or what's working better or you know, that, that direction and being able to focus and go through, through there.
- [65:52]
Corinna Bench
And yeah, you're kind of speaking to the pace and the rigor of, like, how businesses, quote, unquote, should develop. And, you know, a lot of emphasis and credence is given to those and attention is given to those businesses that start up. And like, you know, they're like a firestorm and they just run out of the gate like a racehorse and, you know, have their systems up and running really fast or making tons of money right away. But there's a. There's something to be said for the slow and steady method of being thoughtful and intentional and pausing and not feeling like you have to go super fast because you're establishing your foundations so that this can stay rooted for a long time. Right. And I. Yeah, it's not as flashy, but it's, one could argue better, but at least just as good.
- [66:49]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Yeah.
- [66:50]
Corinna Bench
Well, Ruthanne, I just want to acknowledge you for following your energy because as you're talking about how this whole journey has progressed and what you're doing now, you're how you're taking your knowledge and you're sharing it with other flower farmers and how that's just blowing up and it's in your strength zone and you just love it. You are, like tuning in to your intuition. You are sensing where the energy is, what it seems like God wants you to do. I almost want to say, and you're just doing what feels natural and things are working out. And so I want to just bring that into the space because I think that's one of your secrets to being successful. It's not just that you're great at following up with florists or whatever. I feel like you're also really in tuned to what is all coming together right now and what feels easy and what feels light and what feels fun. Right. Like you're having fun. So anyone who's listening right now, as you're building your business, I hope that you can live in the land of fun, because when you do, value just comes out of that. So look for that if you've lost your land of fun. But please tell people, Ruthanne, how can they learn more about. Maybe they want to learn more about this course, or maybe they just want to go to your YouTube channel. Or maybe they're like, what is this lead magnet she's talking about? So if a farmer wants to learn how to do this for florists, like, where can they get in touch with you? What would you recommend?
- [68:24]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Sure. Well, if you go to my YouTube channel, which is Abundant Blooms Flower Farm on YouTube, in the description of every video is a link to my Lead Magnet, which is selling tips for selling flowers to florists. So if you're interested in understanding a little bit more about that, go there and you can check out that lead magnet. There's also links in there to like my website. I do have a private Facebook group for flower farmers about. It's called selling flowers to florists. Might see a theme here. And so you, you know, there's links in every YouTube video to, to all of those things. But I would say if you want to get on my email list or get this Lead Magnet, which it's, it's really got some great tips. I think there's nine tips in there about how to get started. It's, it's how to get started. But it's more than that. It's beyond. It's not just for like a brand new farmer. So in every description of my videos on YouTube you will find those links. And I am on Instagram that is like more for my florists. I feel like I definitely show some behind the scenes things, but YouTube is probably the best place to connect with me.
- [69:28]
Corinna Bench
All right, well, I'll link up to your YouTube channel in our show notes and if your lead magnet has a link, which it probably does, I'll link that up too. So you could probably find both of these things in the show notes for today. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing the story with me and I get to know you. It's really great. I appreciate it very, very much and I wish you success on this new little venture. I have a feeling it's going to go well, so keep in touch.
- [69:55]
Ruth Ann Majauskas
Thanks so much, Corinna. I really appreciate you having me on the show.
- [70:01]
Corinna Bench
Today's show notes can be found@mydigitalfarmer.com 310 and I will make sure that all of the links that we discussed in this interview with Ruthanne are in there. So the link to her YouTube channel, the link to her lead magnet. So if you're a flower farmer and you want to just get that stuff directly, just go to my show notes. Okay? Now if you like today's episode or if you want to share it with another farmer, please go and leave me a rating or a review on Apple podcasts. Or you can grab the link to the show and drop it in a text, send it to your friends. Don't forget, if you want to get onto my email list to make your marketing stronger and get some tips from me, I got some free stuff to send your way. It's going to be really helpful. If you don't like it, just unsubscribe. No hard feelings, but you can subscribe@mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe. All right, that's all I got for today. Thank you so much for joining me. Have a wonderful week and remember, I believe in you. Bye.