322 Using Collaborations to Market Your Farm with Erika from Taste the Local Difference

Summary

My Digital Farmer Podcast - Episode 322: Using Collaborations to Market Your Farm with Erica from Taste the Local Difference

Host: Corinna Bench
Guest: Erica Tebbens, Director of Impact at Taste the Local Difference
Release Date: July 23, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 322 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast, host Corinna Bench delves into the power of collaborations as a strategic tool for marketing farms. Joined by Erica Tebbens, a seasoned marketing expert from Taste the Local Difference, Corinna explores how partnering with like-minded businesses can amplify a farm's reach, build trust, and create lasting brand momentum.

Defining Collaboration in Farm Marketing

Corinna Bench introduces the concept of collaboration early in the episode:

"It's collaboration, teaming up with other businesses to cross-promote and borrow the trust of their audiences. [00:00]"

Erica Tebbens further elaborates:

"A collaboration in its simplest terms is you and another aligned business owner that serves the same ideal customer. You come together and basically do a short-term or long-term partnership to help promote each other so that you can both succeed and sell more. [12:36]"

Benefits of Collaborations

Borrowing Trust:

Erica emphasizes the foundational benefit of leveraging existing trust:

"If the folks on your email list already trust you, partnering with another trusted business allows you to 'borrow' that trust. [16:34]"

Cross-Promotion and Expanded Reach:

Collaborations enable farms to tap into each other's audiences:

"Each person in the collaboration gets to borrow the trust of the other person, and you are able to amplify and get the word out for each other. [20:19]"

Building Momentum and Buzz:

Successful collaborations can create ongoing excitement and anticipation among customers:

"You can create a buzz where people get really excited about your events, saying, 'We gotta go to this next time.' [24:00]"

Examples of Successful Collaborations

Product Line Extensions:

Corinna shares her experience with launching a prepared foods line in partnership with a local chef:

"We are currently beta testing a new frozen prepared foods line in collaboration with a local chef. It's been an amazing way to test new ideas and tap into a whole new audience. [04:49]"

Farm-to-Table Events:

Erica provides another example involving a cook-off event:

"We did our version of 'Chopped,' where CSA members competed in a cook-off challenge judged by a local chef. It generated significant goodwill and brand energy, even if immediate profits were minimal. [33:01]"

Workshops and Classes:

Collaborating with local artisans for workshops:

"Partner with local florists for bouquet-making classes or herb shops for floral dyeing workshops. These events create engaging experiences that draw in new customers. [34:10]"

Planning and Executing Collaborations

Initiating Collaboration:

Erica advises starting with existing relationships:

"Start with the folks that you already have a relationship with first. That could be a good fit and the easiest way to begin. [42:50]"

Pitching Ideas:

When reaching out to potential partners, be clear and intentional:

"Reference what you admire about their business and propose a mutually beneficial idea. For example, 'I love how you prioritize organic materials in your bouquets. Let's collaborate on a floral crown workshop.' [49:03]"

Setting Expectations:

Ensure both parties are aligned on responsibilities to prevent imbalances:

"Make sure there is clarity about what each party is expected to do to avoid one side feeling overburdened. [20:56]"

Tools and Assets Preparation

Marketing Assets:

Having ready-to-use marketing materials simplifies collaboration:

"Have your marketing assets like graphics and text ready. Create social media templates and email copy in advance to streamline promotion. [58:59]"

Shared Calendars and Plans:

Use shared documents to coordinate timelines and promotional schedules:

"Develop a timeline and shared schedule to keep both parties on track with promotion and event execution. [58:59]"

Making Collaborations Recurring

Debriefing and Optimization:

After a collaboration, review its success and areas for improvement:

"Do a debrief with your partner to discuss what worked and what didn’t while the experience is still fresh. [62:30]"

Creating Templates:

Use successful collaborations as templates for future partnerships:

"Store all assets and feedback in a shared folder to replicate successful elements in subsequent collaborations. [64:40]"

Capturing Social Proof:

Gather testimonials and visual content to enhance future marketing efforts:

"Capture images and collect testimonials during events to use as social proof in future promotions. [65:43]"

Conclusion and Resources

Erica Tebbens highlights the comprehensive services offered by Taste the Local Difference, emphasizing their expertise in catering to purpose-driven farmers and local food entrepreneurs. She encourages listeners to explore their resources for further guidance on effective marketing strategies.

Corinna Bench wraps up the episode by urging farmers to consider collaborations as a potent marketing strategy to expand their reach, build trust, and foster a vibrant community around their farms.

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Notable Quotes

• Corinna Bench [00:00]: "What if I told you that one of the best ways to grow your farm's customer base doesn't involve spending tons of money on ads or creating more social posts? It's collaboration."

• Erica Tebbens [12:36]: "A collaboration is basically you and another business owner coming together to help support and uplift each other so that you can both have more success and more ease."

• Erica Tebbens [16:34]: "If people trust you, partnering with another trusted business allows you to borrow that trust and reach a wider audience."

• Erica Tebbens [20:19]: "Cross-promoting to each other's audiences increases your visibility exponentially compared to solo efforts."

• Erica Tebbens [33:01]: "Our version of 'Chopped' didn't make us a lot of money immediately, but it generated immense goodwill and brand energy that paid off in the long run."

Resources Mentioned

• Taste the Local Difference: localfoodmarketing.com

• Marketing Plan Checklist: Available in the show notes at mydigitalfarmer.com under episode 322.

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Whether you're a new farmer just starting or an established one looking to expand your reach, leveraging collaborations can be a game-changer in building a strong, trusted brand. Tune into Episode 322 to gain actionable insights and real-world examples from Corinna Bench and Erica Tebbens on how to effectively collaborate and grow your farm business.

Transcript

[Corinna Bench]

What if I told you that one of the best ways to grow your farm's customer base doesn't involve spending tons of money on ads or creating more social posts? It's collaboration, teaming up with other businesses to cross promote and borrow the trust of their audiences. Today, we're diving deep into how to create marketing collaborations that actually work for your farm. And I've got a guest who's an expert on it. Let's get started. Hey there. This is Corinna Bench, and welcome to.

[Erica Tebbens]

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.

[Corinna Bench]

Better and more confident at marketing.

[Erica Tebbens]

Let's learn how to find more customers, increase your sales, and build a strong brand for your farm. Let's start the show.

[Corinna Bench]

Well. Welcome to episode 322 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. How's everyone doing today? Welcome back to the show wherever you are. Big shout out to my regular listeners. Welcome back. And if you are new to the podcast, I'm really glad you're here today. Make sure that you subscribe to the show. Go check out my first 10 episodes. I designed them to be an onboarding ramp into the marketing space. So if you're a little bit green or clueless about how marketing works, that is going to give you a great foundation. Another place to go to learn the ropes is to get on my email list. Because when you do, I'm going to send you an email roughly every four days for like three months. I know that sounds like a lot. You don't have to read them all, just file them away in a folder in your inbox. But each one is designed to teach you some key principle of marketing or point you to a really good episode you need to listen to of my podcast or. Or give you a marketing template or a freebie or an idea for an offer. There's just so much good stuff in there and you can read it real quick, get the idea, be inspired, and move on. So if you want to get onto that list, it's free. Just go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe and it'll start the very next day. Today's podcast is sponsored by my friends at localline. If managing orders, customers and inventory feels chaotic this season, it might be time.

[Erica Tebbens]

For a better system.

[Corinna Bench]

Localline is the all in one sales platform built for farms and food hubs. Whether you're selling direct to consumer or managing wholesale buyers or running a CSA with tools like E commerce, automated inventory management, subscriptions, barcode scanning, box builder, and pos, localline helps you simplify operations and grow your sales. In fact, farmers using localline increase their annual sales by 23% and boost their average order size by 9.5%. Switching is easy. No setup fees, no sales commissions. And your onboarding manager will migrate your storefront for free, no joke, so that you can get started without missing a beat. As a podcast listener, you'll also get one premium feature for free for a full year when you use my code MDF2025 at checkout. So head to mydigitalfarmer.com localline use that coupon code and you'll be on your way. Start selling smarter this season with localline. And now back to the show. All right, well, welcome back to the My Digital Farmer Podcast. So glad you're here today. Today's topic is all about how to use collaborations to market your farm. Now, this is a strategy I have been exploring myself. And if you listened to a recent podcast episode, I've talked all about a new frozen prepared foods line that we are currently beta testing this season in collaboration with a local chef. And it's been an amazing way to test new ideas to build buzz and tap into a whole new audience, all.

[Erica Tebbens]

Without feeling like I'm doing it alone.

[Corinna Bench]

And that's what we're going to explore today. How you can set up collaborations like this one to grow your farm business in a way that's strategic and fun.

[Erica Tebbens]

Now, there are a lot of different.

[Corinna Bench]

Examples of collaborations, not just a prepared foods line or working with a chef, but we'll talk through a bunch of what they might be. Now, to help us break this all down, I've invited a fantastic guest, Erica Tebbens. And Erica is part of the team at Taste the Local Difference, where she helps farmers create marketing assets like websites.

[Erica Tebbens]

And email campaigns and social media ads, branding strategies.

[Corinna Bench]

And she's really passionate about helping local food businesses market themselves more effectively. And so today she's here to share how collaborations can help you do just that. So I'm going to read her bio so that you formally get introduced to her and we had a fantastic conversation. Actually went a little bit longer than what I'm even sharing with you today. She is so good and I can't wait for you to learn from her. So let me read her bio here. My guest today is Erica Tebbens and she is the director of Impact at Taste the Local Difference. She's a marketing expert with 20 years of experience with running businesses of all kinds, including farming and beekeeping. Now, if you don't know Taste the Local Difference is a woman owned, woman led marketing agency for purpose driven food and farm businesses. And before joining tld, Erica spent a decade working with entrepreneurs on their sales and growth strategy as a highly respected business consultant for entrepreneurs. Please join me in welcoming Erica Tebbens to the show.

[Erica Tebbens]

Well, Erica, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Yeah, I'm excited to have you on the show too. I know I've worked with Taste the Local Difference several different times and I have a lot of relationships with people from that organization. So it's fun to finally meet you in person. I know you've recently joined the team. Why don't you briefly introduce yourself and talk a little bit about what you do at Taste the Local Difference?

Yeah, so I am the director of Impact here. I have been here for a little bit over a year now. And before that I had my own consulting business. I was working with entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them on their sales and marketing growth strategy. And before that I, I was actually a farmer and beekeeper and I worked for another large farmer that you and I both know, Michael Kilpatrick. For many years. I was actually his very first market manager. And so I'll probably reference him in a few of these examples later on today. But. But yeah, so my background is this blend of I understand food systems and I understand business. I've been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. I've run all different kinds of businesses. And so what I do for Tastes the Local Difference is that I help with our food Systems Impact partnership projects. So in addition to our marketing services, we also partner with all sorts of organizations, universities, economic development agencies, et cetera, to help do, you know, different types of marketing, education, subsidized technical assistance, all sorts of really cool things.

Now you, when you worked with Michael, when I first heard about you, you were helping launch and teach farmers about how to do farmers markets well. And so you also have like a long history in course creation and content creation. When it comes to marketing as well, don't you?

I do, I do, yeah.

Like, if we Google Erica Tubbins, we're gonna see a lot of things pop up.

Yes, yes. So I have a lot of experience in the digital marketing space as well. And, you know, course creation, launching, you know, the. The whole gamut. The whole gamut.

You are well qualified to be on this show and talking with us. So I'm so glad you're here. Tell me a little bit more about the kinds of farmers or food businesses that you are typically working with now. And like, what are some of the common themes and struggles that you see them bring to you at tld?

Yeah, it's a great question. So I would say that the folks that we work with are very similar to the folks that you work with. They are farmers who are either in their earlier years of farming and just getting started, or they've been at it a while, but are, you know, they maybe still have a day job or their partner has, you know, a day job to help supplement, or maybe they're full time on the farm, but they are, you know, still wanting to increase their revenue and streamline and keep growing to be able to serve more people and. And to be more profitable. And the common themes are, you know, because we work with all types of farmers and ranchers and also specialty food and beverage producers and folks who are in agritourism as well. And the common themes are that they are so busy and they know that marketing is important. They know that marketing will help them, but they are incredibly overwhelmed either with understanding what to do when it comes to marketing or they have gotten beyond the point of knowing what to do and it's just a matter of they don't have time to do it or, you know, it's very hit or miss. It's very inconsistent. Maybe in the slower season they are a little bit more on top of it, but then they get busy and then it falls off. And so they're just constantly feeling like their marketing to do list is never ending. Whether that comes to learning about getting better at marketing or simply implementing the marketing that they know they should be doing.

Yeah. Or that it's just not enough.

Yeah.

You can never get in. When is enough enough. I know that that's something I'm always battling. Yeah, right.

And I think also too knowing, like, is it even working? You know, like, where should I focus? And, you know, this platform. That platform. And, you know, it's just. It's a lot. It just feels like a lot.

Yeah, well, One of the ways that I know a farm can accelerate their aptitude and their confidence in their marketing and even just starting to see results is through something we're going to talk about today, which is collaboration. So that's often something that can really jumpstart you and help you grow your email list and get exposure and get more eyeballs on your brand. So I brought you onto the show today because I know you're really good at talking about this topic and can help educate my audience. And I thought maybe we could start out with a very generalist question because some people might not even understand what, what we're talking about when we say collaboration. So can you, can you define that? Let's start there. What is a collaboration in the context of farm marketing?

Yeah. A collaboration in its simplest terms is you and another aligned business owner that serves the same ideal customer. You come together and basically do a short term, short term or long term partnership. Typically it's more short term and you are working together to help promote each other so that you can both succeed and sell more. So it's, it's basically at its core level, it's like that saying a rising tide lifts all boats. It's like that. So it's just, yeah, it's you and another business owner coming together to help support and uplift each other so that you can both have more success and more ease.

Yeah. So let's give a few examples of what that could look like. I'm going to start because I, I was thinking about, we recently this year decided to, to try a monthly chicken share, but we don't, we don't actually produce the chickens. They're not on our farm. So we reached out to a local vendor, chicken farmer, the Andersons in Bowling Green, and just kind of threw out the idea, hey, what do you think about adding on chicken to our product line and selling it to us wholesale? We worked out this whole arrangement so they end up selling a whole bunch more chicken through our huge email list. Right. So we have the ability to pre sell it. We've got the eyeballs on our brand, we have their trust. And this is the ideal customer that wants this kind of products. They don't have to go and do the work of finding these people. And I don't know if it's going to go anywhere beyond one season, but it's kind of an example of just dabbling in. I know they solve a problem for me because now I can provide meat without me having to actually do the meat myself. And it solves a problem for them because they, they can sell more product. What are some other examples that you have seen in working with farmers?

That is such a fantastic example and I will give one that is similar to that idea of pairing a produce with a meat, which is if you have a place nearby, you know, a restaurant or a caterer or something like that, that can do a farm to table lunch or dinner and do it with combining a meat producer and a veg, you know, and or fruit producer together to create a whole meal that is a really great, successful one. Some others can be if you have flower growers, all sorts of really cool workshops or like take and make classes. And that can be for, you know, floral bouquets, flower crowns. If you have like a lavender farm also, there's all sorts of stuff you can do with that, obviously. And then just other things like at the farmer's market with pairing up recipes, you know, collaborating on recipes that utilize ingredients from more than one vendor. And if you have a farm stand and if you're able to sell different products from different vendors at that farm stand, you can do it there as well.

Yeah, like value added things that. Yeah, you're marking up. I love that.

Mm.

Yeah. So why, why is it that collaborations work so well as a marketing strategy for a local food business or farmer? Like, what's, what's going on there? What's the benefit?

So one of the things that is really great, and you actually touched on it in your example, is that you mentioned that the folks on your email list already trust you. And essentially what all sales boils down to is trust. So I'm sure that you talked about this. If people are, you know, if they've been learning from you for a while, that idea in marketing and sales of no like and trust. Right. So in order for people to buy from you, they have to know you exist, they have to like what you're all about or like your product. And then they have to trust that it's going to be worth the dollars that they're paying for it. Right. So the folks that already trust you enough to spend their money with you, especially if they're, you know, paying you again and again and again and like enrolling in your CSA and stuff, they already know. They trust you. They already know that you are going to deliver. And so if you say, hey, I know this chicken producer and I have partnered with them, what you are doing or what that chicken producer is doing is they are borrowing the trust that you have built up with your customer. So that's one. So that is, that's really one of the core things that you are doing, is that you, each person in the collaboration gets to borrow the trust of the other person, which is why it's really, really, really fundamental and that you are only collaborating with other folks that are aligned with you. So, meaning aligned in your, you know, your work ethic, your values, your quality of product, etc. Right. Because you don't want to tarnish your brand reputation that you've worked really hard to build up. And, and part of why this works, the, you know, the number one converting, you know, sales lever is word of mouth. And it's because word of mouth is essentially borrowing trust. Right? If you are talking to a friend and you say, hey, where is somebody, you know, somewhere I can go that maybe I haven't met you before that's good for a date night, or that I could, you know, buy a gift for somebody if they tell you, oh, go to this restaurant or go to this boutique or you know, whatever the case may be, because you trust your friend enough to ask them for the recommendation if they're recommending something, you trust that word of mouth recommendation, right? The second thing is that you are able to then amplify and get the word out for, for each other. So let's just say that in the most simple terms, each of you has a hundred people in your audience, right? So instead of you always just advertising to your own hundred people, now you are cross marketing to each other's hundred people. So imagine that maybe only 20 people on each of your, you know, email lists or audiences already know about that other producer. Well now if you're each cross promoting now the other 80 people that didn't know about you now get exposed to you, right? So it's the borrowed trust and the cross promotion make it such a powerful combination.

I want to just follow up on that a little bit because I, I want to make a distinction here. This is a collaboration. Tell me if I'm wrong, but to me a collaboration is where both parties agree to do the behavior. Yes, right. Where it's, it's not like I'm going to be the only one that's talking up this other person, but they're also supposed to talk you up to their audience because you can do one or the other. But I feel like a collaboration ideally is designed where there's an agreement between both parties. Like I'm not going to be the only one talking about you in my email list. Like you're going to talk about me in your email list. Too, right?

Like. Yes, yes.

And so I think that that's sometimes where collaborations can, can break down if there isn' clarity about that and about, like, what do we expect from each other? What, at a bare minimum, are we agreeing to? Because I have had moments like that where I feel like I've done more of the lifting and I'm like, I'm not sure, like, it was still good, but I wish that they had done more to, like, talk about me.

Yes.

[Corinna Bench]

To their people.

[Erica Tebbens]

But yeah.

Yes.

So I just wanted to point that out because I think that that can come up. What about this idea of another, like, benefit is just the. Have you ever seen, like, momentum builds? Like, where because two parties, maybe they're larger sized businesses, are now talking about the same thing, there's just like this ripple effect of energy.

Yes, absolutely. And I, you know, I feel like this is where you see it a lot, actually, in the online space. And, you know, for those of you who are less in the online space or have less familiarity with it, you may be familiar with summits. Right. As a participant in a summit and, you know, not somebody who has presented in a summit. But essentially, summits work on the same principle in that, you know, when you participate in a summit, it's a lot of, like, experts and educators coming together to each teach their own, you know, subject matter that they are experts in. And they're usually around, like a theme, like a core theme or a core focus, a core, like, niche or topic, something like that. And then everyone is teaching and you are able to, like. Because everyone in that collaboration is supposed to be amplifying the summit, it creates this buzz. Now that's. Those are typically much larger forms of collaboration because they usually have many, many people working together. So it creates a lot bigger buzz. But even if you have just two or three folks doing a collaboration, if it is successful, if people really enjoy it, it can create this exciting buzz where people get really excited about. Especially if it's an event you do maybe once or twice a year, where then people are like, oh, hey, this thing is coming up. I went last year, like, you gotta come with me this time. Right? And people will start again to do that word of mouth. They'll tell their friends, like, we gotta go to the Strawberry Fest, we gotta do the harvest, we gotta do this make and take class. We gotta go to this dinner, you know, whatever the case may be. And then it becomes this thing that people really anticipate and get excited about.

Well, because you have social proof that's starting to work for you too. You, you get this sense that a lot of people are talking about it and that's validating, that this is a cool thing and I should go do it. So I think that's definitely one of the perks of one of the things that I've seen come out of my collaborations that I didn't expect the first time. And I was like, oh, this is a nice side benefit and actually a really powerful one.

Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, it's. And that is where you are getting those raving fans that are then doing organic marketing on your behalf. Like, yeah. Which is phenomenal and definitely what every business owner dreams of.

Yeah. I've also been in this situation, especially when I was early on, early on starting out where a collaboration I think actually helped elevate our brand.

Yes, yes.

So when, when we needed a boost, it's like, let me go find people that I want to associate with, that I want to be associated with, but I'm not there yet.

[Corinna Bench]

Maybe, but I'm close, but I think.

[Erica Tebbens]

I could be in the club.

Yeah, right.

And then just being with them in this collaboration suddenly again accelerated my, my progress towards that echelon.

Oh, absolutely. And I will say in, in those instances, and I imagine you'd probably agree when you are, that, you know, when you're the one that is sort of trying to get into the space and borrow the trust of those people that are much more established, that is one of those cases where you may have to do more of the heavy lifting of promotion and just like, you know, take it as part of the growth process of like, they have earned the place where they are at and you are on the up and up. And so you're gonna have to push that boulder a little bit harder, but it will be worth it because it's going to get you to where you want to be faster.

So yeah. Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Today's podcast is sponsored by Taste the Local Difference. Is your marketing to do list starting to feel like a second full time job? When your list of tasks is growing longer by the day or you've got a highly technical project like logo design or setting up your e commerce shop, you need farm marketing experts like Taste the Local difference. With over 20 years of experience, TLD is my recommended go to marketing agency for purpose driven farmers and local food entrepreneurs. Because working with these businesses is not only their passion, it's their sole focus. No wonder most of their clients see an average of 200% return on their investment within the first year after service. So whether you need A marketing plan to reach more of your ideal customer. Or a graphic design for labels, packaging or advertising. Or a beautifully built website fully optimized for web search. The farm marketing experts at Taste the Local Difference can help you with all of that and more. And they have a special offer just for my digital Farmer podcast listeners. Go to localfoodmarketing.com podcast to learn more. And when you fill out a no obligation marketing inquiry form, just mention my digital farmer and you'll get 10% off any marketing service up to $300. That's localfoodmarketing.com podcast. And now back to the show.

[Erica Tebbens]

Well, what are some simple like low lift collaborations that a farmer who's listening might try this season? Let's come up with like a short list.

Yeah, so I would say if you are at a farmer's market, if you have other vendors that have, you know, again, that are aligned with you, your brand, you serve the same ideal customers, you know, you know that they are going to want to partner with you. All of those things. Think about ways that you could potentially have like a recipe that you develop together that uses both of your products. And then you could have something like a recipe card that potentially also has, you know, like a coupon or something with it. And then you have that there, you each divvy that up and you do that cross promotion in person where you are highlighting whatever it is. I remember, I don't remember what it was that we used to have when I worked for Michael, but I do remember that we used to like partner with this really great cracker maker at the market. It's funny cause I don't remember what we were promoting, but I remember that we partnered with them and we would do sampling and we would sample with their crackers and so we would, you know, show off. But then like they would, you know, cross promote with us and stuff too. So, so that is one of those things you can similarly do it with. You know, if you have a, like a farm stand or a digital platform or something like that or a csa, like you were talking about something where you are the one that is the like hub of sales and then partner with other vendors that have something that you don't and see if you can buy it in wholesale and then provide it that way. That is another one. And then another would be, you know, if you have something that is like, especially if you have space and you're already set up for like an agritourism type situation where you're already doing, you know, different events and you have the insurance, you know, you have all of that. Think about ways that you can incorporate other, other folks who might, you know, bring in something new and something fresh and something fun to that space. So whether that is live music, paint and sip, having people, you know, reaching out to photographers locally, like if you have a really beautiful setting and saying like hey, you know, we are, we have this space, we have this beautiful sunflower field or you know, whatever it is, you could do family photos, senior photos, like whatever it is that again, make sure that you're set up properly. But something like that where it's doesn't necessarily have to be a massive event that you are putting on, but you are coordinating with them and saying, you know, the only thing that we ask is like please tag us on social to get the word out about our farm and things of that nature. So you can also partner with if there are places nearby to you that already are hosting classes so that people don't have to come to you, but you can bring their, your products to them. Especially, you know, mocktails are really big right now. So if you have somewhere in a nearby town that maybe does different types of classes or workshops or different fun things, see if you can partner with somebody else to do like an herbal mocktail class or fruit mocktails, shrub making, you know, like, like vinegar shrubs, things like that with your products, like I said, you know, bouquet making, floral crowns, just like all sorts of different things. There are ways where if you are not set up for agritourism, you can go and partner with other folks who might love to use and feature your products in their classes and workshops. And then also, you know, other restaurants, like I mentioned earlier, if there are restaurants that are already doing farm to table, especially if you are already doing any sort of supply to them, see if they would be open to hosting a special themed dinner with your products. See if, you know, that could either be just a theme night with featuring your products or you could collaborate like I mentioned earlier, with another producer and do a whole, you know, evening where it's, you know, a veg and a meat or you know, a fruit and a grain or whatever the case may be.

Yeah, we actually did that two years ago. We did a, a spin off or a version of the TV show where we had contestants from our CSA who became finalists through a bunch of challenges that we ran in our CSA to compete in this cook off challenge. I can't remember the name of the show right now.

Chopped.

Yeah, it was our version of. It was our version of Chopped. So we reached out to a chef and said, can we use your space? And we promoted it. We were in their space. He was one of the judges. And we made it a big hoopla. And our, you know, CSA just loved it. And we had six finalists. Their families came, so they made a bunch of money just from selling food that whole night. And then it was just a really neat thing. So it was easy to promote and talk about on social media. And it just. It did that whole, like, build momentum, build energy. Oh, that's so creative. How clever. Right? So it just. It gave our brand a bunch of energy.

Oh, my gosh. That is the. Like, what a hoot that is.

That was so fun.

Awesome. I love, love, love that idea. I love that.

Yeah. And so, like, did it. Did it have. Did we make oodles of, like. We didn't make any money off that as a farm. Well, I guess we sold some produce to our chef, so I guess we did a little bit. But. But the payoff for us was all kinds of goodwill in our customer base. This, again, this brand energy, this feeling of my farmer's creative. I'm.

Yeah.

And then the people who competed, like, they're now bought in. The people who won, they're bought in for life. They're like super fans and celebrities in our community now. People are aspiring to do the next one and be someone like that. So there's all these positives that have come out of it for us as a business. Maybe it wasn't a dollar figure for us, but there are other really good things that came from that collaboration that were just as valuable to us. And so I just wanted to bring that up.

Yeah, I love that. That is so. It's. That's so great. That's such a fun idea because, like, yeah, like you said, it just. It. That is a thing that creates raving fans, it creates buzz, it gets the word out. It's. Yeah, it's like, it's the perfect, perfect combo.

Yeah.

And, yeah, I love it. And I even think. I know when I used to work for Michael, we always did a big strawberry fest in the early summer, and it was great. And a lot of our CSA families would come, a lot of our market regulars would come, and. And. And again, I know not everyone wants to do something on site completely, but. And at the time, we would just make all of the shortcakes and we would do strawberry shortcake and stuff, and we would just make it all ourselves, but that would be a great thing if you have fruit and there's like a baker, you know, somewhere in your town or somewhere else that you know that would want to collaborate with you, that they could provide the cream, they could do the shortcakes and you provide the fruit. That would be a great thing to be able to come together and do something really fun and you could make like a whole, you know, family event out of it. You know, even if it's at like a community center in your town that you know, it would just be so great. Or do like a cobbler or something. I don't know. Just. Yeah. Think about like what is, what is fun. Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors. Think about, you know, people love to have exciting things to look forward to. I know one actually this year for Mother's Day, there's a, an herb shop in our town and they had like a floral dyer, like a natural fabric dyer come in and did a make and take silk scarf floral dyeing workshop. So fun. It was awesome. And I dragged my 20 year old son to that with me. And then the, and then last year I took him to a kind of like a co working community space that's really cute. That hosted a thing run by a florist that was like a make your own bouquet, like they taught you how to best practices to make a beautiful bouquet workshop. Drag my son to that. And you know, those are all things I feel like you, you know, could essentially, if you have those other folks in your community could partner with in those ways to think about. Like I don't, I don't need more stuff as a mom. I just want to have a fun experience with my son. And I love, I love learning. I love stuff like that. So for me, I love like a Mother's Day event like that.

Yeah, I was still, I'm still thinking about your example of the photographer for whatever reason. And I, I think what, what struck me about that example is that sometimes a collaborator can end up giving you. I guess it's similar to the chopped experience too, that the value that you receive in it may not be in the form of income or cash. But every time a photographer comes and uses your space and shows off your gorgeous farm in the background or mentions this was taken at Shared Legacy Farms, that's another moment that somebody hears the word Shared Legacy Farms, right? And it begins to become more present in the environment in, in your location. Maybe not because people are like, oh, I'm gonna go get my photo taken at Shared Legacy Farms, but if it becomes a popular photo place, it's just showing up. It Just helping you create product awareness, brand awareness in and more eyes now when they see you again later in another environment, like, oh, they sell vegetables, or here they are at this market, or here they are at this event.

[Corinna Bench]

I heard of them.

[Erica Tebbens]

They were at such and such. Right. So I guess I just want to challenge people who are listening. Don't just think about collaborations in terms of what can I get out of it, money wise. But there are other benefits that come from it that may be even more valuable to accelerate your growth.

Yeah. And that I'm, I'm really glad you mentioned that because that's such a key point because you may not always, like you said with the chop challenge, like, you didn't make a ton of money in the moment, but it's a, it's a compounding effect. Right. And so even something like the example I gave of the Strawberry Fest, I honestly don't remember now, you know, what we used to make. I, I don't necessarily think because we needed so much staff and so much prep time and everything. I would be willing to bet it was not a huge money maker. However, the benefit was is that people would, it would take so many photos of them and their kids and having fun and they would bring their picnic blankets and they would hang out and it, it gave such a good feeling for the farm. And people would then have a reason to bring their friends with kids, and then their friends would get exposed to the farm and the experience of, you know, dealing with that business, having an interaction with that business and that brand. And then they were more likely to want to shop with us at the farmer's market because the farm was like an hour outside of town. Right. So it was like this excursion. But then they would, you know, come to the Saturday market, come to the Wednesday market, then they're more likely to become a CSA member. They're more like, you know, like they, it's like an entry point to get them into the orbit and to get them on the, the process of becoming a customer and a repeat customer and a raving fan. And so, like, no, we may not have made in that moment much money from them, but if you look at the lifetime customer value of the, of that.

Yeah, huge.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah.

[Erica Tebbens]

Which is what we're always aiming for is the lifetime customer value. In case you guys didn't know that, those of you who are listening. Yeah, that's a big one. That's what separates the beginning farmers from the advanced ones. Okay. Like, yes, we're all about lifetime customer value. So don't fret about the fact that you had to spend a dollar to acquire this lead. Like, they're going to make you thousands of dollars over the course of your life, so be okay with that. But yeah, like, we are always trying to figure out the retention play. And so I think that this is what these events, maybe they don't make you money in the moment, but they are. They're giving you a pot, they're giving the customer a positive experience with the brand. And anytime you can do that, a warm, fuzzy feeling, you increase the likelihood of them wanting to come back and buy again. So I love that.

Yeah.

All right, well, let's talk a little bit about planning and execution, because what is your advice for initiating a collaboration? Right, like, so how do you reach out? You spot somebody, you have this idea, and now you're like, how do I ask them out? Right? Like, how do I. How do I get them to want to do this?

[Corinna Bench]

Do you have any, like, what have.

[Erica Tebbens]

You seen farms do? What do you advise people to do when you counsel them?

Yeah, so I would say start with the folks that you already have a relationship with first. That could be a good fit. Right? Because that is always going to be the easiest. See, you know, make a list of some ideas and then think about who you know based on those ideas and start to do the outreach that way and just, you know, figure out would they be interested, if so, what might it look like? Did they have other ideas for you, you know, all of that? If there is nobody that fits that bill or if you reach out to them and they're, you know, they're not interested or anything, then I would say that is when you can think about other places that may not be already, like, familiar with you or you may not already have a type of relationship with. And that is when it's really good to have an idea in place and you want to speak to the benefits. Like, how is it going to benefit them when you make the pitch and what you are going to like, be bringing to the table and what you might, you know, need from them and then ask them, you know, or sort of tell them what next steps might be to discuss it more. So you're not gonna dump the entire bit of info on them of the whole plan. But you might say so, like, let's just say very simply that, you know, you are a like flower farmer and you want to, you know, work with like a creative in town, a florist or something, you know, that would do a make and take class or something like that, or you want to start having photographers come to you. What you would do is you would look for those that, you know, see again, seem aligned with your brand and seem like they would probably be a good fit. And then you would reach out and say, hey, you know, this is who I am. This is what we are about. Just like a brief, you know, brief elevator pitch about your, your brand, like who you are, what you do. And then say, I would love to talk to you about collaborating on a fun like bouquet making class or floral crown making class or whatever might be like on trend in your area. Obviously can depend wherever you are in the country, right. And time of year, etc. Etc. Right. And pitch them the idea, pitch them, you know, why you think it would be great or like what demographic would come or what holiday you should do it for whatever the thing might be. And then, and oh, and also let me back up and say if you have a specific like date or time frame in mind, give them enough time because just, we should just all assume that like everyone is busy, right? So give that, give other people enough time to you because not only are you gonna need enough time to plan it and figure out the details, but then you also need enough time to promote it, especially if it's a like singular event that is going to take place versus something that is like an ongoing thing. So then you want to reach out like, or, you know, when you reach out, then just say like, I would love to chat more with you about this. You know, here's how you can reach me. And maybe give them a couple of, you know, two to three dates and times that would work for you. So kind of narrow the, the options and then go from there and see if you haven't heard from them in a week. You know, I would follow up. Also, don't be afraid if you never like, if you don't hear back from people or if you get no thank you, you know, it just comes with the territory.

It's part of it.

Yeah, yeah. And, and then also I would say too kind of like as an in between between people that you already know and people that you don't know at all is tap your network. Are there people that you know who know those other people that could intro you to them or have other ideas or have other connections, you know, things like that. Because similarly you're going to be borrowing the trust of your friend who might know that floral designer or might know the person that you know runs that space that you want to use or whatever the case may be, right?

[Corinna Bench]

To.

[Erica Tebbens]

To make them give a second look. I get pitched so often by people, and a lot of times I don't even answer the email. And it's just because I'm like, I don't. I don't know who they are. What if they're just getting started and they don't have stuff figured out? Like, I don't want to take all this time and then put myself out there and my brand out there to introduce them to someone, and they don't even. They can't even. I don't know. I just. I. There wasn't enough of a Runway that had been built between me and this person in terms of trust. I was going to suggest, like, when we've tried doing stuff like this, we. It has always come from a place of relationship first, at least the best versions. And we sort of have a practice, like, we're at least going to go try the product first ourselves, see if we like it. Right. And then I can. I can more confidently come to the vendor and the relationship and say, I love your ice cream. We are obsessed with it. We buy it every couple weeks. We get like, four pints of it. Or, you know, there's. There's some kind of show on our part that we have already invested in them first.

Yeah.

And that also seems to grease the wheels a little bit where they're like, oh, there's almost like there's already a little bit of a relationship. Or maybe it's like I've been stalking them on social and I've been just commenting and being like, love this, love that. So that they've seen Shared Legacy Farms.

Yeah.

Already for a few months, saying things before I then come in and be like, hey, I just love your material. What do you think about talking with me about a collaboration then? I'm not a complete cold caller. I'm at least someone that they've seen has shown interest in them.

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. It's always. You're always. You're always going to get better results. If you can either start to build a relationship yourself or leverage an existing relationship, that you have to make the connection for sure. And I think one thing that helps, too, because I used to have my own podcast, and the pitches that always stood out to me were when I could genuinely tell that the person had paid attention to my podcast and referenced something in my podcast and were not just doing, you know, the spray and pray and. And hoping for a yes. But they were. They took some time and they were being intentional. So, yeah. Even if it Is that more cold outreach is like referencing, like you said it, you know, because you're going to be doing that vetting process anyways to make sure that you're aligned. Use some of that vetting process to reference things like, I selected you, I want to partner with you because xyz, because I saw that you, you know, like we are aligned in such and such way and I really love how you prioritize this in your business. And you know, your, like, you know, I love that your bouquets are very like organic look, you know, like really show them that you again are not just asking everyone in your whole area hoping to get a yes, but that you are specifically reaching out to them because you want to partner with them. And. Yeah, and then if you're close by or anything, like that's, I feel like that's where you can say like, you know, part of meeting, like, I would love to, you know, I could show you my product. I want to make you comfortable, like the whole thing so that it's mutually beneficial for both parties.

This is actually making me think of a very specific example of. It's almost like an influencer relationship that I'm thinking about. I have a woman in my CSA who is a naturopath and she first started her business maybe three years ago. She's very good at social media marketing and like she is like sold out now. Like it is hard to get into her clientele now. And I have been, I just keep thinking about her and I'm like, man, at first when she was beginning I was hesitant to try and co market together. I feel like there is some alignment between what we do and what she does. Even though she's healing people, but we provide, you know, vegetables. And then I had this whole like gut healing experience this past year and I thought a lot about her because I'm like, wonder if I should go see her. I didn't end up doing that, but she just keeps coming up. And I'm as we're talking about this, I'm like, this is kind of an example of a potential collaboration where we could just meet up and just talk about what Is there a way we could work together? Like you sort of like, I have a story that I'm going to be telling about my gut health. I can be pointing to your business. I can be talking about how you're a CSA member as a, as a resource. Maybe you could be talking about us and our vegetables to your clients and just make them aware that hey, you should be eating organic food. I Have a farmer that I, I'm a member of a CSA and I know they have an online store. I mean, I don't know where that, where that could go yet, but I'm just, I'm like, oh, this is a great, like, this is a collaboration that could happen. And it's another way to do it where you find a. Some kind. It's coming out of a health issue for me. Yeah, but that's to me, at first, maybe you don't see the alignment, but because I have this story that my community knows about now, it does have alignment, it would make sense for me to be pointing to a doctor who's more like a functional medicine doctor and be like, hey, alternative ways of healing yourself using food. So anyway, I'm just talking out loud now, but I think that that's another kind of way that this could, could look. So just for those of you who are listening, if that hadn't occurred to you, maybe, maybe that's something that you could explore. You could go find someone in your community who serves that sort of role in the healing space. And again, I don't exactly know what I'm going to say when I sit down with her, but I feel like I need to just meet with her and say, is there something we can be doing to point to each other's businesses? Because I feel like there's a way that we could continue to amplify one another even again, even if it's not about this. About money.

Right?

Yeah. So that just kind of a random thought. I just thought of influencers. I was like, influencers kind of fit in here. Usually an influencer is where you, it's not both ways, right. Where you're just like, here's some money. Talk about me. But sometimes it's both. Like, in this case, we would both kind of be influencing each other.

Right. And I think too, like, it, it's, it's great that you mentioned that because I think sometimes it can feel stressful if you're like, well, I have to think through every single detail before I can approach somebody about something. And then it can easily lead into like, you know, overthinking something to death. And then you're like, I don't know, you know, and then you just never get around to it. Right.

It just becomes that of a true collaboration of what could it even become together? You're right. Because I mean, you're like, this is the offer, take it or leave it. Instead, they're like, well, that's not, I don't like that idea, what if it was more like this and you're like.

No, Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah. You do not need to come in hot and like strict on the thing. Like, it's great to have, you know, an idea or two if, you know, especially if that person is a bit more like cold to you and you know, you don't want to put like a lot of labor on them to have to like, get to know you and figure out what to do when you're asking, you know, all of that. But, but if it is somebody, especially people that you already have that relationship with or you're in community with and you know that there is some alignment there, then it's a great idea to just be like, can we brainstorm this? Would you want to do something? If so, like, let's have a cup of coffee and figure out what that might look like. And you could talk through a few different ideas and you know, it can be one of those things where like the, the two of you coming together could co create something that is even cooler than what one of you would have come up on your own. So yeah, yeah.

Or even using the idea of the beta test. I recently did a whole podcast episode about the power of the beta test. But sometimes you don't, you don't know what you want until you meet and then you're like, you know what, let's just test it. Let's take the pressure off. Let's just test this idea for four weeks and we'll learn a lot from it and we'll maybe change the offer or decide if we want to continue.

Exactly. Exactly.

[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.

[Erica Tebbens]

Enjoy or does it feel like a constant struggle?

[Corinna Bench]

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[Erica Tebbens]

All right, well, what kind of assets or tools could a farmer prepare ahead of time to make a collaboration easier for both parties? You sort of have hinted that sometimes you should kind of show up with ready to do some heavy lifting. Like what does that look like?

Yeah, so what the most fundamental thing, and I'll, I'll use a bit of like digital marketing jargon, but I'll explain it is have some swipe files ready to go, which I know you know what those are, but they are, it's essentially when you have your marketing assets ready to go. So what this would be is graphics, like your graphics for social media of how you're going to promote it and then also whatever text would go along with it. So I know I referenced summits, digital summits earlier but typically what happens in a well run summit is the organizer will give all the participants their social media graphics. They are all like, you know, very branded. They, they look really good, they have all the info, they, they're very clear. And then there's usually some verbiage that is very brief for like a social media caption. And then there is some slightly longer verbiage that you would send in an email. And typically there's some, some of that verbiage is like highlighted in yellow and it's very distinct of like, you know, that's something where you would swap it out to your own customize. Yeah, exactly. So, so it's, it's very easy because again everyone is busy and so you are making it, you're, you're increasing the odds of other, the other people that are involved actually helping to do the promotion because you're not making them have to come up with their own things from scratch and you're keeping it cohesive. So that way everyone is seeing the same thing and people then it be, it gets that like brand recognition. So like I would suggest, you know, if you both have logos, get both of your logo files, you know, go into canva, you know, take a Template, swap it out with some colors, you know, make it look nice, don't make it too cluttered. And then figure out, you know, what you want to say. Put it all in like a Google shared Google Doc and then that way you both have it. And then I would say come up with some sort of, you know, timeline, some sort of schedule of like, hey, here's when, like, let's agree, here's. Here's when we are both going to be talking about it and where and things like that. Just so that the expectations are there and nobody feels like one of us did everything and the other person did nothing, you know, and then if there is a need for any sort of like digital tech, like a registration link, a coupon code, anything like that. Also just make sure that any of that is preset and test it first to make sure that it's working before you put it out there.

Yeah, yeah, I've made that mistake.

We've all. We all have. We all.

It's so awkward and so much work to correct it. Oh my God. All right, are there any ways that you could repeat a successful collaboration? Let's, let's talk about turning these things evergreen. Let's say you do it once and it's good and you want to do it again. What are some tips and tricks for turning it into a recurring promotion or campaign?

Yeah, so I would say shortly after it has completed the first time, do a debrief with your partner, see what worked, what didn't, what you may want to change for next time while that info is fresh, because you will forget it if you're going to do this like six months or a year from now, you will not remember. So, so do it when it's fresh. And that way you can make a fresh plan in the moment at least a rough, you know, things might change down the road, but at least a rough idea of things that you would want to optimize, things that you would want to change, things that you would want to definitely not do again. And then think about, okay, what would the timeline for that look like? And then, and I know you know this because you also know launching people never give themselves enough time to market. I feel like it's always better to give yourself enough time both to like bring awareness about the promotion and also just to buffer in time for like, just life getting in the way of like, oh, I was supposed to send that email today or make that social post and like, then this thing happened and I couldn't do it. Right. So figure out when you Want that next thing to happen, that next collaboration to happen. And then do a little backwards planning of like, okay, when do we need to start planning in earnest again? When do we need to start meeting again? When do we need to create the next next round of assets, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, so that we are not scrambling, so that we, you know, have our ducks in a row so that we can systematize this a little bit better and yeah. Basically make it even more of a success.

Yeah. I think too that once you, you've done it once the hard, the hardest thing is to do it the first time.

Yeah.

Because the second time around you can, you can use what you did the first time as a template. And that's one of the things that I didn't start doing until like two years ago, believe it or not. Now I have like a Google folder for all of my big promotions and I just have a Google Doc that's got the debrief in it, but it's got the swipe copy, it's got pictures, all the graphics that I used so that I can just even remember what were the assets last year. Right, right. And then a lot of times I'm even link off to the canva folder where I have those assets originally and I can just go in there the next year and quickly change the text, maybe flip, flip out a few images and it's a whole lot faster. So creating that a promotion like a digital place where, where your promotion lives and you can just come back and duplicate it every year is, is actually a smart move. You don't have to start from scratch unless you're coming with a totally different theme, then it's a little different. But if it's a repetitive thing will save time.

Yeah. That actually reminded me while you're doing it, if it makes sense for the thing that you're doing, try to capture images of the thing happening and try to get feedback from people in the moment or like right after, like testimonials basically.

Yeah.

And then that way you can use that for promotion the next later.

Yeah. Stick them in that promotion folder for next year or your Google folder labeled that or whatever. That's brilliant. So making sure you capture content that showing the fulfillment of the offer and the transformation of the customer as social proof. Yeah, I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that.

Yeah.

All right, well, let's. We have to wrap this up. If a farmer wanted to try to collaborate with someone for the first time, like what's a Great starting point. This is sort of like that last question to wrap it all up.

Yeah, I would say find complimentary products and try to just figure out a way that you can cross promote sales of each other's product in whatever way makes the most sense for you. Somebody that you already have a relationship with, that you trust, that you feel good about and figure out for your unique circumstance and the person that you're partnering with. Whatever makes the most sense for you to each be promoting with each other. Whether that's, you know, a simple recipe card with a coupon, whether that is like buying in a bit of, you know, wholesale and trying to resell, whether it is, you know, again, if there's somebody that you're already wholesaling to, let's say, and you have a great relationship with them, can they do a special, you know, pop up or thing, you know, featuring you, featuring your products, like an in store demo, a sampling, you know, something like that. Whatever is the, has the least amount of friction in terms of getting somebody to partner with you and getting that thing off the ground. Start there.

I love that you guys Taste the Local Difference, which is where Erica works is I send people there all the time. It is an amazing place. If you, if you're listening to this and you're like, wow, she's really smart. Everyone who works at Taste the Local Difference is like, Erica, they're brilliant when it comes to marketing. And I send farmers there all the time who are like, I just don't have time to do this myself. Corinna, can you just, can you just send me someone who's going to do it for me and at a reasonable cost? They do amazing work. I worked, I worked with Trish, like so many good people there. And so I just want to highly commend them to you. And if you're listening to this and you're like, I just need someone to be my go to person, please reach out to them. Can you just give our listeners a quick spiel about what TLD does, what the services are they provide for farmers and then you know where they can go to learn more about you. But just give us a quick spiel.

Absolutely. One thing I love about us is that our entire team has experience in the food system. We're passionate about the food system and working with folks in the food system is literally all we do. It's our niche. So we, you don't have to explain to us what you do or who you do it for. We automatically get it. And that is the feedback that we always get from our clients is like, oh, you just get it, you get what I do. And we're like, yes, we do. So folks can come to us for basically any marketing service out there. If you need your first brand kit, you know, your logo, your fonts, your colors or you're ready for a rebrand, we do that. We can do a one page website all the way up to like a super custom website, you know, with E commerce and the whole thing. If you already have a website and you want to add E commerce or upgrade your E commerce, we do that. We do all sorts of graphic design. So that could be custom packaging, you know, market signage, vehicle signage. My gosh, like social media templates, email templates, literally.

Product stickers.

Yeah, product stickers. Yeah, any type of graphic design that, you know, your CSA boxes, like we, any of that we can do. And then also strategy for, you know, like fully robust, you know, full marketing strategy for your whole business on multiple channels. Or we could do specific, you know, very specific to social media, specific to email marketing. And we can also do full like email tech setup. So if you're like, I just do not have the time to do this email funnel, like, please can I just get, you know, have somebody help me with it. We can do that whole email automation set up for you and more. So again, pretty much if it's, if it's a marketing service, 9 times out of 10 we can help you with it.

Yeah. And it's short term, long term, it can be whatever you want. And do people just reach out and have a, is it a free like console call just to figure out if you're a good match or just, or is it.

Yeah. So the best thing is to go to localfoodmarketing.com and there you can see an overview of a bunch of our services. You can see some of our past work and there is always on there, there's a marketing inquiry form. So you just fill that out, it sends an email to our team and then we reach out. There is, you know, no obligation. We just, we have a chat with you, we figure out your goals, your budget, you know, what you might be interested in, give you some suggestions and then we create a custom proposal for you to look over. And yeah, so easy, easy peasy. And we love, we, we love everyone who has come to us through you has been fantastic. No surprise. And we also have tons and tons and tons of marketing resources we love.

Tell us about that.

Yeah, we love to educate. So on localfoodmarketing.com there is a resources tab or localfoodmarketing.com forward slash resources. We have articles, we have free downloadable guides. We have webinars. Webinars are all of our past webinars. Are there future webinars you can register for? We have so much stuff, including a resource called the Marketing Plan Checklist, which I know you're going to include in the show notes, but the Marketing Plan Checklist is a really simple, straightforward, downloadable that you can get in our resources, our free resources that as you are planning a collaboration, you can have it, your partner can have it. And it is a checklist of the core things to do for a successful collaboration.

I will make sure that I link that up in the show notes. So many good resources. And one of the things I want to make sure we mentioned here too, is that your, your turnaround time for these projects is. Is fast. Right. It's not like six months from now. Have your website. Right. Right. Because when we're, I know as farmers, we have a problem, there's a fire and we want to put it out. And so we need to go to an agency and be like, help me. And you do actually do the work pretty fast.

Yes.

I'm always amazed. So cool.

Yes, we, we do, we do. And we love to help people feel like, you know, marketing can, like I said at the beginning, it can feel so overwhelming. It can feel so confusing. We really try to make people feel calm and confident when it comes to their marketing. And I, I feel like, you know, having been working with entrepreneurs and being in marketing for so, so long, I really feel like we do such an excellent job.

Yeah. Well, you're very empowering. I mean, you definitely teach them here. You know, I've made this thing for you. Here's how you're going to maintain it.

Yes.

Yeah. And that's, that's also a huge bonus.

It is. And that is one of our core priorities, which I really appreciate is every single service comes with an educational component of the handoff. It's not just here you go by. It's. We really make sure people understand how to use the marketing asset and feel comfortable with it. And they also own it. Like, it's not. They don't have to keep paying us like a user fee for their website or anything. They own it. We hand it off, we show them how to use it. So it's great.

Erica, you have to come back again.

Oh, my gosh. Anytime. Literally. I could talk all day long about marketing, like, till I would black out from. Yeah. Like, lack of oxygen but I really could. I love it. It's one of my favorite things to talk about. I'm happy to come back anytime. Thank you so much for having me.

[Corinna Bench]

Well, I hope you got a lot out of that and that your mind is now spinning with ideas. Huge thank you to Erica. I had a ton of fun talking with her and I hope you enjoyed it. You can get today's show [e-mail] 322 I'll be sure to link up those resources that she mentioned over there. Now if you like today's episode, please go leave me a rating or a review on the podcast. We would you do that for me? I'd really appreciate it. Or send this specific podcast episode to a friend. You can just text the URL to another farmer. I'm trying to get as many people aware as possible that I even exist. There's so many good resources on this show. Now if you want to get onto my email list, remember I have some free stuff to send you to make your marketing even better. And you can go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe subscribe to get that started. Don't forget I'm also now on Instagram ydigitalfarmer. I would love to connect with you there. And of course I'm inside of Farm Marketing School. Would love to coach you and get.

[Erica Tebbens]

To know you better and build a.

[Corinna Bench]

Connection and you can learn more about [e-mail] FMS thanks for joining me today. Have an amazing week and remember, I believe in you.

[Erica Tebbens]

Sam.