← My Digital Farmer Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
Today we're talking about media kits. If you want more visibility for your farm, whether it's press, partnerships, podcasts, you need a media kit. And in this episode, I've invited a guest onto the show to walk us through what to include, what to skip, and how to create a media kit that makes people take your farm seriously. Let's get started. Hey there, this is Corinna Bench and welcome to the My Digital Digital Farmer Podcast. In today's market, it's not enough to just grow your product, you've got to know how to sell it too. Welcome to the My Digital Farmer Podcast where we reveal online marketing strategies and tips to help farmers like you get better and more confident at marketing, learn how to find more customers, increase your sales, and build a strong brand for your farm. Let's start the show of. Well, welcome to episode 346 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 strategies so that you can can grow a profitable business. How's everyone doing today? Welcome back to the show. Big shout out to all of my regulars. Really glad you're here today. If you're new to the pod, I'm glad you're showing up and giving it a try. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast and go check out my first 10 episodes. If you're really new to the marketing space and you need kind of a 101 guide, they were designed to be an on ramp into the marketing lingo. It's a great place to start. Otherwise, just down scroll scroll through the archives. There are over 300 episodes now. That is crazy. I know you can find something in there that will tickle your fancy. You can also get onto my email list if you need some help learning the marketing lingo. And you can do that by going to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe. It's free and I'm going to send you an email like every five days for several months. And it's basically going to walk you through the jungle of marketing. I'm going to share the key fundamentals you need to know some of my best podcast episodes. It's going to teach you a ton and I have people you should be following and free resources. It's really good. So go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe to Grab that Today's podcast is sponsored by my friends at localline. A new year is the perfect time to streamline your sales and grow more profitably. So if you run a CSA or you sell wholesale or manage both, localline helps you streamline your sales and scale with confidence. In 2025, farms and food hubs that used Localline grew their sales by 33%, building on the 23% growth they saw the year before. Average order values increased by 31%. I know mine did. And total order count grew by 9%. Look, real results across operations of all sizes. Localline brings everything together in one platform. They have CSA management, wholesale ordering, automated inventory, barcode scanning, a box builder and POS so that you spend less time managing admin and more time growing your business. And switching couldn't be easier. There are no setup fees, my friends, no sales commissions, and their onboarding team will migrate your storefront for free, taking the workload off your plate. And that usually only takes a few days. As a podcast listener, you'll also get one premium feature for free for a full year when you use the code MDF2026 at checkout. So go to mydigitalfarmer.com localline and then enter that code MDF2026Start 2026. Organized, efficient and ready to grow with Local Line. And now back to the show. Oh my gosh, this is going to be an amazing episode. Get ready, get your note paper out and grab a pen because this is a deep dive and like a super detailed workshop on how to put together a media kit. And, and the reason that I decided to do this episode is because I need one. I had a situation happen this past summer where we were asked to come on to the morning the Good Day Show, a morning show on TV here in Toledo. It was an amazing opportunity for us for publicity and I didn't have this kit ready. I didn't have one in existence and I had to scramble and get a lot of stuff together to take advantage of the opportunity. And it made me aware of the fact that I should learn what these are about and I should get one put together for my farm and also for digital farmer. So I reached out to my friend Erica Tebbins from Taste the Local Difference. She's been on the show before and we are going to have her come on and basically do a deep dive training all about how to do these. She has one for herself for her own personal brand. It's amazing and so I know she knows how to do These. So if you don't know Erica, she is the director of Impact at Taste the Local Difference and she's a marketing expert with 20 years experience running businesses of all kinds including farming and beekeeping. 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. She was a highly respected, is a highly respected business consultant for entrepreneurs. And so she is on the show today to kind of share her expertise, her thought leadership in the area of the press marketing or the media kit. So because this is such an a deep dive interview, it's over an hour long, it's really good. I want to get right to it. So I'm going to hop over now to our, our interview call and I hope that you get a ton of ideas and that you build a marketing media kit this coming month. She makes it really easy. She spells it out step by step. I thought this was going to be a complicated thing to do. Now that I know what's in it, I feel like, oh, I could get that done in a couple hours. So I hope you have that same experience and that you make this a priority to get this onto your website so that you can be calling in future marketing opportunities for your business. All right, let's jump in. Well, Erica, welcome back to the show.
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Thank you so much for having me back. I love it. I'm always excited to chat with you.
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A
Yeah. Just in case people aren't familiar with your name, please introduce yourself to my audience briefly and where you work and what you do there and anything else you want to say.
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B
Yeah. So I'm Erica Tebbins and I'm the director of Impact at Taste the Local Difference. We specialize in marketing for farms and local food and craft beverage businesses. We've been doing it for over 20 years. We're experts in it. And, and my role as the director of Impact is pretty unique. I really love it because we do a lot of what we call impact partnerships. So we work with organizations, schools, different types of like institutions etc to form these partnerships that help serve farmers and small local food businesses. And so that is what my role does. I help put together those relationships, those partnerships and it's really, it's really great. It's really rewarding and a lot of fun. And so yeah, I might like connect with a local economic development agency or non profit, something like that and figure out ways that we can help support those entrepreneurs either with like subsidized Marketing services or marketing education, or sometimes both. And, oh, and I should also say another reason why it's perfect is because I both had. And this is sort of like where our worlds collide is I both used to be a farmer. Uh, and back in upstate New York, I worked for a farmer who we both know, Michael Kilpatrick. That was like my foray into that world. I did not grow up in the world of farming at all, and then was inspired from there to start my own micro farm. And I kept bees for a few years. And then later I was. I had my own consulting business for about a decade, and I was working with mostly digital entrepreneurs, although not exclusively on their sales and marketing strategies. And so my role now at Taste Local Difference, sort of this perfect hybrid of bringing all of my, like, sales and marketing knowledge and my knowledge of farming and food systems together in. In one role.
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A
And you are, well, networked.
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B
Yeah.
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A
That helps.
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B
That so helps.
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A
I'm jealous. I want that, too. It's so great.
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B
It's great.
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A
Yeah. Makes it perfect to collaborate. Well, the last time you were here, Erica, it was episode 322. So for those of you who are listening, you want to go back and listen to. It is a really good podcast. You talked about using collaborations to market your farm. And I'll make sure I put the link for that in the show notes everyone, if you want to go find it. But today I invited you back to give my audience some advice on the topic of media kits. And frankly, I wanted to get a little bit of free consulting from you.
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B
Sounds great.
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A
So I recently, this past summer, my husband and I, like, it fell into our lap out of nowhere. We got a call from a local TV producer, news producer. It was the. The. The Good Day show, which is like, a lot of people watch that every morning in Toledo area. And we were asked for a media kit as part of that process. We didn't have one. We still ended up going on the show, but I remember having to scramble to get a bunch of things that they needed from me that probably were supposed to be on this media kit, whatever that was. Right. And that's kind of when I thought, man, we're. We're probably big enough as a farm and been around long enough as a farm that we should have a media kit. And also now that I'm beginning to do more speaking with Digital Farmer, I want to create a media kit for that brand as well. And so I was like, who could I ask, who could teach me and my audience here on the show? About media kits. And you came to mind. I know you're going to be amazing. And so I'm going to just. I have a bunch of questions to ask you.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Um, and so I want you to think through the lens of the people who listen to this show. Like, how can it be helpful to them? But I also secretly want you to think through the lens of how can I help Corinna?
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B
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
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A
So let's start at the beginning. Just what is a media kit in plain language? Because we might have some people who don't even know what that is. And how is it different from having a website or having an about page? Just start there.
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B
Yeah. So you could kind of think of it as you can actually take. Depending on how your website is. If you have a website and how you know, built out it already is, you could certainly use your website and what you have on it as inspiration for your media kit. Certainly. And. But basically what the media kit is, is, is a very quick at a glance, like about you, like who you are, your brand story, your operation, some, you know, some successes that you've had, your unique value proposition, all of those things. And also some typically, some images that can easily be shared with somebody who wants to help publicize you. And that could be for a variety of different things. And I know we'll talk about several of them today, but that way they are not having to sift through multiple pages on your website and like digging through a bunch of different stuff to try to find what they may or may not want to pull. You've done the heavy lifting for them and you're making it very easy for. For somebody else who was also very busy in their job. Whether they are, you know, media, like in the case of that daytime, like that morning show, or whether they are, you know, a different like business or something like that, so that they can sort of cut and paste what you have to help you promote. So I would also think if, if people go back and listen to that other episode or they've already listened to it, I mentioned that when you're collaborating, it's really great to have like a digital file folder where you have your assets, like your marketing assets, so that the two of you can be sharing out the same things to your audiences and make it really easy to co market the event that you're doing together. So you. It kind of goes hand in hand like that. Right. You're just like making this as easy as possible for that other person to get the word out if they want to promote You. Or on the flip side, if you are pitching yourself to hopefully land new visibility opportunities when there's like a media one sheet, which we can also talk about, that is a great way for people at a glance to be like, oh, who is this person? Why would I want them on my podcast? Or, you know, if you're sending out a press release, things like that.
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A
Got it. So it sounds like it's a, a one to two pager that really, it's almost like you get to decide, you get to curate what you think are the most important sound bites and you're trying to help this other person whose job it is to collect information for you. And frankly, they just need to get a bunch of like, things checked off their list. They don't want this to be hard. They just want to be able to get the distilled version. You're just making it a whole lot easier for them.
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B
Yeah, exactly.
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A
Okay, so why should a farm business even bother making one? Like, I mean, at what point does a farm business think about doing this? It.
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B
Yeah, that's a great question. So I would say that, you know, when you are maybe very, very, very first getting started and you are like, just trying to figure out the bare minimum basics, you probably don't need to worry about it, right? When you were just hoping that like, you can have, you know, any, anything going on. Like, it's going to be overwhelming to throw this into the mix as well, because you're going to be making 12 million decisions every day. But once, you know, you know, once you're like, okay, we have, like, I, things are growing and this is okay and you know, like, we've got something happening here, then I think it's a good idea to start to think about, um, and I don't want to dissuade anyone from thinking like that. You can't have any sort of like launch promotion for your first farm season. You, you certainly can and should always be marketing right from the jump. But even when you are small, even when you might feel like, oh, I don't have anything like, noteworthy, you should still think about what you could be promoting out there with a media kit. And I'll give you a few examples, right? So think about if you are doing a CSA or things like, if you do like, meat or other proteins and let's say you have like large processing shares, right, that you want to let people know about. Like, hey, you can get, you know, freezer beef or, or you can like, we're doing large, you know, monthly meet subscriptions or you know, any of those things that are noteworthy that people in your area would be interested in, or maybe you're adding in value added lines for the first time to your, to your production or you're doing an event or you're doing a collaboration. Any of those things are going to be worthy of getting the word out to people. Right? Because you want people to know, you want people to be aware so that they can come to your event so that they can, you know, order your CSA or your meat, share any of those things. So even if you think, oh, I, I don't know, this isn't like newsworthy, it actually is and you should think about promoting it.
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A
Okay, I guess I was asking because the original question, you made the point that these can be used to pitch yourself. So it's not always there to be discovered, but it can be something that you like, put out into the world. So if you are in the earlier stages of your business, this could be almost like a portfolio or like something that you could bring as you're trying to find new collaborators or grow your marketing outlets.
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B
Yes, a hundred percent. That, yeah. And that too. And I, so I think that like, you know, when you're thinking about, you know, and this is why I say like, it's when you are very, very, very first starting and you're just like, I have so many things to make sure go right, it's going to be a little bit overwhelming to be like, I gotta get this in the mix too. You know, Unless you have some sort of very unique farm setup where like maybe you're part of a collaborative and you have tons of help and a lot of people doing different jobs and like you're the point person who's gonna go out and spread the word. But I know that's not the case with most, you know, farm operations. So one thing that is great with like if you do have a one pager for your operation is let's say when you are getting ready to like do something. And as we talk more about like the one pagers and things like that and kind of what they entail and like what you can put into them, that would be a great way to think about almost like how, you know, people have flyers, right? Like flyers in coffee shops, flyers, flyers in, you know, different local businesses where you would be using that as a way to get the word out about like, hey, we're here, we're this new farm. Here's where you could check us out, that kind of a thing. So you're probably less Likely to be aiming for media as, as we would think about it. Right. But more just like, hey, I, I'm here, I'm launching this thing. Here's how you can check it out.
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A
Okay. Yeah, thanks for that distinction. Well, yeah, well, let's talk about what goes inside the media kit. Let's get a little more detailed about that. So if a farmer is building their very first one, what are the absolute must have components?
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B
Yes. So the absolute must haves is. So I would say for there's a few parts to this. So there can be your media one sheet, which is just a single sheet like PDF that has one or two high quality photos that has a brief bio about you, like a brief description of what you do, who you do do it for. Things like that, obviously your business name and your location, any of your, you know, your website, social media handles, contact info and then anything that would be considered like notable. So this could be things like any like credibility points about you. And this is where I say, you know, when it's, when you are just getting started, some of these things could be a little harder to factor in. But it doesn't mean that you can't think back to like what have you been doing before you started your particular farm? Chances are maybe you were farming with other people before you were, you know, maybe you were a manager of somebody else's farm or doing different things. Right. So almost like thinking back through like a resume and things that you would want to highlight if you were trying to get hired by somebody. Right. So these could be things like in your case, Corinna, like I know you have, you have a lot now. Right. But these could be things like.
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A
The.
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B
The amount of like seasons you've been running your csa. Right. It's been a long time. So that's noteworthy. Any, any other things that you feel really proud of, that feel feel very unique and like our certified organic were certified organic.
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A
So the like 100 badge of some.
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B
Sort or a. Yeah, yeah. And then. So let's. Okay, so let's go down that path. So you are certified organic. Do you have any other certifications or types of things like that that you could be like, let's say they come with a like logo or some component. Like obviously we think of USDA organic, it has its own logo. You could put on that one pager.
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A
Right. So we're, we have an affiliation with csa Fair share.
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B
Okay.
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A
We are harmonized Gap plus that's a food safety certification. I don't know like some of those things, I don't know if that would.
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B
Be.
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A
Helpful, though, to a media person. They might not even know what some of those mean. So are we thinking through that lens of like, as a, as a media person, am I putting down the credibility points that speak their language, that. Right. Like a media person is coming to you, theoretically, because you're going to solve a problem for them. You're going to come onto a TV show or onto the radio and be an expert in a certain field. So should I be thinking through the lens of what kind of expert information do I have? Or what are the credibility factors that point to my expertise that can actually be helpful to a media person? Is that, is that really what I'm thinking through instead of littering the whole page with stuff that probably doesn't matter to them?
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B
Right. And so this is a, this is a great distinction and I think this goes into. And it's something that we should talk about is that you can have, you can have multiple versions of this depending on your audience as well, depending on what you are going to be doing. Right. So if you are. So let's think through like a fake scenario here. Right. So let's say you are launching something in your area that is like, or, or like actually, when you went on that morning show, what were they talking to you about?
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A
They wanted to know about our csa.
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B
Okay.
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A
And just how those worked.
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B
Okay, perfect. So for something like that, that would be it. In that instance, it might be a talking point where they would want to include things that are unique about your operation overall and the csa. Right. So it may or may not, like, they may not actually care, or some may care and some may not. Right. But to some audiences, depending on which outlets you are pitching to, they might care a lot more about those certain things. Or if you are using it to pitch for certain opportunities, like certain collaborations or certain, let's say like sales opportunities or things like that they might care more than others because they would actually know what harmonized gap certification means. Whereas, like, that's, you know, USDA certified organic is way more like, commonly known than like a harmonized gap. Right. So I think it's important to like, and this is where, let's say building it in Canva, where you could have one core template and then hit duplicate, duplicate, duplicate, and swap in a few things in and out. That is a good thing to think about of like, where who is this going to? Where is this going? What is the purpose of, you know, what I'm using this particular one for? But I would agree we're not trying to literate with everything under the sun, right. So you wanna, you wanna think about your audience and, and you want to think about what is going to be valuable and interesting to them in that and think about it through a storytelling lens. So anything that is interesting to the audience of like a. What's in it for them, but things that would be that you are proud of and are noteworthy to them. And again this, this could be different from for every farm, every scenario, every opportunity that you are going for. Right. And it will probably change throughout the course of the lifetime of your business. So th. Those are things to think about. Like this is going to be fluid and it's not necessarily a one and done type thing.
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A
I love this. This reminds me a little bit of your resume. Like when you're applying to different jobs, you doctor up your resume. You change it based on what you know they're looking for and what to make yourself look like the perfect candidate for that job. And sounds like there's a bit of customization here.
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B
Yes, exactly. And I would say like if, if you were just, you know, if you were building the first one and you're like I don't have time for all of it. Like I don't even know yet or I just want the standard. I would say pick the. Again like this will all be in the. The downloadable that goes along with this. But pick like the key highlights, like key credibility points, noteworthy stuff that you've done. Right? So like let's say that you and like your farming partner collectively have I don't know, 15 years of farming experience or something. Even though your farm is new, right? Call that out. Let's say you have a. I'm thinking of some friends of mine where they used to farm. They got a lot of media because their property was actually like part of a local, like a conservation easement organization like came in and had a big fundraiser and then conserved their property. So that was like a big. They got tons of media around it, right. So like that would be something interesting to highlight and call out on your thing. And anywhere that there are, especially like in your local area, if there are logos or things that are would be recognizable that would be kind of like punchy or interesting. Find the high quality version of that logo and incorporate it onto your sheet. So if for instance, if you go to like our local food marketing.com site, right. There are different places very intentionally where we have like logos for some of our partners, right. And the reason that we do that is because humans are very like Visual. And at a glance, people will look at that and they'll go, oh, like, I recognize some of these names. These are like big names. And it shows legitimacy. Right, so. Right, yeah.
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A
If you've been featured on Forbes or.
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B
Right, right.
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A
The Today show or whatever, like, you want to, you want to point that out because that shows that you, you have credibility or that you have experience with the press already and you're not gonna tank on camera. Right? So, yeah, those are all important markers and social proof. That's a lot of social proof.
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B
Yeah, tons. Tons of social proof even. And you could even think, like, if you've served on, like, your county's, you know, board of whatever, local food policy council or farming council or like, and I know, like, this can be hard, kind of like designing a resume. You're like, I don't know what to say about myself or what have I done? Easy to forget all of our own things that we've done, but we have all done a lot of stuff usually. And so go back through and think on all of those things and think, how do I convey this to an outsider? Of, to you, it might just be like, oh, that's that thing that every first Tuesday of the month I have to go to that meeting. But to an outsider that's like, oh, wow, you, you're on the, like, conservation easement board, and you have been for three years. Like, that might be impressive depending on your goals and objectives for this.
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A
Or it says that you understand something about that issue, that topic.
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B
Totally.
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A
Right. And you'll be labeled as an, as an expert, or you could speak to that particular topic in a way that someone else might not be able to.
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B
Yes, definitely.
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A
So that's. So a big chunk of this one sheet, this Media1 sheet is, is the, the credibility piece, the credibility markers. That's kind of what we've just spent a lot of time talking about. What kinds of photos? You mentioned that. What kinds of photos should we be including? You said one to two photos. What is this, like a picture of my landscaped field or is this a picture of me?
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B
Yeah.
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A
What does that mean?
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B
Yeah, so the reality is, is that people like to see people, and especially for media, like, they are not going to be interviewing your field, they're going to be interviewing you. So it's important to have a picture of you because they are going to need to typically use that, at least in part, when they're promoting the story or whatever it is. So it's a really good idea to get a high quality image of you. And, and I don't mean like this has to be, you know, you have to go to like a portrait studio in a blazer and get something that doesn't feel like you. It should still very much be like you in your brand. It should be authentic but a high quality image that they are going to be able to use in a newspaper, you know, in digital format, on social media, all of those things. Right. So think about that and then if you also have like, let's say I'm going to use, use the example again. Right. Because you probably would be getting featured for more CSA stories, let's say, say it wouldn't be a bad idea to also have some high quality photos of CSA shares or people coming to. Yeah. Pick up point and things like that. Make sure if there's other people in them that they've given, you know, their legal sign off that it's okay to, you know, be in the photos and stuff like that. But any of those and, and then this is where we can talk about, you know, sort of a larger media kit, like what could be in there as you are growing and you're making this more robust because that's where you can actually have like a digital file where all of these assets live and you can hand off to somebody. But yes, at least one or two high quality photos and one of them should be of you.
- [34:35]
A
All right, farmers, let me ask you something. As we step into a brand new year, do you actually feel ready for the marketing side of your farm business or are you quietly hoping you'll figure it out as you go, like last season? How'd that work out for you? If marketing your farm feels like a constant scramble, something you know matters, but never quite gets the time or clarity it deserves, you are not alone. I hear this from farmers every single week. And that's exactly why I, I created Farm Marketing School to help you. Farm Marketing School is my monthly membership designed to help farmers build a simple, repeatable marketing system that actually fits into your real farm life. Inside you will find bite sized, step by step, do it yourself. Marketing projects that take the overwhelm out of things like writing sales emails or how to plan your promotions, how to build your social media strategy, how to update the homepage of your website, how to write an email nurture sequence, or setting up systems that work on autopilot even when you're busy in the field. Each month you choose what to focus on and I walk you through exactly how to do it. With my on demand video trainings and my bonus resources. And you're not alone doing this. Each month we meet live on Zoom, where you can ask questions, get group coaching, and hear what's working for other farmers. It's like having a farm marketing mentor and a room full of peers in your corner. This is not a massive, overwhelming course. The projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days so that you're making real progress without marketing taking over your life. So if this is the year you want to stop winging it and finally feel confident in a marketing system that brings in steady sales, I'd love to welcome you into farm marketing school. Join today at mydigitalfarmer.com FMS that's mydigitalfarmer.com FMs and now back to the show. Okay, so you just mentioned it's not just the. The media one sheet, that there's another level of media kit that has. That goes into a little more detail. So we'll talk about that in just a second. But this one sheet is really choosing the one or probably the two best photos or the ones that encapsulate the gist of who you are. All those other photos you're going to put in that other file in the. In the larger version, but you have to pick out two that best at a glance, help this person understand who you are, what you stand for, what your expertise is. And, okay, so this, this just makes me want to tell my story a little bit because when we got asked to go onto the Good Day show, that was one of the things they wanted. They wanted pictures of our CSA because they couldn't come out with their photographer, their videographer, and actually take video of us. They were having us in the studio, and yet they wanted to have B roll that they could be showing on TV as we were being interviewed. I didn't realize that that's what they were going to be using it for until I watched the segment. But I gave them. I had to actually go find a bunch of pictures and send it to them. And then I later on saw that they didn't just have the camera on us the whole, you know, eight minutes. It was a pretty long segment because.
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B
That would be boring.
- [38:05]
A
They need to have, you know, pictures switching out. And so I was really grateful that I had a whole bunch of different kinds of photos. Some that were the landscape, like the view of our farm from the driveway, so you could see the buildings. And then one of harvesting, you know, our crew harvesting, and one of us talking to customers at the pickup. Like, I had given them a whole bunch of different kinds of shots that encapsulated the experience of csa. So that. That as they were then talking to us and asking us questions, it was really cool. Like, whoever's back there deciding what picture to put up as I'm talking, like, he was good. He or she was good, because they just. It matched exactly what I was talking about. Like, how did. How did they know that they were going to ask me about just cooking tips or whatever? And they happened to pull up the, you know, of a couple photos I'd given them of. Of platings or me cooking. Right. And yeah, it was. They. It was like they had all the right shots. But just want to point out that that's. They were able to do that because I had given them the photos. And I was just thinking, wow, what if I just had this here permanently? And how much would that help a person to even come and open it up and suddenly see the story unfolding even before they meet me? Like, oh, here's the potential story I could tell. I even have visuals. She's gonna make this really easy for me. And now that's, like, removed friction for them. Like, yeah, we're gonna go with this farm.
- [39:26]
B
Yes, yes. I'm so glad that you mentioned this, because I think it also speaks to. One of the other reasons why a farm would want to do this and want to get it ready and have it, you know, as they're starting to grow, as they want to go into this realm of this type of marketing for themselves, is it will save you time in the long run. So not only will it get you more opportunities, but it's going to save you time because, like, now that you've done that, right, like, you had had to scramble a little bit to get it together. But, like, once it's together and once you have it, other than kind of like with any other marketing thing where you have to periodically do some updating, it's done, right? You have it. It's. And. And then like. And I will say, as somebody who my. My main, like, experience with media. Media is. Has been around speaking about, like, military food insecurity. And when. When those opportunities come, like, it is fast. It'll be like, hey, I was just gonna say that, like, there's an emergency.
- [40:42]
A
She calls me and she's like, we have a spot in, like, two days. And I was like, what? So it wasn't like I could just put it on the back burner and sit on it and be like, I'll get that to you in a few days. When I have time, I had to drop everything and luckily I realized the opportunity for what it was. I'm like, I'm going to get our brand in front of thousands of people. So yeah, this is going to be more important than that thing I wanted to work on today. But I did, I had to scramble. And to your point, like if, what if we had this ready to go so that all we had to do is when the opportunity lands, we just can say, oh, I got the media kit, it's right here. Boom. And it's a 30 second email send instead of a, you know, 30 minute like scramble to find big, to find stories and whatever and to make these decisions about what do I even want to show them. So yeah, it is fast.
- [41:31]
B
Yeah, it's super fast. And so like for that some things that are good to have and this is really good, you know, think about if you have like if you use Google Workspace, have this in a Google Drive folder on like view access only so they can't like go in and edit anything. Or if you're, you know, a Dropbox user that's you know, fine as well. But having those things like the high quality PNG logo files of, you know, for your farm logo. And again, this is why, like I'll just harp on this for a second. It's so important with things like logos to actually have a high quality logo and the right files and all of that, right? Again, it's, these are things like it seems like, you know, marketers like it trying to whatever, like this is good enough. But it's like, no, but this is why, because like, you know, when you are the expert in something like we have the foresight to see down the road why you would want this because like in, in a moment like that, like you, you don't have time or the ability to be like, oh, let me get a, let me get a designer to whip me up a better quality. Like, and you don't want that like grainy, blurry logo, right? Like this is why it's good to have these things in place. Like what's that saying? Like stay ready so you don't have to get ready or whatever. Like, so you can be there when like the opportunity happens, right? Um, so have your logo, like have a, have your logo or like a few different versions of the logo. Like take those from your designer, wherever they already live on your computer, duplicate them, put them in this folder in a clearly labeled thing that says like logos, right? Then another one that says photos, you know, and have Your photos in there. Or you might even have some subfolders folders.
- [43:43]
A
Like Bio headshot.
- [43:44]
B
Yeah, exactly. Like, like headshot, CSA pickup, CSA share, you know, like whatever the thing may be. Right. And then you can have other things in there. Like have a. Yeah. Have a document that says like farmer bios and in like farm story or again, whatever is going to be applicable to you. Details of the CSA or certifications or you know, any of those pertinent details. And then like a document that says start here. So that way they know and you don't have to make this overwhelming or anything, but just having it all there. And then if this is attached to a press release that you are sending out to announce something that you are very intentionally trying to get media attention around, have a copy of that in there as well. You can also have your media one sheet in there. Like this will just all live together and that way it will be very, very, very easy for you to have it on hand and ready to go whenever you may need it.
- [44:58]
A
Okay, so that was super good. Now I'm just trying. The structure girl here is trying to figure out what does this look like. So initially you just started out by talking about A1 sheet and now you're talking about other things that look like they're not on one document. Right, right, right. So what is. So how is this structured? There's. This is all in a Google Drive, like when I go to get the media kit, as the producer of the show or whatever or the intern, like what am I? Is it a zip file? And like what, like what is. Talk to me about the container because I'm a little confused about how it's getting delivered.
- [45:39]
B
Yeah, so it would be.
- [45:40]
A
So.
- [45:42]
B
You know, in like a Google Drive, let's say how you could have one like primary folder and then inside the folder you can have like documents and subfolders. Yeah, it would be like that. So you would have it on like view only mode and you would just give them the link to all of those assets. And then that way you could say, you know, if they are. So for instance, when you did that show and they said we need your media kit, you could say, hey, I have. Here's this link and everything is in there and it's labeled, you know, should be good to go. And then that way it would be easy for them to find.
- [46:28]
A
Okay, and so within that folder, then let's just review the components. There is the, the start here folder, which has like instructions or is that.
- [46:37]
B
Where the one sheet is the start here would just be like a document that would have. Basically think of this start here document as sort of like the table of contents in a book. So it would list out everything else that is in that folder and where.
- [46:59]
A
They can find it. Almost like explaining the folders that they're seeing in the parent folder.
- [47:03]
B
Okay, yeah, Yep, exactly.
- [47:05]
A
And then you could potentially have a folder that's holding all the photos. Is that what you're saying? Like the, the larger. Instead of the one or two, we have a collection. Okay. And then is there another one that's holding. I guess. What are. What are some of the other subfolders that might stick in there that they're. They're all coming off the one sheet. Is it. Basically the categories are an about. An about page that's a little more robust and has a little bit more of the story or.
- [47:36]
B
Yeah, so you could have. So in there, just make sure that everything is like very clearly labeled and easy for them to understand what it is. Because again, they'll be moving very quickly trying to get all of this so they can get it out to production as well. So depending on. So yes. So I would have a. If you only have like one logo, you could just have the logo just uploaded right into that subfolder. Or if you have multiple logo files, you could put them in a subfolder that is just titled Logos. And then you could have another subfolder that is photos with your high quality photos in it. And one thing I would say just before I move on is you know how a lot of times when you get photos back, even from like a professional photographer, they're just in the, you know, it's like DGC 24 7, whatever. It's. It's like a weird naming convention, whatever. So with the photos that you select and have in there, make sure that you rename them something that makes sense, that is very easy for them while they're moving quickly. And I think the example you gave was perfect. Right. There's some person that is rapidly selecting images while you're talking. Right. So make it easy on them. Pre label, like you know, Corinna headshot one, Corinna headshot two, you know, or whatever. And then like CSA pickup. CSA pickup. Like, you know, whatever. Like CSA pickup with people or like, you know, something like that. Like having, having that so that it's easy for them. They can quickly go like what's the. What type of image am I looking for? And then they can quickly find it. And then you can also have a document in there that Has. Yeah, like your, like about the farm and farmers or you know, that has your bio and the farm story. And that. That could also just be like, you could just take your. If that already exists on your media, one sheet. Like that could just live there instead. But yeah, just as long as they have all of that pertinent info. And again, it doesn't have to be overstuffed. You don't have to like write a novel about yourself and the farm. Just make sure it is all there and clearly labeled and easy for them to grab and stick into their story.
- [50:37]
A
This is making me like, think about, even with Digital Farmer, if I want to position myself as a speaker for a conference or whatever, that you're really only creating maybe these extra folders in the parent folder if you feel like you need to go into more detail, like you didn't have enough space on the one pager, but you have a lot of. You want to give examples of. Like in my case, my top 10 best podcasts and I can't fit them all right. But I want to curate them so they can go listen to them and kind of see that there's so many different topics I can speak on. Or maybe I have a list of my five favorite presentations that I am known for that I already have ready and I would really like them to ask me to speak on so I don't have to make a whole nother slide deck. Right.
- [51:19]
B
Like, and you can label all of.
- [51:22]
A
That so that you can't fit it on the one pager, but you can give more examples. And so that might be another way to think through this as those of you who are listening, like, if you just have more to show your level expertise and you just can't fit at all, this is a place where you stick the overflow.
- [51:38]
B
So that's helpful. Yeah. Yeah.
- [51:40]
A
Okay, what about should farms be including offers or services or is that too salesy? Like, is this a place where you're, I don't know, kind of doing a little bit of pitching?
- [51:56]
B
I. I think it depends on. Okay, so first and foremost, like as an umbrella thing, I don't think it's wrong to think of these things as like the whole point of why you're doing them. Like you said, the reason why you were willing to scramble and get everything together is because you knew it was a great visibility opportunity for your business. Right? So, like, that is ultimately why it's worth doing these things. Right? If. If you already know, you know, hey, I, like, I want to get the word out about my Business, for whatever reason, it's, it's because visibility events and activities like this theoretically will bring you more business. Right, that's, that is why we do them. So no, the goal should, like, we should never feel bad about recognizing them for what they are. Yeah. So that's like the macro on the micro. I would say that it's important to think about in the places that we've talked about like the full media kit versus the one pager, where to put it and how to put it. So for instance, because one sheet has such little space on it, potentially if you have like a lot of stuff like it, that's not the best place to go into every detail of. Like if, especially if you sell a lot of different things and you know, a lot of different price points, whatever, you don't need to go that granular. Like that would be a great place to highlight on a macro level what it is that you offer. But you don't need to go into the smaller details. Now if you are using that one pager as a way, kind of almost as like a, a way to have like a, almost like a, in a press release version or like to get the word out about something that you're launching, it could be fine to have like, if it's, let's say a csa, right? To have a little bit of extra detail specific about the csa. Because that is the thing that you're wanting to get attention on anyways, right. However, that would be to your point about the larger digital media kit being a great place for the overflow. That could be a place where you have something in there that is like, you know, like what we sell or the, you know, products that we offer.
- [54:57]
A
Or.
- [54:59]
B
Services we provide or different things like that. And again, it doesn't have to be like a full price list. It doesn't have to be anything like that. It could simply be like, even for my digital farmer, it could simply be like, these are the primary programs that we run and a little blurb about what each one is and that's it. Very, you know, very simply because that could be something that again, that that media person may want to look at and see like, oh yeah, what is there? And maybe pull some of that copy in their intro about you or other things.
- [55:42]
A
So yeah, yeah, okay, that's good. That's really helpful. I was just thinking as you're talking that I think as we're creating these media kits, we're also thinking about what is the intention behind them, because I don't want the media to Come to me as an expert in all areas. Right. There are certain things I want to be known for that I'm hoping they'll come to me about. And so we have perhaps the ability to control that a little bit by what we say we're good at.
- [56:14]
B
And.
- [56:17]
A
Especially I'm thinking that through the lens of digital farmer. Like, I, I kind of, I'm hoping people don't come and ask me to talk about, you know, a certain topic within marketing, because that may not be my focus. So I'm not going to really position my, my media kit to make it look like I want to even address that.
- [56:34]
B
Yes.
- [56:35]
A
So you can, you can focus heavily on certain areas to, to make it look like you're an expert in one area over another. And now you become that person they always go to. So I'm just. That's a little aside.
- [56:48]
B
No, but it's important, I think it's important to bring up because if it is like going back to what we were talking about earlier, about thinking about, you know, potentially having multiple versions or like what you include, what you exclude or whatever is having that intentionality about, like, who is it going to, what do you want to be known for? And because even when you are like, if you were like, I want to get on a lot of podcasts, right. So whether or not anyone listening wants to go on podcasts, I'll just use this as an example because obviously there's like a million different topics and themes for podcasts. So when you are thinking about pitching for podcasts, it's important to think about, okay, is this podcast, does it make sense for me and my expertise to go on it? To go on it, and then each podcast is gonna have like a little bit of a different angle to it. Right. So it's not just like, a, does this make sense for me? But then B, how do I angle myself to show them that, like, I'm the right fit for them and their niche and their audience and it will all make sense. Right. So it's sort of like a, it's like a two pronged thing and so that's why it's important to think about these things.
- [58:18]
A
Yeah, I think that's beautiful because you're highlighting that the media kit is not just what's in it for me, how can I design it so that I get benefit, but how can I be of service? Yes, yes, Really a generous, an open hands, generosity kind of move, and that you're willing to put yourself out there and be of service, trusting that I don't know the universe will reciprocate one day. But like, yeah, so how do we show people? I'm a steward of this information. I'm an expert in this information. I'm willing to help. Okay, this is good. Let's move on to some of the maintenance or the practical build tips you've already talked about. The simplest form that a farm media kit can take that it goes into ideally like a Google folder of some sort. Do you want to talk about like Canva? How can people be using Canva and Canva links?
- [59:10]
B
Yeah, so I would say that. So in Canva there is, if you search media kit or press kit, there's a lot of different templates that come up. You can take those and then you can modify them to your brand. And that is one thing that I would highly, highly, highly recommend is take it and then, you know, swap out anything that are like, into your brand, fonts, brand colors, you know, all of those things. Right. Because you want it to be aligned to you and your brand and make sense for you. But it is nice to kind of have those like placeholders in there of the, of the certain things. Many of them are very much geared towards personal brands, influencers, content creators. So if you're like, I don't have a bunch of Instagram followers or whatever, that's fine. You know, if there's certain things on there that don't apply to you, just omit them and swap them out for other things that do. And then from there I would say, you know, you can always use the public like share link from Canva if you want, but also download the high quality like PDF version and then you can use that to send out as well.
- [60:44]
A
Now where's this living on the, on your website? Do you, do you have a. I feel like I've seen press kit on like a subheading of a. Of websites.
- [60:55]
B
Yeah. So you could always make on your website. And again, this goes back to like your individual business and what your like unique goals are and, and like objectives in terms of like press and media. So if one of your goals, let's say, is to be a speaker, like to really move into speaking and you've done some speaking, it might be a page that says like speaking or it could be. Or if you've had like media coverage and things like that already, it might say media at the top. And then from there what I recommend is you can have a part that it's basically like almost like a duplicated version of what we talked about on the one pager. Kind of. So it's that mini bio slash, you know, farm story. It's the best way for people to contact you. It's some of your highlights, it's some photos that can be, you know, that are accessed. And then there's also some topics. So kind of like how you said with things that you would want to share on versus like not right. So three to five topics that you speak on or you would love to speak on or you're a thought leader in or have expertise on. And then if there are things that you can provide the audience you can add those into. So let's say if it's like custom downloadables or if you have like an existing workbook or you know, or something that you give out along with the talk, you can list those. If you don't have anything like that, don't sweat it, you know, but just have some of that there kind of like at the top. And then you can have your existing talks, media, whatever it is, things that you've been featured on, things you're proud of, have that there so they can check it out, they can see and get a taste of what you've already done. And then what you can also do is so if you have let's say like a link to that canva one sheet or you've downloaded the PDF like I know on Squarespace you can add in, you know, you can link to PDFs and stuff like that. You could include like a small screenshot version of the one pager and then have a button that says like click to download. Or if you have your full media kit link, you can also link that too, right? Or like have a, have a button on there that says like click for the click to access the full media kit.
- [64:04]
A
Okay, so this is not where I thought you were going to go with that original question when you go to the website. So you're basically talking about creating a, a website page that has similar. Am I understanding that correct correctly? That there's similar information structured like in stacks on a website page that's labeled Media or press or speaking or whatever so that they go there and essentially get some similar information that they might see in your, in your media kit. But then there is a, a specific button there that they would click to get the link for the media kit. It's not going to the website header. Clicking on the tab that says Media and it takes you to the Google page. Like first they're seeing a page about you and then making the decision about whether I want to open this media kit.
- [64:53]
B
Correct. But I would say that's like a, like a 2.0. That's like.
- [64:58]
A
That's 2.0.
- [64:58]
B
Okay, that's 2.0.
- [65:00]
A
That's like, you could make it easy and just have it say media. And it does take them to the one pager.
- [65:08]
B
Yes.
- [65:09]
A
Link or the folder.
- [65:10]
B
Yeah, okay, completely. Like, that would be, that would be totally fine. That would be like, I mean, you could even just have like a very simple page as you build it out. That's like, you know, your headshot and like a little blurb. And then click here for the full media kit. Like, it could be very, very, very simplistic. But as, but the nice thing is that as you are doing this and building it up and having those features, it's nice to have a place where that archive and that credibility can live.
- [65:47]
A
Yeah, well, and this is also making me think about SEO potential. So if you have it on your website, then Google can find it and helping with your SEO.
- [65:57]
B
Exactly.
- [65:58]
A
For that stuff. Whereas if it's hiding in a PDF, that's, that's not. I don't think that's as easily crawlable by the Google Spiders, so.
- [66:06]
B
Right, right. Yeah. So you'll have like backlinks, like, especially if there's been like, you know, media about you that's on, that's published other places. Then you'll get the backlinks is what they're called, like from the SEO when you link it on your site. So again, it could start out very small. You can just like add an extra page to your site that just has very minimal info. And then a button click here for the media kit and it redirects them to the whole Google folder. And that's great as a, as a placeholder for when you're starting. But like, don't forget to, yeah, don't forget to add to it because you want to be able to. And again, I know for some people it will feel weird because you'll feel like I'm like bragging on myself, I'm tooting my own horn. But this is really good because to your earlier point about like showing that credibility that you won't choke like under, you know, when you're getting these opportunities. Right. It. It's going to show future people. Oh yeah, If I'm deciding between, you know, if I want to do a feature on CSAs and the area is saturated with CSA folks, who do I want to feature, right? And then it's like, oh yeah, this person is like the go to person for csa.
- [67:32]
A
She's articulate. Yeah, yeah. She's going to look good. She's going to make my job easier as an interviewer, all that stuff. Yeah. So you're. So this Good Day show clip which still exists, like that's something I should have on my media kit. Right? Like that should be in my media kit to show them. I've already been on TV before. Here's the clip if you want to go watch it. Like, would that be an example of something that would make the short list?
- [67:57]
B
Yeah, I think you could have, you can have a piece in there that is like, you know, past media features or. Yeah, things like that. And then link out to some of those, to some of those things.
- [68:12]
A
That's a credibility piece to say we made it on the Good Day show. You know, that's different thing. I made it into the suburban press newspaper. Like that's not quite the same thing.
- [68:21]
B
A hundred percent. Yeah. And that is one of those things where as you are adding a page to your website, like I would embed that at the top. Like. No, no doubt. I mean, because that. Right. Right off the bat, like, like you just said, it's, it's huge credibility. Right. It's showing that, hey, right here, here I am. They trusted me to come on. And it's also a way they can see you in action. Yeah.
- [68:53]
A
See me on camera. Like, how did we do? Right. Yeah.
- [68:57]
B
So I would 100% embed that and I would also probably find at the logo, like a high quality PNG version of that logo and then on that one pager. So for like when you want to pitch to other places, have it be one of your highlights. Right. So like as seen on, you know, the Good Day show and have that logo there.
- [69:29]
A
That's super good. I love that. Thanks for that tip. I wrote that down.
- [69:32]
B
Taking.
- [69:32]
A
Yes.
- [69:33]
B
Yeah. Like that, that is way more, I would say to most like media audiences, let's say would lend way more weight than the like harmonized gap, you know, like that's a perfect example of where you're like, if I, if I don't want this cluttered, what am I going to cut? Yeah, that's how you're going to do it.
- [69:56]
A
Yeah. And I think we should also just state this. It's that we want to be updating our media kit over time. And I guess I would ask, are there certain areas that we need to really be paying attention to as we're updating it? Like, like, are we, are we looking at this once a year? Is that sort of the, the rhythm.
- [70:18]
B
Yeah, I would say once a year is good unless there's. There are any major changes happening. Right. So if anything major happens, like with your bio or with your farm story, definitely you want to update that. I would say, you know, or like your logo, you know, if you rebrand, obviously this is one of those areas where you want to make sure that you have branding consistency as well. And then, you know, if you get new photos, like you do a new professional photo shoot or something, make sure to swap out the photos as well. And yeah, I would say just, you know, make sure links are always correct. If you do have any of those metrics on there, like amount of years you've been doing it or amount of customer served or amount of pounds served sold or what, you know, whatever those things, like as you're tracking those, have put a calendar reminder in to go in and do that. We do that like on our, on our impact partner page on the website, we have biannual reminders. It was quarterly. Then we realized, like, we don't need to do it that often. So now it's twice a year. We have calendar reminders to go in and check our, our impact data and then we update that on the page of the website where we have it.
- [71:52]
A
Awesome.
- [71:52]
B
So, yeah, so any, any of those things, just make sure that they are relevant and it's reflected across the board on everything.
- [72:01]
A
But yeah, I, I know we've been talking for a while. I have one more kind of category I want to make sure we hit. I leaped over it earlier, but it feels like it's something I, I should bring up before we go and it's when and how media kits are used. We've been dancing around a few examples and in this podcast so far, but I want to formally ask you, like, what other real life situations would a farmer pull out their media kit for? If you can give like a quick list and then maybe share an example of a time where, I don't know, a strong media kit, like, directly helped someone that, you know, get an opportunity. I just want them to see beyond, like the example I shared of being ready for a TV spot. But, like, what are some other moments where you might be asked for one and you're like, here it is.
- [72:52]
B
Yeah, so I would say, you know, anything. Obviously we've talked about, like, media interviews a lot, but I would also say partnerships. Any sort of like, partnership opportunity. If you are proposing, you know, collaborations, you're putting together a collaboration, it can be really helpful. Like grants could potentially be helpful too. Depending on the grant it you probably not for like a huge USDA grant, they're not going to care. But if this is something local, especially in your community where you are really having to like highlight your story and your impact and anything like that, that could really help. If you are talking to any like local influencers or you want to get them to come out to your event or that, you know, that also sort of like goes under collaborations in a way. It's like partner media. But that is really important. Retailers, they, it's really helpful if you are trying to get your products into other people's. You know, whether it's a like a farm stand situation or the grocery store.
- [74:11]
A
Even grocery store featured local farmer. They're, they're like I need a photo, I need a description.
- [74:17]
B
Yeah, yeah. So like specialty retailers, anything like that? Yeah, if it's like a low key farm stand, probably not. But I've seen a lot of the like really nice like high end farm stands where they collaborate with a lot of folks nearby. But yeah, specialty retailers, they, yeah, they are going to want to, they're going to have to tell your story for you. Right. I would say, you know, farm stops also fall into that category.
- [74:44]
A
Sponsors of like big local events.
- [74:49]
B
Yes.
- [74:50]
A
And you happen to be, if you are a sponsor of the German Festival here in Toledo. Right. And you're, you're. They're going to want to have some information on you so they can put that in their, in their publicity as well. So I know like some farms do that where they become sponsors as a promotional edge.
- [75:10]
B
Yeah, that's a great example. Yeah, any, any type of event, Any type of whether you're participating in somebody else's or you are hosting your own or you're like co hosting or something like that, any of those things are great. And yeah, and I would also say you know, under media, like media also doesn't just include local media or like national media, but I would include podcasts and you know those types of visibility things under that as well where you are reaching out more to say like hey, I would like to be on this, you know, I would like this opportunity. But also you know, when you think about things like free weekly newspapers or if you have a local like 24 hour news station, any of those things. Like a lot of media, they need stories, they need things to fill that space. And so don't shy away from pitching yourself. And, and this is why I said like at the beginning, even if you're like I have this thing, I want to promote that I'm launching, as long as you do it through a storytelling lens and showing them, like, what's in it for them, what's in it for their listenership, their readership, any of those things. And what makes you unique and like, worthwhile of this, of them telling your story. It's not a bad idea to put together a, a press release which is in the downloadable too, and, and pitch it to them. Right? Because you never know. And this is where I would say, like the, the media kit. One example of where it can make a difference is a farm worked with us last year on a press release. So they were very fortunate. They, they. It's this family farm. It's been around a long time in Michigan, a fruit farm. And they got to be part of this, like, docu series. But they wanted. So that was cool on its own. That was a really cool opportunity they got. But they wanted to take advantage of that opportunity, right? They wanted to seize the moment of that opportunity. So they came to us, we helped them with a press release and distributing that press release so that they could amplify it. And then so what that is just very much in brief is it's basically writing like a mini story version, like a mini article of your story and then sending it out to the media. And then they were able to get an article written about them in Michigan Farm News, which then talked about the history of their farm and how they were in this docu series project and all of this stuff. So that just got more media, more exposure for them. So that was the thing where they were like, hey, we have this moment that we want to, we want to take advantage of, right? And get, get more eyes on our farm. And that was really smart. It was really wise of them to. To do that.
- [78:32]
A
You've been talking about this downloadable every now and then. I know that you've created a document to help farmers today, like, wrap their heads around how to actually build their own media kit. Can you talk a little bit about what that is and how they can get access to it?
- [78:46]
B
Yeah. So I know that you are going to have a link in the show notes, but it's all about building your media kit. So it's got a checklist and a media sheet. Sheet, example. So the first page is all about the media kit. So it's, you know, if you've been listening and you're like, what were all the things that they covered? It goes, you know, step by step, it has the checklist of all of the things that you can include and Then, and it has some important like reminders and things in there as well. And then it also has a mini version of a press release. So you can see, see the structure and like an example of what it would look like and what it would include, which is really, really, really great. And then on the next page, the last page is an example, a visual example of that media, one page document and then also a checklist of what to include. So all of that is there. It's very easy to reference. So as you're thinking about, you know, what you can put together, what should be in there. And again, you know, one of the reminders in here is that for things like the press release or any of those, like a thing that you want to get out there into the world, into your community, it doesn't have to be like a big thing. It doesn't have to be a monumentally huge breaking news story or anything like that. So I would say don't think you have to wait until you, you're in year 15 or so. You know, like, you can start now in small ways thinking about how you can tell your farm story and be compelling. You do have a compelling farm story, I'm certain of it. And let people know what you've got.
- [80:48]
A
Just the fact that a farm farm would have a media kit I think says something because I don't think it's common. I mean, I've been doing this for 17 years and we don't have one yet. Right, right. We should. By now, like I'm, I'm raising my hand saying, wow, I got to work on this next month. But you know, if a, if a person is coming, a producer is coming, or someone's trying to find a media kit and they don't see one and then they see another farm who has one, it just says something about, oh, well, this, this business is like positioning themselves to be ready to talk to someone in the media versus someone who hasn't thought about it yet. So even if you are just like first or second year farmer and you have a very simple media kit, that's okay. The fact that you have one is already sending signals to the people looking for you that you are open to talking to media, you are positioned, you are ready should the opportunity come along. And that's a, I don't know, that's a point of friction that they don't have to deal with when they're making decisions between which. Which farmer am I going to try to contact?
- [81:54]
B
Yes.
- [81:54]
A
Because time is of the essence, as we talked about Right. Like many cases, they have to hit a deadline in two days and so they can't be screwing around. They got to find someone who's ready and no friction. I need your stuff, let's go. And they'll take that path of least resistance. So if you're out there listening and you're just, you know, this is your second year and you're hearing this and it does sound a little overwhelming. Maybe just get the download, I'll have it in the show notes and do the bare minimum, like yeah, just have a bare minimum page and don't worry about it looking fancy pants. Just, you know, trust that the fact that you even have a link on your website that says media kit, like that's, that's already putting you ahead of the game. And I do want to stress that I meant to say this earlier, but the link on the website, you said it should be media or it could be under speaking if you're like me and a thought leader or maybe even press kit. But you want to make the phrase needs to be something easy to find. Right. If this producer is trying to find your media kit and they can't locate it because you haven't named it in such a way that it's clear that this is the press kit.
- [83:02]
B
Yes.
- [83:03]
A
Thinking about that and it shouldn't be buried under a website or a menu heading that has nothing to do with press kit. I don't know, like there's a wrong place to put it because they're not intuitively going to go and look, look for it in that spot. Right. So just be thinking through that lens too. And you're. The site architecture kind of matters here.
- [83:25]
B
Yeah, that's a really great point. Yeah, it could even be nested like in a drop down under, like where you're about is, you know, or something like that. So it doesn't have to be one of the main ones at the top. But yes, it should be very clear and easy to find because yeah, just always keep in mind that other person is equally busy. They're just trying to grab, get what they need and get the story out. So.
- [83:52]
A
All right, before we wrap up, briefly tell everyone just how taste to local difference can help them with either this particular marketing asset or what other things you help farmers with. When it comes to. It comes to marketing services.
- [84:08]
B
Yeah. So we do pretty much any marketing service you can think of. We can pretty much do so, you know, websites, e commerce, design. Like I mentioned, this would fit under our design services but also strategy. So if you are struggling with that messaging work, which it can be hard to do on your own, that is something that we can help with. We can help you nail down your brand messaging, your brand story and even help you create a customized marketing plan. But we also do other design services like logos and you know, signage, all sorts of things. Media kits and other stuff like building email funnels and SEO and. Yeah, we, we love, we love doing it and we're super knowledgeable about farming industry because it's, it's all we do.
- [85:03]
A
And you don't have to be in the Midwest or Michigan.
- [85:05]
B
No, it.
- [85:06]
A
Right.
- [85:06]
B
You can be anywhere, anywhere in the country. Yeah. Yeah. So definitely reach out and there's no cost to talk to us. We love it when people go to our site and fill out an inquiry form and love to talk to them and you know, tell, learn about what it is you need and share what we might be able to help with.
- [85:25]
A
Yeah. So what is the URL that you would want to send people to? Because I know you have a couple of different ones.
- [85:30]
B
Yeah. So the best one to go to for this is local food marketing dot com.
- [85:36]
A
Okay.
- [85:37]
B
And on there you can see the marketing inquiry form you can fill out. Make sure that you tell them you came from, that you tell us you came from my, my digital farmer. And then also there is a resources link on there where we have tons of free, free resources too.
- [85:56]
A
Well, Erica, this has been a deep dive. I feel very empowered about what to do now for both my, both of my businesses.
- [86:05]
B
Great.
- [86:06]
A
So I appreciate you coming onto the show and sharing your expertise. Thanks so much for being here.
- [86:10]
B
Yeah, thank you for having me.
- [86:12]
A
Oh my gosh. Is your mind like blowing up right now? Wasn't that amazing? Thank you so much, Erica, for bring in the value today. That was like a deep dive workshop training. And I hope you feel empowered like I do. I have two or three pages of notes here and I was dreading doing this work. It's been on my to do list for several months now and now I feel empowered. I feel like, oh, this isn't going to be as hard as I thought and I can at least get kind of a rough draft going. Right. Like a first, a first draft and put it out into the world. Just to say I've, I've got something there as a placeholder. So I encourage you to take today's episode and do something with it, even if it's just a small first time version of a media kit. Now remember, she has a sample, she has that checklist and then a sample 1 sheet you can look at, a sample press release you can look at. Just go to the show notes for this episode which you'll find@mydigitalfarmer.com 346 and you can download it from there. That is going to be a gold mine of information. Any of the other links from today's episode will be on that page as well. If you liked this episode or if you want to share it with another farmer because you just thought wow this was really good, please go leave me a rating or a review of this episode or share this. Just like forward the link of the episode to one of your farmer friends so more and more people can find out about the channel show. And if you want to get onto my email list, I have some free marketing stuff to send your way that's going to help you feel more confident in what you're doing and give you the step by step walk you through the marketing jungle. You can grab that by going to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe don't forget I'm also on Instagram ydigital Farmer and if you are looking for someone to be a speaker at one of your events, I am open for business so you can reach out to me. Hopefully my media kit will be up by the beginning of April so you can see what I am able to offer on mydigitalfarmer.com thank you so much for joining me today everyone. Have an amazing week and remember I believe in you.
- [88:23]
B
Bye Bye.