It’s often said that farmers are good at growing food, but not good at marketing. With todays technology there are many ways to market using Facebook, Twitter, or blogging, as well as the more traditional ways such as farmers markets.  The idea of course is to establish a customer base, keep them happy, and reach out to new clients.

According to one study, the average person coming to a farmers market is a middle-aged professional who wants to buy good food, while connecting with farmers, and maybe running into a friends.  How to keep customers:

• Cooking and canning workshops (I recently went to sauerkraut making workshop)
• Wreath-making workshops (in the case of Old Road Farm which sells foliage and greenery)
• Provide customers with more food options (new and different vegetables or fruit)
• Value-added convenience food (jams, apple butter)
• Tell people about the farm and how we grow produce and raise animals (like I do in this blog or in a weekly email newsletter)
• Provide something to drink for people coming to farm [juice for the kids, moonshine for the parents :)], and maybe a few amusements for kids (such as livestock viewing)
• Have some nice flowers growing here and there
• Try to lure new people who don’t usually go to markets.

Myself, I’m planning on enticing my girl daughter Charlotte (a communications student) to provide me with hot marketing tips plus the latest web-based tools !!