Complete a Marketing Plan to Guide Business Decisions

Effective Marketing for the Busy Farmer (BF 201)

Sell Smarter, Not Harder

an online course through the Northeast Beginning Farmer Project
Mon. January 11 – February 21, 2016, with webinars every Monday evening from 6:30-8:00pm
http://www.nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses/all-courses/bf-201-making-money/
Most of us go into farming with the thought of making some – or all – of our livelihood through the sale of what we make or grow. As you grow your operation to provide more of your family’s income, having a carefully planned marketing strategy becomes more critical. Completion of this online course will enable you to better understand how to price your products, position yourself in the “buy local”, direct sales or wholesale marketplace, and understand low-cost “guerrilla” marketing tactics to get the best bang for your buck and make your farm operation financially sustainable. If you complete the activities in this course, you will possess a marketing plan to guide decisions for which market channels to enter, branding and crisis management plans and pricing guidelines for your farm products.
The target audience is new farmers with 1-3 years of farm management experience and/or serious aspiring new farmers who have already explored the basics of marketing and are ready to develop a formal marketing strategy.
This course will help you:

• Link your farm’s mission and vision to your commercial goals and marketing strategy
• Understand the key elements of a solid marketing plan
• Understand who your target customers should be and how to most effectively reach them
• Understand & use effective marketing strategies
• Understand and use various pricing strategies with your products
• Understand what a “brand” is and how to relate it back to your marketing activities
• Create a marketing plan through weekly input from the course instructors

Instructors:
Laura Biasillo, Agricultural Economic Development Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, NY.
Marie Anselm, Agricultural Economic Development Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County, NY.
MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION:
http://www.nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses/all-courses/bf-201-making-money/