41) Free publicity. One of the best ways to garner free publicity is by regularly sending out news releases to local newspapers, radio and TV stations. They are always looking for interesting stories to fill their newspapers or air time. In fact, 75 percent of what appears in print has come from news releases! Media people get so many slick press releases from large firms that they often favor "homemade" newsy items from small businesses, especially if they are local.

42) News releases. Looking for ideas for news releases? Send information about something that is unique or new, and is of real interest or usefulness to readers, rather than blatantly self-promotional. Make it news, not advertising. Get in the habit of thinking "possible PR story." Ask yourself: What is unique about your market or your products? Do you grow an unusual food item not normally obtainable in grocery stores? Recipes, tip-sheets and contests are just a few more of the hundreds of ideas for interesting news releases.

43) Personalize your product. One key to writing effective advertising copy is to personalize your product. As a small entrepreneur, don't try to be General Foods. Tell your story! We live in a society in which everything is wrapped in plastic, and people want to hear your personal story. Put lots of personality into your copy: tell how your farm got started, your early struggles, or about your ethnic background. Tell what is unique about your product, and why it is the kind of product customers won't find from major food manufacturers.

44) Evaluate ad results. Beware of "pouring money down the advertising hole!" Tailor your advertising and promotions to your current and prospective customers. Evaluate ad results so that you don't keep spending money on ads or promotional campaigns that aren't working. This can be done by "pre-testing" through focus groups or by simply asking people what they think of your ad before you run it. "Post-testing" involves tracking each ad such as counting coupons brought into the check stand or returned to you in the mail, by checking the sales of advertised items, or by talking to people coming into the store: "Where did you see our ad?" Tabulate sales and try to make a judgment as to how many of the sales resulted from the advertisement. If the ad doesn't work, don't repeat it!

45) Coupons can be included in newspaper display ads, in flyers or direct mailings. By offering the customer a "bonus" or "extra" for bringing the coupon into your store, coupons act as an incentive to act on the ads or leaflets advertising your market or product. Coupons act as a loss leader: as customers bring in coupons for the free or discounted item, they usually purchase other items as well. Coupons also serve as an effective, low-cost way to test advertisements or promotions-code each coupon so you will know where it came from. Instead of offering a discount off the cost of an item in your coupons, offer a free cup of cider, a free recipe booklet, or a free coloring book for the children, etc. This way customers won't become conditioned to always expecting low prices.

46) In union there is strength. For the same reason that Apple and IBM are joining forces to compete against Microsoft, smaller growers need to realize that their competition comes not from neighboring farmers but from the supermarkets and their corporate farm suppliers. Cooperative promotion can mean trading mailing lists, cooperative advertising, joining a local direct marketing association, taking part in a farm trail map or getting together to sponsor a regional tasting event. It pays to promote with your fellow growers!

47) Remember to "share the bounty." Whether this means helping the hungry by contributing food to a local soup kitchen or starting a gleaning project, joining an organization to save endangered farmland, or fighting for farmers' rights through political-action or community groups, it's worth your time to share the harvest with others. What goes around comes around!

48) Resources. To make sound marketing decisions, you need up-to-date, accurate and reliable information. Information resources include your local cooperative extension office, economic development groups or community colleges, local libraries, chambers of commerce, farm and other trade journals, trade associations, and farm marketing conferences. It is frequently expressed at marketing conferences that if you go home with one new idea it will pay for the cost of the conference!

49) Relax! Take time to relax and have fun with farm festivals and farm humor. In the long run, you'll actually work more effectively and profitably by not working seven days a week!

50) Lemonade. When all else fails, make lemons out of lemonade. When bad weather conditions turned his broccoli crop into pathetically small-time versions of real broccoli, Tom Willey of T & D Farms near Fresno, California, started the "broccoli florette" craze! Similarly, if a drought makes your potatoes look like ping-pong balls, try selling them as "Pee Wee Potatoes" in $2 pint boxes!

51) Give extras. Here's one more: Always give something extra. Remember that word-of-mouth really takes off when you do something extraordinary. Customers expect the basics. Think of Crackerjacks and chances are you'll remember the tiny little toy you always find at the bottom of the package. So give customers their money's worth and then some by giving something away free--food samples, a pumpkin or a small basket of strawberries, hayrides, etc.

© 1994 New World Publishing. All rights reserved. May not reproduce without written permission.

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