Creating an online presence for your farm or value added products is a great way to advertise your business and keep you connected to your customers, even if you are not selling products online. There are a variety of ways to market your business online, and with the following tips you can get started today!

Why Market Online?

Marketing your farm or value added products online:

• Allows you to reach a much wider audience, increasing your market base 
• Provides your customers with current information about your business that is easily accessible, such as which farmers markets you sell at, when your farm is open to the public, or which stores carry your products
• Provides you with a web address that can be included on your current advertisements, such as business cards, allowing you to direct customers to your site for more information
• Gives your farm or business an added professional touch

Depending on your computer skills, as well as your budget, there is an online marketing option that suits your needs. Three common options are discussed below.

Easy: Create a Profile

If you want to invest minimal time, effort and money, this is the way to go. A number of websites allow you to create a free online profile for your farm or value added business, and it's as simple as filling out an online form and uploading a picture. 

Here are two great examples:

• Local Harvest is a very popular site that lists thousands of farms and related businesses from around the country. To see a great example of a Local Harvest profile, check out Meadowlark Farms, of Corrales, NM. Create your own profile today on Local Harvest, it's quite easy.
• Serve Your Country Food is another example of a farm profile site, which is specifically geared toward younger farmers under the age of 40.

Easy to Medium: Create a Blog

"Create a what?"  A blog, short for web log, is a web site with regular entries of information, commentary, pictures, and/or videos. Blog entries are usually displayed in reverse-chronological order, and people can subscribe to automatically receive new entries as you post them. Your blog can be very simple, or you can easily add a variety of features to make it more dynamic.

Free blogs can be easily created through sites such as Blogger, Word Press, and Live Journal.

To get a better idea of what a blog is, check out these great examples:

• The Tiny Farm Blog provides pictures, information, and stories about the farm.
• A great local example is the Good Nosh Girls Weblog, where they chronicle their adventures selling fresh foods at the Downtown Albuquerque Growers Market.
• Oakhill Organics provides a good example of how to market your farm and CSA with a blog.

Medium to Difficult: Create a Website

A website can be very simple: displaying just basic information about your business. It can also be quite complex with features like picture galleries, blogs, and options to purchase products online. You can make a website yourself at little to no cost, or you can pay a professional to create one for you. Which way you go will depend upon the resources (time and money) available to you, as well as your own computer skills.

Some great local websites include:

• Heidi's Organic Raspberry Farm, of Corrales
• Pollo Real Pastured Poultry, of Socorro
• East Mountain Organics, near Escabosa
• Erda Gardens CSA, of Albuquerque

Next Steps