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Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience. Fresh Facts Newsletter #247 April 2009 Volume 24, Number 4 President’s Message A Good News Story – Local Food Continues to Gain Momentum – Fresh, Healthy, & Safe! What farmers have known all along is gaining ground with tremendous speed. At the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention in February, OMAFRA’s Andy Rankine, Manager, Branding & Marketing Unit for the Pick Ontario Freshness strategy, reported results from a recent consumer survey for ‘Attitudes About Food Purchasing’. The survey question that struck me the most was, “As long as the food tastes good and gives good value for the money, I don’t really care where it comes from.” In 2008, 30% of those surveyed felt that way. So, 70% of consumers care where their food comes from (up 12% from the 2007 survey). 70%! Consider the size of your town – how many people want to buy fresh local produce from you?! My husband, Channing, defines ‘local’ as knowing WHERE your food is grown and WHO grows it. Tell YOUR Good News Story – let your customers know you and your farm history. Designate a section in your market and a page on your website to tell your story. We have very little wall space in our market but last year I was determined to find space to tell our story. I rearranged, condensed, got rid of a product that didn’t sell (funny how we keep those year after year) and voila, found some wall space. I painted a frame out of chalkboard paint (great to write temporary messages) and then set out to tell our story with a time line, aerial maze photos, and our exceptional staff. I then had them printed on photo paper and plaqued. It worked – for some reason people are fascinated to know how you have grown, what charities you work with and that your corn maze isn’t the same design every year (who knew). When customers feel like part of your family it creates loyalty, trust and repeat customers. What’s your Good News Story?, Inside this issue: Members News Farm Safety First Aid Training The People Have Spoken Web Site Report Card Upcoming Events 2 4 5 6 6 8 Amy Strom OFFMA President P.S. Once you have your story, send a copy to the OFFMA office, we often get media calls looking for stories to feature. Page 2 Fresh Facts MEMBERSHIP NEWS New Members…. Welcome these new members to the Farm Fresh family. You are helping to make this association bigger and better. Dave Lentz Harmony Farms Port Dover Corn Acre Farms Neil & Gale Banks & Family Lyndhurst Gallery on the Farm Eric & Jennifer Bowman Enniskillen Whitecrest Mushrooms Murray Good Putnam Dingo Farms Dennis & Denise Harrison Bradford O’Briens Farm Market Jack O’Brien Kingston Moore Orchards Patrick & Heidi Behan Cobourg Willow Grove Farms Sue Whitefield Port Hope VanDorp Farms Mary Jean VanDorp Port Hope The Farmer’s Pantry Mary-Lynn Sheridan Clarksburg Lavender Blue Lavender Farm Suzanne Steed Aylmer Geissberger Farmhouse Cider Garry & Gord Geissberger Hampton Heatherlea Acres Country Market Gord & Pat McArthur Caledon Williamson Farms Allan & Ron Williamson Forest Sunshine Farms John Jaques Thamesville New Associate Member: Ian Powrie Burlington The membership brochure has a section asking new members if they have been referred by anyone. If your name appears in this space you will receive 50 OFFMA Bucks to be used towards products and services offered by OFFMA. SAVE THE DATE Tuesday, August 18 is OFFMA’s annual potluck. Mapleton’s Organic Dairy will be our host. SAVE THE DATE & WATCH for ADDITIONAL DETAILS. Classifieds: FOR SALE—2 door Display Freezer 55” wide x 82” high x 32” deep. Top mounted compressor, single phase, 20 amp $1,000 or ‘barter’ Call Springridge 905-878-4908, ask for John or Tom Hughes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dick Saarloos is looking for a small food preservation booklet, with instructions on freezing, canning etc., to be given out at his stand this year. If you can help him out, please call 519-765-1752 or e-mail dsaarloos@amtelecom.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hergott Cider Mill & Products is for sale. Interested parties should contact Gerrie Hergott at 519-885-2306 for details. Some additional details will also be available on the OFFMA web site. As a member you can submit a classified ad at any time. It will also appear on line. Newsletter #247 Page 3 British SMBs all a-Twitter OFFMA’s first exposure to the Cottage Life Show was at their spring show on March 27-29 at the International Centre in Mississauga. We took all the brochures that were sent to the office and the response from the show goers was very, very positive. Attendees at the show were happy to hear about the tremendous variety of farms they can visit in Ontario. The International Centre was BUSY. The crowds were steady for the full 3 days. We distributed 1600 Frisbees with OFFMA’s tagline of “Get Fresh, Visit a Farm”. If you submitted brochures to be distributed and you would like to get any ‘leftovers’ back, please let the office know. Otherwise we will keep them and distribute them during the farmers’ markets at Nathan Phillips Square and Metro Hall. Twitter, the 54th most-visited site in the U.K., is becoming increasingly popular with small businesses, according to a recent survey conducted by mobile phone company O2. by Helen Leggatt The survey found that 17% of SMBs in the U.K. are now using Twitter as part of their business communication strategy. Many are newcomers to the social environment that limits messages to just 140 characters – 28% had only been account holders for the last four weeks. Three-quarters of the 500 SMBs surveyed for the O2 research were using Twitter to market products while 42% used the channel to keep in contact with customers and suppliers. Another 34% used Twitter to keep an eye on the competition. Cost-cutting was cited as the biggest benefit of tweeting by two-thirds of those surveyed, with 16% claiming they had saved up to £5,000 (US$7,300) since signing up. “The way small businesses are using Twitter is a great example of how the community is embracing new technologies in order to adapt and survive in the current economic climate,” said head of small business marketing at O2, Simon Devonshire. Hitwise recently released data that showed traffic to Twitter exceeded that of Britain’s most popular newspaper sites. Join OFFMA on Twitter. Be the first to hear the news. Simply go to www.twitter.com and sign on. Think PINK! If you find a pink page in your newsletter mailing, it means your attention is require
d pertaining to a certain matter. Generally you are being asked to fill out the page. Please watch for the pink paper and respond promptly when you see one..thank you. April 22 is Earth Day—what will you be doing? Good intentions and expressions of concern are not enough. Protecting the environment is the most serious challenge we face today. Every Canadian can and must get involved, not just today, but every day. Dr. Roberta Bondar Page 4 Fresh Facts Farm Safety – How would your farm rate? By Jeff Wilson, Birkbank Farms (this article originally appeared in the FVGO Newsletter) Agriculture recently came under the “Occupational Health and Safety Act” (OHSA) which brings a whole new level of responsibility to you as a farmer regarding the awareness required on your part to insure your workers not only work in a safe environment, but have awareness of hazards and procedures, to do their jobs safely. Over the last year there have been a number of seminars at farm meetings outlining what is required. (Kristin Hoffman did a presentation at the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention this past February). In our view until “The rubber hits the road” do we really understand what it all means? In our personal case, what we thought was a reasonable level of awareness, was somewhat less than required….so our story. Two weeks ago, we got a call from our local Farm Safety Association (FSA) rep, wondering if he could stop by to have a look around. We agreed on a time and date. When he arrived, he explained why he was visiting, The WSIB (Workplace Safety & Insurance Board) has embarked on a “Road to Zero” program to eliminate accidents in the workplace. This means a mindset that all accidents could have been prevented, with a goal to prevent them from happening. Our farm has had its share of cuts and scrapes but we have an ongoing issue with a worker who while weeding got a thorn in his finger, which festered, creating a long term medical condition. This of course got us on ‘the List’. At this point, we could have gone in either of two directions. We could have screamed social injustice, the worker operated outside of procedures and therefore should have been responsible or take the big picture view on how do we prevent this from happening again, regardless of who’s at fault or to blame. The OHSA made that decision easy because it outlines a process and our workers are aware of our respective responsibilities. So what happened? That’s what we are going to walk you through. First, the FSA rep thoroughly explained the act. We could have quibbled about the number of workers on our farm, but we were going for the big picture. As always, the number of workers determines your responsibility level, this can also read workload. Our sense was rather than a one sided picture, it is, in fact a two way street. I’ve already mentioned the word ‘AWARENESS’ too many times but that’s what it’s all about. Command and control management where the issue is forgotten the moment after the edict is given not only won’t increase awareness of safe operations but provides little to no ‘due diligence’ if a critical injury occurred. Safe to say, many injuries beyond the cut and scrape level could fall into this category. Involvement of the Ministry of Labour is mandatory resulting in an investigation that could carry significant financial costs if not charges against me, the farmer. By the way, any 911 call involving a farm injury is forwarded to the Ministry of Labour for investigation. Then the rep asked me how we communicated to our staff what their responsibility was. We had posted our philosophical beliefs but had no information posted for the benefit of our staff on how they achieve our goals. Recommendations 1 through 6 on our report deal with obligations under the act that we had an awareness of but no formal method of dealing with. Has anyone on our farm received formal first aid training? Again, this is required by the act. The main message was to start a binder that documented all activities related to training, awareness building, and procedures that will ensure our staff is aware of risks. This also gives us some due diligence that documents our efforts to reduce risk and raise awareness. Our next step was to create a ‘Safety Wall’ in a common area where information as it is being developed is available to our staff. If this sounds familiar to those of you who are working on food safety programs, it is in fact parallel. Our farm has a food safety program in place so we have an awareness in place….How come we never thought about farm safety in the same vein? Newsletter #247 Page 5 What did we learn? 1. We never know as much as we think. 2. Safety requires conscious thought. 3. Open minds are a necessity. 4. We are never too old to learn new tricks. IT’S BETTER TO BE AHEAD OF THE CURVE THAN BEHIND IT! We recommend you call your FSA rep. They are knowledgeable, have a set of eyes that aren’t yours and work in a positive, professional way. Have them come out in a proactive way to do what they did to us. RAISE OUR AWARENESS. ED. Note: Jeff, thank you for sharing this story with us. As all our members are open to the public it is even more important to make sure everything is operating in a safe fashion. It never hurts to have another pair of eyes take a look around. In response to this article and the information presented by Kristin at the OFVC, a Farm Safety Association Products & Services catalogue has been included with this newsletter. In coming months, OFFMA will also be sending its members a copy of the Occupational Health & Safety Act Farming Operations. First Aid Training Programs WSIB requires that at least 1 person, but preferably two, has their First Aid Training. OFFMA is working with St. John’s to set up First Aid courses in several locations across the province. The courses will be taking place in April and May. Details will be sent out through e-mails. If you do not have an e-mail address but would like to get information about these courses, please call the OFFMA office and let us know. Page 6 Fresh Facts The People Have Spoken By Dorene Collins Last month I shared some of the key findings regarding the growing interest in local food and buying direct from the farm as a result of OFFMA’s On-Farm Marketing in Ontario 2008/09 Report. In this issue, I want to share what consumers are saying regarding their direct farm marketing experience. This information should be a guide as you prepare for the 2009 season which is just around the corner. One of the key findings celebrates what a great job OFFMA member farms are doing in meeting consumer expectations, in fact 97% of customers indicated that their direct farm experience met or exceeded their expectations – not many businesses can boast that these days! In addition, 95% of customers indicated that they would recommend the farm market to friends. This builds on the importance of word of mouth advertising which continues to be the best form of marketing. As far as demographics, on-farm markets and agri-tourism operations continue to attract females over males at a ratio of 2:1, and two thirds of customers interviewed were between 25 and 49, with 50% of the group composition being made up of families. Sixty-nine percent of visitors were born in Ontario and 89% were Caucasian. With Ontario’s increasing ethnic customer base, there remains opportunity for growth to attract a variety of ethnic communities to your farm. When it comes to transportation, 100% customers surveyed travelled to the farm by private vehicle and 47% travelled between 11 to 30 minutes to get to your operation. These statistics are important as you plan your advertising to focus on customers who own a car and live within 30 minutes of your farm. Visit frequency revealed a refreshing truth that 29% of customers surveyed indicated that this was their first visit to a farm market – WOW – few business sectors are experiencing new customer growth like direct farm marketing! So the question is – how do you get these newcomers to become repeat and loyal customers? This is an
area of opportunity as 40% of those surveyed indicated that they were not planning to return to the farm until ‘next year’. Think of the income potential if ‘once a year’ visitors could be persuaded through a variety of incentives to make repeat visits throughout the year. One of the most thought provoking results had to do with awareness of behalf of the customer. While 39% said they learned about the farm by word of mouth, 17% and 12% respectively said they learned about the farm through ‘road sign’ or ‘driving by and looked interesting’ – showing the power of curb appeal, think of the potential business opportunity if they didn’t ‘stumble’ upon your farm because of a sign or you looked interesting – the potential is enormous! People are looking for new and interesting places and yes – direct farm marketing and agri-tourism continue to meet that need. Helpful resources: Visit the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) – Business Management Unit website at: http:// www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/ busdev/agbusdev.html Subscribe to our OMAFRA Agricultural Business Update Newsletter at: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/ english/busdev/news/ index.html#agbus Dorene Collins is Marketing and Customer Service Program Lead with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Email:dorene.collins@ontario.ca Newsletter #247 Page 7 Web Site Report Card Workshop with Susan Sweeney Susan took OFFMA members through 60 elements on their own business web sites that need to be reviewed and possibly revised in order to help Search Engines find them quickly and easily on the web. You want this to happen because when your customers, potential or established, are looking for you on the web, they don’t want to be wading through pages of information. You want your web site to come up on the first search page. In order for those search engines to find your site, you need to update it on a regular basis, you need to have the right metatags, you should have a site map and you should have other sites linking to you. These are just a smattering of the items that were reviewed. One participant summed up the day by saying “ Susan is excellent. She explains everything in terms that we can understand, is so very knowledgeable and can cover a lot without leaving anyone behind. We have learned so much and know this will certainly help our business”. “If you do not have a web site and you are marketing directly to the consumer, you are losing money.” -Jane Eckert PRODUCT of the MONTH We have limited copies of two of Susan’s books: 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site And Internet Marketing for Your Tourism Business They are available for $20 + GST, regular price is $29.99 + GST. Call the OFFMA office if you are interested in getting a copy. NEW Webinar!! If you missed this workshop, catch the upcoming 90 minute webinar on the afternoon of April 23. Stay tuned for further information about the Search Engine Optimization Webinar. It will be sent out in an e-mail blast. Page 8 Fresh Facts Upcoming Events BEYOND THE CITY LIGHTS Agri-Tourism Conference Series Goderich Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:30 am- 4:30pm Location: The Columbus Centre, Goderich Uxbridge Thursday April 23, 2009 Location: Wooden Sticks Golf Club, Uxbridge Ontario Farm Fresh Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director 2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9 Phone: 905-841-9278 Fax: 905-726-3369 E-mail: info@ontariofarmfresh.com www.ontariofarmfresh.com 2009-10 OFFMA Board of Directors Amy Strom, President Strom’s Farm Jesse Lauzon, Vice President Springridge Mark Saunders, Past President Saunders Farm Paul Brooks, Brooks Farms Jay Howell, Brantview Apples & Cider Anne Just, Kurtz Orchards Marg Land, Annex Publishing (Associate Member) Colleen Pingle, Pingle’s Farm Market Geri Rounds, Rounds Ranch Steve Smith, Smith’s Apples Dorene Collins, OMAFRA (Advisor to the Board) Collingwood Tuesday April 28, 2009 8:30am – 4:00pm Location: Bear Estate, Cranberry Resort, Collingwood Forest April 28 & 29 Location: Forest Golf & Country Hotel Bright Monday May 25th, 2009 Location: The Walters Dinner Theatre, Bright Direct link to the conference programs and registration forms http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/bclights/btcl.htm April 24& 25 May 4-6 Aug. 18 Nov 8-11 Who’s at Your Door? Workshop for B&B Owners, Georgian College, Orangeville Campus, Contact Lisa Tubia, 51-940-0331 for more details Canada’s National Baking Trade Show & Convention, Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, ON Visit www.baking.ca for further information. Annual Potluck at Mapleton’s Organic Dairy, Moorefield , ON Contact: Cathy Bartolic, 905-841-9278 OFFMA’s Bus Tour to Eastern Ontario & Quebec Contact: Cathy Bartolic, 905-841-9278 What’s your super power? From Seth Godin’s blog When I was a kid, I loved the Legion of Super Heroes and the Justice League of America. These were comics for slumming comic book writers, fun and sort of stupid stories where a whole bunch of superheroes would get together, hang out in the clubhouse and then work together to destroy some sort of monster that any individual superhero could never have bested. Anyway, near the beginning of most of these comics was a scene where a stranger would meet the team. Inevitably, the heroes would introduce themselves. Of course, Batman or Superman wouldn’t need an introduction, but the lesser (lower rent) heroes had to speak up and describe their super power. “I’m the Wasp. I have the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid wings and fire energy blasts.” Some fancy marketers might call this a positioning statement or a unique selling proposition. Of course, it’s not that. It’s just her super power. When you meet someone, you need to have a super power. If you don’t, you’re just another handshake. Don’t say, “Hi, I’m Don, I’m from Cleveland.” Instead, try, “Hi, I’m Don, I tell stories that spread.” It’s not about touting yourself or coming on too strong. It’s about making the introduction meaningful. If I don’t know your superpower, then I don’t know how you can help me (or I can help you). I was sitting next to a guy at a conference a few years ago. When people went around and said who they were and what they did, he said, “I’m Stephen, I’m a judge.” He gets points for humility, and not pointing out that he was a Supreme Court Justice was certainly his privilege… sort of like Superman not having to tout his x-ray vision. The rest of us, though, do everyone a service when we let others know what we do and how it might help. Godin is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his ebooks are among the most popular ever published. He is responsible for many words in the marketer’s vocabulary, including permission marketing, ideaviruses, purple cows, the dip and sneezers. His irrepressible speaking style and no-holds-barred blog have helped him create a large following around the world.
d pertaining to a certain matter. Generally you are being asked to fill out the page. Please watch for the pink paper and respond promptly when you see one..thank you. April 22 is Earth Day—what will you be doing? Good intentions and expressions of concern are not enough. Protecting the environment is the most serious challenge we face today. Every Canadian can and must get involved, not just today, but every day. Dr. Roberta Bondar Page 4 Fresh Facts Farm Safety – How would your farm rate? By Jeff Wilson, Birkbank Farms (this article originally appeared in the FVGO Newsletter) Agriculture recently came under the “Occupational Health and Safety Act” (OHSA) which brings a whole new level of responsibility to you as a farmer regarding the awareness required on your part to insure your workers not only work in a safe environment, but have awareness of hazards and procedures, to do their jobs safely. Over the last year there have been a number of seminars at farm meetings outlining what is required. (Kristin Hoffman did a presentation at the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention this past February). In our view until “The rubber hits the road” do we really understand what it all means? In our personal case, what we thought was a reasonable level of awareness, was somewhat less than required….so our story. Two weeks ago, we got a call from our local Farm Safety Association (FSA) rep, wondering if he could stop by to have a look around. We agreed on a time and date. When he arrived, he explained why he was visiting, The WSIB (Workplace Safety & Insurance Board) has embarked on a “Road to Zero” program to eliminate accidents in the workplace. This means a mindset that all accidents could have been prevented, with a goal to prevent them from happening. Our farm has had its share of cuts and scrapes but we have an ongoing issue with a worker who while weeding got a thorn in his finger, which festered, creating a long term medical condition. This of course got us on ‘the List’. At this point, we could have gone in either of two directions. We could have screamed social injustice, the worker operated outside of procedures and therefore should have been responsible or take the big picture view on how do we prevent this from happening again, regardless of who’s at fault or to blame. The OHSA made that decision easy because it outlines a process and our workers are aware of our respective responsibilities. So what happened? That’s what we are going to walk you through. First, the FSA rep thoroughly explained the act. We could have quibbled about the number of workers on our farm, but we were going for the big picture. As always, the number of workers determines your responsibility level, this can also read workload. Our sense was rather than a one sided picture, it is, in fact a two way street. I’ve already mentioned the word ‘AWARENESS’ too many times but that’s what it’s all about. Command and control management where the issue is forgotten the moment after the edict is given not only won’t increase awareness of safe operations but provides little to no ‘due diligence’ if a critical injury occurred. Safe to say, many injuries beyond the cut and scrape level could fall into this category. Involvement of the Ministry of Labour is mandatory resulting in an investigation that could carry significant financial costs if not charges against me, the farmer. By the way, any 911 call involving a farm injury is forwarded to the Ministry of Labour for investigation. Then the rep asked me how we communicated to our staff what their responsibility was. We had posted our philosophical beliefs but had no information posted for the benefit of our staff on how they achieve our goals. Recommendations 1 through 6 on our report deal with obligations under the act that we had an awareness of but no formal method of dealing with. Has anyone on our farm received formal first aid training? Again, this is required by the act. The main message was to start a binder that documented all activities related to training, awareness building, and procedures that will ensure our staff is aware of risks. This also gives us some due diligence that documents our efforts to reduce risk and raise awareness. Our next step was to create a ‘Safety Wall’ in a common area where information as it is being developed is available to our staff. If this sounds familiar to those of you who are working on food safety programs, it is in fact parallel. Our farm has a food safety program in place so we have an awareness in place….How come we never thought about farm safety in the same vein? Newsletter #247 Page 5 What did we learn? 1. We never know as much as we think. 2. Safety requires conscious thought. 3. Open minds are a necessity. 4. We are never too old to learn new tricks. IT’S BETTER TO BE AHEAD OF THE CURVE THAN BEHIND IT! We recommend you call your FSA rep. They are knowledgeable, have a set of eyes that aren’t yours and work in a positive, professional way. Have them come out in a proactive way to do what they did to us. RAISE OUR AWARENESS. ED. Note: Jeff, thank you for sharing this story with us. As all our members are open to the public it is even more important to make sure everything is operating in a safe fashion. It never hurts to have another pair of eyes take a look around. In response to this article and the information presented by Kristin at the OFVC, a Farm Safety Association Products & Services catalogue has been included with this newsletter. In coming months, OFFMA will also be sending its members a copy of the Occupational Health & Safety Act Farming Operations. First Aid Training Programs WSIB requires that at least 1 person, but preferably two, has their First Aid Training. OFFMA is working with St. John’s to set up First Aid courses in several locations across the province. The courses will be taking place in April and May. Details will be sent out through e-mails. If you do not have an e-mail address but would like to get information about these courses, please call the OFFMA office and let us know. Page 6 Fresh Facts The People Have Spoken By Dorene Collins Last month I shared some of the key findings regarding the growing interest in local food and buying direct from the farm as a result of OFFMA’s On-Farm Marketing in Ontario 2008/09 Report. In this issue, I want to share what consumers are saying regarding their direct farm marketing experience. This information should be a guide as you prepare for the 2009 season which is just around the corner. One of the key findings celebrates what a great job OFFMA member farms are doing in meeting consumer expectations, in fact 97% of customers indicated that their direct farm experience met or exceeded their expectations – not many businesses can boast that these days! In addition, 95% of customers indicated that they would recommend the farm market to friends. This builds on the importance of word of mouth advertising which continues to be the best form of marketing. As far as demographics, on-farm markets and agri-tourism operations continue to attract females over males at a ratio of 2:1, and two thirds of customers interviewed were between 25 and 49, with 50% of the group composition being made up of families. Sixty-nine percent of visitors were born in Ontario and 89% were Caucasian. With Ontario’s increasing ethnic customer base, there remains opportunity for growth to attract a variety of ethnic communities to your farm. When it comes to transportation, 100% customers surveyed travelled to the farm by private vehicle and 47% travelled between 11 to 30 minutes to get to your operation. These statistics are important as you plan your advertising to focus on customers who own a car and live within 30 minutes of your farm. Visit frequency revealed a refreshing truth that 29% of customers surveyed indicated that this was their first visit to a farm market – WOW – few business sectors are experiencing new customer growth like direct farm marketing! So the question is – how do you get these newcomers to become repeat and loyal customers? This is an
area of opportunity as 40% of those surveyed indicated that they were not planning to return to the farm until ‘next year’. Think of the income potential if ‘once a year’ visitors could be persuaded through a variety of incentives to make repeat visits throughout the year. One of the most thought provoking results had to do with awareness of behalf of the customer. While 39% said they learned about the farm by word of mouth, 17% and 12% respectively said they learned about the farm through ‘road sign’ or ‘driving by and looked interesting’ – showing the power of curb appeal, think of the potential business opportunity if they didn’t ‘stumble’ upon your farm because of a sign or you looked interesting – the potential is enormous! People are looking for new and interesting places and yes – direct farm marketing and agri-tourism continue to meet that need. Helpful resources: Visit the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) – Business Management Unit website at: http:// www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/ busdev/agbusdev.html Subscribe to our OMAFRA Agricultural Business Update Newsletter at: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/ english/busdev/news/ index.html#agbus Dorene Collins is Marketing and Customer Service Program Lead with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Email:dorene.collins@ontario.ca Newsletter #247 Page 7 Web Site Report Card Workshop with Susan Sweeney Susan took OFFMA members through 60 elements on their own business web sites that need to be reviewed and possibly revised in order to help Search Engines find them quickly and easily on the web. You want this to happen because when your customers, potential or established, are looking for you on the web, they don’t want to be wading through pages of information. You want your web site to come up on the first search page. In order for those search engines to find your site, you need to update it on a regular basis, you need to have the right metatags, you should have a site map and you should have other sites linking to you. These are just a smattering of the items that were reviewed. One participant summed up the day by saying “ Susan is excellent. She explains everything in terms that we can understand, is so very knowledgeable and can cover a lot without leaving anyone behind. We have learned so much and know this will certainly help our business”. “If you do not have a web site and you are marketing directly to the consumer, you are losing money.” -Jane Eckert PRODUCT of the MONTH We have limited copies of two of Susan’s books: 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site And Internet Marketing for Your Tourism Business They are available for $20 + GST, regular price is $29.99 + GST. Call the OFFMA office if you are interested in getting a copy. NEW Webinar!! If you missed this workshop, catch the upcoming 90 minute webinar on the afternoon of April 23. Stay tuned for further information about the Search Engine Optimization Webinar. It will be sent out in an e-mail blast. Page 8 Fresh Facts Upcoming Events BEYOND THE CITY LIGHTS Agri-Tourism Conference Series Goderich Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:30 am- 4:30pm Location: The Columbus Centre, Goderich Uxbridge Thursday April 23, 2009 Location: Wooden Sticks Golf Club, Uxbridge Ontario Farm Fresh Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director 2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9 Phone: 905-841-9278 Fax: 905-726-3369 E-mail: info@ontariofarmfresh.com www.ontariofarmfresh.com 2009-10 OFFMA Board of Directors Amy Strom, President Strom’s Farm Jesse Lauzon, Vice President Springridge Mark Saunders, Past President Saunders Farm Paul Brooks, Brooks Farms Jay Howell, Brantview Apples & Cider Anne Just, Kurtz Orchards Marg Land, Annex Publishing (Associate Member) Colleen Pingle, Pingle’s Farm Market Geri Rounds, Rounds Ranch Steve Smith, Smith’s Apples Dorene Collins, OMAFRA (Advisor to the Board) Collingwood Tuesday April 28, 2009 8:30am – 4:00pm Location: Bear Estate, Cranberry Resort, Collingwood Forest April 28 & 29 Location: Forest Golf & Country Hotel Bright Monday May 25th, 2009 Location: The Walters Dinner Theatre, Bright Direct link to the conference programs and registration forms http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/bclights/btcl.htm April 24& 25 May 4-6 Aug. 18 Nov 8-11 Who’s at Your Door? Workshop for B&B Owners, Georgian College, Orangeville Campus, Contact Lisa Tubia, 51-940-0331 for more details Canada’s National Baking Trade Show & Convention, Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, ON Visit www.baking.ca for further information. Annual Potluck at Mapleton’s Organic Dairy, Moorefield , ON Contact: Cathy Bartolic, 905-841-9278 OFFMA’s Bus Tour to Eastern Ontario & Quebec Contact: Cathy Bartolic, 905-841-9278 What’s your super power? From Seth Godin’s blog When I was a kid, I loved the Legion of Super Heroes and the Justice League of America. These were comics for slumming comic book writers, fun and sort of stupid stories where a whole bunch of superheroes would get together, hang out in the clubhouse and then work together to destroy some sort of monster that any individual superhero could never have bested. Anyway, near the beginning of most of these comics was a scene where a stranger would meet the team. Inevitably, the heroes would introduce themselves. Of course, Batman or Superman wouldn’t need an introduction, but the lesser (lower rent) heroes had to speak up and describe their super power. “I’m the Wasp. I have the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid wings and fire energy blasts.” Some fancy marketers might call this a positioning statement or a unique selling proposition. Of course, it’s not that. It’s just her super power. When you meet someone, you need to have a super power. If you don’t, you’re just another handshake. Don’t say, “Hi, I’m Don, I’m from Cleveland.” Instead, try, “Hi, I’m Don, I tell stories that spread.” It’s not about touting yourself or coming on too strong. It’s about making the introduction meaningful. If I don’t know your superpower, then I don’t know how you can help me (or I can help you). I was sitting next to a guy at a conference a few years ago. When people went around and said who they were and what they did, he said, “I’m Stephen, I’m a judge.” He gets points for humility, and not pointing out that he was a Supreme Court Justice was certainly his privilege… sort of like Superman not having to tout his x-ray vision. The rest of us, though, do everyone a service when we let others know what we do and how it might help. Godin is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his ebooks are among the most popular ever published. He is responsible for many words in the marketer’s vocabulary, including permission marketing, ideaviruses, purple cows, the dip and sneezers. His irrepressible speaking style and no-holds-barred blog have helped him create a large following around the world.
