Blog – Page 14 – Hugh McPherson

31 Mar 2020

You can’t hide your way to greatness.

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business

Be the light you wish to see in your community during these trying times. "You can't hide your way to greatness." We are living in uncertain times. There is an elephant-in-the-room in every conversation. Viruses, crackdowns, lockdowns, quarantines, "it's just the flu," "It's a pandemic," should we plant and prepare. It's simply hard to know what to do. Pivot - Protect - Profit. Taki Moore is a business coach I've enjoyed via Facebook group, and he outlines a strategy for these uncertain times. Pivot: Your message, your promise, and your delivery to your customers need to change. Instead of the usual signals of happy, friendly…

23 Mar 2020

Close your feed and write.

Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Maple Lawn Farms, Maple Lawn Winery

I do not like being told what to do. Yes, I just gave you a robust declarative statement, but it was for your good: Close your feed and write. We are no longer conditioned to write, yet our consumption of words, posts, videos, pictures is higher than ever. Your mind has become one-way as you push the vast majority of the traffic into your head and offer little back out, aside from a double-tap 'heart' or laughing emoji. Overwhelm and anxiety stem from this one-way flow. Your mind is struggling to keep all this information in with no safety valve…

03 Mar 2020

Part 3: “Conspicuous Leisure” or “Doing it for the ‘Gram”

Agritourism, Family Business, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

This lady routinely issues the Parent Veto. WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 3 OF 3 Hey, [[ contact.first_name | default: 'Friend' ]], Lessons from NAFDMA, the International Association for Agritourism convention in 3 Parts. Your marketing image is entrapping you.Wine, beer & food veto the “Parent Veto”[CHANGED] "Conspicuous Leisure" or "Doing it for the 'Gram" "Conspicuous Leisure" or "Doing it for the 'Gram" You noticed at the Strawberry Festival. Three 20-somethings, dressed to the nines, sauntered out to the patch with a single quart box. They were out there for hours, and came back with 13 strawberries, full…

03 Mar 2020

WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 3 OF 3 “Conspicuous Leisure” or “Doing it for the ‘Gram”

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business

WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 3 OF 3 Hey, ~Contact.FirstName~, Lessons from NAFDMA, the International Association for Agritourism convention in 3 Parts. Your marketing image is entrapping you.Wine, beer & food veto the “Parent Veto”[CHANGED] "Conspicuous Leisure" or "Doing it for the 'Gram" "Conspicuous Leisure" or "Doing it for the 'Gram" You noticed at the Strawberry Festival. Three 20-somethings, dressed to the nines, sauntered out to the patch with a single quart box. They were out there for hours and came back with 13 strawberries, full of giggles and feverishly swiping at their phones. They were "Doing it…

29 Feb 2020

The Parent Veto

Agritourism, Seasonal Business

WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 2 OF 3 Parents can Veto the children's desire to attend your event. Lessons from NAFDMA, the International Association for Agritourism convention in 3 Parts. Your marketing image is entrapping youWine, beer & food veto the “Parent Veto”Menus, food costs & quality drive profitability Wine, beer & food veto the "Parent Veto." I bet you've done it. Your kids wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese, and you issued what Randy White calls, "The Parent Veto." You know the food's going to be bad. NO ONE goes for the pizza. You know it's going to be…

28 Feb 2020

Part 2: “Avoid the Parent Veto.”

Agritourism, Family Business, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

This lady routinely issues the Parent Veto. WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 2 OF 3 Hey, [[ contact.first_name | default: 'Friend' ]], Lessons from NAFDMA, the International Association for Agritourism convention in 3 Parts. Your marketing image is entrapping you.Wine, beer & food veto the “Parent Veto”Menus, food costs & quality drive profitability Wine, beer & food veto the "Parent Veto." I bet you've done it. Your kids wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese, and you issued what Randy White calls, "The Parent Veto." You know the food's going to be bad. NO ONE goes for the pizza. You know…

23 Feb 2020

Part 1: What I Learned at NAFDMA 2020

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

The utterly brilliant Bus 2 Crew pictured here at the Angel Tree, one of the largest, longest living trees in America. WHAT I LEARNED AT NAFDMA 2020 – PART 1 OF 3 Hey, Friends, Sorry I'm late! I love to recap the conference, but it's been a bit crazy with our Sunflower Mastermind Groups starting up. (SIDENOTE: Why do I LOVE the Mastermind concept and dedicate so much time to it?! Well, in the last week, our 2nd meetings, we created a NEW festival pricing structure that should lift Sunflower Festival admission revenue by 8-15%! That's the power of the group - good ideas come from everywhere,…

21 Feb 2020

What I learned at NAFDMA 2020 – Part 1 of 3

Agritourism, Seasonal Business, Uncategorized

Bus two at the angle tree on the NAFDMA BUs Tour 2020 in Charleston, SC. Lessons from NAFDMA, the International Association for Agritourism convention in three parts. Your marketing image is entrapping youWine, beer & food veto the "Parent Veto"Menus, food costs & quality drive profitability I never miss this convention, OK I missed ONE, but it was due to the birth of my daughter back in 2002. The reason is that this gathering of movers and shakers is the place to get inspired, find new ideas, and, lately, the place for critical tweaks to an ever-changing experience economy. Part…

29 Jan 2020

Customers Coming Out Of Your Ears

Books

Now available! Everyone asks Hugh about marketing, mainly because it's a scary, ever-changing puzzle full of parameters. Hugh answers every question in this book designed to live on your desk for every marketing emergency. Customers Coming Out of Your Ears: 51 Quick Ways to Grow Customers & Profits Using Tools You Already Have presents 51 practical tactics to boosting sales and profits in your business. Hugh collected years of experience, plus trial and error experimentation in marketing fruit, admissions, wine, bakery products and more and compiled it into one reference guide. Skip around the easy to read, short chapters, then get…

27 Jan 2020

Part 4. 3 People you should contract & HIRE to create a Hybrid Marketing Team.

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

https://youtu.be/g62UZS5MUxg What started as a Facebook group post response turned into a four-part course on hiring a marketing team or not... or something else. Our recommendation for many small to mid-sized businesses is that something else, we'd call a Hybrid Marketing Team (HMT). Hybrid Marketing Team - People The Owner or top manager - Likely, YOU! To keep in touch with the pulse of your business, you MUST be a part of the team. The Doer - As the owner/leader, you should NOT be doing everything! This person can be part-time, work from home, be a teen, but must have the…