Agritourism – Hugh McPherson

17 Jan 2023

No free lunch – Part 2 Deploying The [NEW] Guiding Principle.

Agritourism, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

The [NEW] Guiding Principle. You can't make money unless people get onsite, but they are ready to spend once they arrive. In Part 1, "Back on your game," we reviewed how the Free Lunch of marketing due to artificial scarcity is over. We have to get back on our marketing 'game' and promote like it's 2019 all over again. Part 2 Deploying The [NEW] Guiding Principle. You can't make money unless people get onsite. The driving goal is to get people through the door. DUH, right? It goes a bit deeper on three focused levels. Focus #1: Differentiation. My buddy John Schallert, who runs an excellent workshop,…

12 Jan 2023

No free lunch – Part 1 – Back on your game.

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

I love the saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." You know how it goes... You get invited to coffee with an old friend, which turns out to be an MLM or Amway pitch.You think you got a steal of a deal on that tractor on Facebook Marketplace, and it needs a new 3-point hitch two days after bringing it home.A friend helps you move, then needs your pick-up for three days while she moves. The good news is: You've been eating free lunches for 2-3 years. In 2020, our outdoor businesses were the only attractions open. Drive-thru festivals helped the…

30 Dec 2022

You try to get out, but [behaviors] keep pulling you back.

Agritourism, Family Business, Maple Lawn Farms, Seasonal Business

What's on your list of behaviors to change? Do you have a list? You try to get out, but [behaviors] keep pulling you back. In Part 1, we first thought through the act of relieving our own sources of suffering. There is enough pain and challenge in the world. There is no need for us to create more for ourselves. This week, I'd like to consider behaviors. You might think it juvenile to discuss behavior when we're all adults, but upon deeper inspection, our behaviors, directly and indirectly, cause problems, problems that can be avoided. Behavior: noun. "The way in which one acts…

13 Dec 2022

Eliminate, first, your self-induced suffering. Part 1 – Relationships

Agritourism, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

Are you lighting the fuse then complaining about the burn? Eliminate, first, your self-induced suffering. Part 1 - Relationships This blog is not the classic trope of "Put on your oxygen mask before you help others," but instead, a more inward-looking exercise. One of my current favorite motivational speakers is Duke University's women's basketball coach, Kara Lawson, who proposes that [her players] / [you] / [me] spend most of our lives waiting for things to get easy, to be easier, when in fact we should "handle hard better." (Click here for her whole speech) I'm all in, that's me 100%, and if you have kids or…

27 Oct 2022

Fear of missing out, when it’s real and when it’s not.

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

We've all felt FOMO. Sometimes it's real. Other times, it indicates something else is missing… For instance, if missing an event makes you feel like a particular group of people won't include you in their group - It's your internal lack of self-worth exhibiting as fear. If missing a business trip makes you feel like everyone else will get the sale, be better friends at the office or be more financially successful, that is STILL not a reason to go. It means you have a fear of being excluded. If you have a "fear of missing out" on time with…

30 Aug 2022

No more heroics.

Agritourism, Employee Management, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business

“Today I will do what other's won't, so tomorrow I will do what others can't.”― Jerry Rice No more heroics. (I admit, in full disclosure, that I like heroics and that I'm not always right.) Hustle & grind culture. It amuses me when I see non-gym-attending people wearing Nike shirts with phrases such as, "I'm always on my grind." or "24/7 Hustle." Clearly, someone making shirts is on a hustle because those people got hustled into buying shirts for a cause they don't believe in. The hustle culture is the "Only losers sleep" "No days off" mentality that you can work your way to success. I actually…

12 Aug 2022

“80 out of 130 years.”

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

"80 out of 130 years." I've sort of always felt like a kid. No matter what age, so far anyway, I feel like the world is new, and I want to explore it. My Dad just turned 80 on Aug 2nd. My Aunt Margaret, pictured next to him in the sunflower festival field, and I wanted to do something special, so we're working on a family timeline that will eventually be on display for you all to see in the farm market area. In that process, we found a deed for what we think is the 2nd farm purchased by a family McPherson…

31 Jul 2022

I took my eyes off the ball (or disc in this case.)

Agritourism, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Maple Lawn Farms, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

Ouch. I took my eyes off the ball (or disc in this case.) If you've ever played sports, you've got a story like this: I was on a fastbreak across the field after dropping a short pass to our Ultimate Frisbee team's "Handler." Think of Adam as the roving quarterback to whom midfielders like me pass a catch until he can launch it downfield for a goal. I dropped him the pass, took off, cutting behind the player guarding me, and struck out across the field. Adam saw me and flicked the disc a little high, but right on the money.…

08 Jul 2022

Eyes to the sun.

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

Hey Technicians, Blueberries, peaches, apples, lavender, corn, and sunflowers all have eyes for the sun.In Genesis, God separated the dark from the light, which was the first move He made.Darkness and light, yin and yang, sleeping and waking, there is a balance between these forces of nature for a reason. Recently, the farm had been dry. Dusty country roads billowed out behind my truck as I drove to work from home. The sun shone brightly. It was hot. The sunflowers started tracking the sun, maximizing their exposure as I slathered on sunscreen and put on my floppy, wide-brimmed hat. Nearing the…

28 Jun 2022

Timing is everything.

Agritourism, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Maple Lawn Farms, Seasonal Business

Hey Technicians, Have you ever struggled to make a project, relationship, festival, or crop/garden work out when you wanted it to, only to discover that when it finally came together, the timing was better than you had planned? Timing is everything. A joke told a minute too late doesn't land. A crop planted before the storm grows; planted late, it withers. Meet someone before you understand who you are, and you can't relate. Back to agriculture. Everything is an experiment, and growing plants at the whim of Mother Nature and the weather is always challenging. It requires a great deal of faith and willingness…