Agritourism – Page 12 – Hugh McPherson

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…

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…

20 Jan 2020

Part 3: Problems YOU cause when working with a marketing company.

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

https://youtu.be/3uxjSheW2sQ Part 3: Problems YOU cause when working with a marketing company. Unclear expectations.Unclear roles and authority.Late event announcements.No or late on-site pictures for event promotion. The #1 Problem on the client-side: Abdication, followed by denunciation, is one of the most painful mistakes in MC/Client working relationships. Once an MC is hired, a brief "get to know you" meeting is held in which the Client believes everything necessary has been communicated; then, the marketing company is free to do, or not do, anything it wants. This is the abdication. This abdication feels like freedom! It seems excellent until that fateful…

13 Jan 2020

Part 2: You should certainly NOT hire a marketing company.

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

https://youtu.be/WKmd9RXEcN4 Part 2: You certainly should NOT hire a marketing company. There is NO WAY you should hire a marketing company. This was my thought for years as I toiled away under the assumption that, because I was clever enough to start and run an entertainment business in the middle of nowhere and charge people for the privilege of walking through a corn maze (Unheard of back then!), I certainly didn't need any help marketing. I was right, just not for the "I'm-too-smart-reason." In fact, my stubbornness was precisely why I shouldn't hire a marketing company. (MC for short.) The…

06 Jan 2020

Part 1: You definitely should, & certainly should NOT hire a marketing company.

Agritourism, Marketing Tools, Seasonal Business

https://youtu.be/Mgy-AWx06Rs The debate rages on: Should you hire a marketing firm or not hire a marketing firm? This debate is happening in my head, typically in Spring, as I look down the barrel of my upcoming to-do list and think, "Gosh, there are 1,000 marketing firms. Surely ONE of them could take this off my plate?!" Spoiler Alert: I did hire a marketing company, then let them go. Then hired another one, then let them go. Then hired another one, then let them go (and that one was just this year!) Spoiler-Spoiler Alert: We WERE marketing company at Maize Quest,…