A dose of my own medicine tests my ‘social’ vaccine – Part 1.

Delicious strawberries turn into a social media nightmare, three-part series. "A dose of my own medicine tests my 'social' vaccine." If you know me, you know that I talk - a lot. I'm opinionated and freely offer advice. Beyond that, I like to ask really tough coaching questions; questions that challenge your assumptions when we talk about business. Social media is one of the most often requested topics on which I speak. Inevitably during the presentation, someone says, "We changed out [pricing/layout/packages/fruit container sizes/] and we got [bad feedback/attacked/annihilated/lit-up/crucified] on social media. I know we should never have done that.] Business coach…
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Part – 1 “A dose of my own medicine tests my ‘social’ vaccine.”

If you know me, you know that I talk - a lot. I'm opinionated and freely offer advice. Beyond that, I like to ask really tough coaching questions; questions that challenge your assumptions when we talk about business.  Social media is one of the most often requested topics on which I speak. Inevitably during the presentation, someone says, "We changed out [pricing/layout/packages/fruit container sizes/] and we got [bad feedback/attacked/annihilated/lit-up/crucified] on social media. I know we should never have done that.]  Business coach Hugh carefully works through with question after question to find the real data, and most often we discover together that the…
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Part 2 – “Solving the strawberry supply problem.”

In Part 1, we reviewed that I love to help people use data to overcome emotional distress caused by social media pain.  Hundreds of Strawberry Drive-Thru Festival bakery & winery orders await pick-up. If you missed Part 1, please read it FIRST on my blog: CLICK HERE  Here's the basic idea: Reviewing the data, the real numbers, is like a vaccine against future social media harassments. Once you know to look at the data, you can temper your emotional response.  Then it happened to me.  Part 2 - "Solving the strawberry supply problem." The current situation:  Seven days from our festival, we're…
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You can’t hide your way to greatness.

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…
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Close your feed and write.

Close your feed and write.

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

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

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…
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Part 2: “Avoid the Parent Veto.”

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…
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Long-distance relationships.

Above is Case's autonomous tractor - No Cab! It's already in testing and coming soon to a farm near you, just not sure how soon... Long distance relationships. Hey Friends, Technology in agriculture sure has come a long way. Think of what we take for granted. I have always been a nerd, and by nerd, I mean interested in future technology and willing to give things a try even when there is no immediate benefit evident. My middle school buddy and I tied up two landlines, two modems, and connected a mac computer and a DOS computer in 6th grade so that…
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Life’s too short, only read what you’re interested in.

Life’s too short, only read what you’re interested in.

Working with corn maze clients across North America and the UK, creating attractions and marketing plans for hundreds more farms and entertainment businesses, plus managing nearly 100 staff across three businesses and 1,400 acres of production, retail, and entertainment in a family business generates a lot of stories. This blog is a connection point for seasonal and family business owners to look inside, learn from our mistakes, and connect on a level only people in the small business community can. Choose what you'd like to read by category or search, then surf around occasionally for something interesting you might not…
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