More patience and "growing" your small farm marketing

I will refrain from using any more cheesy growing metaphors in this caption (you will just have to read the article to get your fill.) When I was involved with agriculture on a more day-to-day basis, I found myself talking about all subjects in terms of plants. Ideas began to "germinate" and plans "flowered." And of course, the cliché "a long row to hoe" took on a whole new meaning. I think this is a common occurrence among people who spend more time with plants than other humans. There is surely a whole alternate vocabulary for dairy farmers or meat producers.

To my surprise, I found an article on Drew's Marketing Minute through the AgriMissouri Showcase that uses the growing metaphor to explain the power of patience in marketing. The metaphor is more on the level of "gardener" than "farmer", but it is nice to see a marketer in touch with the growing world.

Here's his recipe for marketing success:

• You till the ground until it is ready for the seed.
• You enrich the ground with nutrient-rich manure.
• You carefully pick out just the right seed, perfectly suited for the time of year and climate in your state.
• You plant the seed, covering it with the rich soil.
• You water the seed, making sure it has everything it needs to grow.
• You check the garden the next day.  Nothing has broken ground.
• You water again, hoping to see a sprout of growth.
• You check the garden the following day.  Still nothing.
• Following the expert advice on the HGTV channel, you lightly water again.
• You check the garden again the next day.  Nothing.
• You figure you did something wrong, so you dig up the seed, 2 days before it would have broken ground.

This recipe echos my ideas in a post earlier this week, Small farm web marketing requires patience and persistence. May you have patience in marketing, but make sure you are watching "HGTV" to take advice throughout the process.

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