#280: Your Biggest Farm Marketing Questions Answered

Farm Marketing Mastery is open for enrollment! Sign Up HERE What happens when farmers stop struggling alone and finally get the marketing and mindset tools they need? In this episode of The Profitable Mindset Podcast, host Charlotte Smith steps back and lets her Farm Marketing Mastery clients tell their own stories. These aren't hypotheticals—they're real farmers who were losing money, burning out, and wondering if they'd have to give up farming altogether. You'll hear from Alyssa, who ran her first-ever five-day subscription launch and sold almost double what she'd made in any single month over ten years of farming. From Stacey, who made back twice her program investment in under 30 days and now sells $17-per-pound chicken breast in one of the poorest counties in North Carolina. From Vanessa who went from $25,000 in year one to over $300,000 by year three. But here's what makes these stories different: it's not just about the money. Farmers share how their marriages improved, how they stopped crying over marketing, how they finally believed in themselves enough to raise their prices without flinching. One farmer's husband quit his off-farm job. Another built a farm store. Several went from sold-out waitlists to calm Sunday planning sessions with their spouses. If you've ever wondered whether direct-to-consumer farm marketing actually works—or whether you're just not cut out for the business side of farming—this episode is your proof that it's possible. Farm Marketing Mastery registration is open this week only. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE Why do your gorgeous farm photos get dozens of likes but zero sales? Charlotte Smith has the answer—and it's probably not what you think. In this Q&A episode of The Profitable Mindset Podcast, Charlotte responds to questions pouring in from farmers who signed up for her upcoming Farm Marketing Fix webinar. These aren't hypothetical problems—they're the real struggles keeping small farmers stuck. The first question hits hard: "I have a small flower farm and I can't sell hardly anything. I put it on Facebook and I get likes and shares, but no money." Charlotte breaks down what's missing: a clear call to action and a defined brand. Without both, you're entertaining people instead of converting them into customers. She introduces the Rule of One Framework—the system her successful clients use to cut through overwhelm: one ideal customer, one core message, one primary platform, and one call to action. When farmers narrow their focus this way, marketing finally starts making sense. Charlotte also tackles a question about marketing mindset, explaining why the farmers who succeed share a specific belief: marketing is serving people, not pushing products. She shares what she discovered after years of teaching—students with identical training and similar products had wildly different results based entirely on their beliefs about selling. The episode wraps with advice on transitioning from wholesale to direct-to-consumer sales, and why comparison marketing ("our beef is better than the grocery store") actually backfires long-term. If you're creating content consistently but your bank account doesn't reflect the effort, this episode will show you what's missing. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE Can you really build a profitable farm business while homeschooling, caring for family, and working from a small homestead? Jen Collins proves you can. In this episode of The Profitable Mindset Podcast, host Charlotte Smith sits down with client Jen Collins, owner of The Collins Cluckery in southeast Michigan. Jen raises pastured poultry and is launching farm classes—all from just a few acres. When Jen joined Farm Marketing Mastery nine months ago, she was selling chickens to friends and family and treating her farm "like a business" rather than running an actual business. She didn't have a marketing plan, struggled with confidence, and felt overwhelmed by where to start. Fast forward to today: Jen has grown her email list from 37 to 71 subscribers, increased annual sales from $4,000 to over $10,000 (a 127% increase), and developed the confidence to call herself a farmer and business owner. In this conversation, Jen gets real about the discomfort of putting herself out there, asking for email addresses, handling unsubscribes, and collecting payment from difficult customers. She also shares how tracking where her customers come from (church, a chiropractor's office, word of mouth) helped her focus her marketing efforts. If you're a woman over 40 wondering whether it's too late to start something new, or a small farmer unsure how to turn your hobby into income, this episode is for you. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE Are you running your farm business without knowing your numbers? In this episode, we dive into the essential metrics that separate profitable farms from struggling ones—and why tracking them is non-negotiable for growth. This is part three of the year-end business planning series designed to help direct-to-consumer farmers build their 2026 marketing plan. The core message: what you don't track, you can't improve. Key numbers covered in this episode: Weekly customer count: How many customers do you serve per week across all sales channels (farm store, farmers market, online, deliveries)? Customer growth: How many new customers did you gain this year compared to last? Email list size: Your subscriber count one year ago versus today—and why email marketing software is legally required for sales emails Email metrics: Open rates, click rates, and why you shouldn't judge these numbers negatively Ad returns: If you're running Facebook or Instagram ads, what's your dollar return on investment? Gross sales and expenses: Total farm income minus all costs, including what you pay yourself The episode also addresses common mindset blocks around tracking numbers and emphasizes that building a profitable farm requires equal time on business skills as on physical farm work. Small-acreage farmers can absolutely achieve strong profits when they master these fundamentals. A free two-day training called "The Farm Marketing Fix" is coming January 19-20, with live feedback on marketing materials and strategies for profitability. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE What happens when you finally hit your farm revenue goals—but you're exhausted, overwhelmed, and thinking about quitting? It's more common than you'd think. In this final installment of the four-part Year-End Business Marketing Planning Workshop, host Charlotte Smith tackles the piece most farmers skip: personal fulfillment. Because a profitable farm you hate running isn't really success. Charlotte shares from her own experience running a raw milk dairy. After eight years of hosting a popular (and profitable) farm camp, she realized she was done—and gave herself permission to stop. When she turned 50, she hired and trained milkers so she could step back from the physical labor she'd outgrown. These weren't failures. They were intentional choices that made her farm sustainable long-term. In this episode, Charlotte guides you through questions like: What did you actually enjoy doing this year? What are you complete with—and ready to never do again? What was your biggest moneymaker with the least effort? And critically: Who do you need to become to hit your 2026 goals? She also walks through a practical exercise for projecting revenue by product. List every way you make money on the left. Write your 2026 sales goal for each on the right. Add it up. Does it match your total revenue goal? If not, you've just identified the gap you need to solve—whether that's raising prices, adding volume, or cutting what isn't working. Charlotte gets honest about the mindset shifts that made the biggest difference for her, including giving up weeknight wine to improve her sleep, energy, and focus. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE Are you farming without a clear sales goal? In this episode, Charlotte Smith—farm marketing expert and business coach who works with 300+ farmers annually through her Farm Marketing Mastery program—reveals why having a specific revenue target is the difference between a thriving farm and one that struggles to survive. Charlotte walks through her proven goal-setting framework, explaining how to choose your gross sales projection even if you're brand new to farming or unsure what you'll sell. She shares real client success stories, including a farmer who made $100,000 in beef sales in one week and another who generated $2,000 before breakfast from a single email. You'll learn Charlotte's counterintuitive approach to goals: if you don't hit your target, don't lower it—extend the timeline instead. She explains why goal-setting is really about personal transformation and developing the marketing, mindset, and time management skills needed to reach any revenue number. The episode also covers a critical business planning exercise: evaluating what worked and what didn't work on your farm last year. Charlotte shares her own experience letting go of a successful farm camp program and teaches you how to distinguish between ventures worth refining versus those ready to release. Whether your goal is $10,000 or $10 million, this episode gives you the exact planning process Charlotte's clients use to build profitable farms across the country. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery. Resources & Links Mentioned Training & Programs Farm Marketing Fix (Free January 2026 Training): https://charlottemsmith.com/masterclass Farm Marketing Mastery: https://charlottemsmith.com/mastery Five-Day Launch: Sales strategy taught within Farm Marketing Mastery Key Takeaways Choose a specific gross sales number – Any goal is better than no goal; leaving revenue "up to chance" dramatically increases the likelihood of going out of business. Work backwards from your goal – Break annual targets into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily actions. Don't lower goals; extend timelines – If you don't hit $100K in 12 months but reach $65K, keep the $100K goal and extend to 15-18 months. Goal-setting transforms you – The real value is developing skills in marketing, boundary-setting, decision-making, and time management. Evaluate what worked AND what you still want to do – Something can be successful and still be worth letting go (like Charlotte's farm camp). Write it down by hand – Physical planning exercises significantly increase follow-through compared to just thinking about goals.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE What would your farm look like if you knew—really knew—you couldn't fail?   Most of us stopped dreaming big somewhere around middle school.   We've been trained to set "realistic" 10% growth targets we can hit by just grinding harder.   But here's what I know after years of coaching farmers: working harder has a ceiling. You cannot out-hustle your way to your dream farm.   In this episode, you'll discover: - The exact questions my clients answer before seeing results like 86% sales increases - Why "impossible" goals actually work better than practical ones - How to put yourself on your own non-negotiables list - Why failure is literally the only path to success   This is Part 1 of 3—let's build your 2026 marketing plan together. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE What if the real reason you're exhausted isn't the workload—it's a single emotion you don't even realize is running the show? Guilt is silently hijacking your decisions, pushing you toward $20/hour tasks while $5,000/hour opportunities slip away. It's why you say yes when you should say no, why rest never actually restores you, and why "being responsible" might be the most reckless choice you're making. In this episode, you'll discover: The 5-step guilt cycle controlling your farm decisions without your permission How to catch guilt in the act before it costs you thousands The single question that created a 60-second breakthrough for one farmer Why one farmer was up until 2 AM making mistakes and resenting her neighbor—all traced back to this invisible force This isn't about hustling harder. It's about finally seeing what's been invisible—and breaking free from the pattern that's keeping you stuck. If you've ever thought "I should just be able to handle all this," this one's for you. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class:   The Farm Marketing Fix   Sign Up HERE    Ever feel like a failure because you can't keep up with everything on your plate?   Picture a farmer homeschooling three kids (including a two-year-old), milking cows at dawn, moving 400 sheep, tending chickens, making every meal from scratch—and wondering why the farm wasn't profitable.   When I asked her what she wanted, she gave me ONE word: "Less."   Oof. I felt that in my soul.   Here's what we uncovered in this coaching session: - The brutal math - She had the equivalent of three 40-hour-a-week jobs. No wonder she felt crushed. - The focus revelation - We used my method to figure out how much she could actually take on (spoiler: not all of it) - The clarity moment - After one call, she chose her ONE thing (sheep), ditched the rest, and you could literally HEAR the relief in her voice   This isn't just about doing less work. It's about doing the RIGHT work so you can stop being busy but broke, overwhelmed but not profitable.   If you're running yourself into the ground trying to do ALL the things, this episode is your permission slip to choose differently.   Click HERE and Let's Meet!    Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.

FREE Master Class: The Farm Marketing Fix Sign Up HERE You know how when you sit down to write your Black Friday email, you get all worried about leaving someone out? You want to reach your older customers AND your younger customers, those with kids and those without, AND that person who bought from you six months ago. So you do your best to include everyone! But nobody buys. 🤦‍♀️ Total crickets. I get it. I used to do this exact thing. I worried that getting too specific would turn some customers off. Turns out there's a way better approach. In this episode, I walk through a real email from a flower farmer I just coached: You'll see her original version, what we changed, and why one sold out her products while the other would've bombed My simple notebook trick for collecting the phrases that make people stop scrolling and think "Wait, are they reading my mind?" Real results: One farmer used this and sold out her beef from summer. Another sold out half her spring flower shares before Christmas even happened Why this isn't just about Black Friday - this works all year long If your marketing hasn't worked before? Not to worry. It's a skill you haven't learned yet - and I'm here to help. The truth: Generic marketing feels safer. Specific marketing actually sells. Click HERE and Let's Meet! Chat with us to see if Farm Marketing Mastery can break you out of marketing misery.