Rural Business Tips From Leaders in Agriculture
When it comes to growing your ag or rural business, it’s always easier to learn from someone else than try to figure it out on your own. Below we have compiled a list of some leaders in agriculture advocacy who have also built successful online businesses. With everything from Facebook tips to multi-platform sharing, these experts have tried a multitude of marketing tactics to determine what’s best for them, so now it’s time to find out what’s best for you and your rural business!
Dr. Hake - Calf Vet
Rural Business Tip: In order to grow and monetize on Facebook, you need to know your niche, and your audience, and create content that is valuable, shareable, that fits your audience’s needs.
In Elevate the Online Course, we host a whole lesson live with Dr. Marissa Hake on how to grow and monetize on Facebook. With a successful merch and online course business herself, Dr. Hake is the cow queen of Facebook in our opinion and her tactics to be successful on the platform are invaluable.
About Dr. Hake Calf - Vet
Dr. Hake (aka Calf Vet), was an expert guest for our Elevate the Online Course and she has a proven track record on both Facebook and Instagram but her main focus is Facebook. Dr. Marissa Hake is a veterinarian, wife, and mother who shares about her life living in Rural America. She is passionate about agriculture and sharing about how our food is raised. Beyond her everyday life, she loves to give a behind-the-scenes look at raising kids and cattle and starting a small business - all with a heavy dollop of wit and humor.
NY Farm Girls
Rural Business Tip: It’s never too late to start sharing online.
We PREACH this business ALL the time, but the NY Farm Girls just solidified that business tip for us again in their lesson of Elevate the Online Course. In case you’re new to the NY Farm Girls, they are three sisters who utilize social media to show the public the truth behind modern-day agriculture.
About the NY Farm Girls
The NY Farm Girls are made up of the oldest sister, Evelyn, who graduated from SUNY Cobleskill with a degree in Animal Science and Dairy. Claudia, who studied Ag business and entrepreneurship at the University of Lincoln Nebraska, has brought that knowledge back to the home farm. Then Jojo, the youngest, is the main caretaker for the calves on the home farm. They are known for advocating on TikTok for the industry as a whole using their day-to-day experiences on their family’s dairy and crop farm as their biggest motivator.
Iowa Dairy Farmer Dan
Rural Business Tip: Creating Valuable, Viral Content Doesn’t Have to be Difficult
In Tara’s interview with agvocate superstar, Iowa Dairy Farmer, they are chatting about how to be efficient on multiple platforms as well as finding the social platform that best serves you and your business. Dan’s biggest tip when it comes to content creation, is to remember quality over quantity. Your audience can tell when you are creating content just to create content so make sure to take the time to think out your content and review your analytics regularly to see what is resonating with your audience.
About the Iowa Dairy Farmer
Farming has always been in Dan’s blood. He is a 4th generation dairy farmer, and his family has been operating on the same land since 1941 when his great-grandparents began their farming ventures. When asked about what he loved most about being a dairy farmer he responded, “It changes every day and every season. That’s probably what I like most about it, no two days are the same.” He also noted that he loves being able to work directly with the animals and raise his children on the farm. He grew up to appreciate his agricultural background, and he hopes his children’s experiences will do the same for them.
Sandi Brock
Rural Business Tip: Be Really Clear on Your WHY
The expert interview with Sandi Brock, sheep farmer and creator of Sheepishly Me, dives into all the details of what it’s like to become a creator on YouTube and how women in agriculture and rural business owners can start their own journey on YouTube. The biggest piece of advice that Sandi has in this interview with Natalie Kovarik is before even starting to publish videos, you have to be really clear on your Ag Why, which is a foundational step that we cover in Elevate the Online Course. In addition to that, there is the full interview with Sandi Brock and several other agriculture leaders!
About Sandi Brock - Sheepishly Me
Sandi is a wife, a mother, and a Canadian sheep and grain farmer. In 2012 she and her husband, Mark, ventured down an unplanned path when they decided to step away from farming with extended family, so they could make time and space to start a new adventure of building their own sheep farm. Fast forward five years and Sandi found herself yet again venturing down another unplanned path when she decided to pick up a camera and start sharing her very raw and real journey as a new and inexperienced sheep farmer on YouTube for all the world to see.
Big Sky Caroline
Rural Business Tip: Analyze What Works for You, Your Business, Your Budget, and Your Location
We saved one of our best pieces of advice for last. In Elevate the Online Course, we have a full module on Direct to Consumer Business, whether that is beef, lamb, or other products and we were lucky enough to snag an interview with Caroline Nelson, also known as Big Sky Caroline on Instagram. Caroline is a first-generation rancher and she walks us through her whole business structure but the one tip that stood out to us the most is that Caroline modeled her business based on what worked for her and where she was at that moment. Over time she grew and scaled, but only as her situation allowed. Her biggest tip was to start where you are with what you have and grow from there.
About Caroline Nelson (Big Sky Caroline on Instagram)
Caroline is in year five of her business and has since branched to now offer not only grass-fed lamb, but also beef and natural ranch goods like sheep's milk soap and lotion, seasonings, hand-poured soy candles, her popular subscription-based farm program, and educational retreats for women. She prides herself in prioritizing transparency and providing high-quality products.
If you liked these tips from these leaders in agriculture, then we encourage you to check out the full Elevate Online Course to catch the full interviews in addition to our course workbook, course support hours, additional modules on social media, brand partnerships, podcasting, speaking, and more! Learn more below or email us at hello@elevateyouragstory.com.
