Social Media on the Farm

I love meeting people who obviously could have chosen a variety of careers that would have provided for their family but intently chose a path that positively impacts the world. Jaime Moore of WayWard Seed Farm is one such person. I interviewed Jaime regarding her use of social media to promote WayWard Seed Farm's products.

The interview was originally for a social media article I wrote for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. I was so impressed with Jaime that I am posting her full replies below. The social media article written for the Ohio Farm Bureau can be found on their site.

Not only is Jaime figuring out how to use social media, she also believes very much in the organic products WayWard Seed Farm is growing and the impact of extraordinary customer service. All of which makes her a superb choice as a speaker for the Entrepreneurial Roundtable this Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

AS: What social media tools do you use?
   
JM: Twitter, Facebook and our blog.

AS: For what purpose? 

Our blog is our most used social media tool. We use it to communicate with our CSA members and our email list. We'll offer announcements and updates, sharing what's happening at The Wayward Seed Farm and at the markets.  This year, we'll be using it more than ever as a service to our CSA members. We have a great editorial calendar lined up, including a recipe swap, a featured member series and a weekly piece about our best guess at what we'll be bringing to market.
    
We use Twitter as a means to keep up with the goings on of our clients and associates around town, and we use it to share the small details of what's going on at the farm. I like Twitter as a way to get to know everyone a little better and as a way for them to connect with us personally. It offers a completely different experience than through our blog and through Facebook--it's two-way and it's real time. 

We recently used Twitter to dialog about our Fox 28 Good Day Columbus interview while we were live on the air.  We were able to post pictures for people who weren't watching television.  Personally, I like to think of it as instant messaging for adults--except it's much easier to maintain multiple conversations! It's quick, simple and very easy to use.
    
Facebook, on the other hand, is not quite as quick or as simple, however, we have connected with a lot of our CSA members through our "Wayward Seed Farm CSA" group.  We use our Facebook group as a way to host a community for our CSA members. We want to encourage them to connect with one another and dialog throughout the week about recipes, storage solutions or even their kitchen blunders!

AS: How has your use of social media impacted your business? 
   
JM: It's greatly improved our visibility in the community, and most importantly our relationships with our customers.  It's fun to communicate back and forth with someone, get to know their avatar on Twitter and then finally, you get to meet them in person. At the market, we're working and we don't have the time to catch up with people as much as we'd like, so we often find ourselves solidifying those relationships through Twitter and Facebook and our blog.
    
We're not tracking metrics or looking for statistics. For us, using social media is about connecting to people and building deeper relationships--and there's no doubt we continue to achieve that every day. 

AS: What advice would you give others in the agriculture industry who are considering using social media as a professional tool? 

Absolutely!  It's not just about connecting with current clients, it's meeting new ones.  You can meet people through social media that you might not ever meet either in your area or around the world.  It's a way to connect with other farmers, other businesses, form partnerships, form friends. And it's the best form of free marketing there is. You have to meet people where they are, and today, that's online.