One of tonight's many emails to my partner, on marketing. SEO is a field in itself, but it might give us some insight into this whole fundamental entity thing.
hey lauren,
cool - i'm actually going to make a lot of suggestions for the home page... the thing to keep in mind is called "search engine optimization" Basically, thinking about the words that people would search for if they are looking for us, and making sure to use them a lot, first thing, on the homepage.
Some search phrases for us might be:
Michigan Agritourism
Michigan Agritours
Michigan Farm tours
farm tours
sustainable farm tours
local food tour
family farm tour
anything else? I'll think about it a little more - what would people type into google if they're looking for what we offer?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Fundamental Entity
I spent a good chunk of Thursday and Friday at Lauren's house talking about where to go with the business, and about this grant we're writing to USDA to get started. I think both of us were torn between doing all the things that really need to be done right away (scheduling, planning and promoting tours, as well as kicking out this grant), and were having trouble focusing on the "big picture," so to speak. Still, if we want to be effective at writing this grant we need to have a clear statement of what our business is, so we tried...
When initially described, the fundamental entity seemed like the simplest question to answer. We are a tiny company. The entity is SIMBY Agritours (also talked about names, more on that later). BUT, we have several different types of trips we'd like to offer that could (should?) be marketed differently:
- Family & Individual farm tours (mostly recreational and fun, some learning, more expensive, nicer accommodations, more choices, more food - focused on connecting farmers with community of food-interested urban folks.)
- School and group tours (mostly educational, also fun - focused on changing attitudes)
- Adventure/Bike tours (mostly fun, 18-30 crowd, longer hike and bike tours, beer, food, tent camping - focused on exposure to Michigan's food system)
thinking about grant objectives, the family and school tours are totally different. the family tours could increase sales for specific farmers as families visit them at the farmer's market or join their CSA, the school ones more about changing attitudes in general and may not lead to documentable sales. The adventure tours seem too "out there" to include in the grant, but are, i feel, an important niche.
so: am I getting the idea behind fundamental entity? Can we still market all three without diluting our brand? Or should we brand them all separately (which seems silly) but each has a different target market and goal. hmmm.
When initially described, the fundamental entity seemed like the simplest question to answer. We are a tiny company. The entity is SIMBY Agritours (also talked about names, more on that later). BUT, we have several different types of trips we'd like to offer that could (should?) be marketed differently:
- Family & Individual farm tours (mostly recreational and fun, some learning, more expensive, nicer accommodations, more choices, more food - focused on connecting farmers with community of food-interested urban folks.)
- School and group tours (mostly educational, also fun - focused on changing attitudes)
- Adventure/Bike tours (mostly fun, 18-30 crowd, longer hike and bike tours, beer, food, tent camping - focused on exposure to Michigan's food system)
thinking about grant objectives, the family and school tours are totally different. the family tours could increase sales for specific farmers as families visit them at the farmer's market or join their CSA, the school ones more about changing attitudes in general and may not lead to documentable sales. The adventure tours seem too "out there" to include in the grant, but are, i feel, an important niche.
so: am I getting the idea behind fundamental entity? Can we still market all three without diluting our brand? Or should we brand them all separately (which seems silly) but each has a different target market and goal. hmmm.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Yes, Logo.
With all due respect to Naomi Klien and Kalle Lasn, I've officially given in to the marketing world so I can find a way to harness the power of marketing for good. And if Nike ever had anything good to teach me, it's that the first thing you need is a clean, simple, recognizable logo - and then you just put it all over everything. You know, to capture surplus (whatever that means, Christie)
I'm no graphic designer, but I started fishing through some of my favorite foodie twitter hashtags for logos that stood out to me. I'm looking for something that's recognizable even in the tiny twitter who-is-following-me feed, and something that communicates some of what we do. Just in case I ever get to hire a graphic designer to do this, here are some examples I liked:
Exhibit A: Roedale Institute
this one stuck in my head because of the leaves, which is something I'd been thinking when I wanted to name the company "Homegrown Tours." I like the use of both leaves and roots, and the circle makes it easy to recognize.
Exhibit B: Eating Locally
also a circle, this time with an agrarian landscape and a windmill. My objection is that it has nothing do do with food, but it does have a nice calming travel-ish look that makes me want to roam through foothills in Montana or somewhere.
Exhibit C: Slow Food
As one of the most recognizable and most-used logos in our market, slow food's gotta be doing something right. The snail is an obvious message, and the spiral is both visually compelling and ties into the whole closed-system approach. It's widely copied and modified among their chapters (like the SF chapter in the link), which helps them expand their message and the image along with it.
Exhibit D: Earth Eats
the question of including text in your logo is a hard one. On one hand it makes a direct connection to your organization's name, on the other, one nice thing about a logo is the ability to communicate in lieu of or in addition to text. hmm.
Exhibit E: Ag Chat
logo-wise, this one seemed to have it all - the leaves, the circles, and the suggestion of communication and technology. I really like the colors and the simplicity of it as well.
I'm no graphic designer, but I started fishing through some of my favorite foodie twitter hashtags for logos that stood out to me. I'm looking for something that's recognizable even in the tiny twitter who-is-following-me feed, and something that communicates some of what we do. Just in case I ever get to hire a graphic designer to do this, here are some examples I liked:
Exhibit A: Roedale Institutethis one stuck in my head because of the leaves, which is something I'd been thinking when I wanted to name the company "Homegrown Tours." I like the use of both leaves and roots, and the circle makes it easy to recognize.
Exhibit B: Eating Locallyalso a circle, this time with an agrarian landscape and a windmill. My objection is that it has nothing do do with food, but it does have a nice calming travel-ish look that makes me want to roam through foothills in Montana or somewhere.
Exhibit C: Slow FoodAs one of the most recognizable and most-used logos in our market, slow food's gotta be doing something right. The snail is an obvious message, and the spiral is both visually compelling and ties into the whole closed-system approach. It's widely copied and modified among their chapters (like the SF chapter in the link), which helps them expand their message and the image along with it.
Exhibit D: Earth Eats
the question of including text in your logo is a hard one. On one hand it makes a direct connection to your organization's name, on the other, one nice thing about a logo is the ability to communicate in lieu of or in addition to text. hmm.
Exhibit E: Ag Chatlogo-wise, this one seemed to have it all - the leaves, the circles, and the suggestion of communication and technology. I really like the colors and the simplicity of it as well.
A Little Company
Upon seeing my new blog, Lauren grabbed some of the copy from my last entry and worked it into our "about us" page on the new website. My favorite part of what she wrote were our bios (below). They seem to hit a great middle ground, being relaxed and informal and also conveying our passion for the company, and for working together.
It reminded me of something I saw on the entrepreneurship blog A Smart Bear (a fav of mine) called "you're a little company, now act like one". Jason makes the great point in this post about how when small companies try to look too big and professional they lose one of their core assets: a passionate, involved staff that gives awesome customer service. world, here we come!
It reminded me of something I saw on the entrepreneurship blog A Smart Bear (a fav of mine) called "you're a little company, now act like one". Jason makes the great point in this post about how when small companies try to look too big and professional they lose one of their core assets: a passionate, involved staff that gives awesome customer service. world, here we come!
WHO WE ARE
Gillian Ream, M.S.
Gillian is a graduate of the School of Natural Resources at U of M. She excels in environmental education and leadership training. She is passionate about issues related to our food and energy systems and to communicating this knowledge to kids and adults. She knows everyone that Lauren knows only a generation younger. Every time Lauren talks to Gillian, she learns something new and exclaims, “What haven’t you done?”
Lauren Zinn, Ph.D.
Lauren is a graduate of an interdisciplinary doctoral program (Urban, Technological, Environmental Planning) from the U of M. She specializes in educational planning and loves to organize events that get people involved, educated, and having fun. She is passionate about bringing a farm-based experience into our urban lifestyles. She knows everyone that Gillian knows only a generation older. Every time Gillian talks to Lauren, she learns something new and exclaims, “What haven’t you done?”
Monday, March 15, 2010
Let the games begin
It's 11pm on Monday, and I have spent 25 hours in class in the last 4 days, including an all-weekend Mediation seminar and the first day of Social Marketing. My mind is full of all this communicating about communication, but I hope this blog will help me make sense of it all.
The exciting news is that I have brand new business, and that I get to spend this class developing a marketing plan for it. I'm launching an agritourism company, which will organize trips for families and school groups to visit family farms. We are hoping to provide fun, relaxing tours that are also educational and that help to raise awareness about good food, healthy eating, and supporting local businesses.
The business has been in the back of my mind for over 4 years, and 4 weeks ago I met Lauren Zinn, another longtime Ann Arborite with a similar plan to mine. She was further ahead in the process than I was, but we decided to start working together, and just last Tuesday filed the paperwork for SIMBY Agritours, LLC. SIMBY stands for "Sustainability in My Back Yard", which I see as a better tagline than a title, but we're not married to it, and it might be something that shifts over the course of this marketing experience.
So far our marketing consists of a flyer, and as of yesterday, a website. www.simbyagritours.com. I'm posting it here as a starting point. It was designed by a 13-year-old who is the son of Lauren's Friend for a grand fee of $25. To his credit, no other web designer would have gotten something up the next day, and this is certainly better than anything I could have done.
The exciting news is that I have brand new business, and that I get to spend this class developing a marketing plan for it. I'm launching an agritourism company, which will organize trips for families and school groups to visit family farms. We are hoping to provide fun, relaxing tours that are also educational and that help to raise awareness about good food, healthy eating, and supporting local businesses.
The business has been in the back of my mind for over 4 years, and 4 weeks ago I met Lauren Zinn, another longtime Ann Arborite with a similar plan to mine. She was further ahead in the process than I was, but we decided to start working together, and just last Tuesday filed the paperwork for SIMBY Agritours, LLC. SIMBY stands for "Sustainability in My Back Yard", which I see as a better tagline than a title, but we're not married to it, and it might be something that shifts over the course of this marketing experience.
So far our marketing consists of a flyer, and as of yesterday, a website. www.simbyagritours.com. I'm posting it here as a starting point. It was designed by a 13-year-old who is the son of Lauren's Friend for a grand fee of $25. To his credit, no other web designer would have gotten something up the next day, and this is certainly better than anything I could have done.
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