If you would of told me that I would be managing a farmers market a year ago I would of thought you were crazy. The opportunity arose quite suddenly to be the manager of our local farmers market. I am no expert on how to run a farmers market, but the following are important concepts to consider when you are thinking of starting a farmers market for your community or taking over one as a manager.Before you even begin to formulate your location, vendors, layout, marketing strategies you need to have a board of directors. This board will be the governing entity of your market. You will need people who are experienced in urban planning, business, the agricultural scene, and active with your community. It is also a good idea to talk to other farmers markets; how did they start their market? What advice do they have? Would they be willing to help you? Once you have your board members selected, you need to come up with a mission for your market. What do you stand for? What do you want your community to gain by your presence?You can’t have a farmers market without vendors. The type of vendor for your market really depends on your location. Here in Asheville, artisan vendors don’t do great. Produce vendors those are the vendors you want. You need to make sure that they are not all selling the same crops. Variety is key. At our market we have five produce vendors. They all have different items for sale. With the new craze of food trucks, it would be a great idea to recruit one or many for your market. My market is a smaller farmers market and I found that it’s best to try to reach out to food trucks that are just starting out. The ones that have been around for a longer period of time may consider your market – if it’s on the small scale or just starting up – a waste of their time because they may not make what they would consider to be a good profit for their time.Marketing is a deal. Based off data the best way to market is using social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,etc. These are valuable assets to any business. You can also use Google Business to let people know about your market. Social media posts are free, which is great when you are just starting out. Once you get your market sustainable cash flow, you can look into boosting posts on Facebook and Twitter. Both Facebook and Twitter offer you to set your advertising budget which allows for less stress; once your budget has been spent the advertising stops until you reset it. Another great idea is to partner up with local businesses that are willing to promote your market using their social media. From my experience going and talking to local restaurants, breweries, kitchen supply stores that do food demos are all great prospects.Location! Location! Location! This is very important to farmers markets. Last year my market was behind a church in their parking lot. There was no road visibility. We lacked new customers due to no visibility. During the off season we worked diligently to find a new location that was more visible, had walk ability, as well as good parking. We are now partnering with a local business to use their parking lot which has road visibility, parking as well as walk ability for our neighborhood. This move was a win-win for everyone involved. Our customers are now their customers, and their customers are now our customers.If you want to start your own farmers market here are some resources to consider reviewing before starting the process. There is a course you can take through the Farmers Market Federation of NY, Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Broome County and SUNY Cobleskill and funded by NYS’s Fresh Connect Program. This program costs $200, after taking the certification course you will be a certified Farmers Market Manager. It is an online course. I plan on taking it in the near future. Another great resource is ASAP. They have a section dedicated to how to become a farmers market manager with Powerpoint slides, PDF’s on farmers market rules and regulations. The best part is that this is a free resource.Resources:http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com/fmm-pro-suny-farmers-market-managers-certification-programhttp://www.asapconnections.org
9 Qualities of a Reputable Digital Marketing Agency
As far as reputation is concerned, not all digital marketing agencies are on the same level. As a matter of fact, if you don’t hire a reputable agency, you may not be able to achieve your desired results. Digital marketing is of paramount importance for your online presence. Therefore, we suggest that you look for a trustworthy agency to cover your needs. Read on to find out more.1. Great People Every reputable agency has a great team of professionals. They have experts in several fields, such as sales, analytics, social media, copywriting, pay-per-click, search Engine Optimization, programming, and web design, just to name a few.2. Good Communication Open communication is quite important for a healthy partnership. A good service provider always keeps in touch with their clients in order to discuss the details of work. Therefore, we suggest that you hire a provider that offers great communication.3. Flexibility The world of digital marketing has been changing with the passage of time. Therefore, we suggest that you partner with an agency that stays tuned to the latest trends. In other words, make sure that the service provider is familiar with the latest technology. This way the marketing agency will be able to protect and respond to the changes.4. Creativity Good digital marketing agencies always welcome fresh and original ideas. Therefore, you need to work with a partner that believes in setting trends, not just following the existing trends. In other words, the service provider must be innovative when it comes to social media campaigns, search Engine Optimisation, and web design.5. Ability to Execute Although it is the element of creativity that helps a service provider stand out, we cannot deny the importance of the ability of executing those ideas. Therefore, it is important that you ask the agency how much time they require to deliver on their promises.6. Problem-Solving Skills Without any doubt, problems may surface from time to time. But if the service provider is solution-oriented, handling these problems will be easier for them. In other words, they can quickly identify potential problems and find solutions.7. Analytics Tools A good digital marketing agency carries out competitive analysis and keyword research. Therefore, they know how to use Google Analytics data in order to identify areas that require improvement. Apart from this, they make sure that the client knows what these strategies will do to their business.8. Measurable Results Every digital marketing agency does everything to achieve the desired results. Before you partner with an agency, make sure you consider testimonials and case studies to find out how they help their clients achieve success.9. Online Presence Make sure that the website of the digital marketing agency is regularly updated. The company has to have a good ranking in search results. After all, you cannot hire an agency for managing your Facebook page if their Facebook page does not exist.Long story short, we suggest that you look for these qualities when hiring the services of a good digital marketing agency for your business.
How to Search For an Online Business School
Degrees in business are widely sought, and it should come as no surprise, given the high salaries that often come with a business degree. In 2009, the median salary among graduates from the top 40 business schools ranged from $120,000 a year at the top to $84,000 at the bottom. It is no secret that a business degree can launch a potentially lucrative new career.Online Business Colleges Offer a Variety of DegreesYet there are many schools to choose from, and it can be hard to tell which school is the right one for you. The first thing to decide is just what kind of business degree you plan to seek from online schools for business. Degree specialties can include such focuses as:Business management
Business administration
Finance
Accounting
MarketingDegrees in all of these fields are considered business degrees, and those degrees can be sought at various online business programs. To get the most out of an online business degree, you should first decide what your expectations are by determining the program of study that best suits you.Accreditation of Online Business SchoolsThe first thing you can do when determining if an online business school is worth attending is to find out whether the school has been accredited by an appropriate agency. Accreditation agencies evaluate the merits of online schools for business and award accreditation based on whether it lives up to established standards. You should be wary of attending any school that is not accredited by at least one agency.Accrediting bodies include the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB. Standards by which the AACSB evaluates various business schools include:A school’s mission statement and capacity to follow through with it
Economical use of available resources
Rigor of the curriculum
Research conducted at the school
Contributions to peer-reviewed journals generated by those attending or running the schoolStandards among accrediting bodies vary.Financial AidAnother consideration to make when thinking of attending an online business school is how you will pay for it – typically one of the first things an applicant thinks of.You have several options, when attending an online business school, for financial aid, including:Veteran’s benefits
Corporate sponsorships
Private scholarships
Student loansVeteran’s benefits are available to you only if you have served in the U.S. armed forces, so your eligibility for them should be clear enough.Corporate sponsorships may be offered by human resources departments at existing companies. This kind of support is typically limited to those attending online business schools who work for companies likely to have the resources to offer this support.Private scholarships are sometimes offered by the online business programs themselves, to their students, on the basis of merit. Prospective students can also apply for student loans from the federal government.