The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we talk with Zachary Smith (zachary.m.smith@uvm.edu) of the University of Vermont Extension Farm Viability Program to talk about what farmers need to think about when deciding to get started with eCommerce.
Show Notes/Chapters
2:38 Platform introduction & marketing plan
- Hosting & domain
- GoDaddy and SiteGround are both strong for security features and technical support
- Keep your domain (website) name simple. ex) xfarm.com
- Quick start to an online store? Shopify
7:31 What do farmers need to know?
- It’s going to take some dedicated time. Upwards of 40hours to get fully set-up.
- Use the customer service
- Find a younger peer who is knowledgeable to help if need be
10:06 How did you learn about this subject?
13:31 What’s the reason for an online store anyways?
14:54 Features to look for in different platforms
- Support
- Security (ssl certificate)
- Knowing your contract terms & fees
- Shipping support
- Social media integration
18:22 Is paid advertising required? No, but you should.
- Ways to get traffic (potential customers) to your website.
- Direct traffic (people that know you already)
- Social Media
- SEO (Search engine optimization)
- And add Google Analytics to know where your traffic is coming from!
23:44 Other ways to get traffic?
- Email marketing
27:20 CSA Management Programs
28:55 Cost of an online store?
- Average costs are ~$200 to set-up and get going then $30-80/month
29:22 Key Take Aways
- Give it time and have patience