| | Farmers and rural entrepreneurs across Canada will be given the chance to participate in what is being called the industry's best one-day workshop on how to understand customers, reach them through the media and build a business to be proud of.
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The Marketing Caravan is an affordable one-day workshop that will 'roll' across Canada from Ontario to B.C. between November 2009 and March 2010.
Creating strong personal connections with customers and potential customers is often a key ingredient that can make or break a business, especially a business as customer-oriented as rural markets, farm direct markets and agri-tourism operations. The Marketing Caravan, in its fifth year as a national program, will put farmers in touch with top-notch marketing expertise and innovation. The program is all about learning to create enduring links with customers, understanding what customers want and reaching out to them with the products or services being offered.
The Marketing Caravan one-day workshop will provide all the resources necessary to identify a target market and reach customers, as well as an opportunity for participants to network and share the successes and challenges of agri-business.
This year, the workshop will cover two topics in detail - consumer behaviour and media relations:
- Jolene Brown, a well-known expert on family farm business, delves into the consumer mind and discusses what consumers are thinking about and how they make their food buying decisions - in her presentation, When Pigs Fly she will discuss changes in agriculture today and how they are impacting the buying decisions of the consumer.
- Media relations can be a scary prospect when not armed with the right tools. In Get the Media Talking about your Agri-Business, Annemarie Pedersen will share the basics of creating key messages, pitching a story and working with the media to get the message out. Participants will also take home a tool kit to walk them through the process when they are ready to start their own media relations campaign.
The Marketing Caravan workshop dates in Alberta are:
Registration for the Airdrie workshop is $50, registration for the Camrose workshop is yet to be announced.
For further information on the Marketing Caravan and the one-day workshop, and a complete list of dates and locations, go to www.farmcentre.com/workshops
All registrants for the Marketing Caravan workshop will be entered to win a day of mentorship - a chance to have a one-day, on-farm consultation with a business consultant. Workshop space is limited, so early registration is recommended.
Contact:
Becky Lipton
780-271-1116 |
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