Markets as Business Incubators: Strategies to Grow Your Vendor Base

Markets are constantly building relationships with partners to bridge to different communities, and they can also use the same skills and outreach strategies to re-engage and to add more vendors to the market itself. As obvious as it is that vendors go to markets to make money, there are strategies that can add value to your market so that vendors stay until they get to their economic comfort level.

This FMC member webinar was led by advocates for farmers and those markets using different “incentives” to build vendor relationships, and moderated by Darlene Wolnik, Independent Trainer and Researcher with Helping Public Markets Grow.

• Young Kim, Executive Director of Fondy Food Center in Milwaukee, WI shares how his organization works to assist immigrant farmers to use the market fully and how they work to find ways to add new skills and resources for those farmers.
• Peter Marks is Program Director of the Local Food and Farm Campaign for Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, or ASAP, where his responsibilities include guiding ASAP’s local food marketing efforts, producing the Local Food Guide, and training farmers in marketing and business planning. Peter staffs the Mountain Tailgate Market Association, a group of 22 farmers’ markets in 8 counties. He worked with a group of farmers to launch the Asheville City Market, run by ASAP since 2008.

Recruiting Vendors for a Farmers Market

The Wallace Center created this 20 page guide to assist farmers market organizers in recruiting producers. While compact, this guide has plenty of useful information about planning, working with farmers, and communicating with community partners.

Weeding the Social Media Garden

This July 2012 FMC member webinar was presented by Colleen Newvine of Newvine Growing to demystify the growing number of social media tools available to today’s farmers market manager. From Facebook to YouTube, Twitter to Pinterest, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Flickr and more, Colleen shared how to use social media to promote your market. Topics covered include:

• How to create a social media strategy as your starting point
• What kinds of content to post and when
• How to respond to comments, questions and criticism
• How you can assess whether it’s working
• An overview of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and discussion of up and comers Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare and more
• How to realistically fit social media into your day

Download the companion handout of resources here, and check out Part 1 of this 2 part series with Colleen, How to Pick Up (and Develop Long-term Relationships with) Reporters.

How to Pick Up (and Have Long-Term Relationships with) Reporters

This FMC webinar from June 2012 was presented by Colleen Newvine, Marketing Consultant with Newvine Growing to help market operators understand how to work successfully with reporters, editors and bloggers, and feel more prepared for interviews. The session covers:

• How reporters work
• What reporters look for in a story idea
• What to include in a good press release — and what to leave out
• How to create a good media section on your website
• How to prepare for an interview so you feel more confident and emphasize what matters most to you
• What to do if the story doesn’t turn out how you hoped
• How to work with reporters in a bad news or crisis situation

Download the companion handout of resources here, and check out Part 2 of this 2 part series with Colleen, Weeding the Social Media Garden.

New Directions in Marketing for Farmers Markets

A guide for farmers market managers, covering marketing terms, the four primary marketing strategies, how to develop and implement a marketing plan, how to analyze a marketing plan, and how to work with vendors, customers, and farmers market committees.

Market Manager’s Checklist: Permits/Licenses/Certificates Required for Farmers Market Sellers

This three page checklist was developed specifically for New York farmers markets, listing the specific permits, licenses, or certificates required for all potential items sold at the market based on regulations specific to individual product types. While this checklist is specific to New York, it can act as a guide for any market to research and develop such a checklist based on regulations specific to a given market.

From the Field to the Table: Suggested Food Handling Guidelines for Farmers Markets, Fairs and Festivals

The thorough suggested guidelines included in this manual were developed to support the manufacture and direct marketing of agricultural products through open-air Farmers Markets and open-air fairs and festivals, as well as protect the consumer.  Log in (which is free) is required to access this resource.

Hand Washing and Food Sampling Requirements, Guidelines, and Procedures

A guide for the requirements, guidelines, and procedures for proper hand washing and food sampling at Marin Farmers Markets with pictures of proper set-ups.

marketshare

Market Umbrella’s marketshare is a program that works to build and share tools and resources with public markets worldwide, including the best of “lessons learned” from market practitioners.

Canopy Safety 101

This tip sheet will help vendors and managers reduce property and injury risks associated with wind, trips and falls, and other canopy mishaps.