Blog Archives

Schedule Management - How Farmigo Calculates Share Price

10/24/2012

Today's tip is the first of a two week series explaining how your schedules interact with the rest of your system.

Week 1: How schedules calculate share price for both seasonal and year round/ongoing systems

Week 2: How schedules interact with routes and locations to determine the number of distributions

These two concepts are tied together and are very important to understanding how to set up and manage your schedules.

Check out the videos below to learn more about how your system calculates share price.

Find Your Inner Scorsese! Videos for Education and Marketing

10/17/2012

Consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in their online purchase decisions. Transitioning the CSA experience online creates new opportunities to reach a larger audience. Videos can be a powerful tool to help customers with this transition. This week’s tip focuses on ways to utilize videos to help introduce customers to your new system and help them feel personally connected to your story.

Getting Acquainted: Familiarizing Customers With Your Policy and System

10/11/2012

One of the largest battles CSAs face when recruiting new members is persuading commitment-phobes to sign up. The contemporary food system has created an environment in which consumers have grown accustomed to flexibility and control in their food purchases. Farmigo has tried to incorporate this element of flexibility into the CSA system by allowing members to manage their own accounts.

This week’s tip outlines how you can use your different tools to educate and inform members on the inner-workings of your CSA system. The more connected and involved they feel in their CSA investment, the happier they’ll be!

CSA Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions are critical to establish trust between members and producers. Individuals who are placing a significant amount of money upfront want to be kept informed of all farm policies. People appreciate transparency. Even though most individuals may not read the terms in their entirety, their presence alone is assurance of a company’s values and policies - eliminating any fear of hidden business practices.

While there is a link to your Terms and Conditions in the sign-up process, we also recommend clearly posting your Terms and Conditions on your website. This way members may access them anytime.

Consider how bringing your program online will change things for your members. The policy is a great place to explain how the new user interface will allow for a bit more flexibility for your customers. The policy is also a good place to explain to new customers the idea behind community supported agriculture. What else can go in your policy?

What is the refund policy?
What is the cancellation policy?
What happens when a member misses pick-up?
When can members add items to their orders?
When can members change their delivery location?
When can members put their account on hold?
Any special policies, rules, instructions that are unique to your operation

Policy Examples:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQ sites can be a huge help for members looking for quick answers to common questions. Additionally, it saves you from an overwhelming inbox of repetitive and time-consuming emails. When compiling your FAQ section, consider emails that you've received from members over the past few months. What are people asking the most?

What happens if I forget to pick up my share?
What happens if I need to go on a planned vacation?
Can I split my share with somebody?
How do I change pick-up locations?
Can I substitute items in my share?
Can we visit the farm?

Facebook

Use Facebook to post videos and photos, which people may also share on their personal walls. You can link people to relevant articles, news stories, or blogs to try and rally interest in the alternative food movement; as well as provide members with up-to-date information on additions to your farm.

Telling the farm story: Was a baby cow just born? Post a picture!
Selling additional produce: The web store closes at midnight! Make sure you login and place your order [Link to web store]
Reminding customers to make changes to their accounts: Going on vacation for the July 4th weekend? Make sure you put yourself on hold by Sunday.

Facebook is a wonderful promotional tool for your business. People can like, comment, or share your Facebook page. This then appears on their Facebook News Feed, alerting their friends and giving you free advertising! Personally, I know that I tend to be much more interested in organizations that are recommended to me by my friends, than organizations I happen to stumble across on Google or other internet sites. Use facebook to post special coupons to entice people to sign up or offer a bonus for people who share or like your posts.

Let's grow together - Let's share our knowledge

How do you use facebook? Have you found any promotions to be particularly successful? What works for you?

Share your comments below.

Integrating Farmigo with your Website

10/02/2012

Your website is the most important tool for promoting your CSA. Customer satisfaction is heavily reliant on easy website navigation and account management. When you set up your Farmigo system, a Farmigo Technical Advisor will provide you with three separate links that give individuals full access to sign-up, manage their account, and pay their balance. Additionally, if you have chosen to sell items in your webstore, you will also be provided with a direct link to this site. Integrating these links into your farm website is a crucial step in recruiting new members, as well as keeping existing members happy.

This week’s tip will give you some ideas for creating a seamless connection between your Farmigo system and your farm website.

How to Link Your Farmigo System to Your Website
The methods by which you can integrate hyperlinks into your website will vary by website software. (Please note that these links will not work if they are embedded in frames, such as iframes.) The most common technique is to tie a link to a specific image or body of text which provides a brief description of where that link will take the individual. For example, when creating a button for your Sign-Up link, consider verbiage such as “Join our CSA!” or “Become a member now!” Below are some examples from farms that have set up eye-catching homepages.

1. Sign Up Link
This link brings individuals directly to your sign-up wizard where they can immediately pick a location, share, option, and pay.

2. Account Link
Once a person has already joined your CSA, this link allows them to directly access their account. They can check their balance, make a payment, and adjust their subscription. Buttons should read something like, “Manage your account” or “Members.”

3. Payment Link
Farmigo provides producers with this link as an easy means to request payment from a member. It is not necessary to include it on your homepage, as members can easily pay from their account link by clicking on “Make Payment.” This is a helpful link if you ask your members to frequently put money on account with you in order to cover future deliveries, such as farm credit.

4. Webstore
The webstore link allows members to purchase one-time items unattached to their subscription. The webstore is a great opportunity to upsell to your members, and is especially valuable if you allow non-members to place orders in your webstore. If you do not have this feature, and are interested in setting it up, ask a Farmigo Technical Advisor about setting up guest store access!

Tips for Website Design
When designing the layout of your website, there are some key elements that you should consider.

1. Placement
Research consistently shows that visitors don’t read web pages, they scan - usually looking for bold, emphasized text or lists. Use that last sentence as an example - did you read the full thing, or just pick up “don’t read” and “scan”? Make sure you take extra time to consider the areas of your website that draw the visitor’s eyes. The best practices include using contrasting colors, bold fonts, and enticing photographs. The links to your CSA sign ups should be prominently placed on your homepage so all visitors will see them. Review the above pictures of farm homepages for examples.

2. Visual Appeal
Photography is a powerful tool in advertising. Even if Shakespeare himself wrote an eloquent sonnet describing the contents of your CSA share, people will still be more likely to sign up if it’s accompanied by a pretty picture. Be sure to take this into consideration when designing your website!

Happy designing everyone!

Thank you to Willie Green’s Organic Farm, Terra Firma Farm, Helsing Junction Farm, Talley Farms Fresh Harvest, Suzie’s Farm, and Real Food Farms for allowing us to feature their web sites in this post.

Credits:
Web Designs by LAO -- Willie Green’s Organic Farm
Laura Bowly Design -- Terra Firma Farm
The Helix Group -- Helsing Junction Farm
Talley Farms
Suzie’s Farm
Green Pond Creative -- Real Food Farms

Schedule Management - How Farmigo Calculates Share Price

Find Your Inner Scorsese! Videos for Education and Marketing

Getting Acquainted: Familiarizing Customers With Your Policy and System

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Facebook

Integrating Farmigo with your Website

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