Farms Featured in the News Help Attract More Visitors

The fact that you're reading this article right now proves one of the most important aspects of marketing your farm: people pay attention to what they learn from the news… much more so than what they find out through paid advertising.

Having your farm featured on the news (television, newspapers, magazines, etc) is a wonderful way to get the public motivated to visit your property.

Best of all, getting good publicity costs only the price of a stamp to inform the media about good story ideas that would be of interest to their audiences. In one season, I figured that the news coverage we received for free was equivalent to $80,000 in advertising space!

And the media is interested in your farm. That's right. They need good story ideas as much as you need their coverage. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

So how to get started?

Publicity takes some planning and this winter is the perfect time to get organized.

STEP ONE: The first step is to create a good, solid media list of all the media that might cover stories about your farm. Include television (both news assignment editors and web masters at each station), newspapers (both general news editors and web masters), magazines (local and regional), specialty web sites, state and regional tourism organizations, specialty publications (such as religious, seniors, women, family), etc.

STEP TWO: The second step is to look at your operation and develop a list of possible story ideas. A few obvious thoughts are:

• Holiday events (Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July)

• Anniversaries (farm celebrating 25th year, etc.)

• Special events (concerts, antique show, cooking lessons, craft fairs, etc.)

• New attractions at the farm (new bakery, gardening center)

• Opening of the Corn Maze

• Special activities for children

• Seasonal stories (gardening tips in the spring, apple recipes in the fall, etc.)

• Contests and other promotions

Determine four or five good story ideas that you can use throughout your season so that you will be continually sending ideas to the media.

STEP THREE: The best way to present your story idea is by writing a news release. Now, don't get scared. You don't have to be an English major to write a good release. Nobody's going to grade it!

Break down the release into different paragraphs to make it easier:

• Contact information: include your name, phone, cell phone, e-mail address

• Headline: make it fun and lively

• First paragraph: try to paint an overall picture of the event using exciting words that cover the name of event, time, date and place. Remember, the media wants to cover "soft" news that it fun, lively and interesting.

• Several body paragraphs: describe in detail what is happening, when and also entry fees or other special costs.

• Information paragraphs: always include directions to your farm, web site address, phone number to call for more information, etc.

• Closing paragraph: give a little bit of background about your farm, especially how many generations have worked on the farm, when it was started, etc.

STEP FOUR: Distribute the release to all appropriate organizations on your media list about two weeks before the event. (Magazines have very long lead times, sometimes as much as three or four months.) A few days after you've sent the release, make telephone calls to the "key" media (every t.v. station, major newspaper, local newspaper, etc.) to be sure that the release was received and to "talk up" the story idea.

If the media does contact you about a story, be available on their schedule to do an interview or supply them with information. These are very busy folks, and if it's difficult to get a hold of you or to make time with you, they'll just move on to the next story.

For a complete step-by-step guide about how to get great publicity for your farm, including detailed instructions on writing news releases, check out my new book Fresh Grown Publicity ($39.95 plus $5 shipping and handling). Order it through the web site (eckertagrimarketing.com) or call 1-314-862-6288.