Making Hay When the Sun Shines:
Improved Sales & Merchandising for Farm Stands and Direct Marketers
at Stonewall Farm in Keene, NH
Saturday, February 1, 2003

Advance registration required by Monday January 27 to hannahgrimes@monad.net or Mary Ann at 352-1434. Indicate registration for workshop, lunch and/or NHFMA afternoon session.

9 – Noon – Check In and Workshop

* Discover fast, effective and alluring ways to set up your stand.
* Learn what to say to customers to make them buy now.
* Create repeat and loyal buyers.
* Improve your sales 25% at your next market.

Anyone selling at or interested in selling at farmers' markets and craft fairs should attend.

Successfully completing a farm or direct marketing event can be a daunting task. The output of energy is only worthwhile if the financial rewards are there. This workshop deals with all aspects of setup, display and merchandising, as well as sales and customer service skills that get results.

Learn fast and effective display techniques that grab a customer’s attention and draw them into your space. Once you have drawn customers in, what do you say to entice them to buy? The importance of effective signage will also be a topic of discussion. Don't miss this valuable opportunity to increase your business and gain an advantage over your competition. An extensive slide presentation of good and bad examples of farm market stands will clarify these points.

Bruce Baker has lead over 500 workshops throughout the United States and Canada in the last twenty years. He speaks on a variety of direct marketing related topics such as display, sales and customer service. Bruce has a special talent for making his workshops lively and relevant to the audience. Those who have implemented Bruce's suggestions report increases in sales of as much as 30%. Currently, he and his wife Nancie own two galleries in Middlebury, Vermont.

Noon -1 Lunch

Who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch? With generous underwriting from the Great River Marketing Cooperative, we invite those of you who plan to join us for the afternoon session to lunch at the Farm. We encourage everyone and anyone (farmer and non-farmer) to lend your valuable perspective to important work that we would like to accomplish in the afternoon.

1-3 Meet the newly formed New Hampshire Farmers' Market Association…

… and help shape their 2003 agenda. Two afternoon breakout sessions will formulate plans for: 1) a statewide marketing and promotion campaign to promote all NH farmers' markets, and 2) developing sponsorship programs for both monetary and non-monetary supporters. (The results of the afternoon session can be found at http://nhfma.org/nhfma-sponsorship-promotion-session.htm)

These sessions will help shape the 2003 agenda for the NHFMA as well as NH’s 34 individual member markets. How does your local market operate? What size is it, what products may be sold, what is going well for your market, what roadblocks exist, what do you envision, what resources or collaborations would be useful?

"The NHFMA will have a list of current farmers markets and the coordinators as well as the new markets hoping to open in 2003. Many of the markets are looking for new vendors and have a hard time connecting with small growers that don't subscribe to the state publications or belong to organizations. This is an excellent opportunity to connect markets looking for new vendors and vendors looking for markets, in addition to the NHFMA annual meeting on 7 FEB at the Farm & Forest Expo, in Manchester."

For more information on the NHFMA, see their web site at: nhfma.org

This workshop is generously underwritten by the Great River Marketing Cooperative and sponsored by Hannah Grimes Marketplace, MicroCredit NH, New Hampshire Farmers’ Market Association, Stonewall Farm and USDA Rural Development.