204 A Two-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics

What if someone could give you a roadmap of "what to do" in your first 2 years to build your CSA business? In today's episode, I interview Farmer Glen Young -- a 2-year farmer who is hell-bent on building his new farm business to be profitable by year 5.

Glen has made all of the mistakes possible in his first two seasons of organic market gardening as he has built up to a 40 member CSA and a once-per-week Farmer's Market operation. He has "bet the farm" on making Cold Springs Organics environmentally and financially sustainable and he has a deep-rooted interest in seeing other new farmers do the same. Join him and Corinna as they discuss all the sales and marketing things that have worked and what he would do differently if he were to have a do-over for the first two years on the farm.

This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Join my free email list! I have a great "email onboarding sequence" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better.

Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller -- Glen mentioned this book several times, as a key resource that helped him identify the framework for his farm's "brand script."

Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna -- get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience.

A to Z Vegetable Storage Guide -- join the dozens of farmers who have purchased this Canva template to use as a lead-generating tool

Glen offered his farm's business plan to our listeners. You can find it on his website here.

ChatGPT -- an AI powered bot that will blow your mind with its creative writing potential.

Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1.

CSA Early Bird Launch Course -- Learn how to get your CSA members to renew their shares when you want them to, using the "launch" promotion technique in this online course

CSA Quickstart -- Glen enrolled in this comprehensive course that teaches you how to start a CSA from scratch -- all the systems and production stuff -- in 60 days.