We want to share a few lessons we have learned from our efforts.

1) Start small. It is tempting to jump into the social media pool with both feet, but we’ve learned that dipping your toes in the water is a more manageable way to get started. Pick one tool, and master it before you try to take on others. Starting small also allows you to better manage the time you’re investing in social media.

2) Social media is not about advertising. It’s about building relationships, building trust, engaging your customer base, and being a resource. This is a paradigm shift that some businesses have struggled to embrace. New ways of doing things take time.

3) The Curse of Knowledge can be a barrier to teaching. Dan & Chip Heath write about this in their book Made to Stick. The more we know about a subject, the more difficult it is for us to communicate the subject effectively with our audience. It’s important to communicate with people at their comfort level.

4) Branding work should come first. Social media is a great tool for building stronger brands, but if your business or organization doesn’t understand it’s brand, social media isn’t going to help.

5) Push through the discomfort. It’s tempting to stop (or never start) using social media when you realize that you are opening yourself up to the world in a new way-”you mean people can write whatever they want on our wall?” But, often rewards await those who push through the discomfort of the unknown. You can always change your settings if you encounter a problem, but in the mean time you may be surprised at the trust that is built with your customer base if you are open and willing to talk about the good and bad sides of your businesses. Where else are you able to hear what people are really thinking? Use it to your advantage to build better products and better service.

Helping businesses in our community with social media strategies has been fun, but it’s been challenging. We’re not social media experts, so we feel like we’ve extended beyond our skill level. Whenever these inadequacies get me down, I just remind myself; “At least we’re trying! If we don’t help, who will?”

That’s why sharing opportunities like Grassroots & Groundwork are important. We’re willing to stick our necks out and share what we know with the hope that others will share with us. That’s what we mean when we say “building a deeper conversation about rural.” Whether you attending the conference or not; whether you are a social media expert or novice; whether you work in rural or urban community; you have valuable information to contribute. And we hope you’ll take this opportunity to share a bit of what you’ve learned by sending a comment.

Referenced: http://rural-research-network.blogspot.com/2011/01/lessons-learned-lecons-apprises-using.html

Today’s farmers depend on the internet; online livestock auctions, up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, and even some healthy, social-media-assisted self-promotion play a major role in running these complex operations and keeping up with the pace of their peers.

It might be a while until the “broadband revolution” reaches those outside city limits, but the issue is gaining major traction everywhere from the cyborg balloons of Google’s ambitious Loon Project, to lobbyist organizations backed by telecom companies, to wireless advocates, straight on to the White House. Until then, here’s hoping there are no outages when anyone’s bidding on bulls or Boer goats.

Reference : http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/10/the-next-revolution-in-farming-is-a-decent-internet-connection

The sixth-generation beef cattle producer from Taroom is the brainchild behind the new website Farmz, an online site for people living and working in agriculture.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Sydney at Orange, rather than returning to the property immediately, Alex became business partners with a friend and created his first online business.

“We’ve got industries from all around Australia and all types of farmers, from a two-acre vegetable grower right through to pastoral properties on more than one million acres,” Alex said.

It allows farm owners to connect with other farmers from around Australia and share what they’re doing with each other. Users sign up on behalf of their farm, rather than as individuals, and can supply as little or as much information on their property as they like.

“But when something came along that was more industry based, they’ve really taken ownership of it and really value it and have started to use it.”

Reference: http://www.ruralweekly.com.au/news/site-targets-rural-folk/1913113

The most difficult part of starting my business was finding businesses who were visionaries. Finding businesses who understood the opportunities that were sprouting before our eyes. Finding businesses who believed enough in the online environment and social media, and the reality that this new “fad” was going to change the way they did business forever. In a great way! Businesses who believed that social media for rural business was a game changer, just as I did.

Four years ago, in rural and regional Australia, and unfortunately, I must say, even today, there has been a super slow uptake of internet technologies that can assist businesses grow.

Rural Business is Beginning to Embrace Social Media

A lot of changes have occurred in the last 4 years. Changes to the way consumers think, feel and react to marketing. Change to purchasing behaviors, resistance against major corporations and a thirst and hunger for knowledge, information and shared stories between consumers, businesses and industry.

In short, consumers want to be informed, educated and to be part of the conversation. Consumers no longer want to be drip fed information at the mercy of marketing departments of multinationals.

It’s these very changes that have seen a huge increase in the rise of rural and regional business opportunities, an increase in the exposure for small business, and even a booming growth in markets such as handmade goods.

For those businesses who were early adopters, this means they’ve been on the receiving end of a welcome army of consumers wanting to hear their stories. For those who are just initiating social media or online marketing, they can learn from the failures and successes of those that dared tread first, and can make everything they can of the opportunities of more established social networks. There’s still also plenty of opportunity to an early adopter in the newest social media opportunities presenting themselves continually.

Rural Business Must be Online, But First Impressions Count!

There’s so much talk about the need to be online, the need to be on social media, creating Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube videos and blogs, along with a slather of other “necessities” that it’s important to remember rushing in can cause problems. The internet doesn’t forget. Barging in without understanding possible outcomes can cause more harm than good for your business. EVERY business needs to be online, it’s just a matter of understanding the BEST way to be online, not just being online for the sake of it, or even worse, to the detriment of all your hard work.

Any business launching into social media and online marketing MUST understand some simple rules:

1. What are you trying to achieve online?

2. Who are you trying to communicate with online?

3. Where is your target market “hanging out” online?

4. What online strategies will get you in front of them?

5. How will you measure your achievements online?

The most IMPORTANT THING: Do NOT start accounts online just because everyone says to. You need to know where you’re going first, and then take it one step at a time to get there.

Without a doubt some of the biggest growth opportunities presenting themselves in rural and regional Australia today are well aligned with the advantages of the online environment offers.

It’s an exciting time, and a time that keeps me pushing forward to help regional business to make the most of the amazing opportunities that are in front of them right now. Each time a client learns how to improve their online presence, connect with their customers or achieve goals they’d never thought possible, I get to be there to enjoy that with them, that makes me proud to do what I do, and even more proud to be taking rural and regional businesses to the rest of the country, and the world!

Reference: http://www.brightbiz.com.au/2012/social-media-for-rural-business-the-times-are-changing.html

This is where social media comes into it’s own.

An excerpt from the article below describes 4 main benefits.

• Better, more meaningful communication with customers. Rather than see people as a number, businesses are able to provide them with individualized attention by addressing their needs immediately.
• Overall savings. Marketing campaigns can target customers online through free social media networks.
• Brand recognition. By plastering a logo and slogan all over social media networks, businesses increase brand recognition worldwide which helps them to sell products.
• Greater overall customer satisfaction. Men and women want fast results. They want 24/7 access to companies. By deploying social media marketing teams, businesses provide customers with the information and support they need to resolve the issues that they have. This builds faith in a company and makes customers loyal.

Here are some things to consider when it comes to your business’s social media presence.

• Why – Why do you want a social presence? Being on Facebook and Twitter will not hurt any business as long as the posting is professional, or as professional as the business requires. A comedy club can get away with things a law office cannot.
• When – How much time do you need to spend on social media? To save time you can use social media management tools to schedule posts. Conventional wisdom says not to repeat posts, but at least one social media powerhouse sends slightly modified tweets scheduled 8 hours apart for maximum exposure.
• Where – There are two schools of thought on this. One is to only register on the sites you are interested enough in to use. The other is to sign up for as many as possible, even if you never use most of them. This will at least prevent others from registering with your name. Some of the social media platforms you should consider using include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.
• Who – Will you be the sole poster, or will there be a team?
• How -How will the posting be coordinated? Will sites be assigned to individuals? Where will the posts come from? Will a lot of posts be automated? Automation saves time, money, and is much more efficient than manually posting everything – especially if you spend a lot of time reposting.
• What – Will the posts be sales oriented? Will they provide information on your products and services? Will they be made up of trivia that appeals to your ideal clients? Will they provide valuable information to help your audience and build your reputation as an industry expert?

When you take the time to evaluate the who, what, when, where, why and how of social media, you will soon see that no matter where your business is located, you can no longer ignore the importance and need for a social media presence.

If you are not serious about connecting with current and potential customers on social media, your competitors certainly are….

I have found that many rural businesses are not making the most of the opportunities that social media can offer as they have traditionally relied on local customers, local advertising and word of mouth to reach potential customers.

Social media has become the “word of mouth” of our current time!!

As the guest speaker at a dinner following the Social Media in Agriculture Forum in Adelaide last week, I was asked a question by the owner of a training organisation specialising in chemical training for agriculture & horticulture, which went along the lines of – “Leanne, what social media would be best for our business?”

As I have known the owner & business for a number of years, I could quickly picture a number of scenarios for his business.

To connect directly with the farm businesses, “Facebook” was my first comment, to which his reply was – but the blokes wouldn’t be on Facebook.

The perception quite often is that as it is generally the male members of the farming business that undertake farm chemical training, that they would not be on Facebook. This may or may not be correct, however a majority of the women in the business certainly would be active on Facebook. From my knowledge of farming & training, it is quite often the women that have influence over the safety aspects of their business, so I believe that engaging with them on Facebook would be a great way for their business to engage with their current customers & potential customers.

My next thought was LinkedIn – which is where he could engage with the businesses that are already working with his ideal clients. He could find strategic connections and develop relationships which could then create a value adding proposition for both businesses.

LinkedIn certainly is a fantastic avenue for building business relationships in any business. The key to LinkedIn is having a great profile, building a network of connections, establishing yourself as an expert in your field and offering value to your connections.

So in relation to the business example above, Facebook & LinkedIn were just 2 of the social media channels that off the top of my head, I could see huge potential for engaging with their current customers, increasing their customer base and hence growing their business.

The huge range of social media channels has made it super easy for every business to connect with customers regardless of their location – rural or not.

Each day that you put off making a decision on social media you are risking having your competitors taking your share of business from under your nose.

Hence my message – social media is paramount for growing YOUR Rural Business!