Building a Marketing Strategy for Your Specialty Food Business
A four-part marketing workshop series to amplify your message,
connect with customers, and grow your specialty food business.
In this four-week workshop, you’ll create a personalized marketing strategy to grow your specialty food business. You’ll assess your current marketing, examine new strategies, and adapt those strategies to fit your business. Once you put them into action, you’ll have the tools to measure the results then
analyze and recalibrate your marketing strategy to continue growing your specialty food business.
Owners of Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery enjoying a farm craft beer by the hop field.
Various produce from Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery
Barrel Aged Bourbon Vanilla Stout and barrels from Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery
Owners of Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery enjoying a farm craft beer by the hop field.
The Building a Marketing Strategy for Your Specialty Food Business workshop series is designed to help small farmers, ranchers, and food business owners develop a personalized marketing strategy, amplify your message, and connect with customers to grow your business. Each week of this workshop series will focus on key digital marketing strategies for messaging, websites, social media, and email communication. By the end of this workshop you will have a clear understanding of your marketing message, the tools you can use to connect with your customers, and a holistic marketing strategy to grow your business. The workshop series includes:
4 Thursday morning class sessions
9 - 10:30 am PST / 10 - 11:30 am MST
February 6, 13, 20, & 27, 2025
4 Wednesday evening group coaching sessions
4:00 - 5:30 pm PST / 5:00 - 6:30 pm MST
February 12, 19, 26, & March 5, 2025
The Wednesday group coaching sessions will focus on strategies for applying the topics discussed during the previous Thursday class session through large group discussions and small group breakout rooms. The group coaching sessions will help you apply what you’ve learned in the class, answer specific questions you have, and optimize the marketing strategies you are applying.
Bonus! Participants that attend all 4 Thursday class sessions and Wednesday group coaching sessions, complete each weekly homework, and take the end of course evaluation are eligible for 1 hour of free 1-on-1 coaching with instructor Emily Black. Limit 10 participants.
Workshop Cost
$75 per farm or food business
Registration deadline: January 31, 2024
Partial scholarships available.
Email cdephelps@uidaho.edu to request a scholarship.
Quotes from Past Participants
"It was a great class, very thorough and informative and Emily was a great teacher. You can tell
she has a wealth of experience and education, and a passion for sharing her knowledge."
"I liked the structure of having the lesson, homework and then the breakout sessions.
Being so remote, I really enjoyed each opportunity to meet and connect with other
farmers in breakout sessions."
"Sharing each of our statements and stories helped me to see how important they
are to express what I want to come across to my customers in a clear and concise way."
Emily Black
Cultivating Your Market
Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery
Meet the Instructor
Emily has been in the marketing industry since 2010 implementing online marketing strategy in a professional setting and on her farm, Lone Mountain Farms & Brewery.
Her passion for marketing and agriculture have merged into coaching farmers and ranchers how to implement a marketing strategy to grow their business through her business, Cultivating Your Market.
Workshop Series Frequently Asked Questions
Who should take this workshop series?
This workshop series is for you if you:
- Have been producing specialty foods/value added products for 2+ years
- Have a product that you’ve been selling for 1+ years
- Have a website, social media, and an email provider set up (not required, but we will only mention suggested tools to use, not how to set them up.)
- Are looking to reach more customers to grow your business
- Are ready to participate and do the work
What topics are covered in this series?
This workshop series is focused on digital marketing strategies and will cover:
- Messaging
- Website Strategy
- Social Media Strategy
- Email Strategy
This workshop includes:
- 4 Class Sessions with printable worksheets to apply what you have learned
- 4 Group Coaching Sessions
- 1 hour 1-on-1 Coaching Session (after completing workshop series requirements)
By signing up, you commit to:
- Attend the live Thursday classes or view class recording
- Complete the weekly homework
- Participate in the live Wednesday coaching sessions
- Complete the End of Course Evaluation
What can I expect from this workshop series?
- 4 Class Sessions with printable worksheets to apply what you have learned
- 4 Group Coaching Sessions
- 1 hour of FREE 1-on-1 Coaching*
By the end of this workshop you will have a clear understanding of your marketing message, the tools to use to connect with your customers, and a holistic marketing strategy to grow your business.
*Participants who complete all workshop series requirements are eligible for the 1 hour of 1-on-1 Coaching. Limited to 10 participants.
How much time will I need to dedicate?
How much time will I need to dedicate to this workshop series?
- Classes are 1.5 hours per week on Thursdays
- Discussions are 1.5 hour per week on Wednesdays
- Homework varies, but we recommend designating 1 hour per week to homework
= 4 hrs/week total
How quickly could l expect to see results?
The goal of this workshop series is to expedite your results.
Since you are in food and agriculture, you know that a seed doesn't produce fruit overnight. By taking this training, you are planting the seed and watering it, but it will need consistent tending to bear fruit.
What do I need to be successful in this workshop series?
This class is 100% online so we recommend:
- Stable internet access
- A computer, laptop, or other device with a webcam and microphone OR an external webcam and microphone.
- Access to a printer, if printed materials are preferred (all worksheets are provided as fillable PDF's)
You can test your devices audio and video capability here: https://zoom.us/test
Why does
this workshop cost $75?
Offering a high quality educational workshop requires many hours of planning and preparation, in addition to the hours committed to live instruction and technical support. The fair market value of the Building a Marketing Strategy workshop is approximately $500 per participant. We are able to offer the course at a reduced rate of $75 due to financial support from Increasing the Profitability of Women-Operated Farms and Ranches USDA AFRI Grant Award #2023-67023-40534 and funding from the USDA Northwest & Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center. A limited number of partial scholarships are available. Email Colette to request a scholarship.
For questions about the workshop series, please contact:
Colette DePhelps (cdephelps@uidaho.edu)
The University of Idaho is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educational organization. We offer our programs to persons regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, sexual orientations or disability. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information or reasonable accommodations need to contact Kate Wood (kwood@uidaho.edu) two weeks prior to the event.
