1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,600 How long a a a a a a a a a you actually are considering, 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,840 going to a farmers market or who have sold it Eqc's owners market. 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,680 So it'd be really fun to have a discussion of what's worked 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,680 well for different people at farmers markets. 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,080 Before we get into that, a little bit about me, I, 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:20,400 grow in South Jordan or local. 7 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,080 I have a my micro farm. 8 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,600 I have two sites, one at a neighbor's property 9 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,600 and the other is just in my backyard. 10 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,360 I'm going into my fifth season farming 11 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,680 and it's our fourth PT, PT with markets and with subscriptions. 12 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,800 My first year I just sold to neighbors off Facebook 13 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,800 and and things like that. 14 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,800 I also teach the backyard cut flower garden course, 15 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,760 at, snack farm. And, 16 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,720 we do workshops and consultations. 17 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,720 So that's a little bit about me. 18 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:57,520 Farmers markets. 19 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,760 So I love farmer's markets. 20 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,760 I've always loved farmers. 21 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:04,800 Markets. 22 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:05,840 It's not them. 23 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,680 And so when I moved here to Utah, I wanted to find flower farmers, 24 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,320 our local farmers markets, and there just weren't any. 25 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,480 And so that's kind of how I got started. 26 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,200 Even, 27 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,200 with the business of flower farming. 28 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,320 So some of the business or the benefits 29 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,320 from selling at a farmer's market, 30 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,680 every new grower wants to know how to be seen 31 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,120 in their community, how to help people find them. And, 32 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,880 selling at a farmer's market is so helpful. 33 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,600 And, being able to 34 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,040 be seen in your community and make those contacts, 35 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,360 networking at a farmer's market, talking with other vendors, 36 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,400 you can find more opportunities to sell your flowers. 37 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,280 Market managers. 38 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,800 Just this week, I had two emails 39 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,080 from one of my market managers telling me about a different market. 40 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,400 One in Payson, one in Harriman, 41 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,680 and then also an opportunity to sell my flowers online. 42 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,880 So you you expand 43 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,880 your horizons a little bit, 44 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,280 beyond just selling at a market. 45 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,560 For me, it's been a stepping stone. 46 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,560 A lot of my subscribers have come from being customers at the farmers market. 47 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,120 Maybe they weren't able to make it every week, 48 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,120 and they wanted flowers every week. And so, 49 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,480 they sign up for subscriptions? 50 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,640 A lot of them ask me growing questions, 51 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:44,640 which leads to them coming to workshops. 52 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,720 A lot of times they'll ask about weddings, and I've done a few for them. 53 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:53,520 And a great way to make sure you get the most of 54 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,520 that is by gathering, 55 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,600 emails while you're at the market. 56 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:00,400 It's a little tricky. 57 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,520 This last year I did not gather any emails 58 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,440 for this year, but, hopefully once we, you know, 59 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,440 maybe you can try a QR code or something like that. 60 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,800 And then the other thing is it's a little bit less exacting than for sales. 61 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,440 And I don't necessarily mean quality, but you can take what you grow. 62 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,720 So if you only have red zinnias that year, someone 63 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,240 will buy them, or that week someone will buy them. 64 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,960 Whereas it might be hard to find, an event florist 65 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,200 that wants, you know, a mishmash of things. 66 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:36,720 Okay, so I think a big question. 67 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,640 I have lots of friends that have tried selling at the market, 68 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,480 and I think a good thing to do before you start is to 69 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,280 find out whether it's really suited for you, before you take the time 70 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,480 and the energy to invest in tents and market fees 71 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,480 and all those things. 72 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,760 Do you have the time most markets, most successful 73 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,600 markets are on weekends and, or weeknights. 74 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,520 And if your kids are all in sports and that's important to you, 75 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,360 it might be really hard to take the time out of your busy family's 76 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,360 life to go to the market. 77 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:16,280 Do you have support? 78 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:18,720 Do you have childcare? 79 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,640 It is a really hard thing 80 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,480 to take a small child to the farmer's market and try to sell, 81 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:27,680 resources. 82 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,160 Do you have a car? 83 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,640 Can you produce flowers over a season, or are you worried that you will have them 84 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:40,400 for July and August, but maybe none of the rest of the year? 85 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:43,680 And then personality. 86 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,240 I really don't think that you need to be an extrovert to sell at a farmer's market. 87 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:50,840 But you do need to be friendly. 88 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:53,840 You need to be able to, 89 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,800 talk to people and be able to approach people. 90 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,600 If that's really hard for you, 91 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,600 you might find the farmer's market really overwhelming. 92 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,760 And then you might be like my 14 year old if it's a real slow, slow market. 93 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,760 He gets really bored and drives me crazy. 94 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,440 So if you get bored easy, maybe that's not well suited either. 95 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:19,560 Okay, 96 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,480 so, I did want to mention this was my first farmer's market. 97 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,600 This picture, and obviously I did not have a lot of product, 98 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,760 so I'm going to refer back to that later. 99 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:34,800 Choosing a market. 100 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,280 If you go to a market and talk to vendors, a lot of these vendors 101 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:42,400 sell at different markets and they can tell you which markets 102 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,800 are the busiest or the most profitable in our state. 103 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,560 Find out things like foot traffic. 104 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:50,520 Are they busy? 105 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,560 If you go and visit them, you know, in the market before you plan on selling, 106 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,680 then you have an idea of of what 107 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,680 kind of foot traffic. 108 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,200 Location. 109 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,040 Some areas are just a little more affluent and we sell a luxury item. 110 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,960 So looking for those areas is pretty good. 111 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:09,840 Pretty important. 112 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:13,360 Whether it's a 113 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,360 producers only or a resale market, 114 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,800 resale markets will typically have lots of crafts. 115 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,800 Whereas producers are more focused on farmers. 116 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,640 There are pros and cons to both. 117 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,480 I sell at the South Jordan market, 118 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,680 and that's a producers only and I sell at the Daybreak Farmers Market. 119 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,560 And that is a resale market. 120 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,200 And so, 121 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,440 you get a very different clientele each. 122 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,040 And there's I love them both, but it's important to to think about, 123 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,760 what their fees are can be, an issue. 124 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,960 Just make sure that when you are applying for a farmer's market 125 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:58,280 that they know that you're not a crafter, you should be paying farmers fees. 126 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,280 They're typically lower. And, 127 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,760 but a lot of market managers won't understand that at first. 128 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,880 So it's somewhere that we have to do a little bit of education 129 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,400 in our community and then season length. 130 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,440 I have a market that starts in June. 131 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,640 I love it, and then my next market starts in August. 132 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:23,200 And that kind of helps me with the glut of flowers that we end up 133 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,280 at that time in the season, and so it's nice to have them staggered that way. 134 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:30,760 And then whether some of these markets, 135 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,360 if it's on a Wednesday afternoon and it's super hot and there's no shade, 136 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,840 it might not be a good fit just because it could damage your product. 137 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,840 And so you want to think about that as you choose a market. 138 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:45,120 Okay. 139 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,320 So I think one of the biggest worries that we have 140 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:55,440 when we go to a farmer's market is what if there are other farmers? 141 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,400 And like Heather was saying that it's it's 142 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,400 not a bad thing to have competition. 143 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,320 It makes you a better farmer. 144 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,480 But you can also distinguish yourself. 145 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,480 And there can be multiple farmers at the same market. 146 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,760 Just like when you're shopping for a pair of blue jeans or something 147 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,320 and you go to the mall and you want to have lots of options 148 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,240 to try on, you'll go to somewhere where there's lots of stores 149 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,840 and that's, you know, a market that has lots of flower farmers. 150 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,280 They can become become known for that. 151 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,080 And the people who want lots of options and lots of varieties 152 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,200 for flowers will go to that market. 153 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,000 It'll become a draw. 154 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,360 You can also look at different ways to sell your flowers. 155 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:40,440 If the lady down 156 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,040 the row is selling bouquets, you can think about selling single stems. 157 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,280 I remember someone talking about selling at the Salt Lake Farmers Market, 158 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,960 and they didn't sell sweet peas, and the farmer down the row from them did. 159 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,680 And so they would send people looking for sweet peas down there, and vice versa. 160 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,680 So, the most important thing is not to be 161 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,240 so worried about not selling your flowers because there's other farmers 162 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,960 there selling flowers that you lower your prices. 163 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,000 You really need to base your prices 164 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,040 on what you need to make to be a sustainable business. 165 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:21,120 And if you get scared, you don't want to to have a race 166 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,680 to the bottom where you lower your prices and become the cheapest, 167 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,080 cheapest and best. 168 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:31,920 Okay, so 169 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,920 some things about really killing it at the farmers market. 170 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,600 If you want to really have a consistent business 171 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:44,280 where people are coming back to you, every week because they know 172 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,440 your flowers are the prettiest and the longest lasting, 173 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,440 then you need to bring the best product to have. 174 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,080 If there's something that's 175 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,080 kind of wilted, I don't like to take it to the farmer's market. 176 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,080 Because that first time you sell a bouquet, 177 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,080 that's like one of your your only chances, right? 178 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:02,600 And if they don't have 179 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,240 the best experience with it, they might not buy from you again. 180 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:11,000 So you want to be knowledgeable in the varieties you grow, know 181 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,160 your harvest stage, hydrate them well, 182 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:17,480 and they'll keep coming back. 183 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,240 And what's great is when they come back, they'll tell other people 184 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,680 it's pretty common for people to walk by, 185 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,040 customers that returning customers will walk by with someone else. 186 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,040 Someone new is buying a flower and say, hey, 187 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:34,880 those flowers are going to last two weeks. 188 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:36,440 They're the best. You should buy it. 189 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:37,920 And I don't have to do the selling. 190 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,080 That's my my customers doing it for me. 191 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,920 So it's it's kind of awesome. 192 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:47,040 If it's a really hot day, like taking, frozen water bottles 193 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,040 and sticking them in the buckets, I always keep my tent. 194 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,200 My flowers are, in the shade. 195 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,120 And then another big thing is when people are walking around, 196 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,640 they don't think about it, but the flowers will wilt pretty quickly. 197 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,760 And so I like to offer to hold them while they shop 198 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,800 so that they're not walking around with their stems out of water. 199 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:08,680 If they're going to be shopping for a while. 200 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,680 Let's see. So 201 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:16,680 when you are setting up your display, 202 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,320 there is a, 203 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:22,680 catch phrase that says stack them 204 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,200 high and watch them fly the vegetable farmers use. 205 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:31,680 And I think the same thing applies to our, displays at the farmers market. 206 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:35,040 For flowers, we want to show abundance. 207 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,040 People like to have lots of choices. 208 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,280 It looks good. 209 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:41,240 It's appealing. 210 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,040 It stops people in that track. 211 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,480 So bring everything you have packaged into 212 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,480 it looks lush. 213 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,160 And I think it's, it's always those last two bouquets 214 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,360 that are sitting on a mostly empty table 215 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,360 that are the hardest to sell. So, 216 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:02,280 clearly mark your prices. 217 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,280 People are shy. They don't want to ask you. 218 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,360 It also makes it clear that everybody's getting the same price. 219 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,160 I have three price points, I have three, 220 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,840 I have my petite bouquets, my regular bouquets, and my mason jars. 221 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,240 And sometimes I'll do a premium bouquet that's a little bit larger 222 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,600 and a little bit more money, but I don't go beyond that. 223 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,920 Simple is easy for you and it's easy for your customer. 224 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,400 I also really like long tablecloths. 225 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,240 I don't want my junk hanging out on the bottom. 226 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:38,760 Underneath my tablecloth. 227 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:40,760 That's kind of nitpicky, but 228 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,080 it's just one of those things I think makes you look so professional 229 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,520 and then think about whether they can find you again. 230 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,240 Do you have business cards? 231 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,560 Do you have a banner up? 232 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,760 Do they know if if they can order from you again? 233 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,800 It helps with repeat business. 234 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:01,080 Okay. 235 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:05,280 So pricing pricing came up a lot in Heather's talk. 236 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,080 Pricing is is hard. 237 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,840 I think it's a really hard thing when you're starting out. 238 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:15,720 And one of the most important things you can do is start tracking 239 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,000 your, expenses and your labor, the, 240 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,000 the costs of really producing those items. 241 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,320 Labor is our biggest cost. 242 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,440 And I think that it's the thing that we like to discount the most. 243 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,320 We don't think about it because it's just our time. 244 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,200 But our time is valuable. So, 245 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:39,480 really knowing your true costs, 246 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,800 looking to break even, track your hours, 247 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,920 all of your hours, even if it's time, posting on 248 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,920 social media or, 249 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,240 time stripping the bouquet, you know, stripping your stems 250 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,960 and making bouquets and weeding all those things add up. 251 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,560 And, you probably work more than you think you do. 252 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,920 So and then, 253 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,160 watch your stem counts. 254 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,400 It's one thing to say my bouquets are $20, but what does that mean? 255 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,720 Is it a ten stem bouquet or is it a 25 stem bouquet? 256 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:16,080 You know, one of those. 257 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,080 It's going to be much more profitable than the other. 258 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,720 And then I have this picture 259 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,760 here, and these are some David Austin Garden roses. 260 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,880 And I don't take them to the farmer's market. 261 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,640 This was, a customer 262 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,200 had ordered, an expensive birthday, 263 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,040 bouquet and surprise to his wife 264 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:42,720 with it at the farmer's market. 265 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,360 And so I wouldn't put tons of high value 266 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,640 flowers into a market bouquet 267 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,680 unless I was charging appropriately for it. 268 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,280 So just pay attention to those things 269 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,280 like ranunculus or garden roses or dahlias and 270 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,160 use them judiciously. 271 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,680 Talking too much? 272 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,360 One of the other things that people do is 273 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,400 at the end of the market, sorry. 274 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,120 They will, 275 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,120 ask for discount sometimes if you have flowers left over. 276 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,120 And when you give discounts at the end of the market, 277 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,960 you train your customers to know, hey, if she's got flowers left over, 278 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,040 I can go get them cheap. 279 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,040 And that must be what they're really worth. 280 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,960 Sorry. 281 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,840 So I never discount my flowers at the end of the market. 282 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,840 I would rather take them to a friend or to my mother in law. 283 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,800 Take them somewhere, give them away. 284 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,000 You can think of it as PR. 285 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:58,920 People enjoy getting flowers, and then you're not devaluing the flowers at all. 286 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,840 It becomes a gift instead of a, discount. 287 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,840 And then you 288 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,440 list pricing. 289 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,000 I love this quote from Seth Godin. 290 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,760 Cheap as another way to say scared. 291 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,280 And I think 292 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,200 lowering our price should be our last thing. 293 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,560 I think we need to think about. 294 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:23,920 Do my flowers look good? 295 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,200 If they're not selling, do they look good? 296 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:27,480 Am I getting the word out? 297 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:29,480 Do people know I'm here? 298 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:30,560 Am I being friendly? 299 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,320 Am I being engaging? Doing all those things? 300 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,320 Before we think about discounting our prices or, 301 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,680 not charging enough? 302 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,640 Okay, so here are my boys. 303 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,120 They helped me sell at the market because we do two markets 304 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,440 on Saturday mornings, and I can't be in two places at once. 305 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,280 And so these are a few things that I've, 306 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,040 and they're not allowed to sit. 307 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,440 Well, we're selling at the farmer's market until 308 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,600 all the flowers are sold. 309 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:05,560 They really love that. 310 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:07,000 It's good to be friendly. 311 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,000 I usually just say, hi, how are you doing to people? 312 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:13,880 You can be friendly 313 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,880 and talk to everybody without being pushy. 314 00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,200 I also find it. 315 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,880 It's great to accept as many forms of payment as possible. 316 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,520 So credit cards, cash, 317 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,360 Apple pay, Google pay, all of those things. 318 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,560 The easier you make it for people to pay the, 319 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,520 less obstacles there are to them buying your flowers. 320 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,920 Once we sell a bouquet, we usually, 321 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,840 you know, if half a bucket is empty and another half a bucket is empty, 322 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,000 we combine the buckets, we keep our displays looking good. 323 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:48,880 It gives 324 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,280 us something to do while we're sitting there. 325 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,720 And, helps our display look good. 326 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,400 And, another collect your email addresses. 327 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,320 This is a great thing because when you want to contact them 328 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,320 later to tell them when the market starts next year, 329 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,760 or to tell them when, 330 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,040 you're selling your subscriptions or that you're starting weddings. 331 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,960 This is how you can contact these people later. 332 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,880 And then I think this is most important as you come back and you do it again, 333 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,680 and then you come back and you do it again. 334 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,000 If someone comes and they buy your flowers, 335 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,000 and I think they were the most amazing flowers in the world, 336 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,920 and they come back and you're not there the next week, you've lost a sale. 337 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:33,720 So I think that 338 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:39,760 farmer's market is the most successful when you commit to it, when you go back 339 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:44,080 year after year or even week after week, if you're just trying it for a season. 340 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,400 There's nothing wrong with trying it for a season 341 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,400 and seeing if it works with your lifestyle. 342 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,640 But I do think if you're going to really have the benefits 343 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,200 and the rewards of 344 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,800 selling at a farmer's market, then you've you've got to have some commitment. 345 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,800 There. 346 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:03,360 Okay. 347 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:06,120 So I wanted to talk a little bit about 348 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,120 is sold out the real goal. 349 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,920 So on this picture on the, 350 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,240 the picture with less flowers I sold out that day, 351 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,440 which is always awesome to be able to say I took everything and I sold it. 352 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,200 The one above. 353 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,240 I, I did not sell out that day. 354 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,480 I think I had two bouquets left over, but it was my highest grossing market, 355 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:33,680 that I've ever had. 356 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,680 It was just our last market, this last season. 357 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,760 And, a lot of times we, we think it's great to sell out, 358 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,040 but if you're selling out super early in the day and, 359 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,560 your market starts at nine and you're sold out by 11 or 12 360 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,200 and you've got another hour to go, think about what what's going on? 361 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:54,960 Are you, 362 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,600 selling your flowers cheaply? 363 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,520 Are you not bringing enough product? 364 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,520 Can you work on that for the next season? 365 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:06,880 We are trying to double our production again this year because 366 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,600 we can probably sell it. 367 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:14,000 And so, those are just some things to think about when you're selling out. 368 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,960 Really, what you want to do is 369 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,960 sell the most flowers, right? 370 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,400 And so it's okay if you have a couple bouquets left over, 371 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,360 if that means that every person 372 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,360 that wanted a bouquet that came to the market got one. 373 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,080 I always felt terrible when I'd sell out early, 374 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,080 and then people would come up to me and go, oh. 375 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,160 I was, you know, I'm here just for flowers or something. 376 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,840 And I knew I missed a sale because I didn't have enough flowers that week. 377 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,160 So something to think about. 378 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,480 And then, 379 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:53,000 subscriptions, like I said earlier, a lot of my subscriptions come from, 380 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,760 referrals from the farmers market and some selling 381 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,240 after you get those email addresses, 382 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,960 some selling points for when you approach people 383 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,360 about subscriptions, they already know your quality. 384 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,120 They know you have great variety. 385 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:12,120 That's one of the things my subscribers say when I, 386 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,920 ask them in surveys, what do they enjoy about our flowers? 387 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,920 It's the varieties that they get that they're different. 388 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,120 It's more convenient to have flowers delivered to you 389 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:26,320 or to pick them up once a week, 390 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,320 then have to go to the farmers market and see if there's any there. 391 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,640 We also do a spring subscription, 392 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,520 and that starts before there are any farmer's markets open. 393 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,600 And so that's an opportunity to extend your, your, 394 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,280 selling period. And, 395 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,280 and then the assurance of being able to get flowers 396 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:47,720 if you're selling out all the time. 397 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,720 And people might just want to make sure they have your flowers. 398 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,600 So that's kind of. 399 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,240 What I've got for you, 400 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,240 it looks like there's some, 401 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:01,480 questions.