LEWISTON, Minn. — The growing season is winding down for farmers, giving them time to focus on improving and expanding their direct marketing enterprises. Two upcoming online workshops — Dec. 8 and Dec. 10 —for farmers looking to gain skills from experienced direct marketers and take steps to improve their farm profits are being sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP).

“Over the past six months, farmers across the U.S. saw increased demand from consumers turning to local supply chains and wanting to know the source of their food,” said LSP organizer Alex Romano. “As COVID-19 continues to change the business landscape, diversifying using online marketing platforms and other creative tools can be a good option for farms.”

The first workshop is called, “Direct Marketing 101: Actionable steps for jumpstarting your marketing business,” and will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., on Zoom. It will feature presentations by Kristin Mizner with Ash Valley Designs. Mizner will share specific and actionable tips for getting an effective direct marketing business off the ground. Mizner will be joined by local farmer Leslie Svacina of Cylon Rolling Acres. Svacina raises goats on pasture for meat and markets to the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin through wholesale accounts and an ecommerce website. The cost for this workshop is $10. Register and pay online by visiting https://landstewardshipproject.org/events/jump. Upon registering, you will receive e-mail reminders and the Zoom link to join.

The second workshop is called “How to Acquire and Keep an Online Customer: Building a Sustainable Direct Marketing Business” and will be held on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Zoom. It will feature presentations by Blaine and Brooks Hitzfield with Seven Sons Farms. They will share the framework Seven Sons uses to acquire new customers online, and the techniques they use to create a convenient buying experience to inspire those customers to become lifetime customers. The main presenters will be joined by Jack McCann, who owns and operates TC Farm, which aggregates food from local farmers and distributes meat (along with produce and ready-to-eat meals) to customers in the Twin Cities. The cost for that workshop is $15. Register and pay online by visiting https://landstewardshipproject.org/events/sons. Upon registering, you will receive e-mail reminders and the Zoom link to join.