Networking at the Farmer's Market

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Several years ago, I was working with a chiropractor with a near ZERO marketing budget, but the big Corn Festival was approaching, and all the parades and festivities literally took place right on his doorstep on the main street in town.

We had to do something.  He was new. Newly divorced. Really  needing a bump.

Neither one of us wanted to do the spinal screening thing.

We wanted to network with our neighbors, walk around, enjoy the day but still make contacts.

What could we do on a small budget?

I came up with several ideas and we landed on filling pre-printed balloons with flour to make stress balls. (It works great, actually!) He got his younger kids to stay up late filling what seemed like MILLIONS of balloons with flour.

I distinctly remember getting a call thanking me for the flour explosion in his vehicle when his kids thought it would be fun to maybe bust a few playing around...

But guess what? They were a hit with the people at the festival and I'm sure we both remember that fondly.

But, wait there's more than flour filled balloons...

I thought, "what could we do with corn?" It isn't exactly healthy.  But, it was the CORN festival, and we needed more than just balloons filled with flour.

How about recipe cards?

What a hit!  We printed up some cards with a Corn Bread Salad recipe on one side and his clinic information on the other.

We ran out FAST! People LOVE free recipes...

(When was the last time ALL your printed brochures, business cards, or information sheets were gone and gobbled up at a spinal screening?)

The idea has evolved since way back then...

Now, we print colorful recipe cards on Magnetic Sheets.  Imagine a beautiful, healthy, fresh-veggie filled recipe hanging on a bunch of refrigerators in your town?  How many times a day to people go to their fridge?  There your recipe is, chillin' (no pun intended...or was it?) on the center of the universe in many houses.

We've all done the screenings at fairs and festivals and gatherings of many kinds. In my opinion, if you haven't done a spinal screening on a hot Saturday afternoon...then you haven't paid your dues.  

Imagine sitting there at a booth. You've probably rented it.  You wait for people to stop. You don't get to mingle and interact with other vendors and the crowds. You are waiting for people to come to you.

Now... imagine this.

You have this awesome pre-printed material...

You first go to the vendors, show them your healthy recipes using their products. Let them know you are giving away these awesome magnetic recipe cards that call for tomatoes. "Why, I have tomatoes!" and you say, "you sure do! I'm going to send the people I meet to you!". You become best friends. Maybe get a time share...

Imagine you are walking around handing out something the public has never gotten from a chiropractor before. You're a friendly doctor. You've got the magic of mingle. You are giving them something they will take home and put on the fridge and remember you. FIRST THOUGHT achieved!

It's on your Facebook page... "HEALTH AND WELLNESS".  So, why are you limiting your marketing to Spinal Screenings?  And guess what?  You can't throw a rock in Dallas, TX on any given weekend in front of a Barnes and Noble and not hit a Chiropractor doing a Spinal Screening.

So, MEET THE PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE.

What does that mean?

What are people doing at a Farmer's Market? More than likely, they are looking for fresh veggies, to network with their friends and neighbors, enjoy the vendors and all their wares, and just a have a nice day shopping.  

Do you think they really want a spinal screening or to talk to you for 30 minutes about subluxation?

Probably not... (I'm not saying all spinal screenings are bad. I hope I don't get phone calls)