Blogs & Podcasts…
Do They Have a Place in
Agriculture?
Lane McConnell
Marketing Specialist
Missouri Dept. of Agriculture
What You Will Learn
 Blogs & Podcasts
Define and how created?
 How do you use as a marketing tool?
 Data
 Impact on the Ag Industry
 Examples of each
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What is a Blog?
 A blog is webpage that is updated daily with short
diary-like inserts (posts)
 Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are
millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there
are no real rules.
 In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write
on an ongoing basis. New posts show up at the top,
so your visitors can read what's new. Then they
comment on it or link to it or email you (OPTIONAL).
Blogging Definition Cont’d.
 A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a
place to collect and share things that you find
interesting— whether it's your political commentary or
information about your farm.
 Many people use a blog as a business website or an
addition to their website to post photos, news
information and their personal views.
Places to Set-up Your Farm
Blog
 Many available sites
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Blogger.com (free)
Typepad (monthly fee)
Both sites guide you through the step-by-step
process to start your site (takes less than 7
minutes to step-up your blog)
Who’s Blogging
 Purina Mills (Pet Podcasts)
 Food Companies (Whole Foods: Podcasts & Blogs)
 Missouri Organic Association (Podcasts & Blogs)
 Many tv and radio businesses (Brownfield Farm
Radio Network)
 Agritourism operations (Carolyn's Country Cousin)
 LOTS of Farms….just Google Farm
Blogs…1,920,000 different farm blogs
What is a Podcast?
 A podcast is nothing more than a digital audio
file, just like any other song or MP3 file on
your computer.
What Makes Podcasting Different?
 The most common podcast format is a MP3 file…so
as long as you have a music player (Windows Media
Player) on your computer you can listen to any
podcast.
 It’s basically a radio show.
 The real difference is the variety. Mainstream radio
has to appeal to broad audiences to cover the cost of
licenses and transmitters, whereas podcasts can
cater to any niche you can imagine. Anyone can
make a podcast about anything they like, there are
no rules and no limits, all you need is a computer and
a microphone.
But I don’t have an iPod
 Despite the name, you don’t need an iPod to listen to
podcasts. All you need is an MP3 player.
 Your computer is a MP3 player. It’s audio
entertainment when and where you want it.
Subscribing to Podcasts
 So now you’ve found some podcasts you like, why
not subscribe? When you subscribe to a magazine a
copy arrives in your mailbox every time a new issue
is released. Subscribing to a podcast is just the
same, but instead of a mailbox, you have an
aggregator – a program that runs on your PC and
automatically downloads your favorite podcasts ready
for you to listen to.
 iTunes (no you still don’t need an iPod) and Juice are
the best known.
Get to Listening
 Get out there and find some podcasts about the
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things that matter to you. There are plenty of places
to find podcasts, but here are a few to get you
started:
Some good podcast sources:
iTunes - come with a huge podcast directory
PodShow- The premiere network of podcasts
IndiePodder - a huge independent podcast directory
Podfinder - "Your guide to the podcast universe"
Blog Facts…
 The blogosphere is big and its readers spend more
time and money online than Web users who don't
read them.
 Fifty million Americans (30%) of all American Internet
users, visited a blog in the first quarter of 2005,
Comscore .
 The average blog reader viewed 77 percent more
pages than the average Internet user who doesn't
read blogs (16,000 versus 9,000 for the quarter), the
report found.
 Blog readers are 11 percent more likely than the
average Internet user to have incomes of or greater
than $75,000.
Blogs Continue to Flourish
 Six of the major hosts report growth of greater
than 100% on a year-over-year basis.
 Blogs.com had the highest growth rate at
241%, followed closely by TypePad with 240
percent growth.
 Overall, BlogSpot holds the top spot in terms
of the greatest number of unique visitors, at
19 million, up from 7.7 million a year ago.
Podcast Facts…
 Podcasting is the start of a new media
content revolution that is empowering
individuals with the ability to globally
distribute their ideas and create a following of
like minded fans.
 It is impacting traditional industries such as
journalism, education and entertainment
allowing anyone to freely create and
distribute news and media.
More Facts…
 An Internet podcast star can potentially reach a much
larger audience than any traditional radio personality
ever could. With potential numbers in the millions it’s
easy to see why there is so much hype behind the
technology and many business folk eager to get
behind it.
 Podcasts and blogs are leading a new content
distribution revolution on the web that you are going
to hear a lot about in the future.
How farmers can use Blogs?
 As a farm website to list contact info, your
day-to-day operation, growing procedures,
photos of the farm….anything you want.
 Blogs provide a tie between the consumer
and farmer and a path to recruit new
customers
 Examples: Selling at Farmers’ Market,
Organic, Grass-fed beef operation,
Agritourism operations
IMPACT on the Ag Industry:
Blogs & Podcasts…
 Tell the story of ag
Promote the positive side of agriculture and
provide positive news on the internet and to
consumers
 New marketing tools
 Market your products to a new audience
 Consumer can learn about farmers lives,
becoming connected
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Blogs can serve or replace a website (for FREE)
 If you sell ag products you HAVE to be online
today
Blog & Podcast Examples
 Missouri Farmers’ Market Blog
 Missouri Organic Blog & Podcasts
 Tiny Farm Blog
 Carolyn's’ Country Cousin
 Missouri Beef Council Blog &Podcasts
Questions
Please feel free to contact me with any
questions…
Lane McConnell
Missouri Dept. of Agriculture
Phone: 573-526-4984
Email: Lane.McConnell@mda.mo.gov