Part 1 Understanding Your Business

This section is designed to help producers understand the unique aspects of their businesses that can give them an advantage in the marketplace. The information will help producers think about why they are in business, what they want to achieve, and what resources they have to be successful. On page 4 of the Developing a Marketing Plan Workbook, students will find an exercise to help them determine exactly what they are trying to sell and whether it is an experience, a value-added product, or simply produce on their farm.

Plan for approximately 2–3 hours for this session. Students should each be given a copy of the Developing a Marketing Plan Workbook and the supplemental guide Growing Your Brand: Marketing Tools for Mississippi Agritourism and Local Foods. The Developing a Marketing Plan Workbook is designed for the producer to take notes and brainstorm ideas to create a written marketing plan. The Marketing Tools guide is a detailed description of marketing components, digital marketing tools, and ideas for promoting a local foods or agritourism business. Producers should read this guide on their own.

Part 1: Extension Agent Guide
Objectives	Participants will understand the importance of a vision statement and a mission statement. Participants will understand why they need to determine a focus or purpose for their marketing efforts. Participants will learn how to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats pertaining to their business.
Potential outcomes	Participants will be able to write a mission statement for their business. Participants will identify what they are marketing and what results they expect. Participants will develop a strategy to address a strength, weakness, opportunity, or threat.
Activity	Participants should complete pages 3–5 in the Developing a Marketing Plan Workbook. Students should read Growing Your Brand: Marketing Tools for Mississippi Agritourism and Local Foods. During this section, it would be appropriate to have a guest speaker who has demonstrated marketing success with a local foods business or to show video footage of successful local foods events or businesses. Another option would be a tour of a local foods business to help generate ideas.
Summary	Part 1 is designed to begin the process of developing a marketing plan. Participants should have an understanding of what they want to accomplish from creating and implementing a marketing plan.