In this digital age, having a personal blog can be a powerful means for young farmers are effectively access expert advice, communicate with customers, market farm produce, and share ideas. Unfortunately, not many farmers understand the power of owning a website for their farming ventures. In this blog post, I’ll share with you 5 compelling reasons I believe every farmer should own a personal blog or a farm website.
#1. Owning a website adds to your income
Do you know that a website is an asset; capable of generating passive income just like a real estate business –rental?
Yes, a website is a property! There are many ways you can make money from your farm blog or website. Check Money Diary for some 14 ways to make money with a website.
Website Setup is another fantastic resource to help you discover 33 Ways to Monetize a Website/Blog.
The point is that by owning a website, you have an opportunity to generate additional income from your farming ventures. Start with a simple personal blog and soon, you’ll discover that sharing your agribusiness experiences can be a crucial side hustle to make money.
Moreover, with a website, you can advertise and sell your own or someone else’s products from the comfort of your home. You won’t have to pay for advertising space.
#2: You can earn money training people
It is impossible to talk about reasons why a farmer should own a personal blog without mentioning the opportunities emerging for farmers to make money through virtual agricultural training. Unlike decades ago, today’s internet users want to learn from content creators who actually do what they teach. Of course, the reasons are obvious: Those who teach what they do educates audiences with authentic information based on firsthand experiences.
As an agribusiness investor and a blogger myself, you may find my content more credible and trustable because I “preach” something I practice! The good part of the game is that there are millions and millions of people looking for high-quality information from credible sources.
Today, millions of young people are out there looking for an opportunity to learn from practicing farmers. Another fact is that many of these potential farmers are willing to pay for agribusiness training. That’s really good news, right?
Own a blog. Start creating quality content. Provide services that solve the skill-deficiency problem of these young farmers. Stay reachable.
Soon, you will begin receiving emails and phone calls from web visitors requesting you to accept their money.
#3: House your content online so you can make money off the virtual farm
I see a lot of young people spending their valuable time publishing content on social media and don’t make money out of it. Indeed, it is a good idea to share your stories online to teach, entertain, and gain fellowship. After all, frequently posting pictures and stories of your farming ventures on social media pages gives you an opportunity to get free likes, comments, and connections.
However, those likes and comments are trash if you can’t make money out of them. This is because social media accounts are not your property: they belong to the companies that own the platforms. The reality is that Facebook or Twitter can terminate or block your account anytime, any day provided they feel your activities violate their policies.
On the contrary, a personal blog houses all your content in one central online place owned by no one else, but you. In other words, while you can make a lot of money from your social media page, the page or account isn’t your property; your blog is your asset. That’s a reason enough a farmer should own a personal blog, right?
#4: A website can be a marketplace for your farm produce
This is an obvious point. There are currently 4.28 billion unique mobile internet users worldwide, representing around 54.6 percent of the global population according to Statista. That means you are losing big if your farm products are found nowhere on the web. In a century ruled by technology, the internet should be your first marketplace.
Owning a website will definitely create an opportunity for you to display your products and services online. It makes whatever you’re trying to sell accessible to your target customers.
Here are some advantages I see with advertising on your own website as opposed to doing so on social media.
#5: Your website can be your farming dairy
A diary is a person’s or business’ record of day-to-day activities. But, why is keeping a diary an important practice for a farmer?
First, a diary can combine a broad range of information, including financial records, breeding records, production records, animal or crop identification information, and many more. Keeping this information aid your management efforts and gives you a point of reference.
Of cause, you can decide to keep such data in hard copy records or on web-based platforms like Google Drive where only you or other authorized parties can access it. That’s important and necessary especially when dealing with private financial or other confidential data.
However, if the information is non-sensitive, let’s say like breeding records, why not share it on your website so that other farmers can learn about agribusiness record keeping from you? These records can prove the farm to be an expert in the specific type of farming they do.
Also, your farm’s diary will be a source of information for your descendants to learn from. I wish my late father had created a blog for his farm records when he was an active farmer. I would be studying those records daily.
Wrap Up
Dear farmers, the internet is here for all of us. If you still don’t own a blog or website, waste no more time. Start investing in a blog today.
