Accessing Academies: What Barn2Door Academy Pass Can Unlock for Your Farm Business
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we discuss the Barn2Door Academy Pass with the Barn2Door Content Marketing Manager, Rachele. The Barn2Door Academy Pass unlocks an in-depth series of virtual classes providing tactical guidance and best practices for Farmers using Barn2Door. Topics include refining your brand, developing content, crafting a social media strategy, driving sales with email marketing, building a profitable Delivery service, and understanding the nuances of Farm finances.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
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Rory Loughran: Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. I'm Rory, your host for today's episode, we've got a great conversation for you today with Barn2Door's Content Marketing Manager, Rachele Neal.
Welcome Rachele. We're gonna be talking about the Academy Pass today. So to start out, what is Barn2Door Academy?
Rachele Neal: Hey Rory, good to be here.
So Barn2Door Academy is really an in-depth series of classes providing best practices and tactical guidance relating to a specific topic. So there are three parts that spread out over three weeks. It's one hour per class, so it's really doable and [00:01:00] can, you know, be doable for a lot of different schedules, but it's hands on educational courses taught by Farmers for Farmers and we're just providing best practices and insights backed by data.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, definitely making it something that can align with Farmer's schedules is something we're always trying to do. I know we've updated that schedule a few times to try and make sure that we can get as many Farmers in those classes as possible and it can align with when they're busy, and we can try and get 'em when they're not so busy.
So right now with Barn2Door you can access these academies with the Barn2Door Academy Pass, so what is the Academy Pass?
Rachele Neal: Yes. So the Academy Pass it's $39 a month and it really gives you unlimited access to all of our academy classes. So right now we have five, which is quite a bit considering we started the year out with two.
Yeah. So we've made a huge leap this year. But what's really nice about the past is that you have unlimited access so you can attend multiple classes. You can, you know, learn new skills. [00:02:00] We're always updating the classes too, so we're always, you know, staying on top of the latest trends, the latest insights, always implementing the most recent data. So it's really nice and it's a really great value for the amount of information Farmers get.
Rory Loughran: So the Academy Pass, you know, it's definitely a ton of content that Farmers can use and attend and they can do these classes month over month.
How can Farmers get the Academy Pass?
Rachele Neal: Yes. So Farmers can log into their Barn2Door account and in the back end with our add-ons they can add Barn2Door onto their subscription.
Rory Loughran: That easy?
Rachele Neal: It's really easy.
Rory Loughran: That's awesome. Great. Well so we've mentioned that there are multiple classes. What classes is Barn2Door currently offering?
Rachele Neal: Yes. So again, we have five classes. So there's social media. So this is like an overview of Facebook and Instagram best practices. There's email marketing and MailChimp. So diving into the Barn2Door MailChimp integration, newsletters versus emails versus order reminders.
And we also have [00:03:00] content development, which is a really great one in order to build your brand or hone your messaging across your website, your email and your social media account. And then the two new ones is: delivery, which is in partnership with Routific. That one's kicking off here in July or has already started.
So that's really exciting. So delivery best practices, which is super fun. And then next month we have our new Finance Academy. So diving deep into managing the books. How to efficiently grow your business and that's taught by a QuickBooks Pro Advisor.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, and it's really cool because I feel like all of these classes, they're kind of based on the feedback we've gotten from Farmers in what areas they're having trouble with. Because obviously with Barn2Door, you know, it's the tool, it's the backend tool to be able to help you sell your products.
But at the end of the day, a lot of the marketing still falls on the Farmer and they have to know how to use these tools to help them save the time. So all of these things, whether it's social media or MailChimp or QuickBooks, Routific routing software doing delivery, there's kind of [00:04:00] various levels you can do them at and so we take it one step at a time in the academies going from very basic MailChimp skills, you know, tagging your customers, getting your contact list uploaded to, by the end you're talking about email automation and AB testing and things like that.
And so it's really cool that we get to walk through that with Farmers and teach 'em the steps so that they can be using these tools to effectively. Market or communicate or just manage their business.
Rachele Neal: Exactly, Yes. And on that point it really embraces the fact that you can join at any kind of like skill type or level you have. So if you have no experience of social media, you can jump into the course and you can by the end of the three classes, you can have a complete social media posting schedule. Or if you've never sent a mail trip email by the end of the class you'll know the difference between when to send an email, when to send a newsletter, and what information to include in each.
And like you said, all of these classes are based on data and so that's how these topics were chosen, cuz [00:05:00] we know that these tactics and these practices really work to aid Farmers and their success and so we just want Farmers to embrace them. Teach them, you know, the time saving to do it and then see those sales come in.
Rory Loughran: Yeah and for some of these things, it's like literally instant transfer to sales, especially with something like MailChimp, where if you get your email marketing down right, you can be sending out a single email and generating hundreds or thousands of dollars off those.
Rachele Neal: Yeah. We know one farm over in North Carolina, she sends out her weekly newsletter and she generates 80% of her weekly orders just from that one email
Rory Loughran: Crazy. This is powerful stuff, powerful tools. Awesome.
Well, walk us through kind of maybe like the history of academies at Barn2Door. How did these kind of start up, why did they start up, and how have they evolved since then?
Rachele Neal: Yeah. Great question. So Barn2Door Academy debuted in spring of 2021, and we started with a Facebook class, an Instagram class; they were two separate ones. And then we also had our MailChimp [00:06:00] email marketing course, and they were initially taught by Barn2Door Success Team Members and the goal has always been to offer live virtual classes to teach these best practices.
And we found that when we break down these specific tactics for Farmers that we know will generate results, it can be really powerful for them to grow their business to get sales, like we were just talking about. And so since then, like we've mentioned, we've really switched up the curriculum, we've switched up the format. We keep updating new things.
So today the main difference is that Farmers are teaching Farmers in these courses. And we know that people of all industries love to learn from their peers. And so by having Farmers come on, who are experts within these categories themselves, and show, you know, their tools, their tactics, what they do, it's been really powerful and it's really created this virtual room full of like connection and sharing experiences and brainstorming and really coming together to foster that. So that's [00:07:00] really cool.
Rory Loughran: It's really awesome. I get to sit in on a lot of the academies just hosting and welcoming people. I don't get, I don't teach. I let the pros do that. But it is really cool because, you know, we can talk about delivery all day long and the best ways to do it. But being able to bring Brie Cadadei from Terra Firma Farm into the classroom and have her tell people about her delivery program, which she's doing like almost 80 deliveries a day at this point.
That's who you wanna be hearing from, or tapping into our other Farm Advisors like Valerie to teach the MailChimp Academy, Valerie Luhman with Grass Fed Cattle Company, who's literally using the email automations, plugging these in, generating revenue for her Farm with MailChimp. That's who you want teaching the MailChimp Academy. So that's kind of my favorite aspect of it is getting to have these Farmers lead the class.
Rachele Neal: Absolutely, yeah. And something about the Farmers too, is because they, you know, are in the front lines doing these things themselves and you know, they come to us and they're like, "hey like did you know?" Like I learned things from them too, which is awesome.
So it's really cool to see like Valerie implements her automatic [00:08:00] welcome stream in MailChimp. And that's just a really good way to spur, you know, order straight off the bat if someone subscribes to your newsletter. So these little like tips and tricks that the Farmers are using and just being able to amplify their voice, give them a platform, and then have all of our Farmers learn from them.
Rory Loughran: Yeah definitely. Well Rachele I'm curious, what is your role in putting together these academies?
Rachele Neal: Yeah, so there's a lot of work that goes on producing these courses. So like I said, there's three classes per course. So when you think about it, that's 15 different presentations and we were just talking about this earlier today. But the team, it really starts with team planning as you know, you're a part of this planning process. And so, when we decide on what topic we wanna do, so for example, the Delivery Academy.
When we were thinking about this topic, we had to be very methodical and thoughtful about how we wanted the course to play out. So we start with, you know, outlining what each class will entail because we obviously want it to be very consumable and an [00:09:00] hour format, but then also really teach best practices as well.
So it starts with the outline. We throw in, you know, the talking points for the slides and then that's when the fun part starts with building out, you know, the talking points and really hitting in on those data points. Cuz you know, we want to share and amplify those tactics that lead to success.
Rory Loughran: Yeah and I feel like laying out the steps of what goes into these almost simplifies it because even just like outlines alone, that's a lot of content to be polling and you wanna make sure that you're flushing out the entirety of a topic kind of at the 201, 301, and 401 levels. That's the levels of each classes that we do. So it definitely is a lot of content to be put into those and then taking that and diving into data on it and building out those slide decks, it's a lot of work.
Rachele Neal: There's a lot of planning. Like what items are you offering for delivery? You know, what are your routes? How do you even decide what routes, you know, are you choosing it by zip code? Are you going by neighborhood? Like There's a lot of different nuances that even varies [00:10:00] by each Farm. Cause there's so many different paths that you can take it. So like you said, being very methodical about what kind of content is in each class, that also leads a consecutive class as well and builds upon each of the classes before that.
Rory Loughran: Yeah and that's kind of also a great point and that it's great that these are live classes cuz they are live, we don't record them. And so when you're attending it, you know, it's a one on one experience. And it's really cool because I think farming has so many nuances and there's so many specific ways that a beef farmer might wanna market their business versus a dairy farmer or a produce farmer. And so making it live and having instructors that literally do the same thing, they can speak to all those people.
And if you have questions like, " I just started doing bundle boxes. Like how should I be marketing that on social media?" And they can speak to that specific question or "I'm just about to launch my CSA. What's the best way to promo that in with email marketing?" It's cool to be able to get it into those specifics in the live class and get real time answers, really.
Rachele Neal: [00:11:00] Yeah. And even with the content development one, like maybe you're going through the website design process and, you know, you get your form and you're like, "oh, I don't know, you know, what, how to write about my brand or what to say about our story", and that class literally step by step walks you through, like methodically, how to think about how to write your about page of your website or how to use email marketing and what content to put in there, things like that.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Well we've definitely talked about how these classes are led by Farmers. Who are the teachers of these academies? How are these people chosen?
Rachele Neal: Yeah, that's a great question. So we call them our Marketing Development Experts. Our MDEs, we love acronyms here at Barn2Door and they are literally what their titles are.
They are experts within these different categories of our classes. And so we select them very strategically and we're really always are looking for Farmers who are on the cutting edge of implementing best practices or that have developed new and unique techniques to engage their audiences. Maybe it's time saving tactics, things like [00:12:00] that.
So, you named a few, but we have Valerie of Grass Fed Cattle Co and we have Camille from Little River Farm, so it also runs the gambit too of protein, produce, dairy. So it's really nice to see that variation with our instructors as well.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, I think we're up to four or five MDEs now, which is really cool. Because we originally had two: Joelle Orem of Orem Farms, that was the first one, and Valerie, like we've said, so being able to grow that team has been really fun too.
Rachele Neal: And what's nice too is they all host Connect as well. So, if you have additional questions after attending one of the classes, you go join a Connect session with them and you can further continue the live conversation with them, which is really nice.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, it's really great because it's an hour long, but it's a packed hour. Every class is. We're covering a lot, we're diving through things, and sometimes we're able to, you know, go through and answer every little question. But sometimes we have to keep the train moving because there's so much more to cover. And so Connect is a great chance to be able to connect or follow up with those people after the fact and still be able to pick their brain.
So [00:13:00] why do we choose to do these classes virtually in person. Why do we choose to do these classes live versus a prerecorded thing that maybe we just send out to people?
Rachele Neal: Yeah, so having a live class, it really gives the Farmers the opportunity to connect with others. And we also know Farmers are really busy and so setting aside and having this on your calendar, it's one hour for three weeks, and so you're really putting in the time and effort to solely focus on one topic. Which that's a lot of the feedback we get is, "wow, it's just really nice to sit down and fully devote time" to learning about one thing that they really wanted to learn about.
And then what's also nice is in these virtual meetings, it's you, like you said, it opens it up for live Q&A connection, not only with the instructor, but connecting with other Farmers too. So I know in the social media academy we have people post, you know, their Instagram and Facebook. And so we know what people are following each other, and it's really easy to foster, you know, bouncing ideas [00:14:00] off of each other and fueling that connection from Farmers across the country.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Even our MDEs, the people leading the classes, they'll subscribe to the newsletter, maybe say in the MailChimp class, they'll subscribe to the newsletter of a Farm that's a participant in the class. And they'll get their emails every week or every month for forever and they remember those people, they're able to see them implementing the practice that they got to teach ' em. And so that's a really cool community building opportunity too. And it's a great way to keep each other sharp because you get to see, "oh, what's this farm over on the west coast doing that I could implement on my farm in the east coast?" And, yeah it's definitely a cool element there with all the community building.
Rachel, like you said we've added three academies pretty much in the last four or five months, to the schedule. What academies do you see us maybe adding next?
Rachele Neal: Like you said, we've really been so heads down on developing delivery and finance, it's then now that they're finally in the water, it's fun to be like, "hey, what's next?" I don't know. I think we've talking a little bit, we could see taxes in the future, that's such an important topic, just like finances [00:15:00] and that can have its own three part series.
There's so much to dive into. I think another one potentially could be like inventory or packaging best practices. I know the Success Team gets a lot of, you know, questions around that and they provide a lot of guidance there.
So I think that could be a good one and subscriptions. I think subscriptions could be a really good one. There's just so much we can do with any of these topics and so that's the fun thing too. We're always expanding our course offerings, so...
Rory Loughran: Yeah, no that's awesome. I'm excited to see what'll be next. So we run these academies every month. We do two a month and they rotate between the five. So not every month is the same, especially if you're on that Academy Pass. It's nice by the time you actually re-encounter an academy, there's likely updates to that software platform like MailChimp or QuickBooks. And so there's new things to learn and we do work really hard to keep these up to date. But what's coming up in August? What academies will be featuring that month?
Rachele Neal: Yeah. So we will be debuting our new Finance Academy. It is sold out at this moment, which is crazy, cuz we just launched [00:16:00] it.
So, that will be coming up again in the Fall. So keep your eye on your email if you're really interested attending that finance class. And then we'll be having the very popular social media class again.
Rory Loughran: Mm-hmm
Rachele Neal: So that'll be great to have that. I think the last time we had that was June.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. And so maybe for people that are listening, I know we also just did a podcast about the Finance Academy and with Taylor, who's gonna be leading that class. Why is that an important one? Why might people wanna keep an eye out for that when it becomes available again?
Rachele Neal: Finances are so important and farming is such a nuanced industry. So farm finances are of course, very unique. So when it comes to managing the books, understanding, you know, profit versus loss expenses versus income, those are all really important things to any business, especially farm businesses. And so Taylor, who's a QuickBook Pro Advisor, she's also a Farmer. She will be hosting it and she'll really be going into best practices related to the Barn2Door and QuickBooks integration.
Cuz we know [00:17:00] that Farmers who on Barn2Door that have QuickBooks are our most successful Farmers. They gain insights into their numbers and it really helps 'em plan ahead for the future as well and see in the areas that they are profitable, so...
Rory Loughran: And she, I think when I was talking to her the other day, she just said something like, "finances is something that you have to do. Like, you just have to if you want your Farm to stay afloat. And so you might as well be good at it and then do more than stay afloat. You can actually use finances as a way to plan ahead for success and grow your business." And so, yeah, it's gonna be great to really dive into, even just starting with the basic financial statements and then going from there, is gonna be really cool.
Rachele Neal: Yeah and finances, it's an overwhelming topic. Like there's so much to it and like I know even when I think about it, I'm like, "oh man, like where do we start?"
Rory Loughran: Yeah.
Rachele Neal: There's a lot to it. So Taylor is really going to break it down step by step and make it very easy to understand and by the end of the course, if you are currently [00:18:00] intimidated by finances or need that extra help, you're gonna be a pro or you're gonna have someone on your side, like Taylor that will help you.
Rory Loughran: Yeah like definitely. I know she's really excited to lead and it's great too, she and her family have their own hobby Farm, which is great that she can have that kind of insight. But then also she works with a lot of Farms. I believe she's located over in Virginia. So it's great to be able to bring in somebody that kind of has that prior knowledge already, too.
Alright. So as a final, like maybe pitch or as the person who puts together the content for these academies, Rachele, give me two reasons why Farmers should sign up for the Academy Pass?
Rachele Neal: Ooh there's so many reasons. I think the first reason would be it's really rare to have the time and the opportunity to sit down and just focus on one specific topic and just the community aspect of being in it and learning with other Farmers from across the country, I think is such a huge bonus.
And the second one, the Academy Pass, it's a super great value to learn all of this information that we're providing. It's all of these tactics we're sharing, it's proven to help [00:19:00] Farmers increase sales and save time and save money. And so, and it's only one hour a week. I know Farmers are so busy, but you can just put one hour a week, you're bound to learn at least one thing that you can implement that'll help you drive sales.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, definitely. And I think too, if you asked any Farmer, "hey, would you want to for one hour a week to sit down in a room of other Farmers and bounce ideas off of each other about how to grow your business, how to be successful as a farm business?" I think everybody's saying yes to that. So it's really cool that this kind of provides that opportunity.
Rachele Neal: Absolutely.
Rory Loughran: Thanks so much for joining Rachele.
Rachele Neal: Thank you!
Rory Loughran: I wanna extend my thanks to Rachele for joining us on this week's podcast episode. Here at Barn2Door we're humbled to support thousands of Farms across the country who implement sustainable agricultural practices and support their local communities. To learn more about Barn2Door, including access to numerous free resources and best practices for your farm, go to barn2door.com/resources. And to learn more about academies, click the link in the description of this episode.
Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next week.
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