My favorite clothing gear on the ranch, Carhartt and Cintas have recently launched a search for North America’s toughest workers. The Are You Carhartt Tough? Contest is being conducted in conjunction with the roll-out of a new product line being offered by the two companies. I know at my cattle operation in South Dakota, we don’t step foot outside without our Carhartt coats (and layers of long johns, of course!), and I want to know who else out there is Carhartt tough?
Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq:CTAS), North America’s largest uniform supplier, has partnered with Carhartt, a global manufacturer of premium workwear, to offer Carhartt garments for the first time in a Uniform Rental Program.
With Ducks Unlimited® acting as media sponsor, contest organizers will reach out to the American workforce to identify people who are strong, dependable, resilient and rugged.
Beginning on April 30, three finalists will be announced each quarter. After a year’s time, all twelve finalists will be featured on the contest website where the public will be encouraged to cast votes for the toughest of the tough. Two Grand Prize winners will receive either a weekend duck hunt trip designed by Ducks Unlimited® or a trip to The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series in 2011.
If you think you’re tough enough, submit a short essay and photograph for this contest here.
I’m sure most of you were tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last night, and many of you probably participated in some form of party or another, complete with agriculture’s finest products. As I munched on appetizers and cheered on my favorite team, I have to admit that my favorite part of the Super Bowl wasn’t the game, and it certainly wasn’t Carrie H$U$ Underwood’s flat singing, it was, of course, the commercials.
Violinist beavers and screaming chickens aside, I have two commercials that win the top spot in my eyes. First, the Doritos commercial with the little boy talking to his mom’s boyfriend. He slaps him and says, “You don’t touch my momma, and you don’t touch my Doritos.” My second favorite advertisement was by Google. They played out a love story through a procession of Google searches, starting from a study abroad trip to Paris and ending with “how to assemble a crib,” at the conclusion. Very sweet.
So, just for fun this morning, what was your favorite Super Bowl ad? And, who had the worst?
In an effort to promote myself as an agriculture speaker available for keynotes and workshops, I have launched a new blog spot I hope you will all check out. It’s called Agriculture in Action, and it features the ins and outs of my life as a cattle rancher, as well as my travels across the country promoting the beef industry. It’s brand spanking new, and it needs a little love from all of you. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Here is a description of what my blog is all about: I’m a farm girl at heart, and I feel pretty lucky to have made my passion and hobby into a career that I love. I enjoy a medium rare ribeye steak and a glass of Merlot, with the company of friends or family.
Follow me on Twitter @AmandaNolz or check out the Ag in Action Facebook Page. Thanks for your support in my new endeavor!
Pfizer Animal Health has announced today that it selected Bader Rutter, a full service agency based in Milwaukee, Wis. to service its U.S. cattle business. The agency will begin work on the account in January 2010.
In other recent news, Pfizer Animal Health unveiled a new look in October after its acquisition of Wyeth, including its subsidiary Fort Dodge Animal Health. The acquisition makes the company the, “world’s leader in the discovery, development, manufacture and sales of veterinary vaccines and medicines for livestock and companion animals.”
In a company press statement, Clint Lewis, president of U.S. Operations for Pfizer Animal Health said of the acquisition, “We’re extremely proud to offer our customers even more best-in-class and innovative products. The products, services and expertise we are gaining strengthen what is already a robust U.S. portfolio and will enhance our leading position in the animal health marketplace.”
Does web analytics give you a headache? Do you have anyone on your staff who has training in how to understand web analytics? If you don’t then you’re not unusual. A story today on eMarketer provides some survey results about what marketers are thinking on this subject.
To prove the success of their campaigns, marketers need analytics. But many report frustration with understanding and using the Web analytics tools necessary to prove their success to management, according to “The Web Analytics War Reader Survey” by Unica.
The biggest challenge for marketers was integrating Web analytics with other marketing solutions, cited by 46% of respondents. Verifying the accuracy of data was a problem for 41% of marketers, while 32% reported trouble with analytics that were not comprehensive and 29% complained of budgets that were too small.
I take exception to the statement above about analytics proving success. If by analytics they mean just web analytics. By this I mean that just because I can deliver a ton of impressions (visits, visitors, clicks, click throughs, etc.) it doesn’t mean the company sold anything. But how often does an agency or marcomm staff member justify an investment by providing a report that says, “We spent X$’s and got a story that aired on 200 radio stations, a feature in a publication with 100,000 “subscribers” and a web banner or post that had 10,000 visitors.” Wow. Sounds good. But what was the result? Did they sell more? Did that story actually air on those stations? Who listened? Did every subscriber read the feature in that magazine? Did every web visitor see and/or click through on the banner or post? How often do you get that much detail? Ever?
I want to find out how you agrimarketers are tackling this issue. What metrics do you want from the web? What is meaningful? What form do you want it in? Are there certain services or software you prefer? If you place a banner ad, what do you want reported to you? How often do you need to see information? What do you consider reasonable?
This is a very important issue in today’s new media world and one that I have spent countless hours researching and discussing. As ZimmComm has developed online communities that revolve around a blog I don’t think reporting unique website visitors is very helpful for you in evaluating an investment in an advertising order. Why? Because there are over 12 other measurements that have nothing to do with website visitors that need to be considered. Here’s an example:
Let’s look at one day’s traffic on AgWired. It can be as high as 1,000 unique visitors. If I post your story does that mean that only 1,000 people saw it? No way!!!!! Consider that there are almost 1,000 subscribers to the AgWired RSS feed. They may not visit the site. That’s part of the value of the RSS feed. Consider that every post goes to my Twitter account with almost 1,600 followers and that every time one of my tweets is re-tweeted, it is seen by their followers. Consider that Twitter feeds my Facebook profile where I have 350 friends. Consider that this also updates my FriendFeed. Consider that the images or video I’m using in the story may be included in my Flickr or YouTube account. Consider that there are over 40 other websites that have installed the AgWired widget which displays homepage posts on their website. I’m not even counting the other less used social networking mechanisms I’m utilizing like Posterous, MySpace, etc.
But even beyond the above, what about the search engine aspect of all those places on the web that I have posted/distributed content that are now showing up in key word search results or key word news alerts? What about all the people who are re-publishing my information or sending it to their friends, neighbors and colleagues? Of course now you’ll ask the question, “Who are these visitors?” That’s a topic for another post.
Yeah. It adds up and all the sudden the total number of impressions for that one post could grow from the initial 1,000 unique visitor impressions to as many as 5,000 impressions. In fact, this number may only be good for just that one day or point in time. All our stories are archived. We never delete them. How much higher will that number grow within the next week, month and year?
This is what I’m talking about. This is what we do and excel at. This is what we preach and this is what can help grow your brand.
I’m a little behind in reporting this event to all of you, but I’m so proud of the efforts of the South Dakota CattleWomen’s Association! As you all know, South Dakota is famous for the motorcycle rally that is held in Sturgis every August. Well, the SD CattleWomen were centered in all of the action in one of the coolest beef promotions yet! As bikers parked their Harley’s in front of the Stone House Saloon, located seven miles west of Belle Fourche, S.D., the cattle women were revving up to provide beef samples to the hungry travelers.
In this low key setting, the cattle women volunteers didn’t have to bring visitors into a booth in the busy streets of Sturgis; instead, the bikers came to them in a stop along the way. There was food, drinks, free horseback rides, photos, beef jerky samples and beef certificates for the rally goers. And, it seemed the bikers were happy to receive the great hospitality that awaited them there at the Stone House Saloon.
The main objective of this promotion was to encourage the bikers to enjoy South Dakota beef during their visit. In addition to free beef samples and certificates, the cattle women passed out surveys and were readily available to answer questions and concerns about beef cattle production.
This was a great opportunity to interact with rally goers about the different beef issues and to reassure them that beef is still a healthy and great tasting choice. The location and atmosphere ended up being a perfect spot because it was out in the middle of a pasture next to a windmill in a relaxed setting where the cattle women could literally sit down and visit with and discuss issues the rally goers may have about beef. Congratulations on a great event!
Since I have returned to my family’s cattle operation, I’ve quickly been put in charge of all marketing efforts. For the fair, I developed a brochure about our business, as well as designed stall cards to display information about our cattle. My next task is improving our website (it’s in need of dire help), and starting up a newsletter for our customers.
Of course, these projects take time, and I have to balance these ideas with my writing and speaking duties, as well. Yet, my hope is to help my parents really develop the NOLZ Limousin brand as one that people in the industry will recognize. Today, my questions for AgWired readers include the following: What are you looking for in a good newsletter and website? How long is the newsletter? What topics should it address? What’s the best programs for developing professional online and print materials? How often does a newsletter need to be sent out? Can it easily be sent via email, too?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! I’m learning as I go. I’m definitely not a graphic designer! HELP!
Amanda Nolz
Blogger
Speaker
Daughter
Cowgirl
Student
It’s looking like things are going to continue to stay busy for me in my first year as an agriculture writer and speaker. In addition to my work on the ranch, I have been traveling across the country speaking to various agriculture groups on hot topics such as the next generation of food producers, online social networking, agriculture advocacy and more. Here is a list of my upcoming events; I would love to catch up with you on the road, if our schedules allow. Let me know if you’re in the area! And, if you’re in need of a speaker for your next meeting or event, just give me a holler! Hope to meet some of you soon!
Sept. 16, 2009 – SDSU Beef Leadership Experience Opening Keynote, Brookings, SD; Address to SDSU animal science freshmen on the importance of getting involved. I will also be speaking to the Block and Bridle group that evening to expand upon the same topic.
Oct. 9-11, 2009 – 2010 National Beef Ambassador Contest, Fort Smith, AR; I will present the inspirational keynote to the ambassador contestants, as well as present a workshop to the CattleWomen on online social networking.
Nov. 21, 2009 – Agriculture Banquet, SD Department of Ag, Pierre, SD; keynote address, “What Happened to the Next Generation of Agriculturalists?”
Jan. 30-31, 2010 – North Dakota Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference, Minot, ND.
Feb. 12-13 – Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference, Frankenmuth, MI.
Our Precision Pays.com website welcomes new long term sponsor, Ag Leader Technology. Besides direct advertising on the site they’re sponsoring a weekly story called “Insights Weekly.” You can read the first installment below.
As we’re well into the dog days of summer, Midwest corn and soybean harvest is looming larger. If you haven’t started combine prep already, it’s time to dust off those owner’s manuals to fine-tune the machine and its data-gathering electronics.
Ag Leader Technology, a sponsor of PrecisionPays.com, offers some good advice in a pre-harvest checklist for owners of their InSight and EDGE displays:
• Create a backup of your spring information.
• Select Copy All Files to save the spring data to the memory card.
• Make sure your display firmware, manual and all connected modules are up-to-date.
• Firmware and manual updates can be found on its website under Support. If you have purchased a new combine or new heads, create new configurations for any setup that is different from last fall. Remove all old configurations.
Combine Inspection
• Check to make sure all cables are properly attached and in good condition.
• Remove flow sensor and inspect for damage.
• Check the elevator deflector and impact plate for wear. Verify you have the proper clearance at the top of the clean grain elevator. Clearance should be between 3/8” and 5/8”.
Other items on the Ag Leader checklist include: sensor calibration, header stop height, distance calibration, temperature and moisture check and grain weight. Consult your manual in all cases. And if you’ve lost it, you can find them on the website.
For more information on pre-harvest preparation, Check out these links:
Yield monitor calibration: Garbage in garbage out – Purdue University.
Yield monitor calibration tips – Ohio State University.
Tips to cut combine breakdowns – Corn & Soybean Digest.
Ag Leader Technology publishes a periodic newsletter called “Insights.” You can subscribe to an rss feed of their news releases and the newsletter with this link.
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is under fire for putting up a billboard on Atlantic Boulevard, which seems to compare overweight women to whales, reported Morning News Producer Adam Kirk for WOKV.com.
But a PETA spokeswoman told our news partner Channel 4, it’s not about making people feel bad. “People are bombarded with ads for food that make them fat and unhappy.”
PETA says the billboard is taking a humorous approach to grabbing people’s attention.
What do you think? Another distasteful media attempt by PETA? Here are a few sample comments from the article on WOKV.com…
“Obesity is not linked with eating meat, it’s from lack of exercise. Peta had no right to compare overweight women to whales becuase they eating meat. Meat is GOOD!!! People Eating Tasty Animals! =D” By Kristina
“Keep your laws off my lunch” By ozzzy4444
“I think PETA and other Liberal groups need to stop telling others how to live their own lives, or try dictating what choice they make for themselves.” By Craig
“It’s not about eating too much meat, it’s about eating too many calories.” By Barry
I spent last night as the watchman, I mean watchwoman, over the county fair grounds during the Davison County 4-H Achievement Days being held this week in Mitchell, S.D. This job meant I had to keep the cattle, pigs, sheep and goats in their proper place, which is sometimes no easy task. Over the night, I tied up 15 calves, and I’m going to be sure to show a few unknowing 4-H members how to tie a rope halter today!
Anyway, in my overnight duties of watching over the 4-H livestock, I spent a lot of time doing several things: drinking coffee and catching up on blogging (two thumbs up for internet access in the barn!) It must have been the caffeine overdose, or the fact that it stormed, or that I was all alone in the dark, but I had a lot of time to reflect on life and write out some goals for the future.
Now, this may not be the direction you thought my ramblings were going to go, but I have some thoughts I wanted to run by you this morning. I need a website asap. Why? Because I want to promote my work as an agriculture speaker. I’m getting new jobs all the time, but I’m hoping to do more than word-of-mouth advertising. I would like a place to showcase my speech topics, workshops and writing highlights to help launch my speaking career.
So, this is where you come in. What makes a good website? What features keep visitors coming back for more? How extensive does a promotional website need to be? Should it tie in with my current blogging somehow? What should the website be called? How often does it need to be updated? Should it include a newsletter? It’s your turn to weigh in; I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! In the meantime, I’m off to catch a catnap between shows. I’ve still got another dose of night duty tomorrow, and I NEED to catch some shuteye!
Everyday, people utilize countless accounts: email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to communicate with others, and the list of these social networking sites is constantly growing. However, there is much more to social networking than simply having an account. How can we have meaningful connections online? How can we better reach our target audience? Here is a paper by Exact Target that addresses these questions and concerns in an enjoyable read. Here is an excerpt…
In 2008, 13% of marketers leveraged social networks in their email marketing strategy. This number is set to explode in 2009 with 46% of marketers planning to use social sharing capabilities in the coming year—representing nearly a fourfold increase (ExactTarget 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study).
Expanding the Reach of Email Through Social Media contains insights ExactTarget gathered from more than 350 marketers in our 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study. This whitepaper is a must-read for anyone interested in using social sharing capabilities to extend the reach of your message, drive deeper engagement with customers and their online communities, and build your subscriber list.
It’s certainly no surprise that PETA is once again gaining media attention for their upcoming ad campaign that will soon release hundreds of billboards in L.A. regarding the murder of abortion Dr. George Tiller’s. Trying to appeal to both sides of the fence, PETA has created these billboards to reach both the pro-life and pro-choice groups. What do you think about this media campaign? What kind of statement does it say about PETA as an organization, willing to monopolize on a murder to earn donations from supporters? How should agriculturalists respond to this kind of behavior?
PETA plans to have billboards in the Wichita area that promote vegetarianism, prompted by abortion Dr. George Tiller’s murder. The group hopes that the billboards will help pro-life and pro-choice advocates find common ground in support for animal rights.
“People who are pro-choice shouldn’t choose cruelly produced foods, just as pro-life folks shouldn’t support deadly slaughterhouses,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich in a press release. “It’s time for everyone to reject violence and live up to their ideals–if you’re truly acting out of a desire to end suffering, start with what you put on your plate.”
The Wichita Eagle reports that PETA’s campaign manager Lindsay Rajt said while the billboards are not yet up, PETA has no plans to cancel the campaign.
To read the entire article, link here.
Do you have a Facebook Page? This is a popular way to connect with fans of your business or cause. Now, Facebook Ads for your Page will now get you even more Fans. You are now able to create ads that will allow users to become a Fan of your Page directly from the ad. Users can also click anywhere on your ad to access your Page. I haven’t tried creating these ads, but it looks pretty simple. Now, the question is whether your readers will appreciate ads on their profiles or not. Have you noticed the growing number of ads on this social networking site? What do you think about these targeted marketing tools?
According to Facebook, there are several benefits of using Ads for Pages including:
1. Without leaving the page they are viewing, users can become a Fan directly from the ad
2. When a user becomes a Fan of your Page from the ad, a story is published in the user’s Wall
3. This story is eligible to show in Highlights- creating free distribution in the social graph
4. Users will see friends who have become a Fan of your Page in their version of the ad – increasing the relevancy of your ad.
Unfortunately, this application is not free. You will never pay more than your max bid per click (CPC). Cost-per-click includes clicks on your title, image, body and clicks on the “Become a Fan” link. It does not include clicks on the friend actions.
To create a Facebook ad for your page, link here. For more information, link here.
Got a beat in your step and a competitive edge? Here is an interesting contest you might want to consider entering…
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council today announced an impressive lineup of judges for the Council’s contest to rewrite “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”so that it includes a long-overdue reference to hot dogs.
Judges will include Washington D.C.’s “Man About Town,” Bob Madigan,of WTOP radio; Chicago news and sports personality Bob Sirott of NBC5 ; hot dog historian Bruce Kraig, author of the new book Hot Dog; Agri-talk Radio Host Mike Adams; and Eric Haman, corporate communications manager at Hatfield Quality Meats and star of the YouTube sensation “The Hatfield Hot Dog Launcher.”
Entries must be received by June 12, 2009. Winners will be announced at the start of National Hot Dog Month July 1 and will be featured in an online video on the Hot Dog Council’s YouTube channel.
For details on prizes and how to enter, link to the American Meat Institute.
A few months ago, I signed up for a half-marathon with my sister, Courtney. To boost our motivation, we joined Team ZIP (Zinc/Iron/ Protein), a group of runners who believe in the power of protein in the land of lean beef. We demonstrate that beef gives us the strength we need to cross the finish line by participating in running, cycling and triathlon events across the country. On May 16, just a week after my graduation from SDSU, Courtney and I ran our hearts out on behalf of America’s farmers and ranchers.
This was my first half marathon, and I was proud to hear my name called as I crossed the finish line, announcing that I was running in support of beef. My jersey proudly said, “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner,” and it earned me quite a few comments and cheers throughout the race. Although my muscles were sore from the intensity of the race, my heart was proud of myself for finishing the race within my goal time.
If you are a runner or are interested in promoting agriculture in unique ways such as this, I encourage you to check out Team ZIP. There is a great bunch of folks that are a part of that group, and they are not only dedicated to living healthy, but also in protecting the integrity of the agriculture industry. I’m so proud to be a part of this group!
Dwayne Leslie above the border from us has re-launched AgClassifieds.com. He says it will incorporate many new marketing services for farm equipment dealers and farmers wishing to advertise individual items.
“Farmers have 3 traditional ways to purchase equipment” says AgClassifieds.com owner Dwayne Leslie “We wanted to bring the same effective and economical advertising options to farm equipment dealers and farmers as we have to the auction industry. Our Farm Auction Guide.com platform has been the industry leader for not only farm auctions but for online advertising for the auction industry in general since 2001 and we plan on building on that success.”
AgClassifieds.com is not just one site , but a growing network of ag related sites. In 2008 this network attracted 3 million visitors and 17 million pageviews looking for ag equipment . Many savvy marketers have been asking us for the ability to promote their inventory to these same farmers and after careful consideration for a long time, our new business model was launched. (more…)
Thanks to Denny Eilers for providing me with photos of our Best of NAMA award winners for each category.
First up is Best of Show, Advertising
(Left to Right)
Tom Bigelow, Bigelow Advertising
Rick Radermacher, Bigelow Advertising
Chris Lund, AGCO Application Equipment
The next ones are Best of Show, Public Relations
(Left to Right)
Paul Durham, Martin/Williams
Kim Dawson, Syngenta
Kerry Henderson, Gibbs & Soell
And then we have Best of Show, Specialty
(Left to Right)
Richard Williams, Archer>Malmo
James Ward, Archer>Malmo
Mike Butler, Archer>Malmo
Congratulations to all winners and finalists!
NAMA Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by:
and 
.
You can now sell your tractor by auction on the web at TractorHouse.com.
Online Auction Listings are now ‘live’ on TractorHouse.com. Consistent TractorHouse advertisers now have the option to auction their equipment to a worldwide buying audience, 24/7/365. All machines are auctioned directly by dealers to registered bidders on the Web site. Seller’s fees are minimal, and there are no auction fees charged to buyers. As a result, equipment can sell for less than at other conventional or online auctions.
“Buyers and sellers both are embracing the concept, even though it’s a fairly new idea to the industry,” says Nate DeWald, project manager of the Online Auction feature. The company reports that over $1 million worth of equipment has been auctioned in just the first few weeks since the feature’s introduction.
The company also has the live auction feature available on their MachineryFinder.com website.
1,700 students and even more guests traveled to Brookings, SD to South Dakota State University to take part in the 86th Little International. Little “I” is the largest, two-day livestock exposition run completely by students for students. For the past three years I have served on the staff. My first two years, I served as the advertising and publicity superintendent. In my final year at SDSU, I served on the executive team to assist in this project that takes the full year to plan and prepare.
So, what are the exciting events at Little International? How do we work to promote and publicize this event? Well, if you have never taken part in an event like this, I will fill you in. To start, there are several judging contests for FFA, 4-H and collegiate students to compete in, including: livestock, dairy, horses, dairy products, floriculture, nursery landscape, land and natural resources, farm business management, crops, meats evaluation and ag sales. Students can also exhibit crops, hay and wool samples for judging. In addition, college students can show livestock and compete for the Round Robin showmanship champion and reserve titles. There is also the High Point Freshman and Upperclassman awards that include a combination of all of these contests. The student that scores the highest and competes in the most contests secures this award. (I won these two awards back-to-back, the first girl in 86 years to do so! It is one of my favorite memories of my college experience!) Finally, there are scholarships awards available to the top showman, highpointers and highschool qualifiers.
To say the least, this is a huge event that celebrates agriculture and the people in it. The staff nominates an annual award called the Honored Agriculturalists, and this year’s award went to the Sharon Odegaard family from Lake Preston, S.D. To bring in a crowd, we have entertainment such as old timers showmanship, ag olympics and the national anthem sang by a featured singer in the community. We place radio spots and newspaper advertisements to help spread the word, along with sending out invitations to parents, sponsors and area legislators. I’m proud to have been a part of the Little International experience during my time at SDSU. Have you ever been to an event like this? What did you like about it? What can we as students do to get a larger crowd next year? Your advice would be greatly appreciated by the incoming staff members! Thanks for your help!
« Previously Posted
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
