Agrimarketing Magazine Goes Digital

ZimmCast-142 - Lynn HendersonReaching people who live the country life has been the subject of several articles in Agrimarketing Magazine. That’s why Lynn Henderson, Publisher, was on hand at the Country Living Outlook Conference. Lynn says that the rural lifestyle market presents a significant opportunity for traditional agribusiness companies.

Agrimarketing DigitalBesides talking about country living we also talked about Agrimarketing Magazine going digital. I read my digital edition of Agrimarketing as soon as I got it and it’s now my preferred way to receive the publication. Lynn says there are 4 main reasons why he chose to go to a digital edition.

  • He can get the magazine out 2 weeks before it shows up in the mail.
  • His audience is wired and on high speed internet access and ready for it.
  • His next generation of readers have grown up with the computer.
  • Now subscribers who travel can read the magazine while online.

Of course I had to ask if this means he’ll stop printing the magazine. Lynn says his advisory board asked him immediately, “You’re not going to do away with the magazine are you.” So although it would represent a huge cost savings he has no plans to quit printing the magazine.

One of the things the digital edition does according to Lynn is present some new advertising opportunities since it can contain audio and video and links to online content. He says the response has been tremendous so far and he’s noticed that it’s driving more traffic to the Agrimarketing website.

The program concludes this week with music from the Podsafe Music Network. This week’s song is “Coyotes Song – End of Hunting” by the No Plastic Inside. I’m going to be taking a few days off later this week and again in a few weeks to do some hunting so I thought it worked.

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The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Country Living Olympics Water Bucket Filling

Country Living Olympics Water Bucket FillingWater Bucket Filling would not be my favorite chore out on the farm but it’s just one of those things you have to do. I prefer taking pictures of other people doing it for competition.

I can’t even remember the exact details of how this one worked but you had to run back and forth moving water from one tub to another and it was timed event.

You can watch this girl in action on YouTube if you’d like:

By the way, if you want to subscribe to my YouTube videos so you’ll automatically know when I’ve added a new one then use this link. I’ve got 92 videos in my account that have been collectively viewed about 100,000 times so far.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Behind The Scenes at Drake & Company

Steve DrakeIf you know Steve Drake then you know he likes to work in the background. In fact, after taking about 500 pictures at the Country Living Association activities last week none of them have Steve in it.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t get to talk to Steve though. His company, Drake & Company, is an accredited association management firm. Basically they are the staff and headquarters for several national organizations like the National Christmas Tree Association and Alpha Zeta. Of course the Country Living Association is one of those too.

Steve says that everyone is looking at this rural lifestyle market and trying to figure out how to reach it. He said that he saw a need for an organization to bring the community together. So how large is the market? Steve says he hears figures of from 2 to 20 million people. When I asked him how the CLA is marketing itself to reach this market he says that right now they’ve been working with their corporate partners and doing promotions and publicity.

As the CLA grows it’s obvious to me that the organization itself will become a viable way to reach out to the rural lifestyle market. That’s why if you’re not a sponsor now you might want to consider becoming one.

You can listen to my interview with Steve here:

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Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Country Living Olympics Hay Scramble

Country Living Olympics Hay ScrambleNot all of the competitors at the Country Living Olympics were big people. Take this competition for example. The Hay Scramble was just that and the dust was flying.

These little dynamos were searching for $1 dollar coins. I think there were a couple hundred dollars worth hidden under the hay pile. They got to keep what they found.

You can watch them in action on YouTube if you’d like:

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Living in the Fastline

Matt ConiglioOne of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association is Fastline Publications. On hand at the Country Living Outlook Conference was Matt Coniglio, National Account Manager.

Matt says that he came with two messages. For one thing their current national publication is reaching over 300,000 people who would be considered rural lifestylers.

He also said that next year they’ll be rolling out a whole new concept with a publication aimed much more locally starting with the Louisville market. I know we heard from country living people at the conference that they “buy local.” Sounds like Fastline may be on to something.

You can listen to my interview with Matt here:

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Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Country Living Olympics Winners

Country Living Olympics WinnersHere’s the winners of the first ever Country Living Olympics.

The competition included:

Cake Baking, sponsored by Nationwide Agribusiness and Allied Insurance. Winner: Amy Murphy, Kansas
Feed Bag Moving, sponsored by Land O’Lakes Purina Feed. Winner: Male: Josh, Hope, Kansas, Female: Alicia Rigden, New London, Iowa, 18 contestants
Lawn-mower Backing, sponsored by John Deere. Winner: Male: Barry, Clinton, Missouri, Female: Jennifer, Fontanta, Kansas, 12 contestants
Pie Baking, sponsored by Living the Country Life. Winner: Kayla, Olathe, Kansas
Steel Post Driving, sponsored by Tractor Supply Company. Winner: Male: Josh, Hope, Kansas, Female: Jennifer, Fontana, Kansas, 16 contestants
Water Bucket Filling, sponsored by Fastline Publications. Winner: Male: Brandon, Kansas City, Missouri, Female: Alicia, New London, Iowa, 18 contestants
Hay Scramble, sponsored by Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.

Congratulations to all the winners and we hope to see them back next year.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Feed Bag Moving Competition

Feed Bag MovingThe first annual Country Living Olympics took place this afternoon here at the American Royal complex and it was a big success. The competition was fierce.

This guy was actually the winner of the feed bag moving competition. Contestants had to move 10 feed bags from one pallet to another and the person who did it fastest won.

You can see pictures of all the action in the photo album.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

PBR at Kemper Arena

PBR RiderOur after hours entertainment at the Country Living Association activities was the PBR Bull Riding Competition in Kemper Arena. It’s hard to get a good stop motion picture from up in a suite but I tried.

These guys are just plain crazy. It’s one thing to be walking through a pasture and get chased by a bull or to be working them in a cattle operation. It’s quite another to get up on top of one on purpose.

It was fun to watch though and I think there’s more tonight. I kept looking around for a Pabst Blue Ribbon but didn’t find any. I guess that’s not part of the branding for the event.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Wrapping Up The Country Living Outlook Conference

Country Living AssociationCourtney Yuskis, pictured here on the right of some of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association, gave some closing remarks at the Country Living Outlook Conference that included a summary of the organization’s first year to date.

They started on January 1 and have over 11,000 members. She says that CLA is meant to be a community for like-minded people who share a passion for country living. They’ve held three clinics so far in three states with two more coming up next month. They’re working on developing their website so that it will be the authoritative site for country living information.

She also thanked the founding sponsors and corporate partners which include: Nationwide Agribusiness and Allied Insurance, John Deere, Fastline Publications, Land O’ Lakes, Purina Feed, Tractor Supply Company, PBI Gordon, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids and official publication, Living The Country Life.

You can listen to Courtney’s closing comments here:

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This may be Courtney’s wrapup comments but I’ve got more to come from the Country Living Activities so keep your eyes and ears open.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

LPC Had a Successful Gala

Diane JohnsonLast night the Livestock Publications Council held their annual Gala at the American Royal and it was a big success with attendance well above last year. Diane Johnson did her usual excellent job of making sure that everyone had a good time.

I was there for a while and will post some pictures of the LPC Headliner and Hall of Fame inductees when I get some more information from Diane.

Pictures from the event are also in the photo set I’m working on for the Country Living Association.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Who Are Rural Lifestyle People?

Susan SpauldingOne of our speakers at the Country Living Outlook Conference was Susan Spaulding, Market Directions. She was part of a panel that discussed “What’s Going on in the Country.”

Susan says her company has done some significant research on the rural lifestyle market. Some of the things they’ve found about the people who live the country life include:

  • They are passionate about where they live.
  • They’re looking to marketers to help them enjoy their choice to live the country life.
  • Media choices are working well and used by them and they spend a lot of time on the internet.
  • They’re very engaged in their community.
  • Women are very involved in decision making.
  • Half are empty nesters, half aren’t.

Everyone wants to understand just who these people are but it’s obvious that we’re dealing with a very diverse target market.

You can listen to my interview with Susan here:

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Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

A Bullwhipper

Bull WhipperThe American Royal is in full swing here in Kansas City. In fact, it’s the venue for today’s Country Living Olympics which I’ll be attending this afternoon. During yesterday’s Country Living Outlook Conference I could hear a lot of noise in Kemper Arena so I snuck out on a break to see what was going on. It must have been kids day because there were a lot of them in the stands.

This guy was giving them a bullwhip demonstration which included snapping off the ends of flowers sticking out of his mouth. Not something I’d recommend trying at home.

Since there’s a lot of activity going on you’ll find photos like these in the set I’m building from the Country Living Association activities taking place.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

RFD-TV Reaching Those Rural People

Mike HansenThe Executive Vice President of RFD-TV is Mike Hansen. He was our luncheon keynote speaker at the Country Living Outlook Conference. With a company/tv network that has a name like RFD you know they’ve got to be reaching rural lifestyle people right?

Mike talked to us about the 8 year old network and says that they were reaching these rural lifestylers before we really even knew they were a viable market. He says that they’ve now got 3 programs focusing on rural lifestyle with 2 more starting after the first of the year. He says that businesses are stepping up to the plate to support their new programming in a big way.

After the first of the year they’ll be broadcasting HD programming. For that reason anyone wanting to produce video for RFD-TV ought to start doing their production in HD.

You can listen to my interview with Mike here:

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Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Moderating the Country Life

Courtney YuskisOur program moderator here at the Country Living Outlook Conference is Courtney Yuskis, Director of the Country Living Association. She’s been keeping us on schedule.

I’m set up in the side of Replay’s here in Kemper Arena with a pretty slow connection using my Sprint card. That’s why things have been a little slow on the posting front today. But I have been busy getting interviews and taking pictures. So we’ll be learning more about living the country life over the next couple days.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Betsy’s Perspectives on the Rural Lifestyle

Betsy FreeseThe first person on the program at the Country Living Outlook Conference is Betsy Freese, Editor-in-Chief of Living The Country Life. Betsy talked about who these rural lifestyle people are and based her comments on research her company has done as well as her personal contact with her audience. Some quick facts she gave came from the magazine’s subscription cards and includes:

Average Age: 51.9
Average Income: $81,911
Average Home Value: $116,479
Married: 89%

When it comes to reaching people living in the country she says they take a 360 degree approach using their magazine, a tv show on RFD-TV, a radio show and their website on which she’s now got a blog started. She says it’s a growing audience. From direct feedback with her audience she says they want a lot of information on various types of projects with questions about ponds being at the top of the list.

You can listen to my interview with Betsy here:

Listen to

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Country Living Outlook Conference Underway

Country Living Outlook ConferenceThe Country Living Outlook Conference is underway here in Kansas City at Replay’s in Kemper Arena. We’ve got 60 people attending from a pretty broad range of company types including real estate, media, research and agribusiness.

There are a number of speakers as you can see from my earlier post with the agenda. I’m going to try to have interviews posted with them all by the end of the weekend.

The Outlook on Country Living

Country Living AssociationI’ll be getting an outlook on country living today at the Country Living Association Outlook Conference. It all starts later this morning at Replay’s Bar & Gril at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Here’s what the program looks like:

10:30 – 11:15 Welcome by Betsy Freese, Living the Country Life
11:30 – 12:30 Luncheon, Patrick Gottsch, President & Founder of RFD TV
12:45 – 1:30 Session 1: Panel of Researchers, Susan Spaulding, Market Directions, Scott Downey, Purdue University, Department of Ag Economics, Representative from University of Missouri Extension
1:35 – 2:20 Session 2: From the Country
2:30 – 3:00 Networking Break
3:10 – 3:55 Session 3: Panel of companies actively marketing to this market, Sean Sundberg, John Deere Worldwide Consumer and Commercial Equipment Division, Shari Burgus, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, Matt Coniglio, National Accounts Manager, Fastline Publications, Daryl Andrews, National Agribusiness, Brad Pline, Allied Insurance
4:00 – 4:30 Closing Session

Then tomorrow stay tuned for the Country Living Olympics. I’ll have coverage of all the activities right here on AgWired.

A Country Living Conversation

ZimmCast-141 - Courtney YuskisI like living the country life. That’s why the ZimmComm office compound sits on a couple acres outside Jefferson City, MO. It’s nice to watch the birds, squirrels, deer, etc. and not have a neighbor’s house right on top of you. A lot of people feel the same way and that’s why there’s a Country Living Association.

This week on the program you get to learn all about it from Director, Courtney Yuskis. Courtney describes their mission and hope that they’ll be the source country living people go to when they have questions. She says they’ve got about 11,000 members already! Later this week they’ll be holding their Country Living Outlook Conference in Kansas City and I’ll be there blogging it here. I’ll also be there for the Country Living Olympics the next day.

The program concludes this week with music from the Podsafe Music Network. This week’s song is “Capitol Offense” by the Nashville Session Players. I hope you like it.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 141 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

Listen to

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes