This month we’re going to be talking about Building a Bigger Tent and keeping our commitment to making farmers markets a welcoming and opportunity filled place for everyone. We're also getting ready to launch some new ways to share information to make your farmers market more profitable and less stressful for farmers, producers and managers. Don't miss those upcoming announcements. Meanwhile, expect some shorter episodes this summer leading up to our next full season, and the occasional longer one. Dip into the archives anytime: there are currently almost 350 episodes there.

Quick reminder: you have just a few days before registration closes on June 5th for the International Public Markets Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this month. Our own Catt Fields White will be hosting a panel there on market operations. Click the PPS logo on the Resource Page at FarmersMarketPros.com to register.

• What makes a farmers market
• Helping consumers know the difference
• Other platforms, other names
• Calling out greenwashing
• Keeping our word

• Flexibility as a superpower
• Sharing other organizations' strengths
• Doing the math on delivery
• Keeping new systems equitable
• The importance of face time

• Creating consistent standards
• Recognizing our industry's strengths
• Bringing multiple agencies to the table
• Documenting the work we do
• How certification affects salaries

We’re wrapping up this month’s Marketing Methods series with a reminder that social media is just one way to create loyal shoppers for your farmers market operation, and not necessarily the best one. Nowadays rules and algorithms and reach seem to change daily, at the whim of the platforms. Email newsletters let you control your list and your timing, and personalize your outreach to build connections. How do you maximize those results?

In this episode, Erika Tebbens, the Director of Impact at woman-owned and woman-led local food marketing agency Taste the Local Difference, makes a convincing case for breathing new life into your email marketing campaigns. Listen in to this exclusive excerpt of Erika's presentation at the 2025 In Tents National Farmers Market Conference. We've skipped the parts of her session that relied heavily on visuals. Listen in for expert tips on how to keep your content in front of shoppers who will keep coming back to the market, as well as:

• Determining the best email platform
• Building and expanding your own contact list
• Including effective calls to action

• Making sure crucial information is front and center
• Landing pages and links
• Vendors and sponsors and maps, oh my!
• Who updates your website, and how often

Marketing is just one of a market manager's or vendor's full time jobs. So a cooperative effort that benefits multiple markets is invaluable. Add in centralized sales of gift certificates redeemable region-wide and everyone will be harvesting a bumper crop of additional income. Maine Federation of Farmers Markets director Jimmy DeBiasi joined us last year to explain selling employers on using market dollars as part of their workplace wellness programs. He dug even deeper into the how-to at last month's InTents Farmers Market Conference. This week in our Marketing Methods series listen as we chat with Jimmy about:

• The power of cooperative marketing
• The impressive total of sales generated
  
• How tough is tracking and billing? (Not as hard as you'd think.)
• The key selling points for big buyers