We are located near Washington DC and have participated in several markets over the past 5 years. Here are things we have found helpful in promoting our sales.
First, don't be too quick to leave a market. It takes awhile to get established.
Always, have some way to capture your customers information. We have a growing e-mail list that we can send e-mails to letting customers know what have available, other places they can find us, recipes and sometimes just FYI about our operation. For example I did a whole e-newsletter on the breeds we have and why they were selected. We've had other farmers tell us they can't give away white eggs... after I explained that our limited number of leghorns were superwomen out producing all the other hens combined during a winter cold spell, our customers more than appreciated the white eggs too.
Set up a facebook page. This works the same way as the email campaigns, but I'll update it with what's cooking in the kitchen, what chores are getting done out at the farm, etc. Our customers really want to be a part of our farm and love the tid bigs information and photos. But, I don't over do it. At most, I'll post 3-5 posts a week.
When we choose a farmers market we are looking for a balance of vendors and never too many meat vendors. Even the busiest markets can only sustain a limited amount of meat. We have an advantage because we sell a nice variety of meats -- lamb being our trademark.
We sell our eggs for $4.50/doz and roasters at $5-6/lb. Several other vendors have raised their egg prices, but we have tried to keep ours more reasonable. We've picked up quite a few customers because others are raising their prices too fast. And once they taste ours, they never go back.
Quality is our #1 focus. We've been raising livestock for over 40 years. Our management, although not always perfect, is purposeful and with the end product in mind. Both the breeds we chose and our breeding program are focused on carcass traits. And we are constantly getting feedback from both our customers and chefs who buy our meat.
Our favorite markets are Saturday markets and we have our best market on Sunday. We prefer 9-12/1. We've been in a couple of markets that have tried to extend their hours earlier. All that has done is get the regulars our earlier. Our biggest slug of customers come in after youth soccer games and lazy Saturday breakfasts.
We also look for markets run by great market masters. We have all but lost our customer base at one market because of the feuding between the board members. It got so bad, nasty emails were being sent out to the general mailing list. It was a disaster... and now the vendors don't understand why the market is dying. Go figure! We have two other markets where the market masters are visable, interactive with neighborhood friends (our customers) and doing all they can to promote the market through newspaper articles, facebook, and great signage. They have by far the best atmosphere and thus the biggest draw of customers. We search out markets that are friendly, provide a variety of producer-only products, and in upscale (established may be a better term) or progressive neighborhoods.
All of the markets we are in are producer-only. We aren't much into markets that have both producers and crafts, or allow vendors to re-sell non-local produce. Our purpose for attending farmers markets from the beginning was to reconnect consumers with their food, give a face to the local farmer, and educate our public.
Hope that helps! Good luck in your search for the perfect fit. You'll find it!
Janet
