Internet & Mail Order Sales

 

 

Organizations and Web Resources

Business Development Resources for Internet Sales and Mail Order Businesses

Marketing Farm Products on the Internet

Examples of Farmer and Rancher Internet Businesses

Funding Resources

 

*Each resource within the Four Corners will be marked with an asterisk

 

See also:

 

 

Organizations and Web Resources

 

Local Harvest

The Local Harvest Store directly sells products from small farmers over the internet. In addition to selling fresh produce and meats directly to their local communities, many of the farmers offer some of their products via mail order on the Local Harvest website. They website currently has over 4,700 products listed.

http://www.localharvest.org/store/

 

Business Development Resources for Internet Sales and Mail Order Businesses

 

Agricultural Marketing Resource Center: Internet Sales Resources

This webpage has links to helpful information about internet sales of agricultural products. Links include information about advertising, marketing and legal issues of an internet business.

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/business/operatingbusiness/emailmarketinglinks.htm

 

Small Business Development Center: E-Commerce Guide

This website has information about how to build an internet business. Resources include information about building a web storefront, how to handle internet payments, tax information and security information.

http://sbdcnet.org/SBIC/e-com.php

 

Marketing Farm Products on the Internet

 

E-Cooperatives.com

The National Farmers Union has launched the world's first innovative portal to assist consumers to directly locate and buy quality food products, goods and services from farms, ranches, farm co-ops and rural businesses in the United States. E-cooperatives-com allows users to freely access a database and search for products using keywords, categories and other criteria including locality and growing practices.

http://www.e-cooperatives.com/index.php

 

Emergent E-Commerce in Agriculture

This article looks at the background of internet sales for agricultural goods as well as an analysis of the role of e-commerce in agriculture.

http://www.agmrc.org/NR/rdonlyres/0A646DEC-8EF3-4866-AC8A-F8923F91E223/0/ecommerce.pdf

 

How to Direct Market Farm Products on the Internet

This publication provides basic information and suggestions for direct farm marketers on

selecting and tailoring a Web site to meet their marketing needs and goals. Topics include developing an internet marketing plan and setting up an internet business.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/MSB/PDFpubList/InternetMarketing.pdf

 

Internet Marketing for Farmers

This publication from the Washington State University Extension, covers the benefits of internet marketing for farmers. Various types of internet marketing discussed in this paper include; email and mailing lists and online forums.

http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/documents/internetMrkt.pdf

 

Marketing Strategies for Farmers and Ranchers

This is a publication of the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, highlighting various creative marketing strategies for small scale farmers. This publication includes a section on both internet and mail order marketing.

http://www.sare.org/publications/marketing/marketing.pdf

 

How do I get a Web site to market farm products on-line?

This was an ATTRA “question of the week.” This website gives information and resources for the technical side of starting and building a marketing website.

http://attra.ncat.org/calendar/question.php/2005/02/21/p304

 

Examples of Farmer and Rancher Internet Businesses

 

Full Belly Farm

Full Belly Farm is a certified organic farm in California. Their website has the following resources; CSA sign-up, newsletter and information about how to purchase their wool.

http://www.fullbellyfarm.com/

 

Local Harvest

The Local Harvest Store directly sells products from small farmers over the internet. In addition to selling fresh produce and meats directly to their local communities, many of the farmers offer some of their products via mail order on the Local Harvest website. They website currently has over 4,700 products listed.

http://www.localharvest.org/store/

 

Organic Essentials

Organic Essentials works with the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative to grow and produce products made from organic cotton. Online purchasing is available at their website.

http://organicessentials.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=8&meid=16

 

Wholesome Harvest

Wholesome Harvest is a coalition of over 40 concerned small family farms. Since 2001, Wholesome Harvest has been offering premium organic certified poultry and meats to grocers, chefs and households. Their web catalog has over 100 meat products that can be ordered directly over the internet.

http://www.wholesomeharvest.com/servlet/StoreFront

 

Funding Resources

 

Please see:

  • Financing for general resources to help fund agricultural marketing ventures.