Who is behind Farm And Market Trail?
My name is Gil Namur. I am the President of the award winning on line magazine, Life As A Human and also the president of Synaptic Systems which offers consulting and web development services. I have assembled a team of excellent, passionate professionals. Between us, we represent over 80 years of experience in sales, marketing, web-development and consulting. This team will ensure the success of Farm And Market Trail. You will also find us to be a very fun group of folks! And yes, a team page will be here soon.
NOTE: We have announced our very first contest at Farm And Market Trail. We think you’ll like the great prize. What is it? A Free, Professionally Developed 5 Page Website – value $1,500.00! Click here for details!
But Gil – there are already some directories out there!
It’s true. There are other directories. And some of them are pretty good. But:
- Are they designed to make it easy for folks to find you?
- Do they allow folks to search by the types of products that you have?
- Are they up to date? If you are listed on one of those, can you update your listing easily, or at all?
- Some of these directories have simply copied information from other directories to add your listing. We would never presume to do that. Your listing, is YOUR listing, entered by you and managed by you.
- Do they offer you the ability to add pictures to your listing?
- Do they provide a way for your customers to leave comments and engage with you?
- Do they offer a blog with great content?
- Social media features?
- Are they totally loaded with ads? We will never be.
- We give you a full page profile. For businesses that do not have a website, this gives you very good presence and a page you can e-mail to your clients.
We are not building just another directory. We are building a community. YOUR community!
A place that connects folks with great products to folks who want those great products.
Why should I get on the map?
As I drive around the beautiful countryside where I live, I have noticed more and more roadside stands offering goods like flowers, fresh vegetables and fruits, baked goods, crafts, trees and so much more. This holds true pretty much anywhere you go in Canada and the USA. These small businesses, some of them hobby farms, are not always well represented on the internet. This is especially true of roadside stands. Many of them are tucked away and it’s so easy to drive right by. We want to give people who are looking for fresh and local goods an easy way to find you. So, getting on our map will ensure that if someone is in your neighborhood and is using our map, you will get found!
How do I get on the map?
Getting on our map is easy! All you need to do is register and then you will be able to create your listing at the site. You will also be able to log in anytime you want to update your listing, add or change pictures or add another business if you have more than one.
What does it cost?
As we are just getting this site going, there is no cost for the first 100 businesses that register with us. After that, there will be a fee of $12.00 per year for small hobby farms, a bit more for larger, more established businesses. The first 100 businesses that list with us will never be charged that fee.
AND! The first 300 folks who list with us qualify for a great prize! Click here for details.
Why would I pay anything?
Why should folks pay for your eggs? Fruit? Vegetables? You have costs associated with producing these products. Building a site like this also has hard costs. Maintaining it has even more costs. Small sites can be hosted for dollars a month. Sites like this with complex features and high traffic will require dedicated servers and dedicated resources. None of these things are trivial in cost.
Do you copy edit our entries?
Nope! If you make a mistake, you can log in and edit your entry. Of course, if we see something REALLY wonky, we will let you know before we approve the listing!
Why do I have to wait for you to approve my listing?
You would not believe what some people will upload via a form. We want to make sure that nothing unethical, rude, crass, unrelated, etc … appears on the site. We want this to be a place that is safe and polite. We want to build a community where all the members feel well represented without fear of … strange images!
Do you promote us?
YES! Every single listing will be shared through our Facebook page and all other social media channels we decide to embrace. You will also be able to submit articles if you like (see next question).
What kind of new features do you plan to launch in the future?
Better Map Features
We are working on adding hovers (little pop ups) for the pins with information on the farm. We are also working on geolocation (for your computer and your mobile phone) so the map will zoom in to a few miles of where you are so you can see what is right around you. Of course, you will be able to zoom back out.
A Social Networking Feature
We will introduce a social networking feature with member profiles, activity streams, user groups, messaging, user blogs and much more. We want to ‘connect’ businesses and give them the ability to share knowledge with each other. For example, a small hobby farm on Vancouver Island could connect with one in Nova Scotia, or California, and share knowledge.
We have some other ideas as well but feel that these features would make for a great start and a fun site!