The second week of Annie’s Project featured two topics of interest to women in agriculture, understanding agriculture loans and marketing, according to Powder River Extension Agent Mary Rumph.
“The purpose of Annie’s Project, a six-week series, is to empower women in agriculture through education,” explained Rumph.
Two representatives from 1st Bank, Loan Officer Phoebe Amsden and Assistant Loan Officer Heather Desatoff shared information with the participants about applying for an agriculture loan. They discussed the 5 “C’s” – Character, Capacity (Cash Flow), Collateral, Capital and Conditions. They stressed the importance of “credit history” as the reflection of Character, “borrowers with good character pay their loans back on time, every time, usually giving them better credit scores.”
The second topic, marketing, was presented by Marni Gaskill with Horizon Marketing Agency. She encouraged participants to develop a business model, a “road map” to help provide direction. She shared a “SWOT” analysis, determining the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of the proposed business. She simplified the definition of marketing to “you have an idea, product or service that one (customer) will want.”
Gaskill described the importance of determining “who” is the target market, including age, gender, location and income. She also discussed the methods of marketing on social media, stating that “Facebook is the King of Social Marketing.” She prefers to use Facebook in combination with a website. Gaskill also recommended the importance of using high quality photos to sell products.
Next week Annie’s Project will be held on Monday, November 19th, and will feature the “Role of Quick Books in Agriculture”, taught by Michelle Patten with Patten Bookkeeping Services and “Identification and Control of Noxious Weeds” by past Weed Coordinator, Jennie Olson.
The program will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Broadus Community Center. Contact the Extension Office at 436-2424 for more information.
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