We want to feature your Ag Business on AgFuse.

AgFuse is a social media platform solely for the Agricultural industry. Connecting producers, industry experts and influencers to one another.

We want to feature your company on AgFuse.

Tell us about your company. Please include the five w's

• What do you do? What solution do you provide?
• Who is your customer?
• Why should people choose your solution?
• Where – What area do you service.
• How long have you been providing the solution?
• Why are your customers satisfied?

If you have a company feature already created, email it to admin@agfuse.com and put company feature in the subject line.

If you want a few ideas on how to write a company feature, here's a few ideas.

We believe the following format below creates an engaging story that will hook the audience, engage their sense of curiosity and keep them reading about the solution your company offers. 

Step 1 - Controlling Idea – A focused message about your audience. narrow in on what you will talk about for the entire feature. Remember, it's always about the audience; focus on them and what they will get out of it. What do you do that makes your customers' lives better?

Example: The _Star Shooter System___ puts you in control of __your feed costs______.

Keep it short and clear because you will reference it often to bring the audience back to what you do for them.

Step 2 - The Story Question – What question do you want everyone to ask as they engage with this story?

Example: How much do you think you can _save on feed costs__ this year with your current system?

We are engaging the audience and pulling them into the story with this question.

Step 3 - Agitate the problem – Talk about the problem you solve. Really hook the audience by talking about the problem you solve. Here's the big problem…

Example: You've been ___wasting money on excess feed for years. That's costly and frustrating. You don't deserve to feel that way.

Don't pick a problem for your company. Pick a problem that impacts your customers. Always make the story about them because that's what matters to them.

Step 4 - What is at Stake? – What will happen if the audience doesn't use your solution or product? This sets the hook to keep people interested; they have no reason to continue reading if you don't solve any problems for them.

Every person in the audience is thinking, "So What, what does this have to do with me?"

Example:

Stake 1: You waste too much feed and get no extra production from your livestock.

Stake 2: You continue to spend huge amounts of money on feed with no benefit.

Stake 3: Feed companies continue to make your lost profits their profits.

Think, "If the audience doesn't buy-in, what will happen to them?" Hint – after the first half of every stake, ask yourself, "So What?" depending on the answer, you will know if it's a good stake or not. Does it have a direct impact on the audience that's reading it?

Step 5 - The Guide – Make yourself/the company the authority on the solution to their pain, have empathy, and state that you understand the problem in some way, that you get it.

Example: At Star Shooter Systems, we feel your pain and know you want to benefit from every penny you spend on feed for your livestock. We feel your frustration with purchasing feed without any rise in performance or production. Because of this, we have spent the last seven years researching and developing the best system to monitor, weigh and control every morsel of feed that goes into your ration. We want to give you not only the confidence that every day your feeding system is saving you money but also giving you the peace of mind that your livestock is getting precisely what they need for peak performance.

A little more long-winded, but you want to have both empathy and authority in this paragraph.

Empathy: We know you are frustrated, in pain, and unhappy with the current situation. We get it.

Authority: We have done a lot of research to find the best solution to your frustration. We know what we are doing, and you can trust us and our plan to be a solution. We want to include all this so the audience can see that the stakes don't have to happen, that you have a solution to problems, and that they don't need to be frustrated anymore.

Empathy: We Care, We Understand, We get it, those kinds of statements.

Authority: What has your company done over its lifetime to become the expert(guide) at solving this problem? We are the ones you can follow. You can trust us, we have the knowledge and experience.

Step 6 - The Plan – Lift the fog. Outline a clear and straightforward plan to solve the problem. There may be 20 steps, but don't list all of those. Brake it down to 3 easy steps for this exercise. No more than four more, and it looks too complicated, and people won't do it. They will be scared and not start, no matter how tempting.

Example

1. Book a consultation
2. Install and training
3. Never waste money on excess feed again.

The first two overcome the fog of confusion. If someone was to say how does this plan work? 

First - You would say, "Well, first we come to your farm and talk to you, find out what's happening, and then start building a solution just for you.

Second – We will install the system and get it up and running. Then we will spend some time training with you, so you know how to program it and get you to the point you will be successful with it.

Third - This is what success looks like, what can be won at the end of this. What does success look like? We are going to get you there.

Step 7 - The Call To Action – What do you want the audience to do after reading this article? Visit the website, call the office, sign up for the newsletter? You want some commitment. Ask your audience to put some skin in the game. Some Action that shows they buy into the story, that they want to be a part of it. It's a doorway for them to walk through and be in the story with you.

Step 8 - Foreshadow the Climatic Scene – Be very visual here. Make sure your audience can envision themselves with this success. You want it to look like what will happen. Be very positive. It should be something you want every one of your customers to feel or achieve.

Example: When you open your next feed bill, you can be proud knowing you received performance benefits from every penny and have a clear path to keep your profits in your pocket.

Hint – Don't include a bunch of technical stuff that will confuse your audience. Focus on the audience, your potential customer. Make the story about them and how your solution will change their lives. You want all the people in the audience to be able to envision themselves in the story, which will bring them along in the story and keep them reading. Research shows that when you confuse the audience with too many facts and technical information, you will lose them. If you want people to buy in, if you want them to do something differently, try something different. The best way to do that is to engage them in a story.

Please send your Company Feature to admin@agfuse.com

Thank you,

The Team at AgFuse.