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The Part-Time Farmer Newsletter – Why We’re Making the Switch
You might have noticed something different in the header this week – we’ve dropped “Sunday Solopreneur” and are now simply “The Part-Time Farmer”.
It’s pretty much as it sounds… we realized the old name wasn’t really telling the whole story.
Let me explain the why behind this change, and how it relates to something every farm needs to think about – your brand.
Why We Made the Switch
Here’s the thing – after almost 100 newsletters and hundreds of conversations with farmers, it became pretty clear that most of you (and honestly, myself and most farmers period) aren’t full-time farming operations.
You’ve got off-farm jobs, you’re just starting out, or farming is your side hustle while you figure out the next steps.
“Sunday Solopreneur” sounded… well, kinda generic really. Could’ve been for any business owner.
But when someone hears “The Part-Time Farmer”, they immediately know this is for people who understand the juggle. People who are feeding animals before heading to their day job, or spending weekends at farmers markets while managing everything else life throws at you.
Not really rocket science, but it took me a long to figure it out.
What This Has to Do with Your Farm Brand
This whole process got me thinking about farm branding – and how most small farms don’t spend nearly enough time on it.
Your farm name, your social media handles, even how you introduce yourself at the farmers market… it all matters more than you might think.
Your brand should immediately tell people three things:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Why they should care
Take my change, for example. “The Part-Time Farmer” tells you I’m not some massive commercial operation trying to sell you on techniques that only work with unlimited time and money. I’m figuring this out alongside you, one weekend and project at a time.
Getting Your Farm Brand Right
Where do you get started with farm branding, you might wonder? Here’s what we’ve learned – and it’s not what most people think.
Stop obsessing over logos. We see farmers spend hundreds (sometimes thousands) on logo design and agonize over the perfect farm logo, when that’s honestly the least important part.
Your brand isn’t your logo – it’s what people think and feel when they hear your farm’s name. The logo should reflect what you’re already known for, not the other way around.
Case in point – our own rebrand. We didn’t change from “Sunday Solopreneur” to “The Part-Time Farmer” because we needed a prettier logo. We changed because “Sunday Solopreneur” wasn’t telling people what we’re actually about.
It sounded like generic business advice when what we really do is help part-time farmers figure out the marketing and business side of farming.
Your story matters more than your design. People don’t buy your products because you have a pretty logo. They buy because they trust you, understand what you stand for, and believe in how you do things.
Are you the farm that focuses on soil health? The one that’s all about animal welfare? The family operation that’s been doing things right for generations? That’s your brand.
Consistency beats perfection. A simple, clear message everywhere beats a beautiful logo with mixed messaging.
The Website Connection
This is where having a solid website becomes crucial – and not just because I design websites for farms. Your website is often the first place people go to learn your story. It’s where your branding either comes together or falls apart.
We’ve seen farms with amazing products and great stories completely lose potential customers because their website didn’t match what they were doing at the farmers market.
Mixed messaging, outdated photos, contact forms that don’t work… it all adds up to confusion.
To each his own, but we prefer websites that tell your story consistently from the moment someone lands on your homepage.
Your colors, your photos, your messaging – it should all work together to reinforce who you are and what you’re about.
What’s Next for Us
The rebrand isn’t just about the newsletter name. We’re updating everything to reflect this focus on part-time and small-scale farming. The YouTube channel, the website services, all of it. Because honestly, that’s who we’ve been serving all along – we just weren’t being clear about it.
Like most rebrands, this one’s been a long time coming. Sometimes you have to step back and ask if what you’re putting out there actually matches what you’re doing. In our case, the answer was not really, at least how it applied to this weekly newsletter.
Your Turn
Take a look at your own farm branding. Does your farm name tell people what you’re about? Are your social media handles consistent? When someone visits your website, do they immediately understand what makes you different?
If it’s not good enough for your family, it won’t be put out there for others. That applies to branding just as much as it does to the food you grow.
Let us know what you think about the rebrand – and if you’ve been through your own branding journey, we’d love to hear about it.
Thanks for reading, until next week.
with my appreciation,
Jason
Aka: The Part-Time Farmer
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AI Disclosure: Every idea and opinion here is 100% human. I sometimes use AI to help with formatting, editing, or trimming things down—but the message is fully mine.