Your Followers Aren’t Yours
Hey Reader,
Quick question: How many Instagram followers do you have? If not Instagram, how many Facebook followers do you have?
Now the real question: If Meta banned your account tomorrow, how would you reach those people?
You can’t. Because you don’t actually own them. Meta does.
Every follower, every like, every comment – you’re actually building Meta’s business, not yours.
Here’s what happens:
- Algorithm changes → your posts stop showing up
- Platform decides to charge for reach → pay up or disappear
- Account gets hacked → everything’s gone
- You post daily for a year → you own exactly zero contacts
I’m not saying stop using social media. I’m saying stop ONLY using social media.
Here’s the better play:
Start capturing email addresses. Right now. Even if you’re not selling anything yet.
This is completely free!
By the time you have beef ready, or CSA boxes to fill, or eggs to sell – you’ll have people who actually want to hear from you.
The simple system (takes 20 minutes to set up):
1. Get a free Kit account
Go to Kit.com – it’s free for up to 10,000 subscribers. That’s plenty to start.
2. Create one landing page
Landing page is simply a page on the internet that’s yours and you can put whatever you want it. Kit gives you a simple page builder and page for FREE! Make one page that says:
“Join [Your Farm Name] for farm updates”
Promise them: weekly behind-the-scenes, recipes, How-to guides, first access when you start selling, real farm stories.
That’s it.
3. Send every social media follower to that page
- Put the link in your Instagram/Facebook bio
- End every post with: “Want farm updates in your inbox? Link in bio” (and you can pin a comment with link as well)
- Point Stories to it
- Pin a post about it on your page
The math that matters:
Post daily on Instagram for a year → 0 owned contacts
Add “join my list” to every post → 200-500 emails you actually own.
When you’re ready to sell, you don’t have to hope the algorithm shows your post to the right people. You email them directly.
Stop renting your audience. Start building your own.
A free Kit account and 20 minutes is all you need to get started. Here’s a video I did a while back. Little dated, but conveys the process (yes, I acknowledge the title is a bit click-baity).
Not exaggerating, this is one of the most important things you can do for your farm if you plan to sell online.
Jason
P.S. Full transparency – we set this whole system up automatically for Homegrown Hosting clients (email capture forms, landing pages, the works).
But you don’t need to wait for a website to start building your list. Do this today with free tools. Own your audience first, sell to them later.
with my appreciation,
Jason
Aka: The Part-Time Farmer
Your Farm Website Shouldn’t Feel Like a Second Job
I build it. I write your copy. I enter your products.
You send photos and details. I do the rest.
Simple pricing. Simple process. Completely managed by someone who actually farms.
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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.