Craig M Dick

Agriculture | Marketing | Innovation

Holiday Gift Guide

November 11, 2021 /

For the past two years, I’ve neglected this website as I focused on building www.ruralistic.co, a gear website for acreage owners. I’ve also been busy as a Principle at Axiom working with our clients to grow their businesses.

I intend to post more often here, in the coming year, so stay tuned!

For website subscribers over at Ruralistic, we send out a weekly eletter, The Weekend Update, with tips, how-to’s, and discount codes for the gear we feature.
With the holidays coming up, I thought I’d share with you the Ruralistic Holiday Gift Guide, last week’s featured article.

From Ruralistic’s The Weeked Update – Nov 6th, 2021

Holiday Gift Guide
Our favorite things from the past year that make great gifts 

If you want to make your holiday shopping easy, this is it. On this list, you’ll find something for everybody on your list. Just click through, order, and your shopping is done!

For the beer lover – SquareKeg – SquareOne Mini Keg

For your outdoorsman – Kuhl – Joyrydr Shirt Jacket

A great stocking stuffer – PopGrip – SOG Multi-Tool Black

For the margarita lover – Stanley – Classic Stay Chill Pitcher Set

For the kids – Coleman – Powersports CK100-S Go-Kart

For the ladies – Vuori – Women’s Alpine Sherpa Jacket

For the snow hound – Give’r – Frontier Mittens

For your absent-minded cousin – Tile – Pro Tile 4-Pack

Something for the family – Big Blanket – Original Stretch

For the life of the party – Ball – Disposable Aluminum Cup

Another one for the kids – Volcon – The Runt

For the horse gal – American Heritage Equine – Tight Turn Flex Barrel Racing Barrels

For the bonfire lover – Kindling Cracker – Kindling Wood Splitter 

For the one who’s always tinkering – Leatherman – Curl Multi-Tool

Another stocking stuffer – Camelbak – Horizon 12 oz Camp Mug

For the person that has everything – LyteHorse – Standing Electric Off-Road

For the music lover – Sonos – Roam Portable Smart Speaker

For the gardener – Yard Glider – HD8 Plus

For the mixologist – Camp Cocktails: Easy, Fun, and Delicious Drinks for the Great Outdoors

For the hunter – Do All Outdoors – Clay Cannon

For the chef – John Boos – Walnut Cutting Board with Deep Juice Groove

Subscribe to Ruralistic’s Weekend Update email for acreage living tips, gear, and more!

Oh, and Happy Holidays!

A Guide to Modern Acreage Living

January 29, 2020 /

Hey Craigmdick.com subscriber,

You are among the first to know about a new project that a small team is working on.

If you live on acreage, I think you are really gonna like what we have coming on March 2nd.

For most of my life, I have lived on an acreage and I’ve worked my whole life in agriculture. recently, I noticed that nobody really speaks to the acreage owner that doesn’t farm.

So where do you get your information about products to manage your property? Farm magazines? most of that stuff is too big. Home and garden magazines? All that stuff is too small.

I bet you have spent countless hours over the years wandering around stores and searching the interwebs. Researching features, prices, and reviews. Hell, you probably got a spreadsheet or two to help you figure it out. All those hours lost, just to find the right tools, equipment, and gear.

It wasn’t fun but you didn’t want to overspend and you didn’t want some cheap piece of crap that’ll break on the first use. We get it, we’ve spent countless, painful hours doing all that and more.

Why isn’t there a review site geared for us? Somewhere that helps you save time and showcase the best in class stuff. That does it with some inspiration while having a little fun.

On March 2nd there will be. A website with daily updates that will share with you the products we use on our acreages and in our daily lives and you can find it at www.ruralistic.co.

This isn’t your mamma’s magazine.
This isn’t for the homesteader.
This isn’t for farmers, though they’ll find plenty to like here.

This is for a contemporary acreage owner who makes informed, considered choices on products, services, and experiences to meet their modern lifestyle.

Ruralistic is a one-stop resource for high-quality goods. It covers every aspect of modern acreage living; property, home, style, entertainment, and anything in between. 

If you live on an acreage or in the country and love high-quality products and experiences then Ruralistic will help you have a fantastic modern rural lifestyle.

Click thru and subscribe to our pre-launch mailing list for updates and loads of perks only available to our early subscribers.

Oh, before go, if you could help us out and let your friends know about it because that’d be really neighborly of you.

To make it easy, just copy the text in the box and drop it into the social channel of your choice, and hit send. – Thanks!

Check out www.Ruralistic.Co. Gear for modern acreage owners! Subscribe early for exclusive perks! #ruralistic #acreagelife

Reflecting On The Past Decade

December 31, 2019 /
It goes fast, what did you do with it?

Each year I have a habit of looking back at the year and reflecting on the major accomplishments and failures. However, 2019 was an exceptional year, and I am sure I ‘m not the only one who is glad to see it go.

Not much went as planned for those of us that work in agriculture. Let’s be honest, there weren’t that many wins in 2019 and since we are at the end of a decade, I thought I’d put together a list of my personal and professional accomplishments and failures for the past 10 years.

In no particular order, they are:

Built 3 new houses

Moved 5 times

Increased our family size by 25%

Managed the build of a really bad website

Learned how to build WordPress websites

Built 3 more websites

Started 3 businesses, closed one

Developed a consumer line of fertilizers

Developed branding for a new ag fertilizer brand

Lead the rebranding of a fertilizer company

Wrote close to 1000 blog articles

Produced over a dozen videos

Hired 8 people, inherited 4 more

Had 3 people quit

Had to let go of 3 people

Taught one child to ride his bike, the other refuses to learn

Developed many new friendships

Sold a company

Bought a farm (follow my progress at https://www.instagram.com/craigmdick/ )

Took my only consecutive 2-week vacation

Ended a 750,000-mile driving stretch with an epic car wreck

That is my truck in the side (nobody was hurt)

Got two full-time jobs and a bunch of contract work through my network/social media

Got fired for the first time

Resigned from a company

Help launch an award-winning agriculture app (check it out at www.cropstream.com)

Got a dog

This is Scout the day we got her

Grew my personal social following to almost 5000 contacts

Founding member of a trade association

Board member on a couple of industry associations

Lost two grandparents

Became a Cub Scout leader

Rebuilt a shed

Hired an ad agency

Fired an ad agency

Told I was bad at marketing (many times)

Told I was great at marketing (many times)

Told I was bad at sales (many times)

Told I was great at sales (many times)

Moved a company’s server and data to the cloud

Personally only use the cloud

Rode in RAGBRI

Lead and completed an ERP install

Finished two basements

Created an agricultural email marketing list of over 4000 people

Developed a web promotion that went viral and in 24 hours had a 10,000 person email marketing list (consumer products)

Spent approximately 1/3 of the past 10 years in a hotel

Was asked by my oldest, “How come you only live here on the weekends”

Lost 30 lbs

Gained 30 lbs.

Had the most helpful boss

Had the least helpful boss

Went 100% digital

Went back to reading paper books and taking paper notes

Coached youth baseball and soccer

I am sure I am forgetting many, many more failures and few wins. Looking back at the past decade, as a whole, though, there were many more ups than downs. As tough as 2019 was, I have to say the past decade was really amazing and I am looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to everyone that was a part of the wins and the loses. Hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn and let me know what your 3 biggest accomplishments of the past decade were.

Oh, and Happy New Year!!

The post Reflecting On The Past Decade first appeared on CraigMDick.com



Agriculturalist Christmas Presents

December 4, 2019 /

If you are looking for a Christmas gift for that special someone in your life, maybe a farmer. Or perhaps an acreage owner, or a ruralist that just enjoys country living, here are 5 recommendations.

These are based on my experience living on an acreage for the last 15 years. Merry Christmas!

1. EGO Power+ Battery Powered Chain Saw

This is my favorite purchase for my farm in the last year! It always starts, you don’t have to mix fuel and oil. It doesn’t leak gas on you, there are no fumes and almost no noise.

This thing is amazing! It’s perfect for trimming trees along fence lines or around the yard. Each charge lasts about 20-minutes of cut time. If you want to cut all-day, get a couple of extra batteries. You can get one with a battery and charger for $279.

2. EGO Power+ Extra Battery

I have 3 batteries and I usually run out of gas before the three batteries are out of power. If that special someone in your life has EGO tools than they’ll love getting another battery and charger. At $145, its a small price to pay to not have to deal with gas cans.

350 Lb Tow Behind Spreader

If you have more than an acre of lawn and apply fertilizer throughout the year, a high capacity spreader is a must. Since most of your time will be driving back to the shed to dump 50 lbs bags, these large spreaders save a bunch of time! While pricey at $599.99 + Shipping, it’ll outlast that chain store spreader that’s built for city yards.

Logitech Farm Simulator Bundle

When it gets too cold and nasty to go out and run the real equipment, keep your operator skills sharp with this heavy equipment bundle. Compatible with PC or PS4 for Farming Simulator 19 features realistic operations. At $249.99 it’s less than the cost of a service call. A small price to pay to stay in field-ready condition.

Snappy Grips

Where have these been my whole life? Why has no one ever told me about these? One spring I moved 5 tons of landscaping rock with 5-gallon buckets. Snappy Grips will make a great stocking stuffer for anyone that uses 5-gallon buckets to feed or water livestock or move stuff around. They’ll fit anyone’s budget at only $10.50 + shipping.

The post Agriculturalist Christmas Presents first appeared on CraigMDick.com

6 Tips to Improve Your Marketing in 2019

December 27, 2018 /

In 2008 blogging and social media was a great way to grow a business. Around 2013, I noticed it was becoming more difficult to be found by customers. The larger brands adopted these “new” marketing channels, they out produced and outspent our small company. As they dominated these channels it became harder to reach our customers.

Digital marketing is constantly advancing, sometimes almost to fast. It’s tempting to shout louder and louder, too be more intrusive in your digital approach. Here are six tips to make sure you reach your audience, without being annoying.

Embrace New Channels
As digital marketing channels mature, businesses must embrace new channels that are attracting your customers’ attention. Stop resisting change, and leverage these new opportunities to reach your audience before the big brands adopt them and outspend you.

Reach Them Where They Are
Seek mobile-first digital experiences, everyone is on their smartphone these days. Especially in Ag, where adoption rates are higher than the average consumer. If you are not actively engaging with your users with a mobile-friendly strategy and content then you are missing out on 90% of people in agriculture.

Agronomist using smart phone mobile app to communicate

Don’t Annoy Your Customer
Get your website mobile compliant now. Then stop with the full page pop-ups. If you really need notifications, use small notices that only take a little page room and let them easily click away. There is too much stuff out there. If you blast your customers with annoying pops, they’ll just go someplace else.

Content is Still King
Your customers want to see that you care about their success first. Which is why promotion-free content marketing is so successful. Create content that matters and is relevant to your audience that can be fed into your digital marketing strategies. If you are not seeing engagement, then you’re not addressing a real customer need.

Focus On Sharing Solutions
Show your customers that you are a problem solver who can make their lives easier. Design your content marketing strategy to provide value that helps them solve their issues. As customers recognize you as a trusted partner, they’ll be more open to buying your products and services.

Connect With The End User
Treat your digital interactions like a real-world meeting. In the real world, you wouldn’t throw an ad in someone’s face. That’s not at a compelling way to get them to actually care about what you do. Care about their success first, find unique ways to create value for them. This will create a lasting impression and lead to higher engagement and more sales.

The post 6 Tips to Improve Your Marketing in 2019 first appeared on CraigMDick.com

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