Couple quick comments:

Lettuce will grow and thrive in the summer, but it does take some work. For the last two years we have had and sold lettuce from the end of April until July 15th. Variety makes a huge difference and multiple plantings. We plant every two weeks. Also, in June and July, I put up spinner misters that run a 30sec -1 min every 5 minutes. That brought the temps down around the plants. They also all get planted in white plastic mulch.

I grow summer crisp lettuce/batvarian. I have lots of luck with all the varieties. Muir was a new one for me and it was the most heat tolerant. We topped 100 degrees many times in June and July this year and last.

Also about melons, this year we put them in low tunnels on black plastic. It was really nice to have melons early. They were really tasty too. Two years ago we planted melons on April 1st, outside in plastic mulch. We had melons in June. It was a very strange year.

Here are some of the colors/varieties.

I might be able to run a mister (lawn sprinkler work?) in the house garden if I have enough water pressure. We haven't watered the lawn since we built the house, but IIRC the sprinkler would get stuck b/c the pressure was low. I'll look into those varieties - but I love love love Tom Thumb, just have to get people to taste it. Even my mom liked it and she's used to iceberg. But it was bolting by late June - the food pantry got 25 heads of it the day I decided to pull it.

Most of the red salad tomatoes in pic above went to food pantry or soup kitchen b/c I couldn't sell them all even at $2/lb. I stopped selling the cherries by the pint b/c I had so many, sold by the lb and those didn't sell out at $3/lb for colored and $2/lb for red either.

I couldn't sell all these either at $3/lb for heirlooms when grocery store had them for $3.99 and not organic, cold out of cooler not ripe.

This is only part of what I brought home from market on 9/10 - again, most went to food pantry or soup kitchen - I wasn't going to try to preserve Super Sweet 100's

This post was edited by ajsmama on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 22:19

I sold $90 worth on 9/10, but still took most of these to food pantry or soup kitchen (and started trying to make a tomato jam) b/c $50 of that $90 was jams and jellies, not tomatoes. Not that I'm complaining...but on 9/3 I took a lot of tomatoes too, not as many as this, only sold $50 worth of produce (some beans and cukes) and no preserves.

Tomato prices at my market got down to $1.45/lb this year. They are 99 cents at the grocery store right now. Red cherry tomatoes were $2/pint at market. I left heirlooms at $2/lb. By the end of the season, I was piling 2+ lbs of smaller red slicers into a quart box and selling them for $1.50.

I have been selling tomatoes at $2.00 since August. Never went below that and actually thought about going up, but didn't. I am out of tomatoes, 2 weeks too soon. But I am ok with that. That just means I don't have to worry about keeping them warm!

I have learned over the years that while local grown tomatoes in December are cool, it isn't worth the effort as the demand isn't there. I prefer to sleep at night, during that time of the year. Now the spring, I would stay up all night if I had to.

Jay

I never got a chance to see what cherries were selling for at market, the sugar shack had Juliet and some other slightly larger hybrid for $1.99 all summer (earlier than mine, I think he started in July) but had very few left by the end of Sept. The organic farm at market had some yellow slicers for $3 at the end of Sept but nothing else - on Sept 24 I actually did over $100 with most of that being tomatoes b/c everyone else had LB. Grocery store prices stayed $1.99/lb for hybrid slicers, $3.99/lb for "Ugli" tomatoes, $6.99/lb for "Amish" organic heirlooms (at ShopRite, not some fancy health food store!), and $4.99/lb for colored cherries, $3/lb for Campari at BJs.

I just checked the Tomato forum - I posted on Aug 21 that the night before, the sugar shack had Juliets and hybrids - lots of them - while my BK and Rose de Berne were just starting to ripen (cool summer and he's 4 miles north of me). I don't know if he had them in July b/c I didn't go to market in July, but I did see another farmer from mid-state at a different market who had some earlier (July?) - I bought a yellow tomato from him for $1.50 but didn't weigh it, he didn't have a scale, it was probably 1/2lb, it wasn't a huge handful.

Are you doing any marketing in Hartford? It lookalike you are under 10 miles from there and if you are not marketing there you certainly should be.

The post office has a service where they will send out fliers to certain areas of a zip code. This is not exactly cheap but you would hit hundreds, if not thousands of people who probably do not know about you. I have not tried this but i think it will be a part of my marketing plan next year.

I just signed up with MailChimp to send out good looking mass emails that will not be seen as spam and sent back to me. This is a free service and it allows you to see just who is opening your marketing emails and other information that should make them more effective. I have sent out one email so far using them so i cannot say how this will work.

Here is a link that might be useful: USPS Direct Mail advertising

The biggest lesson I have learned as a first year vendor. you are a MARKETER. You may be the best producer but if you can't sell it why bother. An Amish vendor shares the wisdom from a book SELL IT BEFORE YOU SOW IT.
My second point that I got from jrslick in this thread. His advice in this thread alone could make thousands of $$$$. And its here for free!!!!
john

Yes I started this when the garden was producing more than. We needed and DH wanted the land to "start pYing for itself". I need a plan I just don't know how to do it.

I need email addresses before I can use Mailchimp but I do know people who use it. I was thinking direct mail or flyers but starting just in my neighborhood. I'm more than 10 miles from Hartford and am too small to compete in the regional market there. The new market started this year is in Avon on the Simsbiry line and closer more affluent so I will look into that.

I looked up Hartford FM website. 8 farmers markets WOW
You say your not big enough to compete, we saw the pics of what you gave to the food pantry. I went to market with production from 450 square feet. This thread contains a wealth of info on how to be a successful farm marketer. A lot of thought and time from the contributors went in to this thread. It is the off season. Time for action not excuses for next year. Get a legal pad and make a plan for next year. set goals and you can make it happen. There is know magic and simple way to plan. John

John,

I am glad you found something useful. I share the information that I have found throughout the years I have been doing this. I don't like seeing people make the same bad decisions I have made or others have help me avoid.

Jay

Not going to the inner city to sell - I don't care how many markets there are. I've heard of Billings Forge, know some people listed as vendors there but didn't know about the others. Did you notice some of the markets have 2 or NO vendors? There's a reason. Frog Hollow and Homestead are the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city - I've heard of Frog Hollow on the news, DH says Homestead is worse. I went to college in DC, there are areas in DC that I would walk even at night and others I wouldn't (of course those have probably changed) but there is NO area of downtown Hartford (I'm not talking about West Hartford) that I would drive at night alone, esp. with my poor sense of direction. I went to grad school in Hartford at night and was always nervous in the parking lot, though there were security guards and good lighting. Thank goodness the campus was very close to highway and I could get right on.

I'll stay in the suburbs, thanks.

I will go through all the suggestions in this thread and see what I can use. First is to try to get to know what people want when (within reason), and to grow without gaps in production, and as Jay said grow enough of each instead of a little of different things.

Then to find the right market - though the 2 may be so inter-twined that I might have to find the market to figure out what people want so I can grow it.

Third is merchandising and advertising, fourth is pricing.

None of which I have ANY idea how to do so it's going to take some time to figure it out.

But I did find the new market on FB (they apparently don't have a website) and sent the MM a message asking for info about next year.

Here is a list of 59 Farmers markets within 25 miles of your farm courtesy of Local harvest. Do you have a listing on this site? If not they are free and can drive business your way

Here is a link that might be useful: Local Harvest Listing Of FM's

I prefer this one listed by county, I can cross reference with the Local Harvest one, Local Harvest is listing some markets that don't exist. I'd prefer a market that didn't require FNMP though. The first one in Avon is run by the library, they contacted me last year and I thought the season was too short (good thing, b/c this year I would have made it to only 1 market, by the time the tomatoes came in) and the fee was too high. But maybe they'll run longer next year.

The second one is the new one that I contacted via FB from my phone last night (not knowing they were FNMP). We'll see. There is the Simsbury Market I've thought of, but it's FMNP, 1 in Granby (same thing, short season, FNMP, can't keep vendors, there is no one from town who goes to that one, all the farmers they have come from Glastonbury, Windsor, etc.), East Granby that I'm at, Collinsville I've been trying to get into, New Hartford is no more. There is no "Connecticut Valley Farmer's Market" on Saturdays in Granby - I wish there were, that's an old listing on Local Harvest. I have to call the Community Farm - they're still listed on CT NOFA site but last year they told me they weren't running the market and now with another new one down the road the following day maybe they're not.

I have a listing on Local Harvest but haven't gotten any sales from it, though I'll get a phone call about once a year (people looking for organic flowers, this year someone across the state wanted 3 lbs of limas when I only had 1 - running a trial).

What do people think of starting a new market - details in my "help me understand this" thread?

Still could use some feedback on starting a CSA, marketing to my small neighborhood to begin with before doing mass mailings, email lists. Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: CT NOFA markets

I do believe that the number one thing is display, not that nothing else is important, because there are lots of other factors that help to sell things, but I do believe display is number one.

I always use tablecloths and love using baskets which make a big difference in the display. If I am selling something unusual or different (example: mustard greens, dwarf bok choy, turnip thinnings, or yard long beans) I have a bunch of those 4"x6" clear plastic picture holders that stand up right, and I print out signs with info about the vegetable (how to cook with it, what it tastes like, etc.) I think this really helps because you will not always be able to explain everything to everyone, plus I have found that a lot people just like to read things on there own. Recipes will also help with unusual things.

Here are a couple of pictures from my last market, I had people commenting like crazy about how nice my radishes looked displayed like this in the baskets.

sometimes you just have to give up. I gave up my large inner city market, for 2 small town markets. Am I making money, not near as much. Am I having fun? Yes, I enjoy teaching, even if I'm not making money. Those people that I taught something to a few weeks ago, come back to buy a few weeks later.

You can have WORK, or you can have FUN. You have to make that decision.

Yes, I'm allowed to buy my fruit to make my preserves. My pickles are on the borderline whether 'legal' or not. If I was only allowed to make my jams and jellies from my own fruit. I would concentrate on growing only my fruits.

Demand for fruit is huge, but it is a challenge to grow--especially tree fruit. I would not recommend doing trees. Berries sell well and are easier to grow. I cannot come close to meeting demand for blueberries. Surprisingly, my gooseberries were a huge success this year. Still, you need some materials (structures, netting, etc.) and they take time to mature. However, they return year after year after year, making them worth the while, IMO. While I have numerous secondary fruits like red and black currants, aronia, and elderberries, I think I'd stick to traditional raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Strawberries might be a consideration, but I think they are a pain overall to raise as a perennial crop. Others may have better experiences with them.
ornamentals--I also sell loads of pumpkins and gourds--a seasonal thing but quite profitable.
Winter squash--sell blossoms too. I sell approx. 3 tons per year--by for our biggest crop. They keep for months and are ornamental as well.

Asparagus is another sure winner for me. I have been adding 300 each year to try to keep up w/demand. It offers an infusion of cash early in the year and will last around 20 years or more. It does take up space, requires a couple years of waiting, is available only a month or so but is pretty maintenance free.

Just a few things for consideration. I also keep wanting to increase my plantings of flowers. You also have to be relentless at finding markets. I hit up convenience stores, restaurants, and flower shops all the time. I even sell to a health food store. I may hit up wineries as well.

Brook - wineries? What do you sell to them.

I have to get a tax permit to sell ornamentals - winter squash and pumpkins are OK, since AFAIK people are going to eat them, but cut flowers, potted plants, painted pumpkins are taxable. Some items (like potted blueberry bushes, though strawberry and veggie starts are "casual sales") not only are taxable but require a nursery license.

I've got Triple Crown blackberries and 2 kinds of summer raspberries planted, haven't yielded much since I put them in 2012 but they are spreading. Strawberries are spreading like crazy but I had a big rodent problem this year, I have to figure better netting. I don't sell many fresh berries (maybe b/c I don't have tons at a time, I only bring 1 day's pickings to market and make day-old into jam) but jam does well.

Blueberries can be hit-or-miss, same with apples. I seem to have a good crop every other year.

I was thinking asparagus (I'll eat it if I don't sell it) and maybe rhubarb since you don't see much of those at market.

3 tons of squash blossoms?? How many acres of squash do you plant?

I don't expect everything to be fun, I know it's work, but I'd like to be working for something, not losing money. But if you don't enjoy your job, you should find something else (and I may - again). One of the best parts of being self-employed is the freedom to put my family first. I give up a lot of time with DD (she spends most of the summer with my mom) to work on the farm, but when something like DS's practice comes up it's a judgement call whether it's worth it for me to go to market to net $35 and have him sitting around for an hour before practice, 2 hours after practice, and have less to bring to market b/c I've got to have room for 2 kids in the truck on the way to market, or just skip the market. He'll be off to college in less than 2 years so our schedule should ease a bit - even next year if he gets his license and I am not too nervous to let him take the car while I've got the truck at market.

I don't know how Jay does it, since his wife works too.

But if I have something to bring to market, I will go, and it will have to be a pretty unusual circumstance for me to skip - I don't skip just b/c I don't feel like it. I went to market 16 out of 19 weeks in 2012, 1 of those I shouldn't have since it was pouring and my canopy collapsed, they ended early but it cost me. 3 times were canceled due to 1) heat 2) tornado watch and 3) rain (they learned from the June storm, and so did I).

Hopefully elderberries and blackberries---maybe that aronia and currants???? will go to a winery nearby. I've got 20 some elderberries, 40 some currants, and 600 feet of blackberries, 400 feet of red rasps and 200 ft of black rasps. Irony--I hate picking berries.

Not 3 tons of blossoms but the actual winter squash itself, predominantly butternut, cushaw, acorn,and spaghetti squash. Most goes to restaurants, and I usually run out in April. It's nice to have that winter income. Bad thing is until this year I had to store all that squash in our spare bedroom and basement. Now I finally have a building on the farm--not quite finished, but it exists at last. I have a patient wife.

asparagus and rhubarb are two of my best sellers in the spring.

my biggest sellers in the spring was rhubarb and individual onions or radishes. srprising, yes, but most people don't want a huge bunch and have been happy choosing 3-5 or just enough for them.

Late fall, was winter squash/pumpkins. Hard on the back, but I've been able to plant and ignore it til harvest. Very little squash borer activity. Most went to zucchini plants (planted far away from winter).

Summer was TOMATOES, TOMATOES and more TOMATOES.

That was when I did produce.

I never had any fruit go to waste, either would sell or became jam/jelly. I cleaned and froze until I could have time to make. Plus by freezing, I didn't have to add sugar to draw the juice out for juice. I like to make them during the off-season.

ajsmama,

Minor suggestion. Just from the pictures you provided you appear to be a successful grower. But do you feel confident enough to grow under contract? Then the second item is do you know people in the canning community in your area? If you meet both criteria you could grow for specific people. They pay you up front for a specific product that you deliver later in the season. It has some of the attributes of a CSA with only seasonal demands. You will receive a lower price as this is generally bulk sales.

I was able to do a nice business selling okra, tomatoes and quail eggs to home canning types during the season.

If it was me I would diversify a little,you have experience growing veggie plants,If you have a Hispanic market this works but even if you don't there is a craze to get the hottest peppers in pots. I sell specialty peppers in pots,4",gallon and so forth,miniature peppers and Super hots, they can be colorful too like New Mex Twilight for instance and they keeps weeks or months,some people just like the decorative colors. Good luck!

Hope this next season goes well for you so you don't have to quit. This will be my 2nd market this summer. Did well last year so am encouraged for this year. Starting to plan for planting, wondering how I can start earlier. Don't have a greenhouse or hoop house. Do have some house cats so it will be interesting keeping them away!

maybe you consider selling directly from your truck (come each week at the same time, get a bell, and carry the stuff into the kitchen), maybe you stop at retirement villages and in front of schools at pickup time. The problem is that people who like farmers markets and have a garden are likely to grow a garden too. There is this box system too. YOu could sell directly at aged care facilities or restaurants and the like.

This is going to sound much harsher than I mean it to, but some things just need to be put out there- you say this is not for fun, but you are running your farm like a hobby, not a business.

There is a great deal of flexibility in being self-employed- but it's the kind of flexibility that means you can work in your pjs at home sometimes and from your phone while watching your child's baseball game. But...you never get to stop working. I run a small business (not farm related) and have close cousins who do run a very successful market farm and we often joke that between the two of us we're the only ones who understand why we can't go on every family outing every time!

1) Find your county's Small Business Development Committee or a local chapter of the Small Business Development Center (https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/sbdc) and introduce yourself. Take some classes, workshops, get some one on one counseling. They will have specialists for agribusinesses and may be able to point you towards resources and grants you didn't know existed.

2) Familiarize yourself with the 5 P's of your marketing mix: Product (what you can grow and sell and when), Price (where would you like to position yourself in the market- high quality, higher price? lower prices for larger quantities?), Promotion (this is your marketing, not just advertising- but networking, marketing, branding, etc), Place (choose the right markets for you- sounds like the current one isn't it), and Profit (what are your bottom line here?)

Do you have a business plan that addresses these points? A plan allows you to always refer back to your goals and make better choices.

3) Marketing/Networking. Join your local Chamber of Commerce; attend the meetings. Look into local BNI group; attend the meetings.

Current best practice for Facebook is a minimum of a post a day- I post twice a day, cross-posted with Instagram, and I do pay to play on Facebook. I average 40 new followers a week, and my posts are seen by an average of 10,000-12,000 people per week. We're not actually all that large (4 whole employees- wahoo!), but I did make enough of sales directly from Facebook in December to fund my entire year's worth of advertising with them. The social media stuff is a huge pain in the patootie, but it works.

People form vendor loyalty from two things- products and relationships. You need relationships with people, they want to buy from people they know. This means no more skipping markets! Even in the rain! Get a cap for the truck and set up inside on the bad days. Attend a church? Get it in the newsletter that you do this. Search Facebook for local Mom's groups, join them and participate (this is key!)- most are super interested in supporting each other's ventures. Get an Instagram account and find your local restaurants and chefs who buy local- follow them- they will follow you back!

Absolutely start with your immediate neighborhood! Instead of donating everything to the food bank when it doesn't sell, pick up the cute, cheap produce baskets in bulk and box up 10 of them with anything you have left after each picking, drop them with a note and your info on a different porch every time. Now you are being neighborly, forming relationships, AND promoting your business!

Yes- business cards and an email sign up at any table where you donate goods!

You are donating a ton of food every year- would the local paper pick that story up? Call them and ask!

4) I see a lot of 'won'ts' here- you won't leave the suburbs, you won't take the food stamps, you won't get a license to sell plants, you won't finish the licensure to do value-added products, you won't attend markets in the rain. You can make these choices, it's your business, but you will have to make up for the value they add to the table in other ways and find other niches.

5) Team up. Maybe the apiary lady is new, too- you have non-competing products, can watch each other's booths (combine and split booth fees?), she gets featured in your marketing, you get featured in hers- so double exposure there- people who stop for honey can be upsold tomatoes and people who stop for your jam can add a jar of honey. Find some help, somewhere, to help you evaluate new markets, carpool back and forth, share costs.

AviaStar has fantastic points.

I have a fledgling flower farm, and I am working to create the demand for my product now that it's winter and I have the time (and no flowers) to lay the groundwork. This also gives me a good idea of what I will need to plant this year--ahead of time.

Social media is huge right now and it does not have to cost. Instagram in particular would be simple for you to start creating some opportunity, google for a few tutorials on how to use it to your best advantage, but as Avia noted, find out who's local to you who buys local and follow them. Follow your local small businesses who might have products to complete your wares, or would support recommendations to you. Post pictures of your goods from 2014, and talk about your plans for 2015 (are you expanding your crop for ABC or are you adding in a new/hard to find kale (examples)). How will you 'interest' people in your products. How are your products better than buying from the local grocery? You also can't be afraid to be passionate about your goods and your business. If you don't believe your stuff is the best, no one else will either.

You are already growing what basic product you need for your business, so start getting yourself out there more. Networking locally, as others mentioned churches, moms groups, what about your local chamber of commerce, or historical society or garden club, winerys or wine tasting rooms.

Honestly though I have found with the right use of free social media, you can really amp up the demand and opportunity with just about 10minutes per day. Best of luck!

Great points AviaStar and Portia!

I never really understood giving away your produce to a soup kitchen from a marketing standpoint. For charity and to be a good person, for sure. But if you're going to complain about sales, then most definitely, package up that produce in a nice, presentable form, and then give it away as a "sample" pack to local people, businesses, restaurants, etc. Its brilliant marketing, if done correctly.

Good point about packaged samples. I plan my crops out to avoid everything ready at once. watch maturity dates and do succession plantings row covers whatever it takes to havecrops available over a long time but not too much at one time. easier said than done but planning can make it happen

Sorry to bring this up from the old days, but wondering how your doing this year?

I read this post as I am looking at selling some produce this year as a trail. All via social media and word of mouth. I really REALLY love Avia's point of boxing up produce and placing it on people's steps. I love donating to the food pantry, but realistically they aren't your customers. No one who goes to the food pantry is going to be going to the farmers market.

You don't know that for sure! I am a food bank recipient and I go to the farmer's market. Please don't prejudge the poor! If you have excess I hope you will donate to your local food bank.

"Double up" bucks allow many low income people around here to shop at farmers' markets and stretch their SNAP benefits.

Double up link: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/food-stamp-recipients-michigan-double-fruits-veggies-n187596

I am selling herb plants, I have got a webpage, but I am not very big with facebook and instagram. Please explain that a bit further. do you post on other facebook pages? What do you post? Or do you have your own facebook page linked with your website? I just started and things develop nicely, but I am far away of having a full time income. Doing the webpage was a pain btw, if you are selling plants you must write something about each and every plant...

loewenzahn - Create a facebook page that you use JUST for your herb business. Be sure to make it PUBLIC!

Find the FB pages where your town buys, sells and trades stuff (there may be several of these).

Make a post on your page about the herbs you have for sale. SHARE that post onto one of the town's pages if it's ok with the admin. Don't share it to all the pages, rotate through them with each new post.

Post useful information - not just the herbs, but a good easy recipe using it, and how to care for it. Post pictures of the process ... let people watch the seedlings grow.

Find a local farmer who does not sell what you sell and crosspost: you promote his products, he promotes yours.

that sounds actually doable. I think of all social media stuff I'll use facebook first and the see what else is there.

Here we have what is called a yard sale site. Two produce markets post on there regularly. It is far better than advertising in the newspaper. They post pictures of their produce for sale.

If you go on my FB page in the 6th picture, you can see one of my tripod signs in the background, 3 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 6 foot tree stakes with a single 3/8" x 6" bolt drilled at an angle on the outside top of the stakes. you can just fold them up and store them for the winter, or move them anytime you want. There are more recent pictures of the stand too, the FB page is Tidewater Natural Farms, any likes would be appreciated.

Maybe you need to try a different market? The produce stands in Florida are always jammed with customers.

his thread is over a year old. I remember when it first came out. this thread contains so much info from some very successful market gardeners/farmers. this should be required reading for those that want to be market gardeners.

I don't believe ajsmama is still an active poster. I don't think I have seen her post since prior to the Houzz conversion.

Lone Jack, I think you are right. My point about this thread and similar post is to follow the ideas of those who are successful. There is a lot of do's and don't and won't in this lengthy thread. some ideas will work for you, some won't. We are relatively new market gardeners. We followed ideas from this thread in 2015 and had a good year and learned how to be better growers and marketers in 2016. I printed this off when there was only 25 or 30 comments and highlighted ideas to use for our farm.

I'm not a market gardener but I might give it a try after I retire and if I still have the desire. I occasionally sell some garlic and some other veggies to people at work, but more often give stuff away to neighbors.

I do like perusing thru the market gardener forum though. You are right that this thread is full of useful information that will help new market gardeners get off to a better start.

I think 2ajsmama is still on Gardenweb, but usually participates in the Cooking forum or Harvest forum.

Madonna

2016 market season will soon start. this thread is a guide of what to do and what not to do to be a successful market farmer

I'm late to the game, but wanted to share an idea we're doing this year. We're starting some local, neighborhood-run produce markets. They're technically grey-market - someone will turn a garage or shed into a produce stand. Anyone can drop produce by, and they list inventory on a whiteboard. Payments are handled through Venmo, so shoppers pay growers directly through a mobile app.

It's a grassroots thing meant for neighborhoods, but I think if you had a handful of these going in town, a professional growers could drop off a steady supply of produce to each one. The folks who host it get to keep any produce unsold after a couple of days, so there are definite benefits for them.

We wrote down the business model, if anyone wants to steal it :)

http://www.hackyourhometown.com/the-grassroots-produce-stand-that-runs-itself/

Dave, that sounds like an awesome idea.

Bumping this thread since I just reread it. Good info for the upcoming season.

My 2 cents with social media - Facebook has changed its algorithm a lot over the years, and businesses are complaining that hardly no one sees their posts unless it's a paid post. One thing that can help is by creating posts that people will share. Create your own memes, post the outrageous things your animals are doing, take photos that people can relate to, share something inspiring. People are more likely to share posts that make them laugh, feel good about humanity, or say "this is me."