Dairy Carrie…?

I recently had to opportunity to set down and have a video Skype with Dairy Carrie from Wisconsin. I had never heard of her or what she did, but it was very fascinating. She grew up in the city and married a Wisconsin dairy farmer and has found herself to be a farmer now. It was interesting to listen to someone who has not come from a farm or agricultural background, to now being a well known blogger in the agricultural world. She not only taught me the importance of voicing your opinion about what you believe in, but taught me that blogging can make a difference. She who started her blog two years ago has 700,000 viewers today! Her main objective is to let her readers know she is average, with just 100 cows on 300 acres; she is an average dairy farmer. She explained that it is important to hit your target audience by telling her story. Viewers want to read a story that they can relate to and something from experience. I never thought of writing to engage comments for readers to read, not necessarily for the people making the comments. Also for blogging, she stated it was important to be part of the conversation but not controlling the element. Along with telling your story, I think it is very cool that Carrie didn’t come from an agricultural background so she knows where other people are coming who don’t understand as much either and can better explain things. She is so real with her stories, whether they are good or bad, it’s ok to be transparent because it’s your story and being real is never wrong. The last bit that I learned from Dairy Carrie is when it comes to writing your blog, write from your heart and be yourself. Becoming a will known blogger has opened up many doors for her, being known of Twitter, Facebook, blog world, AgChat Foundation, and speaks to various groups about the importance of public relations and telling your story.