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FuelNet presents a case study on how one growing business attracted new customers and promoted sustainable living through a partnership with local farmers.

PROBLEM: Every January, Valerie Gates’ business development plan targets new customers for her integrated branding design firm in Boston. This year, after reading about the relationship between consumers and sustainable agriculture, Gates was inspired to work with local farmers. “Their businesses tend to be just one or two people trying to compete against big suppliers,” she says. “I wanted to do something to level the playing field.” But Gates Studio’s services are typically beyond the financial means of small growers, and as the owner of a growing business, she couldn’t afford to offer pro bono work to every deserving farmer.

SOLUTION: As part of the business development process, Gates created a tiered barter program with a sliding scale. Assignment to the tiers is on a first-come, first-served basis, with the first five farmers able to barter food for Gates Studio work, and the next 15 eligible for discounts ranging from 25% to 75%. Gates launched her business development strategy, which she calls the Will Work for Food Project, through the newsletter of a regional agricultural partnership. Within two days she had 15 small farmers signed up. “I hit on something missing in the small farm world,” she says. “Most are so busy that marketing was not even on their horizon, so it’s been fun to give them the same one-on-one branding I do for my commercial clients.”

In addition to the knowledge that she’s promoting sustainable living, Gates reports that the excitement and energy she gets back from the farmers is rewarding. “Now that the farmers have logos, they’re moving on to T-shirts, signage, and Web sites,” she says. The effort is also paying off for her business development strategy. “I didn’t start this as a marketing campaign, but it has raised awareness of Gates Studio,” she reports. “The media response has been amazing, and with each press mention, hits spike on gatestudio.com as well as the project blog.”