May - Lizzie Mae`s Birdseed

Volume 1 Issue 2
WELCOME TO THE BIRDFEEDER
It’s our second issue! You can now officially say those guys at Lizzie
Mae have issues. Step closer to your monitor and read a quick interview with Mahlon. See how Rob wants you to tell your store’s story
differently. We have some posters to help with that. Finally, there is a
movie for people who like to watch movies about people watching
birds. Here we go!
5 QUESTIONS WITH MAHLON YODER
...with a few editorial comments thrown in
Question 1: What is “Amish Crafted”?
Amish Crafted is our pledge. The finest ingredients
prepared with the finest detail. Each bag of seed is
filled by skilled Amish workers. Our plant is in the
heart of Holmes County, OH. It is Ohio’s largest Amish population. It is also
one of the top tourist attractions in Ohio. We run the place without electricity power from the lines by creating our own power with a generator run by
natural gas. (Editor’s note: Feel free to tell your customers that Lizzie Mae
products are created by a bunch of like-minded radicals living off the grid.)
Question 2: How is Lizzie Mae seed different from the stuff in large
stores that also sell snow tires?
Each bag of Wild Bird Food is individually packaged with the intention to
fully satisfy the end user or customer. We take extra care in making sure
that we are producing the highest quality product available on the market.
Volume 1 Issue 2
5 QUESTIONS WITH MAHLON YODER (cont’d)
Question 3: What should store owners be telling their customers
about Lizzie Mae Bird Seed?
Simply put, we do not bring in inferior product from our vendors so we are
always sending out a high quality product. Birds love our clean, fresh food.
Question 4: What’s your favorite part of working on the farm?
Producing Lizzie Mae’s Bird Seed
is my favorite thing on the farm. After that would be the passion and
love that I have for working with
and being around horses. And
totes chillaxing with my homes’ in
Holmes County OH. (Editor’s Note:
We made up that last part. No idea
what it means. Thanks Google!)
Question 5: How is your commute?
What is this commute??? Remember, I am Amish and pack bird seed! ;-)
WHAT IS ROB THINKING?
Rob is only thinking about one thing today: D I F F E R E N T I A T I O N!
Smart Specialty Retailers know it is important to differentiate the service
and offerings they provide their customers. That is a tall chore if the store
is selling “run of the mill” birdseed ingredients and birdseed blends with
inferior ingredients.
All bird seed is not created equal. Use your bird seed program to sling
rocks at that Goliaths' brick and mortar store that has a pallet of bird seed
in the same aisle as the fertilizer. There are 4 major things you need to
make sure your bird seed is separating you from the crowd.
Volume 1 Issue 2
WHAT IS ROB THINKING? (cont’d)
Seed needs to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Be visually more appealing
Be Clean and Consistent
Be formulated to attract songbirds
Have a story
Let the quality of the seed do the heavy lifting in your store. God knows
you do enough heavy lifting putting the seed in your customer’s car. Lift
with the legs - not the back! (That's one to grow on.)
OK. I know this sounds trite, hackneyed and overdone. (Yes, I did get a
Thesaurus for Christmas. Thanks for asking.) Most of you know this stuff
but are you telling your customers everyday? If not, I urge you to take the
Lizzie Mae challenge and bad mouth the competition for a full month.
Whoops, that came out wrong. How about this? I implore you to tell the
story of your bird seed and why it is the best value for them. We will let
the competition create their own issues without us trashing them.
In our June newsletter we will start breaking down ingredient by ingredient why your stuff (if you buy from us) is better. We will start with the Sunflower
Chips. Dr. Seuss would like Sunflower Chips, there are big chips, small chips, good
chips, bad chips. There are chips with some shell and some with none at all.
You get my point….
Volume 1 Issue 2
START TELLING THE STORY
People like stories and not just at bedtime. We created two posters
for your store so the Lizzie Mae story can be part of your story. They
are free of charge but we are going to do a pre-order so we know
how many to produce. They are both mounted on foam board.
Lizzie Mae’s Bird Seed Sold Here
House Blends
Please email me at [email protected] if you would like
one or both of them.


Let’s tell our story together.
NEW REVIEW OF AN OLD MOVIE: THE BIG YEAR
How many customers walk into your store and ask you to recommend a
movie with birds? You sell bird seed, right? So the connection is obvious.
Lizzie Mae’s extensive R&D department actually has a movie for you to
recommend. It’s another way Lizzie Mae is looking out for you and it is
definitely not an excuse for us to take the afternoon off and watch a movie. No. It is not that.
The movie is The Big Year starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve
Martin. Three of the funniest actors in moviedom. But the funniest part
about the movie is that it is actually not a comedy. Ha! The movie poster
shows three comedic actors in a funny pose and the movie is not a comedy. Wait – would messing with the audience's expectations like that hurt
this property at the box office? Umm… yes, apparently so.
Volume 1 Issue 2
NEW REVIEW OF AN OLD MOVIE: THE BIG YEAR (cont’d)
So don’t go in expecting an LOL comedy. Instead, expect a warm, carefully crafted story
about three men at different stages of life as
they go for their Big Year. In the real world, a
Big Year for a Birder is 365 days spent trying
to see or hear as many different kinds of birds
as possible. Birders actually do this and are
very serious about it, travelling around the
world to achieve their goal. The people who
live with these Birders are also very serious
and say things like, “Really? This is why you
withdrew funds from the 401(k)?”
Now, technically speaking, the movie is about
bird watchers and not bird feeders. But guess
how many Hollywood movies starring three
well-known actors there are about bird feeders? Exactly. (Okay, bonus points for anyone that said Brando kept pigeons
on his roof in On The Waterfront. But was it really pertinent to the storyline? He coulda been keeping poodles up there for all it mattered.)
So The Big Year is a nice movie about birding that, seriously, a family could
watch together. Maybe not a family with really young children because they
want to see talking snowmen. But go find a copy, watch the movie, and be
ready to build that connection with your customers.
Back to work for us. Pass the popcorn.
IN SUMMARY
Go watch The Big Year if you want. It’s a nice story. What’s your story? What would you say to a new customer? What’s your story for old
customers? We hope Lizzie Mae is part of all your stories. Send us a
note on what stories in your stores are working for you. See you next
time.