The No. 1 asset every western business MUST have in 2025...
Published about 1 month ago • 14 min read
Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Western Lover,
Welcome back to Western Writing Weekly—the authority on Digital Writing and Newsletter Creation in the world of agriculture business & marketing.
YEE-HAW!!!!!!
Each week, I publish a newsletter educating western lifestyle entrepreneurs, executives, investors, solopreneurs, and creators on how to build their personal brands through digital writing. Some of the most legendary agriculture founders aren’t the ones who spend their days fighting over likes, comments and other social media vanity metrics. Instead they understand the power of words, and learned how to build genuine relationships with their audience so they never had to ‘sell’ again.
If that’s you, c’mon in and stay awhile.
(And if it’s not, feel free to hitch a ride back to town.)
Your customers are waiting for you to solve their problems. But you’re too busy posting pictures on Instagram.
Sorry Buttercup, but in the ag. and western world, people are gonna tell it to you straight.
When I first started my online business three years ago, no one cared about my feelings either. See, I’ve worked for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for almost 15 years, but I’ve always had a side hustle (mostly to help pay for my horse habit). I started out thinking I only needed to post pretty pictures and videos on social media, and my ideal customers would magically find me and open their wallets.
My first year in business I made $225.00.
Embarrassing…yes.
Humbling…absolutely.
Other people were making money online…I couldn’t figure out what I was missing.
Until one day, I was listening to a YouTube video where two guys were interviewing my favorite agricultural investor turned entrepreneur, Kevin Van Trump. In the interview, they mentioned a fellow businessman who’d met the youngest venture capitalist (VC) in Silicon Valley. At the time, he was 20 years old and investing $10 million+ into things.
But then five years had gone by, and the businessman didn’t see him really progressing at the same rate as you would expect somebody who had that phenom type of business savvy - where it seemed like he had all the potential in the world.
And the host asked the guy — what do you think he’s doing wrong, what would you do differently? His response…
It’s like windows and doors. He’s only willing to do something if it’s a window. If he can immediately see through, and see what’s on the other side of it, then he’ll do it. But anytime it’s a door and it’s opaque, and you don’t know what’s on the other side, he’s not willing to knock and open it to see what might be inside. He’s only looking at windows, he’s never willing to go through a door. Once he starts going through doors, his potential has no limits.
Social media, SEO thumbnails, paid ad videos — they’re windows. Most of us can see the opportunity there.
But writing is a door. Most business owners and brands aren’t willing to learn the skill because they can’t see the opportunities it brings. They’ve maybe tried it in the past, it didn’t work, and therefore, “it’ll never work”.
If you have this attitude towards digital writing, it means you’re making the unconscious decision to compete over a small sliver of someone else’s plot of land, rather than go out and buy a piece no one’s farmed or ranched yet.
Now, does that mean you can’t get rich catch-riding someone else’s horse, or share-cropping someone else’s fields? Of course not. Plenty of people make fortunes using a combination of social media, SEO, paid ads, sponsorships etc. It’s just worth asking yourself: what do all of those things have in common?
Words.
That’s where true personal branding and wealth are made.
But there’s a LOT of limiting beliefs out there around writing. Let’s dive into a few and break them so you can too.
Digital Writing Limiting Beliefs
Let’s debunk a few limiting beliefs surrounding the topic of Digital Writing, specifically as it relates to western brands and businesses.
Limiting Belief #1: “We tried email in the past and it didn’t work.”
To which I ask…
How often and how long did you try?
And what kind of emails were you sending?
Did you send one email a month, and in that one email you (basically) said, “buy my stuff, here’s a 10% discount”? Did you send one email like this a month for 3 months, see no sales and quit?
AgriPulse, one of the industry’s leading sites for agriculture news, has been putting out a newsletter every week for 20 years. YEARS. They’ve never missed a week. They started out as a small website blog, growing to over $3.8M in annual revenue according to a 2024 LeadIQ report.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be ok making that kind of money from writing a single weekly article.
Just like in horse training, fattening a steer to market weight, or developing a new drone for precision farming, consistency and patience wins the day.
So goes for building customer relationships. You wouldn’t ask a girl to marry you on the first date would you? I mean you could, but what are the chances she’d say yes then vs. a few weeks or months from now?
The hands-down best way to build relationships at scale is through digital writing. And yes it takes time, but the rewards are worth it.
Limiting Belief #2: “Social media and paid ads are working well for me. I don’t need to write or have a newsletter.”
In case no one told you yet, social media is a rented audience.
You don’t own your social media followers. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk do.
And if they decide tomorrow they want out, or they hit a button to change the algorithm to plummet your reach to literally zero, your entire following (and potentially your business) can be gone in an instant.
Remember a few years back when Facebook and Instagram went dark for a fully 24 hours? Businesses were in full-blown apocalyptic mode. I had a client who we had just started building his email list who lost 85% of his revenue stream when that happened. If he wasn’t 100% sold on an email list before that, he definitely was after.
An email list is an audience you own.
You can communicate with them anytime you want, there are no pesky algorithm gods to sacrifice at the altar of. You need to make money today? As long as you’ve been providing your list with great value that actually helps them — send an email, watch the revenue roll in.
And in terms of paid ads, let me ask you this:
If you’re going to pay for all that traffic to your website, wouldn't you want to capture as much of it as you can? It would be inefficient to just send them to your website and not get their info right? In other words, you’re lighting your marketing dollars on fire.
You’re leaking leads — we can solve that through digital writing. You’re leaking conversions (and therefore revenue) — we can solve that through writing.
Limiting Belief #3: “I’m bad at storytelling.”
Oh-so-false.
In my experience, western lifestyle lovers are some of the best storytellers out there. Think of all the movies, TV shows and books out there depicting cowboys and cowgirls sitting around fires. What are they doing? Telling stories. Why? Because they’ve lived lives with experiences are worth sharing.
My first viral post was a personal story.
I had zero storytelling experience.
But since then, I’ve tried to share stories every day. It is the most effective way to communicate your ideas. It’s also a hell of a way to make more sales.
Great storytelling can be done by anyone and everyone—from small business owners and solopreneurs to writers, digital creators, VC-backed startups, and Fortune 500 companies.
Some of my favorite examples in the western/agricultural space:
Burt’s Bees: Does a great job of highlighting the story behind their founder.
Carol Rose Quarter Horses: Created a legacy business around the story of a single horse, Shining Spark.
Patagonia: Focuses on the western value of resilience, while also telling the story of the benefits of environmentalism and sustainability.
If you’re truly not good at telling stories, there’s plenty of writers out there who are. Work smarter, not harder and let them craft them for you in a way that resonates with your target customers. If you’re interested in having me write for your brand or business, click here to schedule a free strategy call.
Storytelling is the universal human language.
Every brand and business needs to learn it, and do it.
Here’s 7 of the best tips I’ve picked up:
Begin in the action. Too many people start their stories by setting the scene. The problem with this is nobody owes you their attention, especially online. You must grab it immediately. Dive into the good stuff, then come back once you have them hooked.
Use the ‘But, Therefore’ Rule: Terrible storytelling focuses on a logical sequence of events. This happened, then this happened, then that happened. It’s boring to write, and even more boring to read. Swap ‘and then’ with ‘but’ or ‘therefore’ and see how much more exciting your story becomes.
Drop details: A good story teleports the reader/listener right into the scene. People don’t care about stories they can’t see. Paint a picture of the scene by using the following: times, dates, senses, colors, emotions etc.
Control the tempo/pace: It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. During intense parts, use short, punchy sentences to keep people engrossed. Pause at important moments. And slow down at times too. Contrast is key.
Have an enemy: I’m a villains girl. I always root for the morally-grey characters. Your readers do too. A story without a villain isn’t a story at all. Just ask Walt Disney. Villains trigger an ‘us vs. them’ mentality and increases the stakes. It makes your reader more invested in the outcome. You must create conflict. Can you imagine John Wayne without a bandit to fight? No one’s watching that movie.
Leave a lesson: We read and listen to stories to learn, so no story should be complete without making a point. Sometimes it helps to ‘work backwards’ from the big idea. Other times, you’ll discover the big idea as you write. Build a reputation for being useful, not just interesting.
Plant seeds of curiosity: To keep the reader’s attention, you must ‘open loops’. This is why your favorite shows or books always end on a cliffhanger. Drop hints early in your stories, then move along. Just be sure to close the loop later (no one likes an incomplete story — here’s looking at you Game of Thrones S8).
Try one, or a few of these out in your next company email and let me know how it goes.
Limiting Belief #4: “I don’t have time to write.”
This is the other end of the spectrum—and also false.
Contrary to how it might look or feel somedays, you and I have the same amount of minutes in the day, and days in the year as Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffett.
And look I get it, running a business, especially if you’re a solopreneur or a small business, takes a TON of time. You’re wearing all the hats, you’re doing all the things. The last thing you want to do is sit down and craft a compelling email newsletter.
But if you're going to spend the time, or pay for all that traffic to your website, wouldn't you want to capture as many emails as you can? It would be inefficient to just send them to your website and not get their info right?
The Western Brand’s Guide to Digital Writing: How to Use Words to Grow & Scale Your Business
Anyone can post on social media.
Sometimes, you can get lucky and that post will go viral, or ‘viral for you’. And other times, a post simply dies a quick and painful death after just a few hours.
But writing is what we call evergreen - it can last forever.
And in just 6 simple steps, you can create your own engine that can sustainably power your business.
An “engine” that can consistently put your products & services in front of willing buyers.
An “engine” that isn’t built on quicksand, like creators with big but fragile social media followings.
An “engine” that works on autopilot, 24/7/365, without any manual intervention from you.
That engine is your email list and your newsletter.
Here’s how:👇
The 6-Step Western Writing Weekly Evergreen Strategy
Here’s the 6-step framework to generating revenue on autopilot, in your sleep, in visual form:
6-Step Western Writing Weekly Funnel
I like to keep things really simple here:
Most businesses are leaking leads:
on their website, with their social content, even with paid ads
Because they’re pushing traffic to the wrong destination!
an intangible weekly newsletter
a low-quality opt-in (like a discount)
or the homepage of their website or product/service page
As a result, businesses are wasting eyeballs, wasting traffic.
low opt-in rate = fewer customers
weak opt-in = wrong customers
no opt-in = no nurturing customers
You may not be in a lot of pain right now, you have an established business and you can pay the bills…
You have a solid house, but your roof has a leak in house - if you just fix this leak, your house will be worth twice as much
Improve the opt-in = grow the business!
A weak opt-in is like pouring water into a leaky bucket filled with holes.
And the entire business suffers:
your organic social content could generate millions of impressions = wasted traffic
your paid ads could be extremely cheap = wasted traffic
your SEO could be strong, and your website could rank on Page 1 of Google = wasted traffic
Because you aren’t capturing a meaningful percentage of clients.
How To Overcome It
We solve this by creating a value-first opt-in:
tailor the offer to your ideal customer
educate them on autopilot and answer their questions
And the best way to do that at scale is through educational email sequences or ‘nurture campaigns’.
Benefits
your offer weeds out the wrong customers and attracts the right ones
your opt-in rates go up
your conversion rates go up
When the prospect isn’t educated, the likelihood they buy goes down. A confused mind never buys. But when the prospect is educated, the likelihood they buy goes up.
All of which makes your marketing more profitable.
It’s not about how „fast” you can get someone to become your customer. It’s about how efficiently you can. Most people need 15-20 touch points with a brand before they’re ready to take the next step—whether that’s clicking “checkout” or scheduling a sales call.
Why?
Because they’re skeptical. They don’t trust you yet. You have to earn that trust.
So how do you do that as effectively as possible?👇
Breakdown Of My 6-Step Western Writing Weekly System:
1️⃣ Drive Traffic to Your Website
The first step is creating demand through:
Organic content
Partnerships
Events
Organic SEO
Paid ads (not required)
Once you have that traffic, it’s time to nurture and educate—on autopilot.
2️⃣ Nurture On Autopilot with An Educational Email Sequence (5-Day email nurture campaign)
This is the best way to educate your target audience, at scale, on autopilot. Nothing else even comes close.
Here’s why:
It’s digestible over time.
It can be plugged into all social & blog CTAs.
It’s an evergreen asset that grows with your company.
It subconsciously trains your audience to look out for your emails.
3️⃣ Post-Nurture Campaign Email Sales Sequence
After educating and nurturing the reader through the 5-day mini-course, it’s time to convert the leads who are ready to take the next step (ie. buy your stuff).
And the rest who still need a little extra love?
That’s where the next two steps come in.
4️⃣ Abandoned Signup Flow
Every business has prospects who click the link to buy, but don’t complete the process.
Why?
They don’t trust you yet.
You need a flow that continues to earn their trust and addresses their objections (often subconsciously).
You’ve got to keep them engaged until they feel confident enough to pull the trigger.
Without an abandoned signup flow, you’re leaving serious $$$ on the table.
5️⃣ Evergreen Newsletter
If you don’t continue nurturing and providing value, you’ll lose 40-60% of the attention you captured with the email nurture sequence over the next three months.
To stay top of mind, send one weekly newsletter.
Over time, you’ll build an evergreen library of content that you can use again and again.
6️⃣ New Paid Customer Onboarding Flow
The goal of this flow is to ‘onboard’ new customers and give them a great user experience from the start.
Little things like this make them feel valued—not just another number.
And in turn, you’re more likely to get referrals and have them stick around and become raving fans who will buy any offer you put in front of them.
How To Craft A Winning Newsletter
Please don’t get lost in the sauce on this. It’s a lot simpler than you think to start writing content your target audience will be excited to read.
But just in case you’re struggling (and it’s ok if you are!), here’s are a few tips to get you started:
7 Ways To Pick A Newsletter Topic
How you create a winning newsletter as a western or agriculture brand is not just about niching down and getting more specific about your offering.
It’s about having a Point Of View (POV):
Why are you niching down?
What problem are you determined to solve in the world?
Who do you want to help?
Who do you not want to help?
Why is it so important to you? And why is it so important to the people you want to help?
What will life be like on the other side (tell us!)?
Next, ask yourself these questions:
WHAT do you do… that you are uniquely known for?
WHO do you do it for… who are surprisingly willing to pay large amounts?
WHEN do you do it… that sits at the peak intersection of Important and Urgent?
WHERE do you do it… that if money were no object, everyone would want it?
WHY do you do it… that is so in sync with your audience, word of mouth spreads like wildfire?
What OUTCOME do you unlock… that is 100x more valuable than the price you charge?
How much and “how” does it COST… that is both a value & a premium, and the ‘way you pay’ is a benefit in itself all at the same time?
By answering each of these questions honestly, you’ll be well on your way to knowing what kind of writing will resonate with your audience, and what newsletter you want to create to keep them interested in you and your brand.
No One Buys From A Doormat
Sorry, but if you want your business to STAND OUT, you have to STAND UP — for what you believe in, what you value, what morals your company was founded on.
Even if that isn’t the popular opinion.
Your POV is the script/soundbites customers use in word-of-mouth marketing.
The smartest, most successful people in business are the ones who pivot when they need to, but never lose sight of what they stand for.
Start Writing!
I hope this Beginner’s Guide helped give you a high-level perspective of why every business needs to be writing online, and not just on social media.
If you found this article valuable, I encourage you to check out some of my other free resources:
P.S. If you want me to ghostwrite your personal brand newsletter, help you create a high-converting lead magnet, or help you become a thought leader in your niche, reply to this email with a 👻 emoji.
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