food pump club idea - sorting out the details

After a lot of back and forth with Beau, he suggested that we limit it to 8 people.  An intimate group to talk about this stuff.  He also suggested a price of $1500.  I'm kinda feeling like since this will be our first try, we should probably set the price super low.  Maybe $400.

I think there will be six sessions.  Each about 1 to 2 hours long.  Each will start with 15 minutes of formal stuff, followed by some Q&A followed by people asking questions about their specific situation.  Maybe with pics and stuff.  

So this is kinda a hybrid between a class and a private consultation.  With some gentle formatting.  

I think.

this is new to me.

i found a better image

sounds like a rad idea to get more of 'the paul show' to people.

six sessions through the growing season (maybe the first one before the growing season starts?), feels good. eight enrollees feels like it would be a good size group, neither too small with too little discussion, nor too big where everybody's clamoring without their thing getting addressed.

$400 feels like a steal, since an enrollee is essentially getting six (or twelve!) consultations in total, and I see the thought behind this as a starting price


some hopefully on-track thoughts, that don't necessarily need answers:

- what if every enrollee willing to put up $400 when these initial ticket sales go live actually pay $400, and any enrollees in excess of 8 are placed on a waitlist for a future session?

- would these get posted on podcast/youtube afterwards, or no?

- would any conditions be needed for enrollees, such as "need to be actually doing the food pump?" or "need to be in a temperate climate"?

- would there be an optional add-on 'get started from scratch' package where a person could order sunchokes, walking onions, and kale to start with? (Yeah, I know this probably takes the complexity of the project in the wrong direction)

what if every enlollee willing to put up $400 when these initial ticket sales go live actually pay $400, and any enrollees in excess of 8 are placed on a waitlist for a future session?

If this works as well as beau says it will work, then it will fill up quickly.  And then I think we tranform it to "no more sales".  And then we see how the rest of it goes.  

Maybe in the fall, do something similar with rocket mass heaters.

Beau says we should  charge $1500 for this sort of thing.  So if the 8 tickets sell out in three hours, then I guess beau is right.  And as we grow this sort of thing, we might find ways to make it richer.  So for a rmh thing, we might have a general day for the first day, and then a guest for each of the remaining five days.

would these get posted on podcast/youtube afterwards, or no?

Not on a pod.  Not on youtube.  Maybe a private forum dedicated to this?

would any conditions be needed for enrollees, such as "need to be actually doing the food pump?" or "need to be in a temperate climate"?

I think that enrollees would need to be in a place that gets a pretty hard freeze each winter.   My expectation is that a few people will have gardening experience, but most will have zero (or near zero) gardening experience.

would there be an optional add-on 'get started from scratch' package where a person could order sunchokes, walking onions, and kale to start with? (Yeah, I know this probably takes the complexity of the project in the wrong direction)

I think the group might talk about sources for the materials.

I like to think that some day, a resident here would sell tree seeds/pits, sepp holzer grain, sunchokes, walking onions, etc.  But that day is not yet here.

Good luck with the new venture!  I agree with Beau, it’s likely to be a success.  Hopefully in demand, especially for those folk who have had no exposure to gardening or much else off the beaten path.

Writing from wet-windy-dark Scotland, I'd say there's a market for every climate; I mean, for a selection of the advice, not the details of anyone's property. Where are you going to start? Would there be umph for focusing on more than one location? Sounds like this old idea of emergency permaculture appropedia.org/Emergency_permaculture and it could be useful really soon in many places.

paul wheaton wrote:
Not on a pod.  Not on youtube.  Maybe a private forum dedicated to this?

I feel that keeping it on a private forum would have (at least) two great advantages:
1. making it more exclusive, and
2. making it more appealing to shy/introverted people

If it is as popular as predicted I wonder if it might be possible to run concurrent groups but with slightly different climates for each group? This might be a future expansion if it goes well - so then people in one group are more likely to be discussing problems they’ll potentially encounter in the future even if they haven’t hit those problems in the season the course takes place over. This could make it seem better value to people

Forgive me for being a curmudgeon- but what would be covered? The concept feels pretty simple - and it is being sold as such: plant stuff that keeps pumping out food without a lot of skill or work on the gardener’s part. What is there to talk about in 6 or 12 sessions? I mean, it sounds like fun to get on with like minded folks and chat, but what valuable information will be imparted?
Obviously not saying you shouldn’t do it - maybe some folks need this to feel empowered to try it. You just might consider in the marketing that if this is a super simple concept to put into practice, why does the adopter need 6 consults?
Makes a lot more sense foe rmh - there is technical know how needed with risks if you get the build wrong.

Lina,

Welcome to my life. Day after day, hour after hour.

Most of the time I think exactly that:  what's the big deal?  This is pretty obvious.  And then I get into a conversation with somebody "experienced" and ....   well ...  I guess this way is rather unique ...

Mike Haasl was telling me about going to a conference of gardeners.  There was a big room with more than a thousand people.   "How many think they save money by growing their own food?"  Mike was the only one that held up his hand.  And then there was a similar question about time and working a minimum wage job.  Again, mike was alone.  

Nearly all of the gardens I visit are bizarrely small, unproductive, demanding and expensive.  And then I see things like railroad ties, tires, and imported toxins in the name of "mulch" while they haul away branches to the dump.  When I try to talk about any of this, the poor people are overwhelmed with the crazy shit coming out of my pie hole.



So, yeah, this stuff seems really obvious.  At the same time, I guess for 99.9% of the gardeners out there, this is batshit crazy.  AKA: not so obvious.


Beau's point is:  Reading a book isn't gonna help, because then the whole book just sounds crazy. Watching a video/movie isn't gonna help, because the whole thing just sounds crazy.  For six sessions there will be no more than eight people doing this.  So there are a couple of big perks:  you come up to speed with others.  And take your time.  And, most of all, ask questions specifically about YOUR garden.  Maybe even show pictures.  When you hear from the other seven people and see their pictures and hear their questions, then it is a patient, sharing conversation.  Understanding can happen.


Fully interactive.  Personal.  Intimate.

Rachel Croft wrote:If it is as popular as predicted I wonder if it might be possible to run concurrent groups but with slightly different climates for each group? This might be a future expansion if it goes well - so then people in one group are more likely to be discussing problems they’ll potentially encounter in the future even if they haven’t hit those problems in the season the course takes place over. This could make it seem better value to people

I like the idea that it can be popular!  

Lucas Gonzalez wrote:Writing from wet-windy-dark Scotland, I'd say there's a market for every climate; I mean, for a selection of the advice, not the details of anyone's property. Where are you going to start? Would there be umph for focusing on more than one location? Sounds like this old idea of emergency permaculture appropedia.org/Emergency_permaculture and it could be useful really soon in many places.

I like the idea that this could be popular.  

I guess the next step is to simply give it a shot ...