My Open Kitchen - February 2018
Social media, photography and food writing for farmers and foodies
My Open Kitchen is a self-paced, 6-week e-course designed to help farmers, value-adders, cooks and producers get started with social media to celebrate the beautiful food we produce and tell our stories through recipes, words and great photos. It’s about collaboration, inspiration, conviviality and learning useful new skills.
Through My Open Kitchen, I want us to ‘virtually’ invite the world into our kitchens and through our stories, inspire new networks to support us through their choices and voices.
The course will be delivered in 5 modules which are released weekly, with a week off in the middle to catch up. You can download and print them off, and there will also be plenty of course-exclusive podcasts and videos with creative super stars and leaders in their fields.
Below
please find loads of information about this first ever My Open Kitchen
course; cost, dates, what's involved and a breakdown of each module.
Dates
26 February - 5 April
Cost
The course cost is $250 and this includes;
- Five downloadable course modules, each including individual lessons with loads of information, inspiration, video and exclusive podcast content.
- A super loved-up care package posted to you in week one.
- Access to a closed Facebook group (this is where we will do lots of networking, talking and learning).
- One hour group Q&A with me every Wednesday evening (through the FB group).
- Priority booking for all My Open Kitchen day workshops, the current schedule is now on the blog (these usually book out within hours so it’s a great way to ensure your spot).
Student numbers
Only 30 per round, so we can provide lots of personal feedback and keep our closed Facebook group is nice and cosy.
How will it work?
The course is made up of 5 modules which will be delivered here over seven weeks (we’ll have a breather in the middle so everyone can catch up). When you sign up and pay for your spot, you will receive a login email to join the student only ‘area’, I will also add you to our closed Facebook group so you can get started in there.
Every week a new module will 'drop' and will include an explainer video or exclusive podcast, plus there'll be the option to print out everything and a bit of optional homework. The idea is that this will be a fun, inspiring and social experience!
Testimonials
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. For creating such an interesting and rewarding course, for putting so much of your time, knowledge and skill into the course for us all to share, and for creating a supportive environment for everyone to learn. I have never done an e-course before so I was a little apprehensive about how much I would get out of the course – I needn’t have worried! There are so many ideas in my head right now I think it will take some time to work out the plan ahead of me, but I am excited to start that planning. I absolutely loved the last module – it really did bring it all together for me and also allayed some of the fears I had (see above re so many ideas!)." Jen @realfood_ramble
"Thank you so much for this course. I've learnt so much more about social media and photography and how I can use these skills to tell a story. But more importantly the course has given me the space and time to think about the story I want to tell and how I want to tell it. Tracey @the_not_so_constant_gardener.
"Thank you again for a wonderful course. It has built my confidence so much, and I'm so very grateful for that alone." Vanessa.
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course; the content, pace and tone of the course made it feel as if we were having weekly catch-ups in my kitchen (with coffee and cake of course!) where we you would discuss all the essentials to making my business and social media feeds so much better. The feedback from friends and family about how much my social media has changed for the better is proof that I learnt something over the six weeks. I always credit my improvements to your course and am constantly sending them links to the course. Whilst many of my friends are not farmers/producers I do think that what you talk about resonates across so many businesses. I am also pleased that I have the opportunity to pop back into the course notes over the next six months as I seem to get something new from the content every time I revisit it." Natalie @byorafarmhouse
Who is this course designed for?
- Anyone involved in farming, food production, value adding or food distribution who is looking to take advantage of social media to grow customer, support and peer networks that will provide real, authentic support to your business.
- Anyone wanting to learn the basics of the main social media platforms, how to get started on them, why and how to use them well.
- Anyone wanting to learn how to take and edit good photos of their farm, food, cafe, cheese, whatever!
- Anyone wanting to learn how to write a simple recipe to showcase their produce.
- Anyone wanting to make connections, new friends and new customers and find their ‘tribe’ online.
This course isn’t a deep dive into algorithms, SEO and digital marketing - it’s an introduction to the magical world of online community building, photography, writing about food, creating recipes that will inspire your audience to go out and find your product.It will give you confidence, skills and a nice big, friendly foodie step-up into the world of social media.
Module breakdowns
Module 1 - The who, what and why
What's your story, why are you telling it and who are you telling it to? How to develop an authentic voice that will resonate and inspire.
Module 2 - The different platforms and how to get started with them
Getting started or getting better with social media; an overview of the different platforms, how they work and how to use them. Then we'll finish with lots of examples of regional and rural users, what they are doing right and what we can learn from them
Module 3 - Visual storytelling
How to use your smartphone or camera to take and edit bright, appealing and share-able images of your food, farms, products, cafe, people. We go through the basics of food and lifestyle photography from light to composition and angles. We'll show you some easy to use editing platforms and apps and how to hashtag, caption and share your photos.
Module 4 - Food and recipe writing
How to write about food (without cliches), so people want to go out, find, cook and share it. How to turn your own ideas into clear, easy-to-follow recipes that will get your networks excited about your produce and inspired to cook it.
Module 5 - Building a following, collaborating and connecting
How to get noticed, growing a real following that's all about quality not quantity. How to edit your words, feed and story, the art of collaborating and connecting and the rules of online engagement.
What will you get out of it?
A brand new, supportive community.
A clear idea of what you want to say on social media, why and to whom.
An understanding of how to write a simple recipe, how to shoot it on your phone or camera.
An understanding of the basics of food and lifestyle photography.
Lots
of inspiration and new ideas for either getting started on social media
or refining and improving what you are already doing.
Tips on building an audience and finding your own style.
Your Instructor
Hello! My name is Sophie and I am very very excited to be launching my brand new Content Camp course.
Here are a few things about me...
- I live on a farm just out of Orange NSW with my husband Tim and our two children
- I trained in print journalism (at the University of Canberra) and have over 20 years experience as a features writer.
- I have contributed to a number of online and digital publications and have been blogging at www.local-lovely.com since 2013.
- I spent three years working with Slow Food Editore in Northern Italy in my twenties and now teach social media and content marketing to producers and small businesses via My Open Kitchen (podcast, e-course and workshops).
- In 2016 I was awarded Australian Rural Woman of the Year in recognition of my commitment to rural communities.
- In April this year my second cookbook, A Basket by the Door was published by Murdoch Books.
- I believe in being generous with the things we know and do.
I love telling stories and believe passionately in the power of content marketing to connect makers, growers and do-ers in a positive way with networks that will deliver both social and business support. I’m also a big believer of the concept of conviviality – inspiring people to come together over shared meals of seasonal, fresh food with a joy in the process and an understanding of where the produce comes from. Hence the name – My Open Kitchen.