Eco-friendly growers, artisans and artists

Food producers

Artisans

Artists

Calling all growers, artisans and artists!

Are you a grower, artisan or artist looking for an online community that resonates with your values? Do you see value in being on a platform that actively promotes you and helps you succeed online?

There is plenty of information below to help you work out if this is the place for you.

We'd love to hear from you either way.

Grove Eco prioritises content not "likes"

Businesses trying to grow their customer base online should be focused on publishing articles ie blogs about their work. I say this drawing on 10 years' experience promoting artisan specialist painters online. Blogging and using search engines and some social media exposure works better than any other online marketing option.

People, potential customers, go online to find answers to questions. Where, who, what, how? The most helpful answers are still to be found by going to a search engine and finding articles, not one-liners on Twitter, or paragraphs buried away in FaceBook.

By and large, for the next few years, social media and search engines will continue to be the tools that direct people to what they need to know. In other words, social media is a messenger, not the main message.

So at Grov Eco, we focus on Blog - Search - Social in that order of importance. Any business looking to grow its online reach a different way, say with advertising and social media campaigns faces high costs for short term returns - in my view. Stop paying for ads, and ads stop working. Blogs can be hosted for free forever, working for as long as they are on the internet. Long and steady wins the day, providing value to readers year after year. Repeat readers can become fans and supporters, and from there you have a community built on a solid platform.

Developing websites is hard, so you should consider piggybacking off of Grove Eco.

Clearly we are starting small, but this is not our first rodeo, so to speak. A lot of time and resources will be invested in this platform, and it will grow. The aim is to bring as many like-minded food producers, artisans and artists along with us.

Rather than spending inordinate hours on your own online marketing work, why not jump aboard a vehicle that can amplify a small amount of content from you, add it to what many others like you contribute, and then amplify the joint message across the internet. Meanwhile you can focus on what you enjoy most, your vocation.

Demonstrate your skills and services with a business-generating portfolio

Full members of Grove Eco have the option of a "Proof of Work" portfolio which includes a blog, review page, contact form, gallery, payments, a store front and much more. A live example is here. Show visitors what you can do in a powerful way.

Multi-lingual

All portfolio content is published in English, the international language of business.

With help from multiple sources, we translate your original text into English. The quality of translations is very high and can only get better, and we guarantee your message will read well in English. (The example portfolio was translated from Spanish.)

To ensure your local audience can read about you in your language, we provide a site-wide link in the top announcement bar with access to free translation widgets for mobile and desktop.

At some point we will be able to revamp this approach and publish everything in original languages, but currently the only viable solution would cost about $600/month. The new translation tech coming will be better and open source.

Practical help with content creation

There is no cap on how much content you can upload to your portfolio. Full members have contributor access to the dashboard of the portfolio website where you can line up aricles, photos, videos, the lot.

We understand that for many, content creation is a pain and a drain on precious time, therefore we try to help where possible with encouragement and some tech support. If that's not working and writer's block persists, we offer a blogging service at very reasonable rates.

The more, the merrier

The more members, the more content we can publish as a community, the wider the reach of the whole platform, the greater the potential for new opportunities for all concerned.

We are starting small, but I encourage you to be brave, or take a punt, whichever appeals most! I have started from zero before, it was hard, but now it is not a stab in the dark, and most of what is on offer here, including the new tech, is not new, it is tried and tested. Be an early adopter!

*The first 10 portfolios are available at a 30% discount.

Open communication

It is all very well having content but it needs to be disseminated and discussed. To generate dialogue between members and the general public, we have integrated a variety of community-oriented features into the website, including a chat room, contact forms and DMs.

Private and convenient communication

We use encrypted technology to ensure that private conversations stay private between readers and members, with no interference from Grove Eco.

Private and convenient payments - goodbye Visa, banks

Grove Eco is determined to move away from the internet platforms and technologies that are now causing us more problems than they solve. Therefore we strongly encourage all members to at least set up a Bitcoin Lightning payment wallet and check it out.

If you join us on Nostr social media I am happy to send you some bitcoin (zap you some sats) to get you started. You will see how two technologies (privacy-focused communication and privacy-focused finance) work together to provide opportunities for businesses and society as a whole, that have never existed before.

Take this opportunity to see the future in action!

Interested in getting started? It costs nothing.

Sign up to Nostr
Set up a Bitcoin Lightning wallet

This link will help you.

Don't want to be a full member yet?

Sign up to our free monthly newsletter Follow progress.

More on why you should join the growing community at Grove Eco

"Proof of Work" portfolios for our community growers, artisans and artists

If your online marketing strategy is working well, you don't need my help. But if your website is like most, gathering dust and only occasionally generating an inquiry, this is one option that might interest you.

The portfolios are websites integrated into the Grove Eco platform.

A Proof of Work Portfolio that's integrated into the Grove Eco platform includes:

• profile page
• blog/news section
• reviews
• encrypted contact forms and chat
• instant payments and tipping options
• 0% commission store-front coming soon

The portfolios are designed to be content rich and demonstrate you are a serious operation. If you work part-time, say so. If you are booked up for months, say so. Just let readers know what to expect.

Under News, you can feature blog articles about your business. We will help SEO them so that when they are initially picked up by search engines, they are indexed high in the search results. We then promote the articles on social media and drive traffic back to your portfolio. You can help promote them too via your own networks.

This circular marketing technique is the bedrock of our strategy to promote the best people in the world of eco-friendly food, crafts and arts.

To get you started

We add the core content for you. Send us text, photos, anything you can give us, in any language. We repurpose it in English to tell your story, SEO'd and organised to generate NEW business for you.

We ask you to verify the content before it goes live.

Thereafter you can add as much content as you like.

Personalised colour choices and fonts

As well as no limit on the extra content you can upload, you have an option to personalise the look of your site. You can pick your own selection of colours for the background, text, even down to the link colours. Also pick from a choice of 25 fonts.

Your content, forever online

You own your content. The portfolio package includes free hosting for life too, and a guarantee your website will never go offline. A big claim, but there is a mirrored version of our whole platform distributed by nPubPro on a decentralised web hosting network with no central point of failure.

Technical and morale support

Once you are set up, you will be encouraged to publish blog articles regularly. Whatever they tell you, if you want repeat online inquiries and longevity, you need to focus on blogging - less on ephemeral social media and definitely not ads, unless you are loaded, in which case you don't need my help!

The amount of information, photos and news you upload to your online space here is up to you, but you aren't left alone to work it all out. The technical help bar is set for folks who aren't particularly tech savvy. Help is an email away if you encounter problems adding content to your site. No doubt at some point we will enlist the help of AI to compile slick FAQs.

Morale support is not a spelling mistake. Publishing online can be a lonely job. Know that there is someone at Grove Eco ready to help you get a blog post over the line.

Having worked much of my life with my bare hands, I also understand that time for marketing can feel like "lost time". And obviously some of us are simply not keen on writing, full stop. Therefore we offer a blog-writing service.

When you sign up, we will send you references for the information you need to provide so we can set up the portfolio pages for you. We will send you links to how you can change the colour ways and fonts on your website, and sign up for Nostr.

It's a great deal, but there are two things you need to know...

Firstly... I'm not just looking to sell you a website. I'm looking to build a partnership that benefits all parties.

One small example, I have an idea for a deal whereby you can invite local stores to sponsor your portfolio website for a few bucks a month. You'll keep 50% of the listing fees, and I'll earn a small commission. You do the leg work, I'll do the web work. It's a win-win for both of us, and it's a great way to build relationships with your local business community.

I'm looking to the future, not the past

Second BIG caveat...Whilst my aim is to provide you with the tools and support you need to succeed online, I'm not setting up our online home the normal way!

In order for you and your customer-fan base to take full advantage of your personalised website, I encourage you to sign up for Nostr and Bitcoin. While it only takes a few clicks to set up, I appreciate that the biggest hurdle is the mental adjustment to something new and even infamous.

I know! BTC is a deal breaker for some!

No doubt you have heard so much FUD already about crypto criminals and boiling oceans. But hey, that was yesterday's news, the disinformation before the US government and Wall St were set up ready to embrace it - just a few months ago!

This encryption-based money technology called Bitcoin has been up and running 14 years and has worked since day one. I am just one of millions out of the 8 billions who believe Bitcoin and now Nostr, which is communication built on encryption, are the route to successful business and a better society. Fix the money - fix the world!

I'm up for it and I'm committed to helping you get started.

On our site, you'll find plenty of resources to help you set up a Lightning wallet, which allows you and your readers to make and receive instant zero-fee payments ranging from 1 cent to a million dollars or more.

By setting up a Nostr account, you'll be able to take full advantage of Grove Eco's privacy features. Plus, we invite you to join the Nostr social media scene, which offers a refreshing alternative to the negativity and drama often found on Twitter and Facebook.

We also share expert advice on privacy apps, private encrypted email and VPNs to help you stay secure online.

Looking backwards!

As someone who has successfully run a community for talented artisans in the past, specialist kitchen and furniture painters in that case, I understand what it takes to make a platform thrive. By providing the necessary tools and support, I empowered the members to focus on their craft while maintaining a strong online presence. And I can assure you, back then there was much resistance to the idea of businesses using Google and websites! With a combination of marketing expertise and consistent publishing, a small platform for outlier artisan furniture painters transformed into an industry-changing site - a change for the better.

I'm confident that I can replicate this success with the Grove Eco community with far greater stakes to play for. We are talking the full range of traditional crafts under fire from Big Everything. And never before has it been more vital to rally around growers, artisans and artists whose respect for Nature is still in their DNA - offering a realistic alternative to Big Ag, Big tech, Big Everything.

Be the change you want to see

I believe that the one key ingredient to making change lies in embracing new technologies and innovations that actually solve problems and improve the lot of everyone, not just a few. (By new tech I mean history-changing advances like electricity, the printing press, as opposed to widgets and cleverer TV's.)

Encumbent Big Everything plays its own game with current tech. They crush anyone who goes head to head, putting so many small entities out of business. So the strategy for small entities is to set up a parallel path with better tools, better outcomes and let the public decide whether your way or the Big Everything way serves needs best.

That's how you make the world you want to live in, peacefully. It smacks of democracy! And in my view, there is nothing better for progress and ushering in peace than mixing incorruptible money and privacy-respecting communication tools into your day-to-day business.

That's why it's Bitcoin and Nostr on this platform, to support people still passionate about traditions that have served us so well, and still can while staying rooted in the environment. This project is hope, not just another dead-end crummy play the game. I'm no interested in PayPal/Visa/Bizum/€£$/inflation, while risking our mental health on FaceBook, TikTok and Instagram, shrugging when we keep on doing wrong by Mother Nature.

Is it risky being first?

Back in 2011, the painters were initially very skeptical about Google, Twitter (when it was good), and WordPress! Imagine that lot being risky. Those who took a punt on my judgement ended up with a 5-year head start on everyone else. Now "everyone" in that industry is an expert online, most are better skilled than ever, and many are way more profitable than before.

I am sure, however, that whatever industry you care to choose today, the bulk are still hanging on to what worked, while feeling ill at ease with the current direction of travel. And most are oblivious to the value or potential improvements offered by Nostr and Bitcoin and privacy tech.

Of course anything "new" is attacked because most vested interests are reliant on the status quo, however bad it might be. But this life is not a dress rehearsal and we weren't born to live according to the whims of people who don't have our best interests at heart.

If you are interested, join a V4V community where your web stuff is taken care of and you are part of a larger marketing push for local eco-friendly food, crafts and art around the world. Please get in touch.

Or if you just want to lurk, take out a subscription for the newsletter.

Or check out other communities that are evolving.

Cheers