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Articles by Mike Lessiter

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Squaring Up with the Majors

With an editorial-first focus & no expectations to attract major’s advertising support, Farm Equipment boldly went where few mainstream publishers were willing to go
By Mike Lessiter posted on September 27, 2023 | Posted in Best Practices
“When somebody got mad at us, I just viewed it as a part of the job,” says Dave Kanicki. “We had our values and knew how we wanted to operate, and we had to stand behind them.
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Competition Calls & Farm Equipment Responds

An unexpected phone call spurred fast action that protected the brand while gaining access to an acquisition partner
By Mike Lessiter posted on September 27, 2023 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues
Farm Equipment was well ahead in every measurable criterion — advertising market share, editorial pages, ad pages and revenue. Things were proceeding nicely, and I wouldn’t say we were complacent but perhaps a shakeup was needed.
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Trying to Get ‘Lift Off’

Lessiter Media’s first 12 months with Farm Equipment were trying, but perseverance, planning & a serendipitous visit from a former mentor changed its fate
By Mike Lessiter posted on September 26, 2023 | Posted in Best Practices
Despite the honeymoon period following our statement-making first issue, the rest of 2004 proved challenging.
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Farm Equipment Magazine’s ‘Origin Story’

A farmer dabbling in trade publishing & an unpaid printer bill brought Johnson Hill Press 2 key opportunities in the late 1960s
By Mike Lessiter posted on September 26, 2023 | Posted in Best Practices
A publishing genealogist could argue that the family tree of Farm Equipment dates back to 1957, 47 years before Lessiter Media acquired the publication.
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Looking Back on ‘A New-Era Contract’

By Mike Lessiter posted on September 21, 2023
This year marks 55 years of Farm Equipment magazine and 20 years of ownership by our family-run company, Lessiter Media. Below is my first column (“A New-Era Contract”), from the August/September 2004 edition, written weeks after acquiring the magazine.
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A Labor Day Message: What Work Has Taught Me…

By Mike Lessiter posted on September 3, 2023
This morning, as part of a Labor Day message at church (“The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard,” Matthew 20), our pastor recapped the jobs he had in his lifetime. It spurred a conversation with my 17-year-old, Hayden, as he starts his senior year of high school.
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Manufacturer Hall of Fame

The inaugural class of Farm Equipment’s ‘Shortline Legends’ made a permanent dent in the ag equipment universe
By Mike Lessiter posted on August 28, 2023

Earlier this year, we announced a program that would properly record — for posterity — the individuals whose innovations impacted the machinery and dealer distribution industry in North America over the last 55 years.


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