[Alpacasite] Re: Farm and Ranch Guide decisions

20 years ago I would thnk that the FRG would have been a very
important resouce, because of the lack of the Internet. Back in the
day, some sort of written listing was the only way to track down a
breeder of what ever anmal you were looking for. I always joined the
national and local dog or horse clubs.

Personally, all the farms I visited before I got my anmals were found
on the 'Net. I did join AOBA and get the FRG, and I would have paid
$10 for it, just as a reference, but I wonder how many leads come
from AN or just a google search on alpacas...

Heidi Christensen
Graham WA

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Hull, TimberLake Farms.
Inc" <steve@t...> wrote:
>
> Kim, I hear your concern on the Farm and Ranch Guide (F&RG) mailing
> fee, but consider that about 30% (or more) or the F&RGs have been
> sent out to people with absolutely no intention of raising
> alpacas. That guide costs a lot of money both for printing and
> mailing (I think $30-40 or so). Prior to now, there has been no
fee
> for the guide nor a fee for the mailing cost.
>
> Secondly, a lot of people who get (and pay for) the leads complain
> that the many (majority?) of the leads are people with no acreage
or
> no intention of raising alpacas. The people who purchase the leads
> from AOBA ask us to "qualify" the leads better. We thought we were
> doing this by asking about the size of the farm, but frankly people
> "say" they have 100 acres when they only have a 1/4 acre lot.
>
> Can we really afford to send out this cost of a publication with no
> qualifications whatsoever? The Marketing Committee spend many
nights
> and many long discussions on exactly this issue. They recommended
to
> the board, and the board agreed that we would send out the guide
> free, but attach a small mailing fee ($9.95).
>
> If they do not want to spend that small sum, we are still
collecting
> names, addresses so that we can send out other lower cost material.
>
> Yes, we expect that the total numbers of F&RGs sent out will go
down,
> but we expect that the numbers of qualified leads will increase
> tremendously. Let's give it try this way for a year and then we do
> plan to re-evaluate.
>
> Erin McCarthy may have additional comments as she spend many, many
> nights discussing this with the marketing committee.
>
> Steve H.
>
>
>
>
>
> At 03:18 PM 12/08/2005, you wrote:
> >Hi Janet,
> >I also ask people that visit my farm how they found me. After
> >reviewing the new membership levels before renewing this year, I
> >contacted past clients and visitors that said they had found me in
> >the F&R Guide to inquire what they thought about a fee associated
> >with receiving the information packet. The ones that had sent for
> >the AOBA packet said they would NOT have paid to receive it.
> >I think the F&R Guide has been a valuable marketing tool for me in
> >the past when there was not a charge to interested parties, and I
do
> >understand that things need to change financially for AOBA with
> >regard to the free mailing. I believe mailings will significantly
> >decrease as people won't want to pay to receive advertising, as you
> >point out, and more prospective new breeders will find web sites
> >useful as their source for locating existing farms. Not sure what
> >changes we will see for 2007 renewals, but it would be reasonable
to
> >deduct that if the Guide is mailed at no cost again, the cost to
> >advertise in it will go up. Should be interesting to hear what
> >people think after this year and to see how the numbers of
> >advertisers and Guides mailed out changed.
> >Kim
> >Columbine Ranch, Morrison, CO
> >
> >
> >
> >--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "Dream Chaser Alpacas"
> ><hufford@d...> wrote:
> > >
> > > I know this has been discussed on the site previously, but I
have
> > > recently had a complaint from someone interested in alpacas
about
> >AOBA
> > > requiring interested parties to "pay for AOBA's advertising".
> >This
> > > person has informed me that they would not ever pay to have
> >someone
> > > elses advertising sent to them....and the price of nearly $10 to
> > > receive the advertising material is outrageous. One farm visitor
> > > stated there were only 5 farms listed in their area they would
be
> > > visiting and if they had had to pay for the guide, they wouldn't
> >be
> > > visiting them unless they had learned about them another way.
As
> >his
> > > wife said, "I wouldn't pay 2 bucks a farm just for names!"
> > >
> > > This is of high concern to us as a small alpaca farm. Four of
the
> >six
> > > contacts made by us with prospective buyers this past year was
> >through
> > > our ad in the guide (including one from Canada) and one was from
> >the
> > > online farm site listing. And although we are not actively
> >pursuing
> > > sales currently, we have tried to show our visitors that even a
> >small
> > > farm venture can succeed, as we have grown from 5 to 11 alpacas
in
> > > just over a year, built our outbuildings, and begun agisting
> >animals.
> > > We try to help them understand what is entailed and what they
can
> > > realistically expect. Then we refer them to farms we believe
> > > are "reliable" to purchase animals or research further, and we
> >refer
> > > them to a couple of alpaca sites to learn the "good, bad, and
the
> > > ugly".
> > >
> > > Most of our visitors are not looking for a get rich scheme, they
> >are
> > > researching a possible change in lifestyle for their families
and
> >a
> > > future income - which will at least allow them to live
comfortably
> >and
> > > as some have said, spend more time with their families.
> > >
> > > Since the anouncement of the changes in policy, we have also
asked
> >our
> > > visitors if they received the guide or just accessed us on line,
> >and
> > > if they would have paid for it if necessary. ALL have said they
> >would
> > > not have paid for the guide. At least two have bought into
> >alpacas,
> > > one a dispersal herd. The others are continuing their research,
> >three
> > > of them are on this site. This is at least four people who
might
> >not
> > > have found our farm if they had to pay for the guide.
> > >
> > > Since our ad in the guide is paid for by us with the intention
and
> > > understanding that our listing be made available to possible
> >future
> > > buyers and those researching alpacas as a business, we have
become
> > > even more concerned with AOBA charging $9.95 for the guide under
> >the
> > > ruse of shipping. I ship packages to Alaska, and sometimes that
> > > doesn't even cost me $9.95.
> > >
> > > Does anyone else share these concerns? If what our farm
visitors
> >have
> > > said are true, I don't see a reason to use the farm guide as
part
> >of
> > > our advertising plan.
> > >
> > > Janet Hufford
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Opinions and postings on this list are the sole responsibility of
> >the person posting the message. The accuracy and content of each
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Yahoo.
> >
> >
> >
> >List administrator - Rick Horn - All American Alpacas alpacas@a...
> >http://aaalpacas.com
> >
> >
> >
> >TO CHANGE OPTIONS visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Alpacasite/join
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Steve . . . .
>
> TimberLake Farms, Inc.
> Tom Cameron, D.V.M. & Steve Hull, Ph.D.
> Edmond, Oklahoma
>
> A Full Service Alpaca Farm Including Seminars And Consulting
>
> www.timberlakefarms.net
>
> e-mails: mailto:steve@t...
> mailto:tom@t...
>
> Farm Telephone: 405 341-8444
> Farm Cell Telephone: 405 550-3023
> Farm Fax: 405 330-8444
>
> note: opinions made here are not and cannot be construed to be
> specific veterinary advice, diagnosis or treatments. Both Tom and
> Steve strongly suggest always checking with your own veterinarian.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

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