[Alpacasite] Re: Farm and Ranch Guide decisions

Just remember that as long as this line is on your email, you aren't anonymous:

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Jan Sherrill
Celestial Alpacas
Cental Coast of California
Templeton

>I get more business by telling the plain truth than with lies and
>half truths.
>
>
>--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "Jeannie Wells" <jeannie@b...>
>wrote:
>>
>> You've got a heck of a personality you're showing. Do you expect
>people to
>> want to do business with you when you speak to others like this?
>I can say
>> I don't want to.
>> It's not surprising that you're "anonymous"---I'd be embarrassed
>to be
>> identified, too, if I had just said the things you said.
>>
>> Jeannie Wells
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com
>[mailto:Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com] On
>> Behalf Of sharonkennels
>> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 5:35 PM
>> To: Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: [Alpacasite] Re: Farm and Ranch Guide decisions
>>
>>
>> Steve get real. Who died and made you God?
>> How do you read the minds of the people who order the farm and
>ranch
>> guide? Are you Jesus Crist come back early?
>> So the farm and ranch guide cost umpteen dollars to produce, so
>> what, is it your money? No it is the money that we members pay.
>>
>> If the people who pay for leads find out that the leads have no
>> acreage, maybe they should see my success. I did not pay for a
>lead
>> but had someone with no acreage get a F And R guide which they
>would
>> not have bought, then phoned me to ask about alpacas and I sold
>them
>> acreage at a 150 percent profit.
>> All from my farm and ranch guide ad.
>>
>> I suggest you members of the marketing comittee wake up and look
>at
>> the real world.
>> Raise the price of the ads. Charge people more for the web site
>> listing. Cut out the tv ads which by the way point people to
>> www.alpacainfo.com where they will now be asked to pay for sending
>> out our advertising.
>> Why should we give a worthless plan like ripping off potential
>> customers for year.
>>
>> Get real people. We farmers who elected you are not going to drop
>> out. We are going to go the courts and kick you out.
>>
>> Sharon Kennels.
>> I am anonymous so as not to get banned.
>> But your gestapo leader will ban me anyway.
>> Goodbye
>>
>>
>>
>> --- 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
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>> > >message in no way reflect the opinions of the administrator or
>> Yahoo.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >List administrator - Rick Horn - All American Alpacas
>alpacas@a...
>> > ><http://aaalpacas.com>http://aaalpacas.com
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >TO CHANGE OPTIONS visit
>>
>><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Alpacasite/join>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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--
Jan Sherrill
Celestial Alpacas
Central Coast of California
Templeton
mailto:pacamom@lightspeed.net

805/238-2628

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