[Alpacasite] Re: Farm visitorsay they "would not pay for the F&R Guide"

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
>

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