Re: [Alpacasite] Farm & Ranch Guide

I agree Ron, what an amazing idea! It solves everyones issues.
Teresa Hall
richardandteresa@sbcglobal.net
Castle Ranch Alpacas
Redding, Ca.

ronnie_downs <rdowns@gmail.com> wrote:
I've been lurking for awhile, but feel it's time to kill two birds
with one stone - get my first posting out of the way, and weigh in
on the Farm & Ranch Guide while I'm at it.

I'm brand new to the industry. I've just bought 5 Suris, and am
agisting 1 additional Suri and 2 Huacayas for a friend, who I also
talked into buying alpacas. As someone who's owned a variety of
businesses throughout my adult life, I understand the value and
absolute necessity of marketing and advertising. I STRONGLY feel
that charging $9.95 will be a substantial deterrent to most
consumers. I began my research into the alpaca industry only 10
short weeks ago, and invested 5 weeks later, so all this is pretty
fresh in my mind. I can tell you that, given all the other sources
of information available, there is absolutely NO WAY I would've paid
ten bucks for the catalog. Why should I? Google provided weeks of
non-stop reading, complete with ranch websites and phone numbers,
and I've only scratched the surface.

Having said all that, I did purchase my listing on the website and
in the printed guide, though I didn't go for the 1/3 page ad. I
purchased mainly to have access to the leads, though I'm beginning
to wonder what the quality of those leads might be. I read in
someone's post that purchasers of the 1/3 page ad would have first
access to the leads - is this true? I didn't see that anywhere,
though I did read that the lead price is different for each of the 3
levels of advertising. If the larger advertisers get quicker access
to the leads, I'd sure like to have known that before I chose my
level. Maybe I just missed it somehow.

I, for one, would much rather pay a higher price for advertising
than to expect consumers to pay for the catalog. Compared to
conventional advertising, the rates we're being charged are quite
low.

I like Rick's idea of making the catalog available as a pdf
download. I know I would've downloaded it immediately.

Since the policy is already set for this year, here's an idea. What
about setting up a sponsorship program, whereby member ranches would
pay the postage for x number of catalogs mailed to their area? Maybe
include a card stating something like "The costs of postage and
handling for these materials have been graciously sponsored on your
behalf by xyz ranch, conveniently located in yourtown, ca." I'd be
willing to bet that would result in a ranch visit. Just
brainstorming here - I'm sure this whole concept would need some
tweaking. I'd be willing to set up an account with AOBA to be
debited whenever F&RGs were mailed to interested consumers in my
area.

Just my thoughts,

Ron Downs
Twisted Lock Alpacas, Inc.
Sierra Madre, CA

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Teresa Hall
Castle Ranch Alpacas
7874 Castle View Lane
Redding, Ca. 96001
(530)246-7205
www.alpacanation.com/castleranch.asp
richardandteresa@sbcglobal.net

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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