Re: [Alpacasite] re.Farm visitor say they "would not pay for the F&R Guide"

So is it like advertising "Come one Come all to the Alpaca Farm take a Tour" and then when they get there say oh by the way it is $9.95 to walk through the door. Would just the tourist leave or the ones that may come back and buy?

Deborah Robinson <diversifiedltd@earthlink.net> wrote:
O.k. My take on this FRG issue is this. Marketing is marketing...It is the
Cost of doing business. When you pay to create business cards, letterhead,
a logo, brochures, fliers, websites, t-shirts and other "gimmees" you are
investing, remember that word, in getting your identity out into the public
forum and you want the most bang for your buck. The money is spent and the
items need to get out into the publics hands to be effective. Yes, there
are many who are lookie-loos, but this is a high priced business and often
times lookie-loos become buyers down the road. How do you know? You don't.
Qualifying is vital but, charging someone who inquires for advertising (FRG)
leaves an impression that the individual isn't worth postage and that
overall this industry is cheap, stingy, and not viable if it has to charge
me for a book of ranch ads. This is not qualifying. Is this the impression
we want to give the rest of the world? Is AOBA going to throw the baby out
with the bathwater over a small percentage of the MEMBERSHIPS investment? I
totally understand that savings need to be made, but I do not think this is
a viable area and AOBA is going to deeply regret moving in this direction.
As a breeder, would you personally charge a potential buyer to receive a
business card from you? I don't think so! How about for a packet on the
animals you're marketing?? Again NO! It is the cost of doing business, my
friends. The FRG is the same thing, a marketing tool that should be
distributed to anyone who asks, as if it were a business card.

AOBA represents itself as the MARKETING arm of this Industry. We members
chose to PAY our hard earned money (at various levels) to AOBA to use it's
"Largeness" for lack of a better word, to promote our industry. So, instead
of nickel and diming us to death, why doesn't AOBA do what it's paid
for...market our products. Possibly having some sort of mid-level promo
piece WITH SUBSTANCE go our for free and having a card referencing the FRG
that they would pay shipping on would be better........But then you've
defeated the entire money saving process here so just GIVE the FRG to those
that request it. It is a marketing tool (having it sitting on the shelves
will do no good) that those that have PAID to advertise in deserve to have
distributed to whomever inquires. The advertising members have paid for the
FRG so give them what they have paid for.....MARKETING.

Otherwise, I think people are going to start saying the heck with it (well,
maybe not exactly in that way) and forego advertising via the FRG and do
more marketing themselves because it will be more cost effective and the
results more evident.

Deborah K Robinson
TerraSoLuna Alpacas
....where the Earth, the Sun, and
the Moon meet, to inspire criation.
Golden CO
terrasolunalpacas@earthlink.net
p: 303 215-1923
f: 303 215-1911
c: 303 503-4117
http://www.alpacanation.com/terrasoluna.asp
http://www.terrasolunalpacas.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Scott at Camanche" <mike@camanche-ranch.com>
To: <Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <info@IllusionRanch.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 7:14 PM
Subject: [Alpacasite] re.Farm visitor say they "would not pay for the F&R
Guide"

> Like your comments Janet,
>
> But perhaps we are missing the point. If AOBA think they can squeeze
> $200,000 out of potential new ranchers with $9.95 for shipping of the FRG
> and IRD perhaps I should be charging $4.95 for each sizzle pack I
currently
> GIVE to potential customers at my ranch... Lets see, two or three per week
> times 52, plus a whole bunch on shearing day could be something like
$727.00
> revenue which would just about underwrite the price of my one third page
in
> FRG... Hot DAMN! Why did we not think of this before!!!
>
> So in the a word, YES! This new AOBA policy sucks and will I am sure be
> rescinded when they have dug themselves out of that pile of unsold FRG and
> IRD printings which will probably have to wind up in a land fill. I look
to
> AOBA to advise how many of this publication are sold in 2006.
>
> Another observation re. wheat and chaff, even the person(s) who are
> perceived as chaff have made the effort to crack open the FRG and may pass
> it onto those perceived as wheat!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mike & Carolyn Scott
> Camanche Ranch Alpacas
> <mailto:mike@camanche-ranch.com>
> <http://www.camanche-ranch.com>
> Voice (209) 274-0858
> Fax (209) 274-0854
> Cell (209) 304-7840
> NOW on <http://www.alpacanation.com/camancheranch.asp>
>
> Message: 21
> Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2005 20:32:31 -0000
> From: "Dream Chaser Alpacas" <hufford@dreamchaseralpacas.com>
> Subject: Farm visitor say they "would not pay for the F&R Guide"
>
> 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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> http://aaalpacas.com
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Jim and Sharon Dear
St. Lawrence County
Potsdam, New York
Alpacas came home 9-11-04
THE DEAR ALPACA FARM
www.dearalpacafarm.com

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