EquineAuctions.com is the only Internet horse auction of its kind, has raised the bar once again by providing the safest and most secure on-line equine shopping experience with escrow service.
I just read a news report stating that more people are posting their classified advertising on the Internet instead of in printed newspapers. So if you are still only posting your horses for sale in your local paper seriously reconsider the Internet as your top choice for horse ads.
If you rely on your horses for income, you are going to have to have good marketing skills just like any other business. That’s right, horses don’t sell themselves! If you are a breeder, riding instructor, trainer, boarding facility, or horse dealer, you are going to need to reach and impress your potential customers in order to sell them your products and services. How do you do that? Just follow the steps illustrated below and you’ll be well on your way to enjoying a successful horse-related business!
1.) Know who your customers are. Who needs your products and services? If you are a training facility, then people with untrained horses need you. If you are a boarding facility, then horse owners who don’t have space at home for their horses need you. If you are a riding instructor, then your potential customers are anyone who wants to learn how to ride horses. You get the picture! A big part of making sure your horse business works is identifying your customers.
2.) Find out where your customers hang out. Where do horse people congregate? At feed and tack stores, at horse shows, at online horse-related web sites and chat rooms, to name just a few. Now break it down even further. Let’s say you are a breeder of Morgan horses. Sure, you’ll find some Morgan enthusiasts at the tack shop and feed store, but you’ll likely find them in droves at breed-specific shows. Find out what newspapers and magazines your potential customers read as well.
I meet a lot of nice people over the Internet. One of them is Fred Aronowitz, a horse and business owner who discovered my horse business blog and emailed me that he liked my logo and business card designs. Fred owns ColorPrintingPros.com, a full color printing business and he feels he can offer my equestrian logo clients and site visitors a better printing deal knowing that horse people like you desire their printed items as polished, good looking, and robust as your horses.
Fred mailed me samples of his 4 color printing and WOW I am impressed - what eye candy - the colors are clean, crisp, and bright and even the tiniest text is sharp and readable. I really like the substantial feel of the cards, because of their extra thickness and the glossy coatings make the colors POP. Color Printing Pros’s standard paper stocks are heavy 14 Pt card stock with a free upgrade to 16 PT, if you wish, on all cards (except their short run specials.)
Most printing companies charge extra for these heavy card stocks and extra for coatings. Free overall UV coating is included on all card stock and free aqueous coating is included on all book and cover weight stocks. Their standard book weight stock is 100Lb gloss so you don’t need to pay for an upgrade to have your flyers and stallion sheets look and feel great.
You are going to spend a ton of time, effort, and money building up your horse business to become a success you don’t want to make it harder by saddling it with a bad name.
Your business needs a name and tag line that is imaginative and memorable.
Step 1. Gather your herd:
Everything-horses.net offers free directory listings to equine businesses and associations. Click on over to their site and complete their easy-to-use directory listing form to submit your contact information and select appropriate business categories. Your listing will be updated to the everything-horses.net online directory within 48 hours.
Everything-horses.net just opened May 1, 2007 and is an online directory in which businesses, associations, and other service providers can promote their horse-related products and services to the equine industry.
This article tells how a community benefits from a annually held horse show. It quotes a variety of local merchants on the ways the horse event is helpful or profitable to them.
If you have a horse business I think you should read and make a copy of this article to show to local business people when you are tying to get them to post your ad, flyers, or posters, or help participate in your horse event. It would be good for them to read if you are trying to sell them advertising spots in your event program or sponsorship.
Each posting looks to be a full length article stuffed with equestrian related information that is well thought out and written. If it sounds like I am impressed, that is because I am. Many horse businesses could be greatly improved by the addition of a blog with articles of this quality.
Yes writing good postings takes time, effort, and research but they help show potential customers what to expect from you, your staff, or your product. The ability to type well wouldn’t hurt either.
If you sell purebred horses most people are going to want to know the horse’s pedigree information. If you post your horses for sale on the Internet putting in the pedigree info can be a pain and there are chances of typing mistakes.
Now one equine sale site is partnering with a breed association to make posting your horse’s pedigree faster and easier. Here is the news report they emailed to me…
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Equine.Com Partners With American Quarter Horse Association
On Exclusive Certified Pedigree Program
First-of-its-kind initiative offers official identification on animals’ bloodlines, critical to horse enthusiasts
PHOENIX (July 9, 2007) – Equine.com, one of the largest horse marketplaces on the Internet, today announced a partnership with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), to launch a first-of-its-kind certified pedigree program. The initiative allows Read the rest of this entry »
