FACT!  Most potential customers are now searching online for relevant horse facts and information.

FACT!  Most directories charge a fortune for a listing and only allow you to enter the most relevant information about your site.

FACT!  Our horse website directory allows you to provide as much information as you like, including graphics. It is interactive with potential customers, features Web 2.0 and integrates with social networks.

Best of all, it’s totally free!

Visit Our Horse Directory At: http://www.greenhorn-horse-facts.com/horse-directory.html

Can people find you on the internet?

There are a vast amount of web sites that get little or no traffic simply because their owners don’t have the time, the budget, or understand what it takes to get the kind of ongoing visitor traffic to make the most of their business. We do! We get lots of visitors, our biggest problem is where do we send them?  We know our website provides basic horse facts and information on caring for horses , however, we recognize that many of our visitors need more than that.  As such we try to support the industry by referring them to experts who list in our Greenhorn Horse Facts Horse Directory .

Why should you list in our Horse Website Directory?

IT’S FREE!  Why not make the most of free exposure. By investing the small amount of time it takes to list in this directory you will be rewarded with free exposure and more clients. Your company or website will get a full web page that you can customize however you like. Add as much info as you want, even a photo or your logo! It’s interactive, this is a really cool feature that allows people who visit your listing to leave a comment or testimonial about their experience with you.

If you want to be really creative, you can turn your profile page into your very own mini blog. Be sure and set the notifications on the form to notify you when a new comment is placed on your page.. Again this is all part of the free service. So what are you waiting for?

Submit to our new directory  to get your page live now.  Be sure and include lots of information about your site and most importantly, your contact information.

Check It Out Now! http://www.greenhorn-horse-facts.com/horse-directory.html

Guest Article by Melinda Westrope of Greenhorn Horse Facts; email: info @ greenhorn-horse-facts. com (remove spaces)

Would you like to see your guest article posted on this site? Learn more here: Suggest a Guest Article for Publication

When
Monday, December 19, 2011

Time
7:00pm until 8:00pm

Description

Rethinking the Horse Business 2012
How the Economy, the Horse Industry and the Internet Are Affecting Horse Business Owners

Rethinking the Horse Business provides vital information for horse professionals about the state of the economy and the equestrian marketplace.

It is the only event in the world geared solely towards helping horse professionals i.e. horse trainers, stable operators, riding instructors, breeders, and professional riders navigate the current economy and identify the best paths for success.

Topic: Rethinking The Horse Business 2012 – The Economy, The Horse Industry and The Internet
Date: December 19th 2011
Time: 5:00 Pacific 7:00 Central 8:00 Eastern
Place: On your computer or phone
Speaker: Elisabeth McMillan and guests

Find out key economic indicators of how the horse industry is fairing. The seminar features information from equestrian associations and companies around the globe. Opinions from industry leaders and influencers. Plus, survey results from hundreds of horse business owners including professional riders, instructors, horse trainers, breeders, and stable operators.

Hear reports on successful marketing strategies and discover new horse business models. Attendees will learn which areas of the equestrian community are growing and gain valuable insight into new marketing strategies, trends, and equine business opportunities.

Gain critical insight into where the horse business is headed and identify the most viable horse business and marketing strategies for the coming year.

Rethinking the Horse Business 2012 is free to all horse professionals but you must register to attend. We are also conducting our annual horse business survey. The results of this survey provide you with valuable insights into the overall health of horse businesses like yours. Please take a moment to complete the survey after you register for Rethinking the Horse Business. Sign up today!

Register Here:
Rethinking the Horse Business 2012 How the Economy, the Horse Industry and the Internet Are Affecting Horse Business Owners – http://www.equestrianprofessional.com/public/1130.cfm

The above info was posted here:
Rethinking the Horse Business 2012 (Facebook Event info) – http://www.facebook.com/events/313421005349685/

Boarding Stable Owners – Soap Opera Lives

They are developing the show’s first season;  here ‘s a preview the trailer…

“Not So Stable” is a Reality TV show blended with a Soap Opera theme.  It has a cast of about 10 to 15 characters, where each episode highlights interaction and their personal issues – some funny, some dramatic, some intrigue and suspense. The show balances the problems of a struggling horse farm with the joy, educational value, love, care and medical treatment of horses, as well as the difficulties the family encounters trying to keep their boarders happy. Horse shows are huge affairs; tempers flare and issues arise when parents become servants and coaches as their young competitors become Divas.

The primary story is that Jim and Vicky while raising a family lived a good life as successful homebuilders.  Jim’s love for horses led them to invest into a horse-boarding stable business.  Since the economic meltdown and the collapse of the building industry they have been forced to live and work on the farm with their two daughters, Amanda and Rebecca. Jim and Vicky are now broke and working harder than they have in their entire lives and are struggling to keep their home.  Some boarders are trying to help, but others only care about themselves. Some boarders are prima donnas, gossipers, snobs and back stabbers that ad tension to the daily struggles.

Company: Track 26 Entertainment

NotSoStableTV – http://www.youtube.com/user/NotSoStableTV

Please post your thoughts about this show in the comments. Will you watch it? Why or why not?

Related articles

• Habitat for Horses Helps Struggling Texans Keep Their Horses at Home (rtfitch.wordpress.com)

Horse for sale videos increase sales

I just did a search on YouTube for “Horse for Sale” and 6,300 horse videos pop up in the search results! That is a lot of ‘horses for sale’ videos on one site. One video received 72,447 views! Since YouTube now receives twice the page views as Google my guess is that many people are finding and buying horses because of these posted horse videos. People are successfully selling horses using video — Are you?

In fact I bet that if you are just using still photos and text on your site or posted to one of the horses for sale listing sites that you are not exposing your horse to as many potential buyers as you possibly can. Marketing tests prove that video does a much better job of showing off your product and motiving a person to purchase. Videos have increased conversions by nearly 50 percent! Isn’t it time you start marketing your horse business with videos?

Why Video to Sell Horses?

When selling your horse on the web, quality videos are essential to provide potential horse buyers a clear idea of your horse’s form, movement, manners, and personalty. Good video production takes time and work, but properly made videos help sell horses in a completive marketplace and help you receive the top price for your horse.

The time to make videos of your horse is not when someone requests to view one. You should plan ahead and make the videos a major part of your marketing plan. In fact videos should be the most important part of your horse marketing.

It takes time and money to make DVD copies of the final videos to mail out to prospective customers that request them and some people request videos just because they enjoy watching videos of horses. You could charge a refundable deposit fee that covers the cost of the DVD and shipping.

Web videos

Post your horse videos online — instantly viewable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer on earth with an Internet connection. If you post them on sites like youtube and the other free video posting sites you don’t even have to worry about bandwidth costs either.

Increase sales with online video ads 2008

Video Equipment and Knowhow

Top of the line video equipment is not required to begin creating video for web display. In fact some people shoot decent video footage with their cell phones and digital cameras that have video options.

If you are on a tight budget and like small, simple to use video cameras then you should consider one of the Flip Video Cameras.

Review: Pure Digital Technologies’ Flip Video Camera

Videotaped with the Flip Video Camera

Of course if you have top dollar horses for sale and have a decent marketing budget, then I highly recommend having professional video shot by someone that specializes in horse video productions. Make sure to check references and view past client videos before making your selection of which video company to hire. Some professional horse photographers are now shooting video too. Does your local photographer shoot video? Find out!

What to Video

Your video presentation should cover important points of interest to a horse buyer. Some areas to consider videotaping are…

• Under saddle or harnesses: dressage, jumping, cross country, reining, trail riding — whatever skills in whatever discipline your horse it trained for and good at.
• Horse Show; include footage of any past trophies or ribbons.
• In hand segments; include close-ups of the horse’s conformation without tack
• Free Lunging, to show the horse’s true movement
• Lunging: under your control with changes in gait and direction
• Free Jumping
• In hand Obedience: tacking up and untacking, leading
• Horse care Obedience: vet visit, farrier, worming, shots, bathing, clipping, trailer loading, etc…

You don’t have to put everything in one long video. In fact is better if you make a few short videos that cover different areas — one showing the horse under saddle, one showing the horse’s ground manners, and one demonstrating the horses movements when free lunging or jumping. You want to cover enough in the videos to give someone a good overview of your horse’s training and abilities. This will help them feel confident in making an appointment to meet your horse or to even decide to purchase online just from the videos and reading your horse’s description (your sales copy). Specially if you offer a good guarantee or trail period. Don’t forget to have a good sales contract made and signed.

Make a video blog of your horse for sale and embed the videos into your blog or website pages. Update your site with new video clips as your horse learns more.

Audio Sales copy: the video sound track

Words

Write out all that you want to say in your video to make sure you cover all the selling features of your horse. You can add the voice over to the video (recommend) or talk while videotaping. Also put this the horse’s info on text on the page too.

Here is the sales copy for a horse for sale on the internet. Read it for ideas of what you may want to include in your audio and text for your horse for sale listing:

White Gelding Cepillo, this gelding is good on the street, trails, ring, and wherever else you want to ride. He does not spook at any of the parks nearby, not even with gun shots. My son is only 7 and he rides him anywhere. He is safe enough for him to ride around our neighborhood and in parades. Walks, Trots, Canters on commands. Neck reins or direct reins. Loads, clips, bathes, saddles with no problems. Safe for kids. Used to dogs, cats, goats, chickens, and OK to work with cows. He is 9 years old. He is dead broke and kid safe. This versatile horse is great for anyone to ride. No bad habits. No vices. Pretty Mover.

Music

Music can deeply stir the emotions and you should take your time in its choice. You want the music in the video to add to the video, but not overpower the images. Uplifting and inspiring music that puts people in a good mood is best. Consider songs about horses to really heighten the emotional response of equestrians. If you are not ready to make videos yet you consider make photo slide shows with music. Check out sites like Slide.com that allow you to make photo slide shows for free that you can embed into your web pages.

Youtube Videos of Horse for Sale

Sporthorse / Dressage horse for sale : Southside Flyer

Note that they added a title clip at the begging and the end of the video that shows their website address (URL). You should always mark your videos with your URL for videos posted on video sites or that someone may download.

Reining horse for sale

Also consider posting videos or a video slide show of photos of the horse’s dam and sir, specially if a top breeding sir.

Argentinus the Legend

Video Resources and Tips

Shooting Video to SELL the Horse! Good step by step article with photos with the info you need to know to get good videos of your horse for sale. Print it out as a blue print or check list.

Traffic Secrets 2.0 Watch this video to learn what cutting edge video creation is. High quality video with some fantastic effects — and some great free tips on how to get more people to view your site’s content. A must see.

Making Money With Youtube Videos Video marketing tips

Make Money on Youtube by Uploading Your Video Tips on including your live clickable link back to your website from your youtube videos.

5 Ways to Make Money on YouTube NOW! Tips on posting videos to youtube and making some cash. Watch this with your horse business in mind and I bet you come up with some great ideas of your own.

How to get stinkin’ RICH on YouTube!!! Video posting tips – short videos, tag the videos right, allow video replies.

Best Way To Increase Website Conversions Again watch this video with your horse business in mind. What can you do to get people to want to return to your horse site again and again – maybe tell them you will be posting updated videos of the horses for sale as their training progresses.

How to learn to make video…

Stomper Vision – How web video will transform YOUR online business Watch the video case studies of how video improves sale conversations.

Make it easier for people to pay you

You can make it easier for people buying your horse to pay you by taking payments (or the purchase deposit) online through PayPal. You can add a buy-it-button under your video clip. I am seeing more off line businesses (like veterinarians) offering this payment option. I believe your horse buying clients would appreciate the convince too.

You can even set up payments over time with PayPal’s subscription payments.

When you make it easier for people to pay their bills you are more likely to see you money and faster too. PayPaloffers a fast, affordable and convenient online payment service for businesses of all sizes.

If you have had luck with selling horses with videos please leave a comment below and let us know about it. Thanks!

Why a blog is good for your horse business

Blogging is good for your equine business, because it is an easy to use marketing tool to help you spread the news about what you do and why people should care. But you need to use this marketing tool correctly in order to received the most benefit from it.

I searched for a few videos for you to view on blogging for business…

Many horse people now seem to see the need to have their business on the web but are a bit slow on seeing the advantage of an interactive blog site over a static brochure style site. So here are a few videos on why blog for your business:

Why Blog; youtube Video: Blogs in Plain English

Business Blog vs. Normal Website

Everything You Need To Know About Blogging (in 4 Minutes or less)

A few videos on how to blog better:

Are You Still Blogging On Blogger? youtube Video

Blogging Blunders – #1: Not Having Your Own Domain Name; youtube Video

Blogging Blunders – #2: Not Having a Tightly Focused Niche; youtube Video

RSS Feeds; what’s that?

You should also learn about RSS feeds too!

Video: RSS in Plain English

Why have inbound links? Well in a word: traffic.

The more incoming links or one way links pointing to your website the better you will place in some search engines like Google, which leads to more people finding and visiting your site. Also you will receive direct traffic from the sites displaying your links. Hopefully if your site is set up right some of this added traffic will lead to higher sales and business profits!

Think of the links as ads and you know that having more ads displayed in more places can only improve your chances of building a successful horse business.

How to get links?

Ask and Given: You can solicit links and you can be given links.

I get people all the time asking me to put a link to their site on my site. It never hurts to ask, but it really helps if you ask in the right way. I will talk on that subject a little farther down.

You can also gain links from people that enjoyed your site and information and post a link back to your site unasked. The more interesting and informative your site the better your chance at gaining unsolicited links. So keep adding great content to your site on a regular basis. Content like, informational articles, photos, event calendars, free stuff, timely news, show results, and videos. For more info on unsolicited links and how can you get more of them check out: Effective strategies to generate incoming links (See I just gave that site a link because its info adds value for my readers – you.)

Ask Who?

First of all you should decide on where you want your links displayed. Horse business owners will want to display links on sites where horse people gather. There are a ton of equine sites with new one being foaled each day and they range widely in subject matter related to horses. You don’t have the time to go after them all so you want to choose the top sites that would be best for your horse business.

Making a list and checking it twice

If you are selling nail-on horseshoes you might want to cross off sites that specialize in information and products for barefoot horses, because you might not get to many clicks from your links on these sites. You probably will not get your competition wanting to display your links on their sites, so don’t add them to your list either. But web site about horse hooves and general horse sites might be the right spots for your links.

If you are selling products for Quarter horses or Arabian horses you would want to search for sites devoted to that breed and put these sites at the top of your list of places to contact. Do some serious trotting around the Internet and discover the best horse sites where the readers would be the most open to your product or service.

Horse Directories

There are a lot of equine directory sites and horse classified sites to consider. Many will post an ad and link to your site for free or low cost.

Don’t over look horse blogs

Blogging is growing by leaps and bounds and many more people are now blogging about horses. Horse related blogs are a GREAT place to consider for your links as active blogs show up in the search engines more than stagnate websites. Of course they range as widely as websites in their subject matter so you will have to do some work to figure out the best ones for your business. With blogs you can contact the owners about adding your link or get your link posted in the comments you leave after reading a posting. Don’t be shy, many bloggers want comments that add to their postings.

Equine elated forums

Contribute help and tips to others at online discussion forums. Many forums allow you to add a signature file with your site link at the bottom of the post.

Do’s and Dont’s of Asking for a Link

Do be polite and check out the site first. Get to know the content — the articles, information, and ads they display and how your business would fit in.

Add Value

Many sites welcome information in-line with their readers interest and which would add to their knowledge base. Consider writing articles with a link to your site posted at the bottom. In the horse directory sites and equine classified ads you can lead more people to your site with info give-aways, like e-reports, e-books, e-courses, and e-newsletters.

In the horse blogs read the articles that best fit with your equine business and add your thoughts in the comments. Remember to be polite even if you disagree with the posted article. Tell the readers about benefits they can gain and they will be more likely to want to visit your site for more info. Some blog comments don’t allow active links but you can post your company name and/or site address with a spaces, like this: Fit Right Saddles . com. Don’t just post comments that sound like a boastful ad – this can turn people off. It is not all about you; add something constructive to the posting that would help the reader; yep, it is all about them. The more that you can make them feel that way the more likely they will be to click and check out your site.

Summery:

Incoming links can boost your search engine rankings and site traffic. So search, list, contact, comment, and post your URL!

Here are a couple of other articles on this subject that you might want to check out:

Incoming Links – 12 Powerful Link Building Strategies

Incoming Links Aren’t Hard to Come By With the Right Content

Please leave a comment about how you get people to visit your website.

Advertising your stud horse is important for your horse business

Equine Teleseminar’s blog just posted the article, “The Business of Horses – Promoting Your Stallion” by M. R. Bain.

M. R. Bain has bred, trained and shown Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Paints, Arabians as well as Morgans, Saddlebreds, Welsh Ponies and many other breeds. He has developed breeding programs and farms for owners, managed boarding and training stables, been a stallion manager and is considered an authority on equine management. His articles have appeared in The Quarter Horse Journal, Paint Horse Journal, Pinto Horse Magazine, POA Magazine, Spotted Saddle Horse News and 30 regional horse publications from Florida to Alaska and East to West Coast.

If you have a breeding stallion to market I think you should check out his article.

I hope to post some of his other horse business articles on this blog soon.

Stallion Greeting Cards

The holiday season is coming up fast and one way to advertise your stud horse is to send out full color greeting cards or postcards with dramatic photography of your stallion framed with a little holiday theme imagery around the photo. Post a few of these at your local feed and tack shops and horse arenas. Visit the local libraries and slip a few in the horse magazines and horse books too. You could even have photo bookmarkers printed with your website address on one side. These make good stocking stuffers. If you have a Christmas parade in your town you could tape a peppermint candy to each bookmarker and hand them out in the parade.

For full color brochures for the upcoming horse shows, horse expos, and trade shows check out Color Printing Pros.

SAVE 10% on your first Color Printing Pros order! Don’t forget to use the discount code: L4H0807 in order to get your 10% DISCOUNT. Color Printing Pros

I really like their thick 14 pt card stock for folded greeting cards and their extra heavy 16 pt card stock for the postcards. The UV coating adds a great gloss and makes the photo’s colors really pop!

I would love to hear about any ways you have used to promote your stallion. Any unusual ideas to share?

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.

3.) Advertise! Now that you’ve done all that research to determine who your customers are, where they hang out, and what they read, it’s time to put your product and service in front of them! Put ads in magazines and newspapers that they read, hang up flyers at tack and feed stores, and advertise in show programs.

BubbleShare: Share photos – Here comes Halloween!

People don’t want to be “marketed TO”; they want to be “communicated WITH.”
- Flint McGlaughlin

“You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. You’ve got to say it in a way that people will feel in their gut. Because if they don’t feel it, nothing will happen.”
- William Bernbach

4.) Know how to write a good advertisement. How you come across to your potential customers will make all the difference in the world when it comes to whether or not they will choose your products and services over those of a competitor. Be creative and give your ads a little zing! Make them memorable. Let’s say you are selling a horse. Instead of writing an ad that only tells the horse’s color, size, breed, and discipline, try adding impressive bloodlines if appropriate, accolades won, and personality traits that you think your customers will appreciate. An ad that is personal and tells the audience more than just the dry details is sure to get a lot of response.

“Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely.”
- Jay Conrad Levinson

“In marketing I’ve seen only one strategy that can’t miss — and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last.”
- John Romero

5.) Set yourself apart by giving away some “freebies.” Give something away for free, and the customers will come to you. Your give-away can be as simple and cost-effective as an open barn day that allows the community to come and enjoy your facility, or your could go large-scale and sponsor a class at a show. Remember, the goal is to get your name out there in front of those who would benefit from your product or service. Be creative!

6.) Know that word of mouth can make you or break you. Your current customers are the best advertisements you have. Work to retain them, and do what you can to make them happy. They’ll tell friends, who will tell more friends, and so on. Run your business with integrity and honesty, and treat your customers fairly. Always represent your products and services truthfully. The old adage “under promise and over deliver” works well in the horse world, too!

With a little marketing knowledge in hand, you’ll have your horse business up and running in no time. Make sure to visit the great resources below to expand your equine knowledge. Seek wisdom first.

“The only limits are, as always, those of vision.”
- James Broughton

“Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.”
- Richard Wilkins

—-

Ron Petracek – Raised in southern Idaho, Ron loves horses and the outdoors. If you would like to join in and learn from the vast resources at our equine forum please visit http://www.horsechitchat.com
Looking to buy sell or trade something equine related? Just visit our huge network and get 12 sites for Free!
Click here => http://www.Click4equine.com

A teenage receives a patent for a new horse weighing device called Equi-Calc, that is 98 percent accurate.

I just found this news release about a new horse business started by a young person named, Alyssa Hapgood: Teenager’s patent leads to family business

The news report describes the steps Alyssa and her family took to get this horse weight calculate made and one the market. It wasn’t fast or easy, but that is what stops most people from pursuing and succeeding at a new business. I am glad to see that they are the type to hang in there and give this a real go.

This new horse business may have never come about without the inspiration to help a rescued racehorse named Champ that was skin and bones and headed to the killers recover his health.

I wish Alyssa Hapgood the best and hope you consider her new product, Equi-Calc, because knowing the accurate weight of your horse or horses is so important to their well being.

“There are four principal ways of expressing leadership greatness in thought and action: vision, reality, ethics, and courage.”
- Peter Koestenbaum, a philosopher and business consultant

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”
- Gail Devers

12 new horse photo online greeting cards added

Two wonderfully generous ladies sent me a few gorgeous horse pictures that I turned into free greeting cards that you can send over the Internet.

Carolyn Grant has a rare black, Egyptian Arabian stallion named, “Saud El Zaghloul”, nicknamed “Z”. He is a dream – tall, dark, handsome, and exotic! Yep, good looking Arabian horses make my heart beat faster. Wish I could see him in the flesh. I added six new horse ecards from five of Z’s photos. They are posted in the following ecard categories: Arabian Horses, Friendship, Wise Words, Happy Holidays, Birthday, and Beauty.

Click on the images to view the full size ecards sharp and beautiful.

“Z is doing great & just came back from The Miner Institute, NY, where he goes for the breeding season. We are enjoying long trail rides now and we are training over fences again. He’s happy,” says Carolyn Grant.

Click on the images to view the full size ecards sharp and beautiful.

Deb Komro of Madison WI sent me some great horse pictures. Galloping photo of her paint horse, “Comanche” who has one brown eye and one blue eye. She also sent me a photo of her past paint horse, “Commander” who had a large white blaze on his face. A wonderful photo of “Miss Sonny” a palomino (color) Quarter Horse galloping and a delightful picture of friend Kristen Traino and her Percheron draft horse Sophie. Deb’s friend Kouros Farro took some of the photos using a Nikon camera. Deb’s photos have been made into cards for the following card categories: Thank you, Happy Birthday, and Friendship.

I’ve already put on a lot of miles on the photo e-cards you added to your website. Everyone loves them!!! Thanks for everything! You are the best!!!
- Deb Komro
P.S. I will recommend your website to family and friends!!!!

Free Ecards are a nice, and easy way to invite your guests to summer parties, dinners, or other events. Send them to your family, friends, clients, and hopeful clients. Most people like to receive greeting cards so they can be used as a marketing tool for your horse business – let your customers know that you are thinking about them and truly appreciate them. Use them to invite people to your horse events, shows, horse events, and even to remind them about their class schedules.