June 8, 2001
by Andrea Laycock Mattson

Me too!! If I see one more tail in the air ...!!  Looks like all but two of ours are bred and settled, so I should count my blessings. It won't be long before we can resume living like "regular folks,"  if there is such a thing for horse people. For sure, there's no such thing as normal for computer geeks.

I guess webmasters qualify for that handle. They say it helps if you are an urgency addict. You get used to not knowing what day or night of the week it is. Right now, I'm sure it's Friday, because they run the Belmont tomorrow. I may not remember that by tomorrow ... especially if I don't get this newsletter out.

I kinda went into a trance a few weeks ago, thinking about how easy it is to slip into neutral after going through spring on the farm, and what a guy should and could be doing about it to keep their horse business pumping all summer and fall. We all work hard to promote stallions late in the year and early spring. Seems natural. If we get into a situation in late spring where we wish we had more bookings, it's a tough thing to pull off at the last minute. Expensive, too. But I see this happening year after year.

I'd like to offer some simple ideas guaranteed to be easy, cheap, and take less time than me writing this newsletter. Can you buy that? Ways to keep your stallion's name in front of people all summer and fall, so they are ready to take action when your pre-breeding season push gets underway? 

Three simple things. Do it now and go enjoy your summer. When the leaves fall, you won't have lost your momentum and your 2002 promotion will be more effective than ever.

NUMBER ONE: 

If you don't yet have a web presence ... get started today by adding a simple signature file to your e-mail program. Not rocket science.  It is free and it's very simple. If you are not sure, just click the "help" button at the top of your screen while you are in your e-mail, and look in the topic index for "signature file." Usually this information is located in the "tools" dropdown menu under "options", but all programs are little different. You'll be fine.

I know most people don't use signature files because I seldom see them on incoming e-mail, and I get bunches. This great chance to provide free information about yourself and your business is priceless. Use it in every e-mail you send out to a horse person. In a minute I will show you how to add the equivalent of a web page, for a one-time setup fee under $10. without some third-party banner bouncing off your walls!

An e-mail signature is simply 
a "boilerplate" file you create to provide 
standard information  you would otherwise 
have to type in by hand every time.

Typically, it contains things like your name, address, phone numbers, business name, web address if you have one, and fun things like adding a favorite quote at the end. Like, "From the outside looking in, it's impossible to understand. From the inside looking out, there's no way to explain." You can include a slogan or short description of your horse business or activity, such as "Breeding, Boarding, Training and Sales."  Most e-mail programs now don't have a limit on how many lines or characters you can include. I like signatures better than e-mail "business cards," which are attachments. Many people are afraid to open them, for fear of opening a virus infected file.

The nice thing about e-mail sigs is 
they are right there, in the body of the e-mail, and 
 will also be printed if someone prints your
 correspondence for future reference.

To insert a signature file, with your cursor at the location where you want the file inserted, all you have to do is click "insert" on your menu bar,  then "signature," then select the one you want if you have more than one.

Here's one of mine:

HorsesOnly.com 
PO Box 137,  300 Lincoln Avenue
Wamego KS 66547
Phone: 785-456-8600 

If it's about Quarter Horses, Paints or
Appaloosas, you'll find it here!
http://www.horsesonly.com 

New Traffic Statistics
http://www.horsesonly.com/traffic 

Stallion Finder Directory
http://www.StallionFinder.com 
Master Stallion Index:
http://www.stallionfinder.com/allstuds.htm 

Stallions at Stud & Horse Classifieds
http://www.BuyHorsesONLY.com 
http://www.StallionClassifieds.com  (master index) 

Build your own Horse Sale Catalog!
http://www.CatalogMagic.com  (info) 

Horse Sale Catalog Calendar
http://www.horsesonly.com/catalog 

the Futurity Guide
http://www.FuturityGuide.com 
30,000 hit every month and growing!
Free Futurity Stallion Index
We do free web pages for Futurity organizations!

Breeders Showcase - take the tour!
http://www.horsesonly.com/breeders 

"Crossroads" - Articles by Guest Authors
http://www.horsesonly.com/crossroads 

Pedigree Power - free resources
http://www.pedigreepower.com 

the BookShelf - new, used & rare books
http://www.horsesonly.com/books 

the Ultimate Links - huge index; add yours!
http://www.horsesonly.com/links 

Take advantage of our exclusive Del Mar connection!
Offer Hypothetical Matings on your Stallion Finder pages
& get on the Del Mar hot-linked "Featured Stallions" list.
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
All Breed Pedigree Query ... Free database, pedigrees 
and reports! Add your horses today and be a part of the
fastest growing all-breed pedigree database in the world!
http://www.pedigreequery/allbreed/ 

So you can see, it can be very extensive and useful to your friends,  clients and prospective customers. With the above signature file, I can give my contact information, tell about my web site, provide the URL,  give them a "one-click" link to our latest news and announcements, invite  them to join our newsletters, and make sure they find out about the new  all-breed pedigree database at Del Mar. 

This may be a lot more than  some people need or want,  but build yours to suit your needs. If you stand  a stallion or stallions, you can include their names, etc. Sometimes  people forward such information to others they think would be interested in  your services, so even word-of mouth business can be generated without effort once you create this file.

NUMBER TWO:

Donate a stallion service to national, regional or local futurity!

Show and Futurity season is approaching full bloom now. Get out there and mingle with the shakers and movers. Find out what's hot and observe your competition. It's fun and a great way to get acquainted with people who are serious about breeding for a future show horse. You'll have many opportunities to get information about your stallions into the hands of prospective customers. Maybe even sell a horse or two. Plan to have your stallion participate as a sire for the 2002 breeding season. 

It really makes a difference to many people, and it's a very low cost thing for you to do in order to qualify his foals for these lucrative futurity events.

Typically, many futurity programs are set up like this: A stallion owner donates one breeding service. That service is offered at a live or mail-in auction to the highest bidder, or is simply listed at a specific discount (such as 60% of the regular advertised fee) on a first-come, first served basis. When the service sells, all foals sired by that stallion for that season are eligible for the futurity program. Often the show eligibility period extends though the foal's 4th or 5th year of age for performance events.

When your stallion participates as a sire, the Futurity organization will do a lot for you in the way of advertising. If there is a live or mail-in auction, you will be represented in their auction catalog. There is often a "stallion parade" in conjunction with the live auctions.

You will receive promotion through the organization's mail-out literature, newsletters, print advertising and websites.

I am crazy about Futurities and their promotional value for stallion owners!  If you don't believe what a nut I am, check out our FREE online Futurity Guide.  For 6 years, I have compiled and presented this information at no cost to futurity organizations , stallion owners or our visitors. I even offered the complete AQHA Incentive Fund and APHA Breeders Trust stallion lists until they started putting them on their own web sites!!

For 5 years, we published a complete list of AQHA Incentive Fund stallions in our Futurity Guide This year, since AQHA still puts their lists into the "members only" area, I have a standing offer to post Incentive Fund stallions free, organized by state in our Futurity Guide,  but I ask that you send a request to have your stallions put on this free list,  so AQHA doesn't think I'm trying to steal their thunder.

Please tell your friends! We have a quick and easy online form to submit stallion information HERE

If you are already participating in a futurity that is not currently represented in our online Futurity Guide, please ask your futurity manager to contact me. We'll get them set up at no cost with their own web page in our Futurity Guide. We get a lot of traffic in that section of our site! 

NUMBER THREE:

Keep some year around advertising in place for your stallion.

Right ... I know not everybody can afford full page breed journal advertising year around, but there are less expensive, effective ways to keep your stallion in front of the public. However, many breeding decisions are made during the summer show and futurity season, and I would hate to see you miss out on these "early bird" bookings.

Check our Stallion Finder Directory or StallionClassifieds.com  full page Classifieds for year 'round exposure for a $2 to $10 per month average cost.  

If you do nothing more than get your Quarter Horse, Paint or Appaloosa stallion enrolled in the Stallion Finder, you will be assured of two things. 

You will put your advertising directly in the path of the most targeted group of potential customers on the web. You will quickly establish your stallion's name and your business in all the major search engines well before the pre-season booking frenzy! 

Remember:

1. Create your e-mail signature file.
2. Get your stallion involved in at least one Futurity
3. Consider enrolling in the Stallion Finder

Related Articles:

What Really Makes the Web Click for Stallions? -- You want qualified breeders to beat a path to your barn.

Print Advertising Tips  -- Getting the Most out of your High Dollar Advertising

Stallion Promotion -- Things you can do to Power-up,  and get better results from your current advertising.

The Beauty of Cross Marketing --  Same Horses .. New Clients!!

Copyright © 2001 by Andrea Laycock Mattson. All rights reserved. Note: If you would like to reprint this article on your web site or in a printed magazine or horse-related newspaper,  please contact the webmaster for arrangements.

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