Merchandising... The most bang for your buck

[aj]

Are there any merchandising majors out there that can help me. I heard an audio tape of jim leachman from a kla convention speech maybe 20 years ago. He talked on merchandising seedstock. He said you had to budget for your advertising. Let's say I budget 600$ for this year to advertise my seedstock. Do I buy a full page ad in the shorthorn country? Do I buy 600$ worth of writting pens to hand out at the county fair? Do I buy 600$ worth of time on radio stations such as kfrn or koma and how much airtime does that buy? What does an ad in say the showcircut cost and what are there reader numbers. Do you get their circulation and divide by cost's or do you factor in responses. Do you buy 600$ worth of business cards and drop them over the city of new york with a spray plane?How do you target customers? Who are your customers? Do you use guerrilla marketing and capitalize on free "press releases? You raise good cattle and let word of mouth do it for you?Do you have a website?Do you direct mail customers at stamps at now a 99 cents a letter? Do you haul cattle all about the us in a 50,000$ rig to all the pace shows? It seems like it takes 5 years to get a reputation out on a semen bull. You have to sell semen and then have his calves hit the ground a year latter and then a year to win the big one. Some small herds with great cattle lose interest in a bull and some promoter will come along and make money on them. Please give me advise on my budgeted 600$. Thanks in advance. (welcome)

 

[DL]

Know your market. Then Web site - constantly update, describe your philosophy, give your email address, answer all emails and answer them politely - even the ones that seem bothersome - find your niche and promote it online - always send buyers a thank you - get your own domain name ie jsshowcattle.com so that it is easy to find (ie dont end up on the end of a long string) - keep in touch with buyers via email - few thoughts from the bedraggled!

 

[Jill]

I don't practice what I preach, we started out slow and our business grew by word of mouth we did the 50,000 investment and showed, but that was what we started out to do and ended up raising them as a bonus.

I agree with Dragon Lady, get a web site, when I start looking for cattle the 1st place I go is the internet, if you don't have a web site you better have a solid reputation built up so I know who you are.  I guess from my experience ads are great if you have a bull you are trying to promote, the ads just advertising a farm really don't do much for me and the biggest mistake I have seen is posting a poor picture.  Pens are a waste of money, cards are great for people you see in person, junk mail is just junk mail at my house, I have never been prompted to buy anything from it. 

The most important thing is to know your market and if you don't have a market then I would suggest you try and get a few placed in sales (Expo, American Royal, Louisville, consignment sales in your area) it cost a little to do this, but a nice calf in front of me is the best advertising.

 

[aj]

It looks like a web site would be the most effective. Some old guys with commercial cattle may not be real computer savy. I would think listing your website address on printed ads would be important. How about card size ads in magazines with address on it. 12 card size ads through the year may be good. It seems like to me unless acrd size ads are by themselves they get lost in the fog. I know of guys who say won a pen bull show in denver had their association send their local paper a press release. These papers were happy to print a local story like that.It was free advertising.  (dog)

 

[ELBEE]

Internet (web-site Email) and cell phone. Spend time with the customer. Get on the train, or stay at the station!

 

[red]

The website any more is very improtant. Especially if you can keep it fresh & current.
We get so many pens that I just put them in a junk drawer.
Have nice business cards & plenty of them t hand out at any whip stitch. I think if you can have your information on them & get them out to people that is a major battle. i've had people call me 3 years later after getting my card looking for bulls.
If you go to a show or sale, have a display area where you can have pictures, biz cards & information available. Keep your display & stall area clean & professional.
Shirts w/ you farm name is also a good idea if you are displaying or showing cattle. Makes an impression.
I don't know how much bang you get for ads. We ran an ad in the voice after we won Louisville, got 1 customer from it. I guess if I ran an ad it would be more thanking my buyers & supporters.
I'm not a marketing expert but let me know & I'll see if I can be of any help. did marketing for a couple of feed comapnies I worked for.

Red

 

[Jill]

It looks like a web site would be the most effective. Some old guys with commercial cattle may not be real computer savy. I would think listing your website address on printed ads would be important. How about card size ads in magazines with address on it. 12 card size ads through the year may be good. It seems like to me unless acrd size ads are by themselves they get lost in the fog. I know of guys who say won a pen bull show in denver had their association send their local paper a press release. These papers were happy to print a local story like that.It was free advertising.  (dog)

I can't speak for anyone else, but for myself I have only looked at the card sized ads 1 time that I can remember, I would not waste my money on one.

 

[red]

something I always liked, you can buy blank magnets that you can put biz cards on. Hand these out. I personally love refigerator magnets & this is a good way to keep your name out in front
Red

 

[justme]

Ok, as a business woman...I say go website!  Find a great host though.  I tried them all and so far EDJE is getting me the most bang for my buck.  I do use Club Calf for banner ads, and that helps bring my hits up.  90 percent of my business goes out of state from my "little" website. The key is to buy your domain name (and make it easy to remember), find a great host, and update pictures ALOT!  If its cattle, even try calf of the week or month.  Just get something new on it.

Good luck!
Gidget
www.funkystitches.com

 

[genes]

One more vote for a website.  Although there are some old farmers who ever see much of the world wide web, it is the way things are done now for so many people.  Also, for myself I know it is both easier and sometimes less intimidating to look at websites, and email if I have questions, than to call people up about things. 

With regards to a website, one thing I believe is important (read it about horse marketing) is to buy your domain name and use that.  While there are sites out there that give you free pages, the urls tend to be long and cryptic, so it's not memorable to people (and we all know how sometimes we forget to bookmark pages, and have to work from our memory - oh dear).  I think (don't quote me) it also will make your stuff come up on search engines if you have your own site, and finally, it is more professional, and shows you are willing to make a bit of an investment in your cattle.  Luckily, it's not even a big investment.

People want a professional looking website.  Now, professional looking might mean done by a true professional, but it could also just mean looks professional.  For example, you might know a teenager or college student with good website design skills who would be glad to do it for a bit of money (but not as much as a true pro).  Or if you are savvy yourself, you might even be able to learn.

And good pictures are so important, so again, either spend the money to get someone who can provide that, or spend the time to figure out how to do it yourself.

Oh and one random thing...I don't like websites that play songs.  One little sound when you open is not so bad...but when the song keeps on.......

 

[red]

AJ- talk to Jill Morris, she designs web sites & is a cattle person too.
I have to agree w/ you Genes on the music. Some of it is so loud & distracting that you loss concentration of what you're looking at. Or is that old age?
A good catchy motto or phrase or a mission statement is always good!
Also decide what your are going to be or do. You can't be everything to everyone. Are you club calves, breeding stock, bulls or maternal genetics?

Best of luck, let us know what you're doing!!

Red

 

[morriscattleservices]

What helps is knowing the target time to advertise.
Websites are great as stated above. If you keep it current, and updated, it can be a very useful tool.

What always helps us is getting in our State's Breeder Directory. This is a reference people use all year long and if your state association is promoting it's self correctly at expos, they are handing them out to people. People from all states usually come to expos and state sales, so make it makes it nice to get out there to others. 

Try to advertise in the magazines when the dmeand is high for what you are selling. This helps too.
We try to advertise when people are needing their herds sheered for the summer and when the kids are needing calves broke for fall shows. THis generates a ton of business for us.

HATS......people LOVE hats.

I hope this helps.
Jill Morris
www.morriscattleservices.com

 

[morriscattleservices]

I also forgot to put that if you have a website, good professional pictures of your cattle is a MUST.
Try to hire someone that does knows what they are doing to come out and take them for you.  It's not just a picture, it is a representation of what you are about. You cattle pictures say a whole lot about who you are and what your cattle are.

This also goes for your ads in magazines. If you have a bull you are promoting semen on, a show picture is nice, but a lot of people like to see the bull after he has been working a while too. This gives them a realization of the product.

If I think of something else, I will keep posting. I am kind of blank right now! LOL  ;D

 

[aj]

Thanks for the input. I hope to develop a durham red program to sell commercial bulls. I think it takes 5-10 years to develop a strong commercial bull buying base. Once they find out that you are not lying about bwt's and your genetics have good udders and conveience traits and etc word gets around. There are way to many people selling bulls for the demand right now. My shorthorn herd, I am trying to sort through the th and pha stuff. I think red cattle will sell better south than north. Jim leachman said you need to differentiate your product. There are acres and acres of say simmental cattle out there. If you can make them solid colored, polled and easy fleshing it doesn't hurt. I know a couple times at the kansas beef expo and etc. we would put a bucket of peanuts out in front of the stall area. People would stop and slow down for a handfull of free peanuts. Would hiring several "hooters" girls to stand out front help? Just kidding. (clapping)

 

[xxcc]

jim leachman was a marketer and not a stockman, atleast by the standards i know...why is it that carcass weights, and hair on black cattle primarily "angus" have increased in the last ten years and quality grades have decreased?  sounds like continental influence to me, BUT, then while fertility testing many angus bulls, i noticed that many of the ones that kicked had a gray(grey...take your pick) tinged hair between their hind quarters...at first i pointed my finger at simmi's and chi's....but what do you think maintained the solid black hide while changing the above mentioned traits?

the way they were changed and what jim leachman also promoted had something in common...Piedmontese cattle.  believe what you want, but Jim Leachman was for Jim Leachman.  kind of surprising that the Leachman operation bailed about the time that some of the bulls with their foundation became huge, eh?

he said somewhere once that 9600 mother cows were AI'd on the ranch south of Billings, MT...but there was no statement of what the conception rate was, or what the cows were cleaned up with.

you bet.  hairpin.  i think he only made that ploy 20 years ago to send his podunk wannabe competitors astray.  i'll tell you what, hot dogs and 3 days of drinking only goes so far.  it  was a little "too little too late," but between goggins and steveson, the BS factor was toned down a tad and the products are a little more legit.

 

[aj]

How do you really feel? I don't really like leachman and I know nothing of his cattle but he is a marketer and is the first person I have heard talk about market share, long term goals and etc. A lot of people raise cattle, plan a production sale, and then go out and look for customers. Commercial guys don't want to hear about 1000,000 $ bulls and 10,000 heifers they want epd's and honest bwt's ,conveneince traits, and common sense selection pressure. Most all purebred breeders keep a cow that looses her calf and has a bad udder and etc. Thats insane to a commercial guy who wants to buy from a breeder that has some natural selection pressure in his herd.  Leachman recognized this and provided seedstock that fit this discription. Good points xxcc.

 

[ELBEE]

I don't know Leachman, but he reminded me of the Hunt brothers trying to corner the silver market. I believe he could teach a class on marketing 101. "About the time I thought I was winning the rat race, guess what? Faster rats!"

 

[justme]

Thanks for the input. I hope to develop a durham red program to sell commercial bulls. I think it takes 5-10 years to develop a strong commercial bull buying base. Once they find out that you are not lying about bwt's and your genetics have good udders and conveience traits and etc word gets around. There are way to many people selling bulls for the demand right now. My shorthorn herd, I am trying to sort through the th and pha stuff. I think red cattle will sell better south than north. Jim leachman said you need to differentiate your product. There are acres and acres of say simmental cattle out there. If you can make them solid colored, polled and easy fleshing it doesn't hurt. I know a couple times at the kansas beef expo and etc. we would put a bucket of peanuts out in front of the stall area. People would stop and slow down for a handfull of free peanuts. Would hiring several "hooters" girls to stand out front help? Just kidding. (clapping)

The women of the board would prefer some Chipendale dancers...come on JUST ONCE! lol (clapping)

 

[red]

There you go- Where's the beefcake?!!!!

Red (clapping)

 

[Jill]

I don't know Leachman, but I do know anyone that is really successful (money wise) in this business is a better marketer than stockman there are several in the Maine and Shorthorn business that fall into that catagory too.