 April E-Newsletter |
| I hope everyone is enjoying weather wherever you live, and you are enjoying your llamas! There's no doubt in my mind on any given day in April, cria are being born, llamas are sheared, llamas are groomed for upcoming shows, and at the very least, farms are planning some llama breedings for the spring and early summer months. It is a busy time! Sorry if I missed you in Oklahoma City at Celebrity this year - I could not attend. It did not work out this year, but I am using this time to continue expanding what LlamaSalesList has to offer. This newsletter will update you on the latest news. March Madness Results March Madness was a little rough this year. Since our very first March Madness auction, we have seen an increase in percent sold every year, but the one major difference this year compared to previous years is the state of the U.S. economy. It did not help that February was a month with forecasts of uncertain times ahead by most media outlets. Although we are still hearing bad forecasts, in the last few days, the media has been a little more positive. Although we cannot say with certainty, we believe most of you would agree that the economy was the difference this time around. We will continue to offer March Madness and private sales as they become organized and announced. Please take one last look at the llamas from March Madness that did not sell - we will be removing them in a couple days. You can still make offers on these llamas. Upcoming Sales There have been several groups discussing production/reduction sales through LlamaSalesList. These farms and dates will be announced once confirmed. There probably will not be more than 2-3 private sales this year. LlamaSeeker.Com and LlamaBreeder.Com Progress Report - 25 total Requests for Information Kit in 2009 and Counting LlamaSeeker.Com is a site for newcomers to find basic information about llamas and to request more information. We are glad to announce that we are seeing 2-10 inquiries/month from people interesting in knowing more about llamas! Most of these people do not currently have llamas but want possibly start raising them or using them in some capacity (breeding, guards, pets, etc.). The farms that benefit from LlamaSeeker.Com are current members of our Breeders Directory. How do they benefit? Read on... LlamaBreeder.Com is the site where our Breeders Directory is located. It is sorted by state, showing each farm's logo, contact information, and website. Some people find this site through searches and may have contacted the farms near their home. But the real benefit from being a directory member comes from LlamaSeeker.Com - referrals! These are genuine leads - people that inquired of LlamaSeeker.Com for more information. Here's How It Works: An interested person inquires for more llama information from LlamaSeeker.Com. Niki Kuklenski has been the coordinator between those inquiring and the farms participating. We receive that inquiry and Niki matches the inquirer to the closest farms around them, usually in their own state. We then contact the farms near them and give them their contact information so they can provide more llama information, invite them to their farm, etc. In 2008, we sent out well over 50 llama information kits that we put together. We have not been charging in 2009 to be a member because later this year, we will begin to offer LSL memberships that will include being in the Breeders Directory and referrals. The only issue with not charging for the directory this year is that we have no budget! We cannot send out the llama info kits that we did last year. We have relied on farms contacting the inquirers to provide information but we prefer to mail the kits. The second issue is that we do not have at least one farm in every state but we would like to. So what I am proposing until the end of the year is that 1) existing members, especially if you have been given some leads (and I know some of you have had several!) would make a donation to used for the LlamaSeeker.Com. It can be whatever amount you want to give. Anything will help. 2) Any other farms not listed that want to be - same deal, we will add you if you send a donation to help us with the non-existing budget! We have had inquiries in states like Utah, North Dakota, and others, where we have no farms representing, so you are losing potential business to those not in your state and for an insignificant fee!! We can accept donations through PayPal - just send to llamas@llamasaleslist.com. At this time we are unsure what direction(s) this project is heading, except that it is not going away. Over the next 8 months, wouldn't it be worth it to receive some leads off LlamaSeeker.Com? Llama Listings (Private Treaty Listings) Exceed 150 Listings - Catalog Available We now have over 150 llamas listed for sale on the private treaty side, and the online database is searchable by state, gender, breeding status, price, etc. We have compiled the entire list into a downloadable PDF file, available for download right off the front page of LSL. Check it out today! It costs just $10/llama per year to list. **New Idea - We are encouraging all those that have placed llamas on the sales list to work together in selling your llamas by offering a 10% commission (or whatever amount you want). If someone finds you a buyer or if you bring a buyer to someone, they give you a commission. So if a buyer does not buy from you after you show them what you have, suggest to them to look at the Offerings catalog for other options. Just an idea we are putting out there. Memberships Possibly Coming Soon We are pushing ourselves to have LSL memberships start this fall. What will you get for your membership? Well, we are still putting the package together, but among the things included will be unlimited llama listings, 1-2 auction entries in March Madness, member of the LSL Breeders Directory, leads/referrals from Llama Seeker.Com and more. We thought about having members also have a page about their farm, but in the end, it seems these days everyone has a website, and we don't see the need to duplicate your information when we can offer you so much more than that instead. In all liklihood, the information on your website is in much more detail anyway. Why pay for a service that just duplicates what you already have in a website? We have not decided whether to make memberships mandatory, but membership will definitely have its privileges. Advertising Available In Our Newsletters For $70, your ad can be placed in our newsletter like the one below and will reach all our subscribers by email, over 2000 farms.
Support your local and regional shows, sales, and llama organizations as much as you can. Join the Breeders Directory and start getting some leads too. If you have a suggestion for us, email it to us and we will consider it.
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