My Fellow Llama Enthusiasts,

It's been a while since we have sent a newsletter and for a good reason. My son, Eli James, was born on June 9. The past 10 weeks have been pretty busy, and I am finally getting around to our July/August ( and might as well say September because August is nearly over!) Newsletter. Despite the busyness, a lot is happening at LSL as we try to meet our mission goals. Below you find updates on just about everything we are doing. Thanks to all of our supporters for your faith in us. I hope you all are having good summers - we are nearing the end of summer, which I am sure the llamas living in hot regions will be happy about.

By the way, if you are a vendor, please consider sponsoring us by placing an ad on our website. Take advantage of our popularity and web traffic.

LlamaSalesList Joins Twitter!

Web Design

We continue to accept new projects. If you would like to make your own updates to your existing website without relying on others to update it for you, ask us about the "control panel" that we have installed on many websites now.

Grand Harvest Llama Sale Results Please Seller

Breeders' Directory/ LlamaSeeker.Com Generates Leads Galore in 2009

We wanted to share some of the towns/states where leads are coming in for our directory members. Remember, 2009 is a donation year for directory members, voluntary, as we contemplate the overhaul to our site. Thanks to those that have given.  The donations help pay for the making of the information kits, which we are low on pamphlets from llama organizations. If you want to include your llama organization in our kit, send about 20 copies to start to LSL, P.O. Box 56, Mount Solon, VA 22843. Here are some leads that came in recently (people wanting to get started in llamas) :

There have been a total of 53 leads generated directly from the LlamaSeeker.Com website. Here are a few areas these people came from. If you are currently in the directory, you will be receiving lead information for your area if you have not already. If you are not in the directory, then someone else will get the leads that are near you. If you see your area below and want to talk to that person interested in llamas, then send us a small donation and we will give you the lead(s).  There are no farms in New Mexico, for example, so we give them to people in Texas and surrounding states.

-Labelle, FL
-Indianapolis, IN
-DeSoto, MO
-Moriarty, NM
-Bronson, MI
-Kennett, MO
-Albion, NY
-Allenton, WI
-Covinton, WA
-Fostoria, OH
-Simpsonville, SC
-Selma, NC
-Georgetown, KY
-Mountainair, NM
-Williamsport, PA
-Ragley, LA
-Depoe Bay, OR
-Phoenix, AZ
-Laurel, MT
-N. Fort Myers, FL
-Perry, UT
......and the list goes on and on.....In 2007, the year we established the directory, we had over 100 farms in the directory. We used a good portion of those funds in advertising outside the industry and established LlamaSeeker.Com. In 2008, about 50% chose not to renew their membership and were dropped from membership. In the same year, we saw around 50 leads for the year. We are already past 50 this year, and this has been without any advertising this year. So the current members that we have can enjoy sharing the leads that come in geographic area and nearby states where we have no represent ion by a llama farm. In my opinion, at a donation rate, every farm should be joining for the rest of the year. You can decide the amount to donate: $5, $10, $20 are suggestions but hey, if you want to pay just $2, go right ahead. Donations can be sent using PayPal to the llamas@llamasaleslist.com address.

New Membership Offerings Coming

Go ahead and compare us to the alternative web sites out there offering memberships! I do not mean show or futurity organizations...or regional llama clubs....or registries. Oh, and not Llama Journal, which we all should join, by the way. Anyway, we offer online auctions, sales listings, directory listings, and leads. All of our members will have a rotating banner ad included in membership, and we don't care if you have 10 llamas or 2000.....the price will be a flat membership rate. We do not offer you a personal farm page, but you can basically get that free from LlamaJournal.Com….why pay for it? Besides, most people have websites now, and it is important to have your own website that is by itself because viewers will just concentrate on you instead of many farms at once!

Some of the services we offer will be bundled together as a membership package starting in the fall of this year. Memberships will last for one year and will include the following:

-Rotating Banner ad (normally $50/yr.)
-Breeders Directory listing and leads (normally $60/yr.)
-Two llama entries into March Madness ($300 value; llamas must be approved for the auction; acceptance of males not guaranteed) and two entries into any national online sales offered in Summer/Fall. More than two llamas can be consigned at discount prices for members
-Unlimited Private Treaty Listings (normally $10 per listing)
-10% off the costs of a production sale (production sales require reserved dates)

You will receive all of this for a competitive price to be announced very soon - probably on Twitter first.
Don't want to be a member? No problem. We will continue to offer our services to non-members, but you will definitely save money by becoming a member.

March Madness 2010

From now on there will not be a "No Sale" fee in any auctions we offer, but the entry fees are changing from $50 to $150 per entry. If a llama sells as a result of being in the auction, then 10% commission will be due, but $100 will be discounted from that amount. Essentially, nothing has really changed except terminology and more funds are due up front now than previously. There are several reasons why we are changing this. 1) This will allow us to better advertise our sales by having more funds prior to the sale - advertising is essential 2) It eliminates the "No Sale Fee" terminology that seems like a punishment 3) it should increase the quality of llamas in the auction 4) It's less confusing to Consignors and everyone is "on the same page." Our payment policy has been unchanged since 2005, but there still are some people that do not know 5) In the past, some Consignors never paid the entire amount of fees owed or they paid many months after they received the final bill. And some of those people were banned from participating again. By changing to this new format, we will not have to track down or worry about those that have not paid fully.

Just to be perfectly clear, Brian and I are running these auctions at the lowest cost we can. We each get 50% of the profit. With the number of hours we log to organize, maintain, and run these auctions, we are lucky if we make an hourly minimum wage. If our fees were any less, neither of us would want to devote time to running these auctions. We both have families and other commitments and projects besides LSL, as well as our full time jobs, and we have discussed ending the auctions in the past because of the question of whether it was worth the time. However, I have not been ready to stop offering the service yet.

In addition to these changes, we are going to be more strict about the deadlines. We must have sufficient time for selection (especially males) advertising, and previews. If you cannot meet the deadline we set, be prepared to pay a late fee. No application will be considered complete until all the photos and information we ask for are submitted. If this means we only have 5 llamas in the sale, that is fine with us.

For the upcoming March Madness, we will begin accepting applications in October. Please consign as early as you can. Better for the sale and better for you.

Llama Listings (Private Treaty Listings) Exceed 150 Listings - Catalog Update Coming, will be announced via Twitter

We now have over 150 show quality llamas listed for sale on the private treaty side, and the online database is searchable by state, gender, breeding status, price, etc. An updated list in downloadable PDF file format will be available for download right off the front page of LSL. Or search by fiber type or by state, etc., to find your next dream llama. With so many listings, you are bound to find a llama you like. Our site should be your first stop in your quest for buying llamas.

It costs just $10/llama per year to list your llamas.

Advertising Available In Our Newsletters

For $70, Now $50, , your ready ad can be placed in our newsletter like the one below and will reach all our subscribers by email, over 2000 farms.

Have a great September.

Jim

LlamaSalesList.Com
P.O. Box 56
Mt. Solon, VA 22843
540.910.2025
www.llamasaleslist.com