Monday Morning Quick Tip – WEG Economic Impact Numbers Released

Lisa Kemp at 2010 WEG - how many people do you think posed for this same shot?

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) had an impact in many ways, from changing the face of the Kentucky Horse Park and leaving behind a legacy of structures that will attract even more world-class equestrian events in the future, to creating lasting memories for those that were fortunate enough to experience the event last autumn.

WEG also had a significant economic impact within the state of Kentucky, according to numbers released recently at a Kentucky Horse Park news conference. While early projections placed dollar figures at $150 to $167 million, the final study showed a greater than $201 million impact to the state.

The June 27th news conference, held in the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse lobby due to a summer downpour that morning, featured remarks from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear; First Lady Jane Beshear; Alltech founder Dr. Pearse Lyons; Tourism, Arts and Heritage Secretary Marcheta Sparrow; and Kentucky Horse Park Executive Director John Nicholson.

A recording of John Nicholson’s remarks about WEG’s impact will be available soon; watch for it here. In the meantime, those wishing to learn more can view an online version of the report, available at the Kentucky Department of Travel website.

Monday Morning Quickie – Change Is The Only Constant

Greetings, my lovely and loyal readers! I’m now into Year Two of the No Biz Like Horsebiz blog, and Year Seven of writing about equine industry marketing…and while the subject matter is consistent, my how things have changed!

• Social media was hardly a blip on the radar screen back then
• What’s this gizmo called an iPhone?!
• Decent quality video (and photography) required costly equipment

And so on. So much has changed since I started sharing my marketing and PR knowledge and expertise with the horse world that I love, even my own methods of delivering information have changed dramatically. Who’d have thought I’d ever be called a ‘Twitter Badass?’

Way back then, I started writing about horsebiz marketing because I saw all the talented, knowledgeable horsemen & woman who weren’t succeeding because they were spending all their time and energy on the horse end, and not enough on the marketing end. I had the hope and the dream of inspiring horsebiz owners to improve their marketing, and the plan to teach them about tools they could cost-effectively use to do so.

I’m now seeing a lot more marketing folk travel down this same path, of helping horsebiz owners improve their marketing, which I love! A rising tide floats all boats, and when we’re all succeeding, the industry is succeeding and getting stronger as a result, with more people experiencing the joy of horses.

So, as I review my own work, and consider how to reach bigger audiences and have a bigger voice, I’d like to make a few changes to the Monday Morning Quickie. But first I want to learn about how YOU read and absorb the information, so I hope you’ll help me out by filling out the quick survey below.

The one thing that will change is the name – instead of ‘Monday Morning Quickie,’ going forward you’ll be greeted with the ‘Monday Morning Quick-Tip’ – too many people were finding this blog from a Google search on ‘quickies’ and I thought better to nip that in the bud. Not something I fully thought through when I named it, but lesson learned!

Many, many thanks to each of you that reads this blog, shares your thoughts and comments as part of the conversation, connects with me by Twitter or email, and joins me at events where I’ve been a speaker. I truly appreciate your support, and it helps me to hear how this blog serves you now, and can do so better in the future.

All the best,

Lisa Kemp

Please note: You can check all the boxes that apply. Thanks in advance for completing the survey!

Monday Morning Quickie – 2010 In Review

The week between Christmas and New Year’s can be pretty quiet, with many people taking time off work, traveling, and otherwise being out of their usual routine. Not so the horse professional, whose charges need to be fed & exercised no matter what the calendar says!

Many in the horse industry are already well into their 2011 plans, strategizing for competition season, flipping through stallion directories, and getting ready for newborn foals to arrive. There’s always something to take the focus away from marketing, so it’s important to build in time to review the past and make plans for the future.

I find it useful to take some time and reflect on what happened the prior year. Here are a couple trends that will likely be important for equine industry professionals in the coming year:

• 2010 brought a phenomenal rise in the use of social media, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn and more. News often breaks first now via social media, and with the Facebook founder as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, we’re likely to see even more use of social media to create community and connection with customers.

• On the Internet, there are more options than ever to assist equine industry professionals in getting the job done. From EquestrianProfessional.com, to the Monday night #HorseChat and #HorseSoMe (for Horse Social Media) chats on Twitter, tech-y options are increasing day by day. The good news is that these options are frequently low-cost; the not-so-good news is that they still require time and effort on the computer, something many horse professionals are still reluctant to do.

For the past FIVE years (my, how the time does fly!), I’ve written about how horse business owners and managers can improve their marketing and PR, first in print and now via this blog. The horse industry has been through a lot in those five years, but this period of re-tooling and change gives us opportunities we didn’t have 20 years ago. The question becomes, what will we do with those opportunities, in 2011 and beyond?

I’m wishing each of you a healthy, happy & prosperous New Year – drive safely if you’re out traveling next weekend!

COMING NEXT WEEK: Last month I spoke at the Equestrian Lifestyle Expo in northern Illinois, on Fifty Ways (Yes, 50!) To Stretch Your Marketing Budget. For 2011, I’ll share one of those tips each week in a blog post, starting next week.

 

Monday Morning Quick Tip – The Humble Postcard…As Marketing Tool?

Greetings, and Happy Holidays wherever you are in the world!

Today let’s consider the humble postcard and its use as a marketing tool. We’ve all sent postcards home to loved ones from our vacation spots, pictures of sun-kissed beaches or landmark sites or funny images of who-knows-what. They’re meant to connect you with the recipient, whether in a ‘wish you were here’ moment, or a ‘look where I am and you’re not’ kind of way. But today, postcards aren’t JUST for vacations any more. They can be used in your day-to-day equine business marketing.

One-sided postcards, with an attention-getting image and your business logo on the printed side, can have all kinds of uses: Thank-you cards, event announcements, coupons, gift certificates, bookmarkers, tradeshow booth wallpaper – the list of possibilities might not be endless, but it’s only limited by your imagination when just one side of a postcard is printed:

• Thank-you cards: Write your thank-you or message on 1/2 of the unprinted side, address and stamp it, and stick it into the outgoing mail.

• Event announcements, coupons, gift certificates: Using labels from the office supply store, you can print just about anything and stick it onto the blank side of the postcard. Or, have stampers made up and stamp your message on the blank side.

• Bookmarkers: Depending on the front image, you can cut cards in half, punch a hole in one end for some ribbon, and put a sticker with your business information on the blank side. Laminate first if you like. Business cards often get ‘filed’ or forgotten, but a nice bookmark can be used over and over again, keeping your business in front of the user.

• Tradeshow booth wallpaper: We’ve all seen the backgrounds for post-game sports interviews and red carpet walks, with logos splashed all over to get added exposure. If you’ve got a blank tradeshow booth wall, why not sprinkle some of your postcards across it? For the really bold, you can even go with a full-on wallpaper effect.

The biggest cost in traditional paper printing is the set-up; once that’s done, the paper cost for a few hundred, or few thousand, extra is minimal. Well-designed postcards printed on thick paper stock can provide a boost to your brand without breaking the bank.

If your business strives to be ‘green’ you can find a printer that’ll use recycled paper and soy-based inks for your cards – be sure to include that message on the printed side design!

The point is, whether you’re on a budget or not, postcards can have a place in your marketing strategy as a way to connect you with your potential customer in a ‘wish you were here with us’ marketing moment.

What are some ways YOU can think of to use one-sided postcards in your equine business marketing? Post ’em here in the Comments section!

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This article and the site contents are copyright Lisa Kemp and Kemp Equine, all rights reserved. Brands and trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Content may be linked to from your site or social media, but not copied, in whole or in part, without prior permission. It’s also good karma, and good ethics, to give source credit when you share. Thanks.

 

 

 

Monday Morning Quickie – Like It Or Not, Twitter’s Worth A Look

Many people tell me they prefer Facebook over Twitter. Either they find Twitter too confusing, or they say they don’t like the updates about what someone had for lunch or what music they’re currently listening to. However, with Twitter’s evolution and recent growth, it might be worth a second look as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Twitter has had phenomenal growth this year. From 105 million users this past April, to 145 million in early September 2010, and now up to a mind-blowing 175 million users, that’s some pretty incredible growth. PCMag.com reported on 10-31-2010 that Twitter is now on-track to break 200 MILLION USERS by the end of 2010; that’s growth of about a half-million people/users/Twitter accounts each day.

As for what’s being tweeted, or shared, via Twitter, it’s evolved from the ‘early’ days. Advertising Age reported earlier this month about how Twitter users adopted the platform and used it for everything from political organizing to headline news sharing.

I’ve found Twitter to be a great tool for interacting with people in real time; I love the immediate feedback and connection that Twitter allows. Twitter is also a good search tool, using the # sign (referred to as a ‘hashtag’ on Twitter) which makes a keyword searchable. For example, if you include the word ‘horse’ in your 140-character tweet, but you include the hashtag (#horse), that makes it a searchable, active link – and anyone searching for ‘horse’ on Twitter will find your tweet that included #horse.

The equestrian community is also growing and evolving on Twitter. There are more horsey ‘tweeps’ (another word for Twitter users) on Twitter, and there are the beginnings of some regular gathering forums using Twitter:

• HorseChat is a weekly Twitter chat organized by Mandee Widrick of Horse Family Magazine (@horsefamilymag on Twitter); all are welcome to follow and join in. To do so, go to tweetchat.com on Monday nights at 9 PM Eastern time, and enter HorseChat into the box at the top – you’ll be able to follow all the HorseChat tweets. You can tweet directly from your own Twitter account, or signing up for a TweetChat account will let you follow and tweet from the same place. Mandee also now archives each week’s HorseChat at the Horse Family Magazine Web site.
• Also on Mondays is the Horse Social Media Chat (#HorseSoMe); you can also follow along at tweetchat.com, just type in HorseSoMe in the box at the top.

What do you think? Do you love Twitter, or hate it? See it as a necessary marketing evil, or a tool to be embraced? I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about Twitter.

I’m thinking…175+ million people can’t be all wrong.