Get support from other equestrian entrepreneurs to help grow your equestrian business

A friend of mine recently allowed her field to be used for a charity horse show. Now this field is in a prominent position at the top of a country lane near a busy road ideal for attracting passing visitors, at the other end of the lane, in the middle of nowhere is a recently opened equestrian centre with a tack shop etc. Its' geographical position means it doesn't stand a hope in hells chance of attracting passing trade, you have to know it's there to find it.

Signs for the charity horse show went up (incidentally they were removed /stolen by persons unknown) and the equestrian centre owner approached the organizer of the show asking her to consider cancelling it as it was a "conflict of interest". She also visited the owner of the field complaining about "conflict of interest" and demanded that she withdraw the use of her field for the event.

Needless to say the horse show went ahead and local equestrians turned up, competed and had a great time.

The equestrian centre owner missed out on a wonderful opportunity to promote her own business:

She could have had a trade stand for the princely sum of £10 (proceeds to charity) to tell a target audience about her facilities.

She could have promoted the horse show to her liveries with their own horses who could easily have hacked down to the show and had a fun day out.

She could have given her pupils the opportunity to compete at the show on her riding school ponies.

She could have competed herself.

She could have worked  with the organizer offering a prize / money off lesson coupons to competitors etc

In fact she could have had loads of people at that show promoting her equestrian centre and tack shop for virtually no financial outlay and if she charged for the use of her ponies in classes she would have made a profit on the event herself.

But no, she had the "If they have, I'll have not" mental attitude and that's just what she ended up with, The moral to this tale

“Most importantly, you need support from other entrepreneurs who are at similar stages as you are, and from others with more experience. The more connected you become with other entrepreneurs, the more normal your quest becomes. You’ll no longer feel crazy or alone, and you’ll realize that we all face obstacles just like you’re facing.” Think Traffic

Image: Copyright My Equestrian World

Your horse business needs a platform

What's a "platform"?

Very simply, a platform is the thing you have to stand on to get heard. It’s your stage. But unlike a stage in the theater, today’s platform is built of people. Contacts. Connections. Followers. - Michael Hyatt  Platform - How to get noticed in a noisy world

So if "today's platform is built of people. Contacts. Connections. Followers." how are you going to establish a platform for your equine / equestrian business? 

Answer : Through the internet.
Through Blogging, social media and an email list.

Lets take a quick look at these three key ways to establish a platform for your horse business.

Blogging
Blogging is a great way to establish an online presence, grow an audience and establish yourself as an authority in the horse world. They can be linked to websites or be your own websites. You can start a blog for free with Blogger or Wordpress or you can pay for a blogging platform with eg. Typepad. It's a good idea to buy a domain name so that your blog’s address can be yourname.com rather than yourname.blogger.com.

Social Media
There are loads of different social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+ to name some of the most popular, you can't possibly be on all of them and run a horse business so chose one or two social networks that you think will work for you and put some work into them, don't try and stretch yourself too thin.

Email list
An email list will enable you to contact your customers directly with special offers etc but if you take the time to email a monthly newsletter you'll be able to offer so much more to your clients, eg. tips and advice you could also include links to some of your blog posts.

Pinterest for your equestrian business

The top social networking sites are as follows:
Facebook (7 billion), Twitter (182 million), Pinterest (104 million), and LinkedIn (86 million).

Here are a few facts about Pinterest:
 50% of Pinterest users have children
 Almost 70% of Pinterest users are female
 Pinterest receives almost 1.5 million visitors each day
 Pinterest provides more referral traffic to other sites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined

Looks like Pinterest might be the new place to be to promote your equine / equestrian business, what do you think could it work for yours?

BHS Riding Instructors Survey - How Riding Instructors Market Themselves

The British Horse Society is carrying out market research to understand more about how Riding Instructors currently market themselves.
To participate in the survey please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Riding_Instructors
The findings from this survey will be announced at a conference on 3 October 2012 entitled 'Marketing yourself and your business'. The conference, organised by The Association of Fellows and Instructors, is supported by The British Horse Society and will be held at the BHS headquarters in Warwickshire. At the conference a range of marketing and social media experts will speak to delegates to help them get the most from their business.

For full details and how to apply please click here.

Free Local Business Listing at Google Places for equestrian / equine/ horse businesses

If you're in business you want to take advantage of as much free advertising as you can get so make sure that you have a listing in Google Places, a free local business listing.

Being on Google Places helps people find, share, rate, and recommend your business to their friends, and people across the web. Places for Business lets you see what people are saying, and respond to customer reviews.

With 97% of consumers searching for local businesses online make sure you're on Google Places when they're looking.

What is equine business marketing?

Very simple answer: equine business marketing is whatever you do that makes people want to buy your goods or services

or far more complicated answer:

 The mangement process by which goods and sevices move from concept to the customer comprising of identification and selection of product, determination of price, selection of distribution channel and development of a promotional strategy.

No wonder some people think marketing is hard!

If you talk to people about your business, the goods or services that you have to offer you are marketing.
If you have a website or blog you are marketing.
If you hand out a business card you are marketing.
If you anwer a phone or email enquiry you are marketing.

Marketing doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't have to cost a fortune and it doesn't have to be scary. Over the coming months I'll be posting lots of marketing tips so do follow this blog to be sure to find them.

The importance of Business Cards for the Equestrian Business

Never, ever under estimate the importance of business cards for your horse business (or indeed any other business) your business card is a physical reminder of your presense, the ONLY physical reminder of your presense, after an event, be it a riding lesson or a trade show.

Choose the best quality you can afford.

Take your business cards everywhere, yes even to the supermarket, you never know when the opportunity to pass on your business contact details is going to arise.

Image: businesscards123