Running your training business is about more than wet saddle blankets.
By Megan Arszman
I started training horses because I’m not much of a people person, but I get along well with my horses.
I’m already so busy dealing with training schedules, show entries, and getting my clients to pay on time. I can’t manage anything else on my plate.
I need more horses in my barn.
Do any of these phrases sound familiar? You hung out your shingle, earned your first open paychecks, and placed your first full-color ad in all the industry publications. However, you feel like you’re missing the mark in getting your message out there in the right way to attract more clients.
Communication with the humans in the business, not just the horses, is key to a long and successful career as a trainer. It can be frustrating to know where to start, but the beauty of that is, there’s always someone there who can help you.
Jamie Samples is the owner and president of Yellow Barn Media, a marketing company with an emphasis on the horse industry, and she’s one of the first to admit that marketing is hard work.
“I agree that marketing can be overwhelming,” she says. “But, it’s a vital action to keep your business running so you don’t go bankrupt.”
Samples stresses that not doing marketing is not an option to continue running your business. It’s important to know what you do well and where you can use some help. It’s a lot like working a horse on his rundown when you just can’t seem to figure out what you’re doing wrong, so you reach out to a fellow NRHA Professional for some tips.
“Know your strengths and know who can fill your weaknesses and hire them out,” she adds. “It’s really about scheduling out a little bit of your time, putting a strategy in place and then implementing that strategy,” she continues.
In this series, Samples will cover:
Part 1: Why Facebook Isn’t Enough
Part 4: Sharing Your Knowledge
Part 5: Making a Call to Action
Why Facebook Isn’t Enough
It seems like almost everyone is on social media these days. In fact, right after you finished your first full day as a self-employed trainer, you probably propped your boots on the kitchen table, laptop in hand, and created your Facebook Business Page. Marketing done, right?
Wrong.
“Marketing is not something that you’re going to win overnight—you have to put some effort into it. Just like you were training a young horse, it doesn’t happen overnight,” says Samples.
That Facebook page you created might get you a few hundred followers, with maybe some comments here and there. But if you aren’t active and sharing with your followers, Samples says it’s like having them purchase tickets to your clinic, and all you do is ride out on your horse and stare at them for 10 minutes and ride out.
Other concerns to consider: You don’t own your Facebook page. So if Facebook ever goes away, so does your entire online legacy. You can easily be hacked, and lose all access to your page and your audience, possibly never retrieving access again. This is true for all social media. To rely on one outlet—one you don’t own—puts your business at risk.
Read the rest of this article at the links above.
