I’m a huge believer in having signs on your vehicle to market your alpaca business. While you are driving around town people see you. They stop at red lights. They get bored. They look around.

Most people have never heard of an alpaca. They’ve never seen one. If your sign is good, if it intrigues them,…maybe they will look up your website later. They might give you a call. (Be sure to have a call to action on your sign.) They might even buy an alpaca from you. Stranger things have happened.

Signs just make good common sense so I’m not going to beat you over the head with this one. If people don’t know about you they can’t do business with you. So let them know you are there with SIGNS!

As a practical matter, you should at least have signs on your farm truck and your trailer. Consider having signs on the vehicle you drive the most frequently as well. Because I’m a mother of four children, I drive a van everywhere so I had signs made for my van. I started out with magnetic signs on the sides of the van. My oldest child complained that people at stoplights stared at us (“So embarrassing MOM!“), so instead I had signage put on the back of the van (above). This helped because the people behind us at lights read the sign and people in parking lots read it.

But how well does it really work? Let me share this story with you.

A man was driving home from work. He was frustrated with his job, sick of the rat race. Just the night before he had joked to his lady friend, “I’m thinking about chucking it all and raising alpacas.”  He had seen a commercial about the cute little creatures and thought they seemed like a lot more fun than his stressful job. He looked up at the next stoplight.

My van was in front of him.

“You are kidding me,” he thought. “Alpacas in Fairhope?” He called me the next day to make an appointment to visit the farm. And within a couple of months he had purchased two female alpacas from me. True story of serious business from a sign that had cost me less than $150.

So, what are you waiting for? Go put those signs on your car!

Read the Other Secrets The Sell Alpacas:

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #1 Participate in the FRG

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #2 Have an Internet Presence

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #3 Get your business card OUT there.

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #4 Don’t forget your Veterinarian.

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #5 Be Enthusiastic!

Do you have a marketing tip to share? Leave a comment. We’d love to hear it!

]]> http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/farmbusiness/2010/04/25/secrets-that-sell-alpacas-6/feed/ 0 http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/farmbusiness/2008/12/03/secrets-that-sell-alpacas-4/ http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/farmbusiness/2008/12/03/secrets-that-sell-alpacas-4/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:41:39 +0000 Katy http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/farmbusiness/?p=295 Remember your veterinarian this holiday season. Give them a pair of alpaca socks, a book on alpaca health care, or something that will remind them how much they like working for you and your alpacas!

Invest in a subscription of Alpacas Magazine for your veterinarian. When their new issue arrives they can read the health information and then pass it along to their waiting room. You never know when a future alpaca owner will bring their dog to the vet and start flipping through Alpacas Magazine…

Other Marketing Tips:

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #1 Participate in the FRG

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #2 Have an Internet Presence

Secrets That Sell Alpacas #3 Get your business card OUT there.

Do you have a marketing tip to share? Leave a comment. We’d love to hear it!

If you want to sell some alpacas, first of all, take a deep breath and look at the picture on the right. These guys really sell themselves. A big part of your sales job is done by the alpacas themselves. No need to hard sell anyone or feel like a slimy used car salesman.

You just have to get people to your farm to see these cuties. How do we do that? Join AOBA and participate in the Farm & Ranch Guide Program. If you live in a state with a moderate number of alpaca farms, just a listing and maybe a 1/3 page ad will suffice. If you live in a state highly populated with alpacas you may have to spend a bit more to get noticed. The Farm and Ranch Guide will get people (qualified leads even) to call you or at least check out your website.

When people contact you, invite them to your farm. Tell them about your alpaca experience and what the animals have done for you (emotionally, financially, etc). Stick with the positive. This is not the time to talk about Fluffy’s expensive vet trip. (I can never do this, I always wind up telling visitors tragic stories. I’m slapping myself on the wrist as I type) When they are at your farm, have them fill out a guest book or something that gives you their name, address, and email address. Be sure to ask permission to email them. You don’t want them to think you’re a spammer.

It’s always nice to follow up a visit with a thank-you note. (I don’t always remember to do this, but I should. more wrist slapping) If not, then call and follow-up in a few days to see if they have any more questions. There have been several instances where I have sold alpacas to people who told me, a) “You were the only person who contacted us after we visited them”, and b) “No one else called us back.”

Secret #1: Participate in the Farm & Ranch Guide (and Return Interested Parties phone calls!)

Addition to Secret #1: Visit the Alpaca Livestock Company for more info on participating in the Farm & Ranch Guide.