The NSR Office will be closed November 28-29th for Thanksgiving. The Texas and Arizona litter recording deadline is December 1st. Please plan accordingly.
2018 NSR Interns
Payton Dahmer, Missouri
Growing up Payton was very involved in his 4-H club and FFA chapter, specifically the livestock judging team, while showing both pigs and sheep at the state and national level. He has also enjoyed being a member of the NJSA over the years and meeting new people at NJSA events. Payton is a 2017 graduate of Butler Community College where I received an associate’s degree in agriculture and was on a very competitive livestock judging team. Currently, he is a junior at Kansas State University majoring in animal science and industry with a business option. At K-State, Payton is a member of the livestock judging team and involved with K-State’s Block and Bridle and the Swine Interest Group. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, Payton plans to get a master’s degree in swine nutrition and ultimately obtain a career in the swine industry.
Payton is most excited to [ … ]
In October, I encouraged you to “mix up your media.” This month, in Stock Marketing, I want to focus on direct e-mail marketing – also known as e-Blasts. Most of you are probably familiar with e-Blasts because they fill your inboxes with coupons, announcements and sales each day, but have you thought about using an e-Blast to promote your farm? If not, I want to give you a few perks of e-mail marketing to mull over.
It’s growing – But don’t believe me, check out some of these stats put together by PR Daily. According to information gathered by the Direct Marketing Association, there are 3.3 billion e-mail accounts throughout the world. And e-mail marketing doesn’t mean your audience needs to be glued to a computer – eight out of 10 smartphone users check and send electronic mail from their phones, and of those eight, half check their e-mail [ … ]
Everyone is guilty of it – skimming ads for pictures. But have you ever noticed an ad because of a clever headline? Chances are, if you did, you read it in its entirety. Wouldn’t it be nice if your ads could pack such a punch that they would stop readers in their tracks? With these quick headline writing tricks, your ad can have “stopping power.”
Name a benefit – Bigger litters. Bigger profits.
Tell them how sorry they’ll be if they don’t use your genetics, product or service – “I wonder what the champion drive is like,” said someone who didn’t buy from ACME Showpigs.
Make like Snapple, and throw out some facts – Over the last decade, we’ve farrowed more than 500 litters, and this is our best one yet.
Call-out to your target audience – No place is as nerve-wracking as ringside – buy your kids the best.
Make it newsworthy – At [ … ]
So you want to advertise – great! Now, the next question is where. There where can be a tricky decision, especially when you have a limited budget. This month in “Stock Marketing,” we’re going to talk about some advertising options and ways to mix up your marketing.
Put it in print – Regardless of the rumors you may have heard about print advertisement being dead, rest assured print media is very much alive and well. In fact, I would argue it is still one of the very best venues to advertise your livestock. Not only do livestock publications provide a way to get your message to a very specific group of livestock enthusiasts, but they also have a long “life.” How many of you still have the last Seedstock EDGE Showpig issue riding around with you in your truck or sitting on your coffee table? Print publications can’t be deleted from [ … ]
Everyone knows our showpig issues get a little hefty. In fact, we expect three times the number of ads in our September Showpig issue of the Seedstock EDGE than the July issue you’re most likely flipping through this week. So for all of you advertisers out there wondering how to make your ad stand out among the clutter, here are a few quick tips.
Lead with a strong headline – (Sorry, but your farm name doesn’t count.) An ad headline needs to give potential customers news or advice, evoke emotion, establish curiosity or make a statement about your products. Now the trick to a good headline is making it short, but impactful. Five times as many readers will read the headline in an ad rather than the small print so make it a good one. Amazingly, most readers are bored by the ninth word. Marketing research shows the best headlines are less [ … ]
Whew, we survived an exciting and busy week at Expo. One of my favorite aspects of my job is seeing the high quality animals that are exhibited at our shows and sales.
As producers, I know you guys are constantly striving to raise the next “great one.” So this month in Stock Marketing, I’m going to share a few quick tricks you can use to promote your entries for the summer sales, shows and conferences.
Get a good picture. A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you want potential buyers to get excited about your entry – snap a good picture. Sure, you can tell people it’s a “great one,” but often, seeing is believing. Such was the case in Duncan last year when Bruce and Jenny Kaufman of Kaufman Showpigs, Crawfordsville, Iowa, got a great shot of their Hillbilly Bone son. His picture drew the interest of Prairie State [ … ]
With the spring showpig sale season winding down, most of us have time to take a quick breath before plunging into show season. (If you’re not in the field, that is.) In the NSR Marketing and Communications Department, we’re using this break to catch up on paperwork, prepare for the next issue of Seedstock EDGE and start re-designing our website.
I’m sure many of you will be sending show and sale results off to your web designers. But before you do, put your site through the paces and see if it passes these tests highlighted in Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think (a fast, surprisingly entertaining read on web usability):
Don’t Make Me Think (or anyone for that matter) – Surfing the web should not be a critical thinking exercise and neither should navigating your website. Ensure that visitors to your site don’t have to think by making your site [ … ]
