Just like many other people, I am fascinated by the
deep well of information and entertainment provided
by the Internet, in particular, Blogs. You
have probably heard of Blogs. No, not the swamps!
A Blog is short for “Web log” and is a Web page that
has frequent updates made to it. It’s like a Web
journal or "what's new" page.
The variety of specialized business blogs available for
reading are countless. Lately, I’ve been taking time
to sift through some of the highly read business blogs
out there for my evening entertainment.
A favorite blog, gapingvoid is
written by a dry witted Brit named Hugh MacLeod.
Hugh has a large international following of readers for
his daily posts and daily cartoons drawn on the backs
of business cards. If you take a look at his site, be
warned he uses an extra strength locker room
version of the Queen's English and his language may
offend some.
As I was reading Hugh’s marketing rant one day,
I
came upon a picture and reference to a
horseman Darren Wetherill’s horse
training blog. Don’t go away for long because the
rest of this article is about making more money, but
click
here to see what I’m writing about.
Darren’s Blog, Horse Bliss is a collection of
photographs and horse training tips Darren uses as a
marketing tool for his training business.
I had the opportunity to have a telephone
conversation with Mary Risavi who
maintains Darren’s blog and website. She has a
computer background, but found that she had a few
things to learn about web publishing. She has gotten
help from others and is also self taught to create the
electronic web world for Darren’s business.
Mary told me that Darren’s philosophy about training
horses is developed from the work of many of
the “natural horsemanship” trainers. He is a“level 4”
Pat Parelli graduate. I asked Risavi, who has a
marketing business background, what made him
different from other trainers and riding clinicians.
She told me Darren Wetherill’s brand focuses on:
- The fun of horses
- Being happy at training clinics and making people
laugh and telling jokes
- Spending time with each person individually
- Being passionate about his business
His mission is to share with people how to understand
the way horses communicate and to help them
develop the skills to be effective and happy in their
relationship with horses!
His blog, admittedly by Mary to be in the “learning”
stage, does a good job of presenting that brand to
me. He gives away some tips about horse training,
uses photos to show how to have some fun with
horses and suggests that training your horse does
not have to be complicated if you follow his
philosophy.
My question for professional horsemen this week:
Is your business’s marketing plan ready for a blog,
website or electronic newsletter to tell your story?
Consider the electronic path about how I (and you)
found out about Darren
Wetherill, horse trainer.
Kathy Sierra, blogger and horseman,
convinces her friends Darren and Mary to start a
blog. Sierra, friend of crazy blogger Hugh MacLeod in
UK mentions Darren’s specialty horse trainer blog.
Hugh mentions Horsebliss blog in his blog, gaping
void. Emerson, with thousands of others, reads the
post,
e-mails Darren and sets up interview with Mary.
You, wherever in the world you are today, now know
of
Darren Wetherill and Mary Risavi.
That path only took about three weeks.
Yeah but, you say, having an electronic presence on
the web is hard work.
Of course, I answer, but if you had a problem with
hard work you wouldn’t be in the horse business,
would you?
Life is short. Ride hard.
Doug