Add these numbers please:

• .43 Postage
• .06 Envelope
• .14 Printing
• .02 Labor

If your total is 65 cents, you and I agree the cost of sending a hard copy newsletter or promotional flyer via the postal service is expensive. You can quibble with me about volume discounts, bulk rates and special deals being cheaper all you want, but I don't care.

Snail mail is expensive when compared to the cost of sending this programmed arrangement of electrons you are reading right now. And snail mail is clumsy and awkward to handle for both the sender and the recipient.

If your horse business marketing program doesn't include newsletters and promotions, it should. And if you're like most people in the horse business, you don't send regular mailings. That's because you don't have time to follow through with conventional snail mailings and you don't have time to learn how to send an e-newsletter from your computer.

I don't know the difference between HTML, CSS or CFML, but with some help from assistant Jackie, I manage to produce an electronic newsletter each week for you to read. Which means: If I Can Do It, So Can You.

Here is the non geek short course:

• Use an electronic newsletter service like Constant Contact or AWeber. I use Constant Contact; my friends love AWeber.
• Don't do it yourself. Your mailings won't make it through the spam filters; the newsletter services have things worked out with the filter folks for your newsletter to gallop right by their obstacle course.
• Select a template for the format and stick to it. If you were a graphic designer you wouldn't be in the horse business. Make it easy on yourself.
• Collect e-mail addresses, with permission from the owners, to add to your mailing list. Simply ask, "Would you like to be on our e-mailing list? Unsubscribe whenever you want with a single mouse click."

Send your newsletters, results, stories to your prospects, clients and raving fans with regular frequency. Frequency is important. They forget about you because the world is a very distracting place and readers have limited attention spans.

Content for your e-mailings can include:

• Horse shows
• Lesson programs and Clinics
• Horses for sale
• Client achievements
• Help wanted
• Riding or Training tips
• Client Photos
• Veterinary announcements
• Interviews
• Party, picnic announcements

Electronic "e-zines" or newsletters are one of the best low cost high-impact marketing tools available today.

Get clicking.

Need a speaker about the horse business for your horse organization?

Talk to me about talking. Keynotes and workshops available. (716) 434-5371

"Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people." -- William Butler Yeats

"Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all" -- Sir Winston Churchill

"Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I spent last Saturday at the 50th Annual Attica, NY Rodeo. The Rodeo Association celebrated with many old timers on hand including rodeo acts that performed in the early years of the rodeo.

Dick "Old Man" Barrett and family cowboy comedy act and Dick and Lois Cory " The Roping Corys" can still deliver great entertainment.

Watching Dick Cory trick rope makes me want to start practicing to learn the Texas Skip rope trick made famous by Will Rogers.

Don't call for booking my act just yet; I think it might be a while. I'll let you know.

I work with Professional Horsemen who are struggling with the business half of the horse business.

Just like a top performing horse has a strong foundation, so does a top performing horse business.

If you've had enough with not enough: time, money or the right people in your horse business, call or e-mail and we can talk, no fee, no pressure, about your business and how I may be able to help you.

The first step to improvement is up to you.

Welcome to new subscribers this week. If you know other horsemen who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them!

I appreciate your help !