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HoofPrints Newsletter
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December 29, 2012
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ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTERFarriers Greeting Cards was started by Gina Keesling in 1986 (in a very small way) to provide helpful promotional materials for farrier husband Rob. Along the way we became HoofPrints.com, too, adding a selection of fun horse and dog products geared toward women of a certain age. This newsletter is emailed to subscribers a few times a month, depending on how often I have something to share. Watch for special sales, interesting stories, uplifting quotes and more.
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Check out our HALF PRICE sale!
I've written about this before. All fall, and up until Christmas, we are too busy for me to notice the insidious clutter that seems to multiply in every corner. My hard-working assistant vigorously encourages me to deal with these accumulations as they come up, but I resist her at every juncture. It goes like this; "We have ___ copies of ___ that are slightly flawed, what do you want to do with them?" or "The big shipment of ___ came in and there's not enough room on the shelf, where shall I put them?" Not being one to make good decisions on the fly, my default answer is; "Put them over in closeouts". Closeouts is a section of shelves that is a repository for all this oddball stuff that I couldn't seem to deal with for 3 months. And it's now bursting at the seams.  Shown here are our Farrier and Horse Air Fresheners. In order to meet the manufacturer's minimums, I ordered an enormous amount. They've been good sellers, but I think they need a little help to get them noticed. What could be better than HALF PRICE? The Farrier's Set includes a Money Scented Freshener that's imprinted with the quote " I see who makes all the money in horses - FARRIERS!" - with a picture of a sweating farrier, about to be bitten on the backside by an ungrateful horse. Both sets include a Leather Scented Freshener - a favorite by everybody connected to horses. Third in the farrier set is one called Sport Fresh - that smells clean, like a favorite aftershave. (we figured that would be a good addition to any farrier's truck) The Horse Woman's Set has a Hay Scented Freshener, imprinted with " Got Hay?" and Lesley Bruce's Barn Girl (also on sweatshirts here). Third is Handle with Carrots, a unique Carrot Scented number that's bright orange. To order, click here.
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More HALF PRICE stuff that's risky to talk about.
Whenever I do this I say I won't do it again, but here goes... I put something on sale that I only have a few of. People who've never noticed it before suddenly WANT it. It gets snatched up immediately - by more people than I have product available for. Website setups that are clever enough to know when something is sold out and are able to update themselves are incredibly complicated and costly. That's NOT what we have. I have an excellent webmaster who updates as quickly as he can, but I have to immediately tally the orders as they come in, keep track of what's selling out, and notify him accordingly.
Shown here is American West's Zip Top Cross Tote. It's fashioned to look like the top of a fancy cowboy boot, this leather purse is loaded with great details. Fully lined, with lots of compartments inside. Purse measures a big 12" x 11" x 5". Regular price is $229.95 - we've got it HALF PRICE for $114.98 while supplies last here.
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BUCK DVD on Sale!
BUCK dvd tells story of famous clinician/trainer
Probably most of you saw The Horse Whisperer back when it came out in 1998 but many of you may not know that the plot was based loosely on the life of real life horseman Buck Brannaman.
This documentary film debuted last year only at select theaters, so most of you may not have had an opportunity to see it. BUCK is a richly textured and visually stunning film, following Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach with horses. A real-life horse-whisperer, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his understanding, compassion and respect. It was so popular that the producers were inspired to go back through the 250+ hours of footage and from that produce the 7 Clinics DVD Series that were introduced this fall. Those are pretty pricey at $49.95+ each, but you can get a taste of what those offer in the original BUCK dvd that we now have on sale for just $19.95 here.
It's a truly American story about an unsung hero and one of the most successful documentaries of the year, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds. To order click here.
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Sterling Silver
Dog Whistle
Is this a whistle to call your dog? Or a whistle that IS a dog? Either way it's really cute, and a unique and interesting piece of functional and useful jewelry. Measures almost 2" long and hangs on a knotted adjustable (14"-26") waxed cotton cord. We kind of kept this one a "secret" through the holidays, as we were having trouble keeping stock on them, but we've got plenty now. For more info click here
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RECAP - From the last newsletter here
Here's what we talked about last time:
Hoof Problems - a profusely illustrated, hardcover book, under $50 here
Story about people watching farriers, and what can happen when they do - here
Lots of new business cards added to online farrier directory - check out your state here
Magnetic Business Card Calendars for Farriers and Horse Owners on sale here
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What good does it do, anyway?
When I agreed to work on the Horses & Hope Calendar, I didn't really know...
Photographer Sarah K. Andrew approached me about HoofPrints helping to produce a calendar using her photos of auction and rescue horses. I'd been a fan of Sarah's work for a long time; continually astonished at her ability to take soulful photos of ordinary (and often unkempt/unattractive) unwanted horses in extremely challenging conditions.
She chose One Horse At A Time as the recipient for the funds generated by the calendar. One of the reasons - OHAAT writes "gelding grants". This is funding they've set aside for worthy recipients to pay for gelding stallions, in order to make them more adoptable. Shown above is one of those horses. Silver Gem spent the first 8 years of his life as a stallion, on a chain in someone's back yard. Most people wouldn't have given him a second look - an unhandled stud-horse at that age would seem to have limited potential to ever be a "good citizen". Horse Rescue United's Anouk Busch thought differently. She negotiated with his owners to purchase him. OHAAT funded his gelding. Anouk and the staff at HRU worked with Gem, and in spite of his late start at training, he proved to be a quick study. Now he's in a good home, with a good life!
Little successes like this make me think of the Starfish Story (below) - when a problem seems so big and so terrible that it almost isn't worth trying to solve - that's when we all need to think of the individuals... instead of the masses. For Gem, it made all the difference in the world.
We're down to the last couple hundred Horses and Hope Calendars. Most of the folks who bought them, bought one. What can $20. do? Is it even worth the bother? I am here to state a resounding YES! So far this year we've dispersed about $50,000. in calendar sales proceeds to One Horse At A Time. They've wisely and judiciously distributed it where it's most needed. If you've not ordered your calendar yet, you can do so here. If you don't already have one, consider adding a 2012 calendar to your order, too. They're only $10.00 and the photos are beautiful - it's a collector's item, for sure.
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WHAT'S ON SALE?
Farrier Sportswear
Longsleeve prewashed cotton denim shirt - embroidered with Farrier & Shoe logo - $5.00 OFF! See our complete selection here |
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HALF PRICE!
~ Pink Heart Gloves ~
Manufacturer has discontinued these - we are limited to stock on hand. Size 8 is sold out, but we still have 5, 6, 7 here |
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WHAT'S ON SALE?
~ Handle with Carrots ~
Handle With Carrots Hood is $10.00 OFF here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
~ Christian Products ~
Cowboy & Cowgirl Bible Pocket Partners here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
~ for Horsewomen ~
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
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Message
We LOVE hearing from our customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling via email at gina@hoofprints.com |
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Find us on facebook
Be sure to LIKE our facebook page - it's where we announce special sales, breaking news and everything else we find interesting. To see it go here |
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Our Current Catalog
Request your copy of HoofPrints Catalog by clicking here |
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Memorable Quote:
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The Starfish Story (more info & credits here)
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
"Young lady," he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves,
saying, "It made a difference for that one."
The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved."
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Share our emails
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Viral marketing... it sounds bad, doesn't it?
You can ask my husband - a frequent topic around here is that of forwarded emails - and the psychology behind them - just WHAT prompts people to decide; "I am going to send this to everyone I know!".
We receive a lot of them. Some are pretty good, and others are dumb. Dumb in a myriad of ways... Alarmist email rumors that have been around forever - that folks keep sending "just in case it's true" Pictures of someone's butt (or worse) - don't even get me started about the firecracker butt - but at least that one was timely when it showed up around July 4. Christian messages that are uplifting - until you get to the end and you're threatened "if you're not ashamed that you love Jesus, forward this - if you are, then delete." Pictures of cute puppies and kittens (awww)
I enjoy writing these newsletters - and sharing all this stuff with you all. But the fact is, it's also a way to help us stay connected with customers and sell products during the time between catalog mailings (which is only once a year) So I really, really like it when someone new stumbles upon the newsletter and is excited to "discover" our company and the products we offer.
In all my efforts to make the newsletter interesting and forward-worthy - it never occurred to me to JUST ASK you all to send it! Duh. Sometimes the obvious is elusive, I guess. So here goes - my request to ask you to forward our email newsletter to your horsey friends. All we ask is that you please be judicious and only send to folks who might be interested. Otherwise we are no better than the "firecracker butt". Click to get started. (please note - using this form does NOT subscribe anyone to our list - it is a one-time only forward)
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