HoofPrints Newsletter

July 18, 2016

HALF PRICE CARD SALE ENDS SOON!!
I hate it when companies have sales - and bombard your inbox every day...

- but it must be effective, because they all do it. Or maybe the person whose in charge of the email marketing needs something to do? Here at HoofPrints, I have plenty to do. In fact right now I should be working on a new sales brochure for fall. It's a monstrous project that is almost too scary to begin... so I busy myself with other things that could be deemed important - but ultimately won't be if the brochure doesn't get done. Anyway, I do want everyone to have a chance to try our cards for almost nothing... a pack of 10 is just $3.98! You have until midnight July 22. To order click here

Need just a pack or two of cards but can't justify paying the shipping? Here's your excuse to order:

2017 What Horses Teach Us Horse Day Planner

This sweet little inspirational planner made it's debut in the flyer HoofPrints mailed two years ago. It was brand new and I was conservative in my sales projections. That's usually not a bad strategy - UNLESS the supplier RUNS OUT of product. Which is what happened. I never got a chance to rave about how cool they were - because they were all gone! This year, I am planning ahead and have plenty of the 2017 version on hand NOW for immediate shipment.
There is much we can learn from horses by watching, riding and caring for them. The horses in this 12-month planner teach us valuable lessons in weekly words and dazzling full-color photographs about what is important in our own lives to cherish, defend and adore. The week-by-week format includes to do lists with extra planning pages in the back to help organize your busy life. 106 pages, 6.5" x 8.5", printed on high quality, sturdy paper. Includes moon phases, U.S. and International holidays. To order, click here.

Also available now is the 2017 Horse Women Wall Calendar

This beautiful, large size glossy calendar features 12 different photos of a woman and her horse, paired with an inspirational quote. Each month shows a different facet of the relationship between women and their various horse breeds. Western riding, English riding, ground work, just hanging out - and more. The photos are a big 12" x 12", and are so striking that you could frame them up after the year is over, or use as background images in a scrapbook.

Think you don't need a 2017 calendar NOW? Sure you do! The folks that designed this one thought of everything... the first spread in this 2017 calendar features a collage of lovely images, AND July though December of 2016 - so you can start using it right away!

To order, click here

Finally - some NEW products!

Coming up with new things is HARD.

I get a lot of wonderful feedback from folks, praising the unique variety of items that HoofPrints has available for horse lovers and equine professionals. This is a fairly fun process - wandering around the internet, and in stores and catalogs, looking for ideas for cool stuff you all might like to buy. Or getting ideas for things I could make or have made.

But the reality is, it's also HARD. If I didn't care about the PRICE, I'd have 10x the stuff for sale in my little online store. However, my warehouse would be packed to the gills with product just sitting - because no one could afford to buy it. That is the case a LOT with the really nice garments - the price to me is too high for me to be able to add horsey decoration and not have it cost a fortune to the customer.

A second facet is QUALITY. With digital cameras and editing capabilities being what they are these days, it's pretty easy to make any old thing look really good in a picture on the internet. But I never, ever want anyone to be disappointed with an item once they receive it. And that extends to after they USE it, too. All my garments are wash-tested, jewelry is worn for comfort testing, etc. Products are USED to make sure they perform as expected.

Finally, there's AVAILABILITY. It's really dumb to go through the first two steps to procure a great product, only to discover that the supply has run out and there are no more to be had. These days, with everybody tightening their metaphorical belts, manufacturers are doing the same - they are producing products conservatively. If an item is a huge hit for Christmas gift sales and sells out, they often consider that a success - and do NOT replenish their stock to fill additional orders.

Shown above are a dozen of my latest. greatest finds. Most are in stock now for immediate shipment. The rest are on the way and can ship very soon. I am still in the process of writing the descriptions and adding size charts on the garments, so stay tuned. You can check back to see what new items have been added by clicking here.

IT'S BACK!!!

Hollywood Hoofbeats

is one of my all-time favorite reference books. Here at our house, we are not huge movie watchers, but westerns are a favorite - and there are always questions about the horses. This book answers them all - and more!

HoofPrints carried the hard cover version of Hollywood Hoofbeats for years, and it was a perennial best-seller. In fact, I carried it until the publisher sold out. When they didn't reprint, I was ANGRY! What I dumb move, I thought, to have such an iconic title, of such interest and usefulness to horse lovers - and not reprint it when it ran out. Dumb-dumb-dumb (I thought)

Turns out, I was the dumb one.

I never considered the idea that author Petrine Day Mitchum (watch an interview with her here) was back at work with cohort Audrey Pavia - UPDATING THIS BOOK to include all the NEW movies that have come out since Hollywood Hoofbeats was first published in 2005!

And they left nothing out! Now, you can read the stories behind the equine actors in recent films: Lone Ranger, War Horse, True Grit, and more. There's an updated section about the Mustang Cloud, and even a story about how real horses were used to create the horse-like creatures in Avatar. The original content has been augmented and updated. I haven't had time to compare the two books page by page, but it appears to me that lots of pictures have been ADDED. They tightened up the margins around the type a little to fit it all in, and added several pages to accommodate the new content. The only downside that I can see is that it's now softcover, but that is reflected in the much-lower price ($24.95) - that's $15.00 less than the first edition!
To order, click here

MORE ITEMS ADDED to HALF PRICE SALE!
Clutter busting continues at HoofPrints

My efforts to clear the warehouse (and my house) of accumulated oddball products continues to gain momentum. I've written about it before. The point continues to be, sometimes the space becomes more valuable than the items that are occupying it. So this is where most places say... "our loss is your gain!" Well, check out this super-cheap stuff and BUY IT. And your gain will be my gain, too. Because I need that space on the shelf.

The Half Price Page is here - check this often as they're one-of-a-kind things that will sell quickly and be replaced with whatever else starts to get on my nerves. I am currently going through a large stash of samples* - so many wonderful things, it's hard to choose just a handful for the website/flyer. And the rest have got to go! Only one of each available so act fast if you see something you like. The image shown here is what was available at the time this newsletter was sent. All prices on this page are at least 50% off retail.

*A note about the samples - Someone made a comment on the HoofPrints Facebook page that the samples are free to me and implied should thus be priced accordingly. Just to set the record straight - I pay for almost every sample I acquire. Occasionally an author or publisher will send me a book unsolicited, but I prefer to buy these anonymously so if I review and don't think it is a good fit for the product line, I don't feel guilty about not including it.

Half Price PRINTS are here - there are a lot of lovely prints languishing in drawers here that really should be hanging on folks' walls making them smile and beautifying their homes. Fall/winter is busy season here and I don't encourage print sales then - I don't have the extra time it takes to wrap these carefully for safe delivery. Now that Christmas is past, I've marked them way down now to sweeten the deal.

Half Price JEWELRY is here

The more I got to digging, the more I found. Jewelry doesn't take up much room - suffice to say there is a LOT of lovely stuff that needs to find a new home. Then there's that whole problem I have with the beads. It's getting worse. Stay tuned for details on that.

Half Price BOOKS & Magazine Back Issues here

This represents a major turning point for HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling. This treasure trove of magazine back issues has been lovingly collected and hoarded for many, many years. It's getting to be a space problem, keeping them all stored AND due to the sheer volume of them, along with my busy schedule, they rarely get any attention. But even now, as I go through them to write sales descriptions, I am feeling sad at the prospect of letting go of this vast collection of pictures and articles about all the things I love - Horses, Dogs, Farriery and Blacksmithing, The West, Pretty Western Clothes and Jewelry, Awesome Country Homes, Recipes for Hearty Food, Healthy Living, Spirituality and more. I'll do my best to mention the content that stands out to me in the descriptions. Prices on these back issues reflect the fact that I am still very much in love with them, however they are at or below what the publishers are charging. The current sales list is small, but I'll be adding more as I am able; going through these is a slow process, as you can imagine, I get sidetracked frequently by all the fascinating content that lead me to hoard these in the first place.

The Closeouts Page is here

It features overstocks, items that are being phased out - still lots of good deals to be had there, too

In This Issue

2017 Calendars in stock

NEW Products

Hollywood Hoofbeats

Clutter Busting Continues

Here's what we talked about last time

Last newsletter is here
ALL newsletters are here

These just in...

Check out new products here

When they're gone - they're gone...

Don't miss one you've been wanting - sadly, some favorites have been discontinued with no replacement - see them here

GINA'S BLOG
Fun on the Farm

read the latest happenings in the Keesling household, involving construction, destruction, remodeling adventures and general wreckage here

HANDS ON GROOMING GLOVES

The scrubbing nodules on the fingers and palms provide a deep thorough clean and are the best de-shedders on the market today. Another added benefit is hair does not stick to HandsOn Gloves; just a simple flick of the wrist and the hair instantly releases!
To order click here

Tuff Chix CHORE GLOVES

great for grooming, building fence, baling hay and other farm chores, gardening, and even riding!
To order, click here

HoofPrints
BARN BLADE

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly
Order here

DON'T do it yourself
FARRIER COASTERS

No farriers were harmed in the making of these coasters. To order click here

Look Professional
On The Job

Sturdy cotton golf shirts look and feel great! See our complete selection here

Farriers Traveling Desk

Corral your paperwork on the road! And it's HALF the cost of the previous version here

Don't Look Back

That's Not Where You're Going - Inspirational Necklace only $14.95 here

MADE IN USA:
A CRAPPY MUG!

Same sh*t different day
mug here

The Natural Superiority of Mules

Brand new updated second edition covers everything you ever wanted to know about mules. Order here

The Doctor is In Horse Thermometer

Measures a big 17" tall and under $15.00! Order here

This Hug's For You

Equine Sympathy Cards here

SUMMER HORSEY Ts

3 Summery Horsey T-shirts less than $20 each here!

Message

I love hearing from customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling via email at gina@hoofprints.com

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ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTER

Farriers 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 the company 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.

Share our emails

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)