When creating graphics for your equine business Facebook page, you need to know first, where you are placing the graphic. Not all Facebook graphic sizes are the same size. For instance, the Facebook header graphic is called a Timeline graphic and it does not have the same size as a post and a logo is yet another size. If you want to place paid Facebook ads, they are a completely different size than your regular page posts and only allow 20% of the space of the ad to be covered up with text including any text that is in your logo or product image. 

Generally speaking, when we create a Facebook graphic for you, it will be a low resolution image that is only suitable for use on Facebook. You won't be able to take that image and make it into a vinyl banner or use it for any type of print project like a brochure or flyer or ad. 

Facebook, Instagram, Eblasts and websites, all require low resolution images which means it is the smallest file size possible with less dots per inch of pixels on the image (72dpi). Print projects such as, banners, logos, business cards, ads and flyers require high resolution images with at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). If you need a image to be used for a Facebook ad and you want to turn that image into a banner, the image will need to be re-done in a separate file at a higher resolution. If you took your standard Facebook size image and tried to use it as a banner or in a print project, it would come out blurry and pixelated because of the number of pixel ratio in the image. 

Know that when you have a project created for one platform, you'll need to also have it created for another and the two can't mix. We'll be happy to help you make the image in multiple formats for you so you can use it across all your equine marketing efforts without any issue. 

Many times when people start a business, they aren't sure it is going to take off and be successful, so they don't treat it like a business and they don't keep important information for their business Facebook accounts, website accounts and last but not least, their domain name accounts. 

Facebook passwords are easy to retrieve, if you remember what your login was and don't rely on your computer to save the information. For example, if you are not at home and or not using your phone which has the business Facebook page account credentials saved in your browser, and you want to access it from another computer, you will be out of luck unless you have it all memorized. 

Website hosting accounts are similar, but, they are more complex, in that only the person who owns the account can try to retrieve the password and if have us try to help you and call for help, the hosting company likely won't talk to Silver Buckle Services as your webmaster, because we aren't already on the account as an administrator. 

Domain name accounts are even worse, and more strict when it comes to identifying yourself if you lost your password or login id, you'll have to also remember your "secret question" answers that you made when you created the account. 

We suggest when you start a business, you treat it like one and keep all your records in a binder and separate them out by account. Make sure you note down any usernames, passwords, urls to use to administer the account and any account pins. We also suggest you write down the last 4 digits of the credit card you used on file when you created the account. In addition to these things, write down your secret questions and the answers that you choose when you set up any type of account for your business.

This binder is the easiest way to keep your information both tidy and easy access but also something you can grab if you need it when going out of town. Make sure you have a duplicate of this information somewhere else in case you ever loose the binder. 

I personally don't keep my passwords in any kind of online folder or on the web. Simply because I want easy access to this information and don't want to worry about it being hacked. Good old fashioned office supplies will win out against super cyber security. No one can hack into your bookshelf. 

If you want really easy access to your passwords and want something in addition to your binder, try an old fashioned Rolodex with cards and tabs. They are super easy to add and remove and flipping to the information needed for your business accounts is ultra easy. 

Either method works and is a solid way to maintain your business account information and marketing accounts. We've had lots of customers who's credit cards were taken at a gas station or whatever, and they have to go and update the card on all the accounts. Having a binder or list of passwords will help you remember which accounts you have and which ones you need to go to and update your credit card with the new card number. 

We have many clients who forget their business Facebook account. They end up starting new pages and having more than one. This is a major no no with Facebook and they will pull both accounts if they find out you have multiple accounts. So it is best practice to always make sure you can get into your business Facebook account and that you have all your account info in a handy place. 

We'll be here when you need us to help get into your accounts, there are some tips and tricks we can apply to help you. We've helped a local community department get into their Facebook, Twitter and email accounts which was all something the previous person had access to but they didn't share that information before they left. If your business has several employees and some of those employees handle your business Facebook page, make sure that you are also set up as an admin on the page (even if you aren't the one making the daily updates to your Facebook page) so that you can grant others access and remove old admins who have left the company and you are not left stranded, when they leave the company. 

Hopefully these tips will help you remember to keep things organized, and no matter how small you start, out, treat your business like it is successful and you'll likely end up being successful!

Whether you are thinking of opening an online store for selling physical horse products like tack or supplies or you are selling custom products or just want to sell videos or trainings online, you need to seriously think about your competition before starting out this adventure. 

I say adventure, because it is not a one way path to easy street. There is quite a bit of thought that needs to go into a store before you build it. The first thing we tell people is to look at their competition and their target market.  If you are selling a product which is already completely saturated in the equine market online, then you might want to think twice about it. If the product you are selling is already all over Amazon, you might want to think twice about selling it online. Why? Because the competition already has it out there and that sets a precedence with Google and Amazon and your listings won't likely show up as high as existing companies. You'll also need to consider that these companies already are selling the same products you plan to sell are likely paying Google a hefty fee in Google Ad Words campaigns which are the paid advertising spots at the top of the page on Google search engine results. If you have a common product you are selling online and others are already showing up in Google Ad Words results in paid advertising at the top of Google's search pages, you will need to budget some money to keep up with the Jones's advertising. How much? Time and money will tell that, Google won't reveal to you how much the competition is paying, but you can do some trial and error. You can set a budget for $100 and then set it for $5 per click and see how it is working for you. 

If you plan on selling more than 10 products, your store will likely cost over $2000 to build. Setting up an online store correctly with the right system will help you to achieve your goals. You will need to put a lot of time into gathering the information necessary to have a store. 

Requirements for Online Store Setup:

1. Write very descriptive descriptions for your products
2. Have professional photos of your products
3. Make a list of inventory and make up product ID numbers for each product
4. Pricing needs to be determined for each product
5. Weight of item and box size needs to be determined
6. You'll need a credit card processor like Square or Paypal or Authorize.net (we can help you decide which is right for the system you are going to use)
7. A Dropbox account to manage your store photos
8. A photo editor to change the size of your photos
9. A shipping method (Fed Ex, UPS or USPS)
10. Your local tax rate

Stores can be set up using a variety of online systems. Shopify, ECWID, Big Commerce, Square and WooCommerce all have e-commerce platforms which we can use to set up your store. Depending on your needs and requirements, we can help you pick the right platform and set up the store for you. Just remember, it is never going to be "if you build it they will come" situation. Although in the movie, it was a great thought, it isn't how things work on the web. Getting them to come to your store involves hard core marketing both through print, online, social media and old fashioned grass roots marketing like sponsoring a horse show.  We can help you find the best combination of equine marketing for your business.

Business as usual is a old saying which just means things are going normal. Well I am here to tell you, nothing is normal with running a equine business these days. It takes a lot of tenacity to stay in the game and do what it takes to make it work. The average horse business owner is up to their ears in a barrage of things coming at them and tasks to handle to stay on top of things. Nothing is usual about what you need to do to keep up. 

You'll likely have to hire someone to stay on top of your business Facebook page because when you set up a page, you will start getting interactions that happen between people and your page. You need to stay on those and like, reply and comment and answer Facebook Messenger messages. You will need to look at the notifications every day and stay up with making sure that any action on your Facebook page has a equal reaction by you. In our one on one Facebook for business webinar trainings, we talk about this and we share with you the important ways to connect with your audience on a regular basis. 

If you don't have time to do this yourself, and you don't the budget to hire someone to do it, then it is not worth putting a Facebook page out there just for the sake of "being on Facebook". You will shoot yourself in the foot and it will haunt you that you are not staying up with it. So if you don't have the resources to manage your horse business Facebook page, then just don't start one. 

If you do have one and aren't sure what to do and how to keep up with Facebook's ever changing rules and system, then you might want to think about getting some training to help you deal with all that is coming at you and how to properly handle Facebook for your business. 

We applaud you for trying to run your equine business Facebook page on your own. Many can do it and like I always say, it isn't rocket science, but it does take some education to learn the tips and tricks of the game. The biggest question we get from people is, "why does Facebook keep changing things?". People find it frustrating (us included!) that they seem to rearrange features on a weekly basis and you can go into your page and go to do something and that feature is no longer there or has moved to another location. We feel your pain! I think they are constantly on a mission to change things and upgrade things for their users, but they are missing the point that by doing so, it hinders the ability for most people to use it because they keep changing things. If they just left it as is and or told you when you logged in, hey this feature has moved to here, then it would be much easier to use. That being said, they don't ever notify you when changes are made and they aren't likely to stop making useful "upgrades" to Facebook. We know how it feels and you can ask us to help. We provide online webinar classes that are one on one and tailored to fit your needs. We show you step by step how & when to make business posts and will help you with all your Facebook advertising. You can still control your page, you don't need to hire us to manage your page (although we do that!). We have trained many business owners on Facebook so they can manage their own pages. 

​Our trainings are $75/hr and we'd be happy to help you anytime online!

We often have our horse industry clients come to us before they launch their companies. We love it when that happens, because we can start the creative process right off the bat and we can help you make your company name memorable. Picking a equine company name is a personal decision and the name should be unique and reflect your style. We tell people to keep things simple, choose a company name that isn't easily misspelled and is easy to pronounce and remember. Usually the best names have some kind of meaning behind them that rings true to what your business does or represents. We picked Silver Buckle Services because it denotes a high level of equine marketing service, a silver buckle is a high award you get for winning and doing a great job. When picking your company name, keep your future branding objectives in mind and pick something that will work well condensed on in a company logo. 

The horse industry is full of things that are overdone, make sure your name isn't already used in any form anywhere. If you pick a horse business company name that is already used, you might be in for legal headaches later on.  You want a name that distinguishes your business from the rest. If your business is an on-line equine e-commerce website, think about the name in terms of possible domain names you might be using. You can't have any characters in a website domain name except for a hyphen (-).  

In order to effectively promote your business later on, you are going to have to do a lot of hard core equine marketing. Think about how your company name will transfer onto signs, business cards, logos and tshirts and your website. We even have had customers have us print their company name on a custom hoof pick and thermometer as a give away for equine trade shows. 

The best way to get started is start with a piece of paper and start brainstorming, write down everything that comes to mind. Then go search all those names to see if they are already being used. Check if the domain names are available for it. Note, that sometimes, equine business domain names aren't tied to a website, but the domain is already pre-owned. You won't likely be able to buy the domain name so it is better to pick a different name. Think about domain options like if your company is called Blue Lake Farms think about domain names like www.bluelakefarms.com www.bluelakefarm.com www.blue-lake-farm.com. You only want to pick one domain name for your company but, doing it this way, you can look at some options in case your domain name you had in mind for your equestrian business is already taken.

Once you have your list of equine company names and you have narrowed it down to your top 3 company names, this is a good time to start thinking about how you want your company to come across and how you want to brand it. That is where we come in! We can help you pick colors and a theme and style for your business, whether it be retro, old western, modern, english, or grunge, we can make your business stand out! We can check to confirm the name you picked isn't already being used and save you a lot of time researching things and we can set you up with a website and email and get your social media accounts set up and going. 

We often have customers come to us with a great idea in mind but, they aren't sure what to do next to get their company off the ground. Starting a equine related business isn't that hard. You do have to follow a few general guidelines. First, you need to check with your county to see if your business is going to need to charge and record and pay Sales Tax. My county, El Dorado County for example, does not require you to pay sales tax on a service based business.  Other states and counties, like in Texas for example you do have to charge and pay sales taxes for a service. 

You also need to check with your county and see what type of business license you are required and what are the limits of doing business in your area. For example, if you want to start a home-based business in El Dorado County, you have to have a special license if people are coming to your home for the service and you have limits to your signage and advertising. You can't put up a billboard in the country on the side of the road for your business. You can advertise anywhere, as long as it isn't around your home. You can also do your equine home based business and market it however you like, but you need to check on the requirements to make sure you aren't violating any zoning issues. A commercial boarding business, might not be allowed in your area, so check with your county before you start any business venture. 

You may need a special retail license as well, if you are selling tangible equine products. Next, we suggest you talk with a tax professional to find out what the best course of action is to setting up your business. You may need to consult an equine attorney to start your business, especially if it requires an LLC formation. Talking with equine professionals will help you determine the scope of your business and how to plan for it and avoid any liability in the future. 

We suggest you talk with your family. You will need all the support you can get. You'll want to make sure your husband or wife is on board with your decisions and you have the backing of the money, time and support you will need to get things off the ground. You need to keep in mind, you may not make money right away from your equine based business. Even if you spend $1000s of dollars on equine marketing efforts, you may not make money right away. It takes time to establish a equine business and takes time to build your customer base. The old adage, if you build it, they will come, is not true in business! It may take keeping your job for a while and doing your business on the site to reach your goals. 

You also need to set reasonable goals. There are so many equine marketing professionals and traditional marketing professionals out there advertising on Facebook, how easy it is to build your business and gain more customers, these get rich quick type of ads are geared at getting you to sign up for some kind of training or buy into some kind of "help" membership. Trust us, they don't work. They aren't there to help when it comes to getting specific questions answered and they only help you with the basics. 

It takes time to build your business and your customers. You will need to set a budget for the year for your equine marketing goals.  Your marketing budget isn't a specific formula, it is what you can afford and what you feel comfortable with. Once you have a goal in mind, we can help you spread it out to cover getting your new equine business launched and help you get customers to know it is there. We do that with a mix of online and traditional print advertising depending on your target equestrian market and customer. 

We suggest planning yes....but over planning no! Sometimes you can get stuck in the trap of planning so hard, you miss the major market for the year and your window is over. If you own a stallion for example, ads and promotions need to be done in the fall to be ready for the spring and let people know about your stallion to get ready for breeding season. Horse magazines and equine publications generally have due dates a few months prior to the actual issue hitting the streets. People tend to get weighed down with all the details it takes to put a company together and then don't get things off the ground. There is a balance between getting it right and getting it done right. Sometimes you have to have a little faith and try things and see how they work and change it up next time, don't get stuck not doing it the first time because you might be afraid that it wasn't right. It is better to try and fail then not try! With advertising, there is always a do-over. Especially with online equine advertising through Facebook, we can tailor campaigns and start and stop them mid-stream if you feel it isn't performing the way you envisioned and we can change up the ad with different content. 

We will write on picking a company name next time!

Facebook has changed things again!
If you are a small business who is running a business Facebook page, you need to know that your potential to reach your customers on Facebook has changed. Facebook announced earlier this year major changes in their system. They want Facebook to be a place where people interact, and have positive experiences and not browse through their feeds mindlessly. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has said that the feeds are changing to provide people with a “meaningful interaction” rather than mindless browsing.
“We want to make sure that our products are not just fun, but are good for people,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “We need to refocus the system.”

What does this mean for equine industry small businesses?
It means that they will stop showing business posts that aren't deemed as providing a meaningful interaction. It means your posts will still show on your business page, however, the people who see the posts might dramatically decrease based on what Facebook determines as meaningful content. 

How does this impact your Equine Facebook Business page?
It will mean you need to change your focus. Facebook is a personal platform. It is a place where people go to kill time, or connect with other people. Your business page needs to be more fun in nature and not too "salesy". If it is too salesy, Facebook is likely to decrease the reach of your posts. If your posts provide some kind of meaningful interaction between people, (people commenting, posting replies, and posting photos or comments or sharing things) then Facebook will give it more of a "reach" (spread) to your users. 

How have things have changed for Horse Facebook pages?
It used to be if you had 5000 fans on your business Facebook page, and you made a post, all 5000 of those people would see your posts. NOT ANYMORE! You are lucky if 5% of those fans see your posts. In order to make more people see your posts, try doing more posts that might interest those people. Like create a horse photo with some kind of action in it and ask people to post their best action shot. Your posts might not have anything to do with your business or what you sell. The goal is to have interaction with your company as a brand, not to sell your product to them. If Facebook catches wind of your selling on your page, it will diminish the reach of that post and might not show it at all to your fans. 

I have enough Likes, shouldn't that be enough?
No! 
The number of likes you have on your page isn't a relative measuring factor anymore. What is important is your Reach, Traffic & Leads you get off your Facebook page. You also have to pick the right kind of content that is compelling to your users. You also really have no way around it, you need to place Facebook Ads. Not just boosted posts, but Sponsored Ads on Facebook. You need to pick your targeted audience carefully and not make them too specific, yet not too broad either. 

Are you Frustrated yet with your Horse Business Facebook page? 
We understand completely! Every time you turn around, Facebook has made a new change that makes you change the way you do business on Facebook. It takes a lot of time to keep up with the changes and trial and error to see what works and what doesn't. 

We Can help!
Silver Buckle Services has an expert staff of Facebook consultants who can help you understand the changes in the system and what to do differently. We can do training with you one on one and can provide ongoing support and design and posting services. 

You may have heard a lot about SSL certificates lately online and in the media. What is an SSL and why do you need one? An SSL certificate is a Secure Socket Layer Certificate that is used to tell the browser that your site is secured. It used to be that you only needed an SSL certificate if you were physically selling something on your website in a shopping cart - e-commerce system.  

Not so much anymore! Google has changed the game plan and you will need to change with it. If your site is just a plain site, like a horse trainer business or a equestrian facility or a boarding business or a horse shoer, you still need to have an SSL certificate even if you are not directly selling any item on your website.

WHY? Because Google said so! 

Google implemented a policy early this year which basically says if your website doesn't have an SSL certificate installed, your site won't have as good of search engine rankings as a another site who does have an SSL certificate installed. The SSL certificate will show the browser that your site is secure and it will display a small lock symbol on the top left of your site, just before the https:// it will show as https instead of http. 

We can help you become SSL compliant and get an SSL certificate installed on your site. It isn't a big deal to implement, but it should definitely be done! Contact us to find out more about them and we can give you an quick estimate to get it accomplished, it is normally $75 for us to get it set up for you and depending on your hosting company and domain name company, they may charge a fee for the certificate yearly. 

The implications of this change that Google has made will ultimately make your site's SEO rankings fall if you don't incorporate an SSL certificate on your site. 

Most people don't know that you can't just copy something off the web and assume it is ok to use for your own marketing.

You can't do that!

You can't just copy anything you want. You need permission from where you are pulling it from in order to use it, so if you don't have that, you don't have permission to use the images. It is so easy to just click copy and then take it and use it, but it just isn't right. When using images for your equine websites, Facebook business pages or in your print advertising, you need to be careful where you get your images from. Even if you are designing something for your kid's birthday party, you should do it correct and legally and not steal off the internet. Pinterest is a big site people pull from, we suggest you be very careful of using anything on that site for your commercial use. 

When Silver Buckle Services incorporates any artwork, image, photo or drawing, we always make sure it is used legally and that might mean we tell you that you can't use the image you pulled. Even if a photo isn't taken by a photographer,  and it is free, it still might not be ok to use it since you are using in a commercial way. Most websites say that on the fine print, but not many people read the fine print. 

We purchase our stock photography, artwork, images and drawings and we make sure they are ok to use in your marketing materials. When we create websites for the horse industry, we are careful to make sure that you have purchased the photos from the equine photographer that took the photos. When you buy a photo of your horse, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have the rights to use it commercially online or in print. For example, if you purchase a photo of your horse and you are buying one copy, then you can not scan it and use it on Facebook or on your horse business website or anything else than that one copy. You would need to buy a special commercial license from the equine photographer to allow you to use the photo in a commercial manner. 

If you aren't sure, then it is probably not ok to use. Feel free to check with us to find out and we can help you determine it. Your best bet is always to purchase the artwork from a stock photography website and purchase a license to use the artwork commercially so you won't have to worry about the legal issues involved with image, photo and artwork copyrights. 

For starters, if you have never considered advertising through Social media, let me tell you, it is a must in this day and age. Facebook has become the fastest growing online advertising system in history. People are looking at their Facebook accounts while standing in line or waiting in airports. The novelty of looking at funny photos or videos or keeping up with the latest cooking tips and local information makes it the single most looked at thing by people online. This opens an opportunity for businesses taking advertising to another level! The tool has become a household name and is now time for you to take it seriously. I know it can be challenging, "when do I do it, how often and what should I post"? "What does it cost and how does it work?" Those are often the questions we are asked by clients. We tell people to do a mix of things, both fun posts and sales posts. This recipe is successful in getting your page noticed and keeping up with posts that will actually be seen. 

Facebook has it's frustrating elements in that they control the game. They decide who to show your posts to and how many people will see them. The bottom line is you will likely have to set aside a Facebook budget for advertising and general posting because unfortunately, nothing is for free anymore. 

Do you wonder what makes an effective Facebook post and is it worth it? 
Well, we have gotten some of our largest clients off of Facebook and it IS worth it! It just comes with a learning curve that can be challenging and time consuming. The most effective posts are those that generate "engagement". Those that get people talking and sharing.  

Facebook can often times be a set of trial and error, see what works and what doesn't. The great thing about Facebook is, you can see results, you can see raw numbers and real time statistics of your posts reach and click through rates on any ads placed. Facebook advertising isn't rocket science, however, it does require you follow some rules or else your posts won't pass their stringent rules. 

If you are not sure where to start or what to do and need a plan, we are now offering Facebook mentoring sessions. We can set aside some time to go over your goals, look at the design of your Facebook page and make suggestions on how to improve things. We can also do some training on how to make posts, what kind of posts are most effective and how to place a Facebook ad. 

Contact us to sign up for a mentoring session.