Project reminders

Just a reminder to everyone that the first part of the year is always extremely busy for those of us in the livestock business. We are now booking projects that are due January 10 and after. If you anticipate needing ads for February, March or April publications, please let us know so that we can put your project into our production schedule.

Also we are currently operating on a 5 week waiting list for new websites, so again if you anticipate needing a website this spring, please go ahead and schedule the project now to assure we have time to do your project.

I always tell my cattle friends....you wouldn't wait until 10 minutes before the show to clip your calf. We need just as much planning to do a good job on your ad as you would to prepare your most prized animal for the show. Please keep these deadlines in mind and email tricia@ranchhousedesigns.com or joelynn@ranchhousedesigns.com to get your projects on our books for 2012.

December Video Blog

Here's an update of what's going on at RHD.... P.S. I know I look awful in this video, it was a freezing cold day here and the video was taken at the V8 bull pens. :)

Denver Jumbotron and Show Broadcast

Today we're offering a little shout out to our friends at Cattle In Motion and letting our clients (and friends) know about some advertising opportunities during the Denver stock show.

Cattle in Motion will be the official show broadcaster to cover all of the shows live on the Internet. I'm not all up on the details but I believe it is shows, sales, everything. They are offering some wonderful opportunities to get lots of exposure during this big event.

Their first opportunity is banner advertising during the live show broadcasts. They offer a choice of advertising for just specific breeds (i.e. if you're a Charolais breeder, you can buy banner ads only during the Charolais show), or a special price for the whole show.

I have worked with CIM on things like this several times this year. When they broadcast Brahman Junior Nationals I purchased an ad for V8 and for RHD and we got a lot of hits from people clicking on the banner ads while they were watching the show. We got so much exposure, in fact, I made a special deal with CIM for them to do an exclusive show broadcast of another big Brahman show in the summer and offer the banner advertising only to my clients, as a special thanks to the Brahman people who do business with RHD. That also had a great response and people got alot of hits on their sites.


Now the second option is pretty cool too....way cool actually. You know the jumbotron in the yards....well they are also offering ads on that. These ads will be like video type ads and also will play on the jumbotron, at a few of the bars on the grounds and at tv screens throughout the facility. Sign me up for one of those too Tim! :)

So, while this isn't really anything to do with RHD, we did think it is an amazing opportunity to advertise at a great price for the exposure. If you might be interested you can email tim@cattleinmotion.com.

Livestock Merchandising Kindle Book

Livestock Merchandising, my new book, is now available as a kindle book! How exciting to be on Amazon!

If you're a techhy person with an iPad or Kindle, you can download the book now. You can also get a good preview of the book on Amazon too and download a sample. 

New RHD site: San Pedro Ranch

San Pedro Ranch is located in Dimmitt County 30 miles South of Carrizo Springs, Texas. Five different soil types support a variety of wildlife, high-protein shrubs, forbs, and native grasses. The ranch is low fence and offers fair chase hunting opportunities in the winter for trophy and management bucks. The most scientific, state of the art wildlife management practices have given the San Pedro an outstanding reputation for producing some of the highest quality trophy deer in Texas as measured by Booneand Crocket Club.

Visit the San Pedro Ranch, and you will see approximately 300 head of hardy, gentle, registered Beefmaster cattle, genetically selected to thrive in a brittle, sometimes harsh, environment. Their own San Pedro Beefmaster bulls reflect such distinguished lineage as LBar 5502, Ranger's Pride, Casey, and Nolan Ryan bloodlines. Their heifers descend from cows who have consistently weaned a calf every year – even in difficult drought conditions.

Humane, ethical treatment of animals and conscientious care of the environment is a natural part of their lives at the San Pedro. Consequently, it was a seamless and logical decision to market our calves through the Grass-fed Livestock Alliance. Because they have selected so heavily for hearty, efficient cattle, their grass fed calves show favorable conversion ratios, high yields, and excellent grades.

At the San Pedro, they try to make the most of nature’s bounty by practicing holistic management – weighing each decision against the over-arching goal of improved native habitat and a healthier ecosystem. Please take a minute to browse their website and see why they love helping nature do what she does best.

The San Pedro Ranch represents a unique confluence of resources: geologic, riparian, biologic, herbaceous, and cultural.

The property sits on the southern edge of the Tamolipan and Chihuanhuan biotic Provinces on top of an ancient sea bed, covered with 5 different soil orders, 36 different plant communities, (many of which are transitional species) and inhabited over time by 4 distinct cultural groups. It is in the flight corridor of many migrating birds, including the Monarch butterfly and the black chinned and ruby throated hummingbirds. Because of careful attention to environmental conservation, wildlife on the San Pedro Ranch abounds with dove, quail, white-tailed deer, turkey, and other rare species such as the Texas tortoise and the Texas horned lizard. Everything depends on a healthy, diversified ecosystem, which in turn depends upon sustainable management practices.

By choosing management techniques designed to make the most of what nature provides in the South Texas brush country, the San Pedro Ranch (SPR) converts sun, soil, water, plant, and livestock resources, into a valuable food source – helping Mother Nature do what she does best.
The San Pedro Ranch represents a unique confluence of resources: geologic, riparian, biologic, herbaceous, and cultural.

The property sits on the southern edge of the Tamolipan and Chihuanhuan biotic Provinces on top of an ancient sea bed, covered with 5 different soil orders, 36 different plant communities, (many of which are transitional species) and inhabited over time by 4 distinct cultural groups. It is in the flight corridor of many migrating birds, including the Monarch butterfly and the black chinned and ruby throated hummingbirds. Because of careful attention to environmental conservation, wildlife on the San Pedro Ranch abounds with dove, quail, white-tailed deer, turkey, and other rare species such as the Texas tortoise and the Texas horned lizard. Everything depends on a healthy, diversified ecosystem, which in turn depends upon sustainable management practices.

By choosing management techniques designed to make the most of what nature provides in the South Texas brush country, the San Pedro Ranch (SPR) converts sun, soil, water, plant, and livestock resources, into a valuable food source – helping Mother Nature do what she does best.
The San Pedro Ranch represents a unique confluence of resources: geologic, riparian, biologic, herbaceous, and cultural.

The property sits on the southern edge of the Tamolipan and Chihuanhuan biotic Provinces on top of an ancient sea bed, covered with 5 different soil orders, 36 different plant communities, (many of which are transitional species) and inhabited over time by 4 distinct cultural groups. It is in the flight corridor of many migrating birds, including the Monarch butterfly and the black chinned and ruby throated hummingbirds. Because of careful attention to environmental conservation, wildlife on the San Pedro Ranch abounds with dove, quail, white-tailed deer, turkey, and other rare species such as the Texas tortoise and the Texas horned lizard. Everything depends on a healthy, diversified ecosystem, which in turn depends upon sustainable management practices.

By choosing management techniques designed to make the most of what nature provides in the South Texas brush country, the San Pedro Ranch (SPR) converts sun, soil, water, plant, and livestock resources, into a valuable food source – helping Mother Nature do what she does best.

Check out more on San Pedro Ranch

Book Update

For the past few months I have been working steadily on my first book, Livestock Merchandising, A Complete Guide to Livestock Advertising and Promotion. Well...it's finally finished and to the printer as of today!


This book is 180 pages based on my experiences here at RHD and also at V8 Ranch.

The art and strategy of merchandising and promoting purebred livestock is one that captures the attention of many purebred livestock producers. Whether you are a seasoned producer, or just getting started, this contains the tools to create a brand identity, establish an advertising and promotion plan, or evaluate your current promotional efforts to improve sales and exposure.


Here are a few topics in the book:
• Components Used in Advertising Campaign
• Basics of Good Livestock Advertising
• Livestock Photography & Video
• Livestock Web Design
• Advertising at Shows and Sales
• Sire promotion basics
• Email Marketing and Social Media for Ranchers
• Determining an advertising budget
• The role of the showring in advertising
• Ethics in livestock advertising

And much more! The book is full of examples from my team here at RHD as well as other leading industry professionals like Christy Collins, Arin Strasburg, Julie French, Martha Garrett and more.

So how can you get one?
Hard Copy: Currently, it is being printed. So if you prefer an actual hard copy of the book, you'll have to wait about 3 weeks. We are taking pre-orders, but please note that they will not be available until after January 1.

E-Book: If you're one of those who just wants an electronic copy, you can purchase and download a PDF e-book here for $9.99.

For more advanced e-book users, it will also be available for Amazon's Kindle by December 15th.

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement on the book! I hope y'all like it!

Planning on projects

It's getting that time of year again! Just a reminder that we need as much advance notice as possible to complete projects. Right now we are booking projects for January. If you anticipate needing an ad, banner, sign, etc. in the month of January please contact us right away to get your project on our books. Thanks!

Schrag Family Event Sale

Join Schrag Shorthorns this Saturday in Marion, SD for the Family Event Sale. Offering Shorthorn show heifer prospects, herd sire prospects, bred females, embryos, flushes, and pregnancies. The sale features pedigrees stacked with proven cow families including Revival, Dream Lady, Augusta Pride, and Riders Rose.

And I can't resist posting this photo that Joelynn took at Louisville. Fits the "Family Event" sale name perfect! Here is Stock Show Momma Melissa Schrag, Cory Schrag, Sammi and Jaxson heading to the backdrop at Louisville. We can all see who's in charge here, and trust me....Melissa is a true cattle lady who knows her stuff! 

We love this family!

12 Days of Christmas is Underway

Well it's 9:30 a.m. and we have already started our fun filled "12 Days of Christmas" here at RHD...and we have our first winner. Hopefully today everyone can get a chance to see how the promotion will work.

1. First you have to be a fan on our facebook page. www.facebook.com/ranchhousedesigns

2. Each day (today it was first thing in the morning) Joelynn will post a Christmas trivia question, which was written by Santa Shanks. Each day there will a special prize. And here's a hint, we start small and the prizes get bigger each day! Today's prize was 250 free business cards.

The question was: "What is the name of Scrooge's dead Christmas partner?"
Answer: Jacob Marley (Scary fella)

Today's winner was the lovely and adorable Mackenzi Dorsey, who answered within 2 minutes!

For her Christmas skills, Mackenzi won the daily prize....which today was the business cards.

3. A little later in the day, we will also post a special 12 Days of Christmas coupon that can be used by ANYONE. All you have to do is print out the coupon and send it in or email it to us, or mention the coupon to claim the discount. And, in the spirit of Christmas, the coupons get better as the days go on too!

So what do you think? Fun huh? We love our friends and clients and we hope everyone enjoys this little fun way to celebrate the holidays. 

SEK Genetics

For the past few months we have had the pleasure and honor of working with Kristy and the rest of the SEK genetics crew on several projects, including producing their upcoming 2012 Sire Directory. As we began the project, Joelynn even got a chance to return to her old stomping grounds in Kansas to do a photo shoot at SEK to build an image database for their catalog and advertising campaign.

As we speak, Liz is working away fast and furious at putting the finishing touches on their new catalog, which will be ready at Denver. I took it home last night and did some final proofreading and it is always so fun to see the bulls and learn about the hottest sires in the business.

Here is one of the most recent ads we designed for SEK...and we even got Don convinced to updating the logo JUST A LITTLE BIT. :) The new logo will be in the catalog. It has been a wonderful experience working with this talented team and we are so excited to finish up the catalog so that everyone can see it!